After announcing in April plans to construct a $25 million facility on the northeast corner of University and McKinley avenues, further progress seems to be at a standstill for Ball State.
The proposed McKinley Commons is expected to go up in the area that is partially occupied by Hiatt Printing at 506 N. McKinley Ave., and will house 50 dorm rooms, 100 hotel rooms, a series of conference rooms, a student-run retail area and two restaurants.
In late July, the university announced there would be a special Board of Trustees meeting on Aug. 3 to discuss the "acquisition of property."
On Aug. 2, the Board of Trustees canceled the meeting.
"The university is engaged in formal and informal negotiations with the David Hiatt Trust and therefore did not believe a meeting was needed at this time," said Tony Proudfoot, associate vice president for Marketing and Communications.
In April, Proudfoot said the university had made a formal offering of $400,000 to Chris Hiatt, but Hiatt had yet to respond to the offer.
According to email correspondence between Hiatt and Randy Howard, vice president for business affairs, Hiatt requested a copy of the 2012-2013 university budget on May 14.
In an email to Howard and Sen. Doug Eckerty dated May 15, Hiatt said he considered it "unfortunate" that a resolution had yet to be made regarding his McKinley property.
"Regarding Ball State's ongoing interest in the 506 McKinley Ave. property that involves my business leasehold, I will confirm with you that the owner of record for the McKinley property is in possession of Ball State's written offer dated April 23, 2012," Hiatt said. "...Any prior unofficial discussions with Ball State regarding the Hiatt Printing business have fallen well short of protecting against unwarranted and permanent damages to both Hiatt Printing's established business interests as well as documentable net revenues."
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