Creative Adaptive Reuse: Turning Underused Main Street Assets Into Engines of Local Growth

Communities across Indiana are grappling with the same challenges: vacant or underutilized Main Street buildings, rising demand for housing, and a need to support small businesses and local employers. Adaptive reuse offers a practical path forward – but only if zoning, financing, and policy tools align with on-the-ground realities.

This panel brings together mayors, town managers, economic development professionals, and practitioners working directly on redevelopment projects to examine how underused commercial assets can be reimagined as mixed-use, live-work spaces. The conversation will focus on real examples from Indiana communities, highlighting what works, what stalls, and where gaps remain.

Panelists will explore how housing policy, mixed-use development, and tools like the Revitalizing Empty Structures Into Desirable Environments (RESIDE) Act intersect with local revitalization efforts. They will also discuss what communities need to move projects from concept to reality. The session is designed for public-sector leaders and practitioners looking for actionable insight – not theory – on how to make adaptive reuse projects viable and sustainable.

This event is part of a Creative Economy Panel Series powered by Pattern and KSM, examining how creativity functions as critical infrastructure for Indiana’s economic growth.

Panelists:

• Dax Norton, town manager at the town of Bargersville
• Jenell Fairman, executive chief of economic and community development at the city of Westfield
• Jeremy Stephenson, managing partner at 1820 Ventures
• Max Engling, regional director for central Indiana at the office of U.S. Sen. Jim Banks

The panel will be moderated by Marlon Webb, manager of government consulting at KSM.