Overview

Thousands of people in Evansville have collectively shown up to have their voices heard in master plan public input meetings and regional listening sessions – the number one thing our community wants to see improved to make the Evansville region a place they can be proud of is a more activated, exciting Downtown Evansville riverfront. A critical piece of redeveloping the riverfront is owning land, so that there are more vibrant and active real estate opportunities. The READI funds will be spent on schematic design to use publicly owned land to create a transformational riverfront while developing up to three new, high-value parcels. The project is expected to start in May 2024 and be completed in November 2025. The Downtown Evansville CDC was formed in 2018 to take on the downtown's most challenging properties. The Downtown CDC has successfully received funding from both the State and City in the past to accomplish these economic development goals. The pandemic has further exacerbated downtown's real estate challenges, which is why these funds are needed.