Downtown’s newest condominium is about to open.

Construction of the Macy Apartments at 200 N. Union St., the site of the former YMCA, is nearing completion, Ryan Pitcher of Fortune Companies Inc., the project’s developer, said earlier this week.

Renting of the apartment complex’s approximately 50 units has already begun, and Pitcher said he hopes residents will move in by early October.

The majority of the residential units in the complex have been completed. The apartment complex consists primarily of studios and 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom apartments – Pitcher said these two layouts were the most sought-after downtown – with a few one-bedroom apartments.

Here and there in the apartment complex there are so-called premium apartments. For example, one two-bedroom unit includes a loft living room, while another is larger than most and benefits from the former YMCA’s rotunda windows.

The apartments are market standard and rents will be “similar” to other Fortune Company apartments in the city center, such as Tudor, College and Superior apartments, Pitcher said. Monthly rentals for two-bedroom units in these apartment complexes run as high as $900 and $700 for the studios. The premium apartments mentioned above will be slightly more expensive than the others.

Fortune Companies acquired the project in late 2019 and received development plan approval in late 2020.

Construction included the complete gutting of the former YMCA’s main building, the construction of an all-new, two-story residential building on East Walnut Street, the conversion of the former YMCA’s original gymnasium into apartments, the creation of a courtyard between all three buildings, and nearly 30 parking spaces the extreme east side of the property.

The two devastated buildings of the former YMCA, specifically the second high school built in 1957 and the swimming pool built in 1965, were demolished by the city in 2018.

As of earlier this week, only the first-floor front spaces of the former YMCA building remain under construction, originally intended to be commercial, but due to lower demand for downtown office space and higher demand for housing, it will now also be apartments .

“Now is the best time to invest downtown, but not in commercial real estate,” said Scott Pitcher, owner of Fortune Companies. “It’s in an apartment building.”

As with most downtown projects Fortune Companies is involved with, reusing historical aspects of buildings is common.

The facade of the front of the main building of the former YMCA remains intact. The new building, constructed on East Walnut Street, is modern on the inside but historic on the outside, featuring salvaged columns and more from an old Indiana church that was demolished.

While the building’s original gymnasium was gutted, portions of the original floor were retained, sanded, repainted, and reused in some of the first floor residential units. The new name is also a return to the previous use. Macy just rearranged the letters of YMCA.

“We’re trying to keep as much flavor as possible because it’s a cool historic building that needed to be saved,” said Ryan Pitcher. “We try to preserve the integrity of the building when restoring these historic buildings.”

Those interested in renting a unit in the Macy Apartments can call Fortune Companies’ DJ Butcher at 765-860-2591.