“I think having access to affordable office space downtown was very instrumental to our growth,” she said.
Now, she’s at the forefront of what she hopes will be a renaissance for Fort Wayne’s southeast side.
Legacy One Real Estate & Contracting Inc., the business Golden launched with her son, Matthew Golden, will break ground this spring on a 6,000-square-foot building near Southtown Crossing next to Menards.
Matthew Golden, who heads the firm’s contracting work, will oversee construction of the $325,000, one-story building. The work is expected to take about four months.
Legacy One will occupy about half the space, Linda Golden said. She’s a real estate broker who works with both residential and commercial properties. The remaining space will include offices for lease and a community space available for baby showers and other small gatherings up to 100 people, she said.
Linda Golden, who has lived her entire life in southeast Fort Wayne, approached the city’s Community Development office about six months ago and shared her building plans. The city donated the real estate for the project.
A city spokesman didn’t have immediate access Friday to the property’s size or assessed value.
Legacy One would have located in the area even without the assistance, Linda Golden said.
“We don’t plan for this to be our only building” on the property, she said. “We hope the second one will be a coffee shop.”
Although the Goldens have talked to a few people about possibly running a coffee shop, they don’t yet have anyone lined up.
Linda Golden said the building project wasn’t conceived as an effort to keep her son and his subcontractors busy.
“Construction is still booming in Fort Wayne and all around,” she said.
Instead, she said, the Goldens are investing in the area because they love it and have never wanted to live anywhere else.
“Southeast,” she said, “is a very, very good place to live, to work, to play.”
