$900K READI grant for WestGate housing infrastructure

April 19, 2023

Wednesday, April 19, 2023 12:20 PM EDTUpdated: Wednesday, April 19, 2023 01:24 PM EDT
By Wes Mills
Entrance to the Westcott housing development. (photo courtesy: MEK/Michael Snyder)
GREENE COUNTY, Ind. - The builder of a new housing development in the WestGate@Crane Technology Park has been awarded a $900,000 READI grant to build water and sewer infrastructure for the Westcott neighborhood. Bloomington-based Wininger Construction received funding from the Indiana Uplands Region, which was awarded $30 million from the state’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) grant program. Last fall, Wininger and Greene County economic development officials celebrated the opening of the new development. It was specifically designed to help attract, retain and cater to professionals in high-tech fields who work at the nearby Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, the WestGate technology park, and the high-tech Battery Innovation Center. “It is the first housing development to be built in the tech park, and its ‘housing that works’ brand reflects its unique attributes that will serve the area’s workforce,” said Greene County Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Brianne Jerrels. The development offers a townhome and ranch-style home plans and will eventually offer 120 new properties to meet the residential needs of a growing workforce in the area. “This award will allow us to continue to develop and build housing and home ownership options for the growing workforce serving the South Central Indiana Innovation Corridor,” said Tom Wininger, president of Wininger Construction. “We believe that by expanding the opportunity to buy newly built homes affordable to the area’s workforce, this will encourage a path for more to realize the dream of home ownership.” The company says the READI grant will pay for future infrastructure needs of Phase two through Phase six of Westcott. The ten homes in phase one of the development are connected to the Greene County Regional Sewer District. The Indiana Uplands region represents 11 counties, including Brown, Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange, Owen, and Washington.