JASPER, Ind. – Developers plan to convert a 119-year-old building that formerly housed Indiana Furniture’s manufacturing operations into an affordable multi-use housing complex.

According to the Dubois County Free Press, Krempp Construction, and Flaherty & Collins propose transforming the historic four-story building into 147 one- and two-bedroom apartments that would rent between $400 and $950 a month. The project’s cost is estimated at $40 million.

The developers of the 4.3-acre property plan pay homage to the plant’s history through its name and preserving some of the facility’s unique attributes as design aesthetics, the Free Press reported.
The development project was unanimously approved by the Jasper Board of Zoning Appeals and Planning Commission. The project is still subject to approval by the Jasper Common Council.

In 2022, Indiana Furniture consolidated all of its production capacity into a new plant. Krempp was involved in a project completed in 2022 that expanded Indiana Furniture’s factory by 175,000 square feet. The company moved into a new corporate headquarters earlier this year.

According to Indiana Furniture website, the plant opened in 1906 and included three floors and a basement. Then known as Jasper Novelty Works, the factory focused on creating desks, including the Model 100 Ladies’ Typewriter desk that featured a mechanism for storing the typewriter when not in use.

Indiana Furniture ranks #137 on the FDMC 300 with 2023 sales of $58 million.