The city of Warsaw has a $27 million plan to increase its population density downtown, just south of one of its greatest natural assets: Center Lake.

That plan calls for demolishing about a dozen single-family homes that now sit in the 300 block of Buffalo Street and replacing them with a mix of 52 new town homes, city homes and “mews.”

“This is about extending our downtown borders down to the lake. A lot of communities have rivers. South Bend has a beautiful river and the river lights, it’s a real heartbeat of their community,” Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said. “We’ve got a park plaza planned downtown on the lake that’s going to have art work, a small, interactive lighted fountain."

Groundbreaking ceremonies Tuesday marked the start of construction on the first town home. South Bend-based David Matthews is the private developer of the project.

“We expect similar to what we have in South Bend -- probably two-thirds of our buyers will be over 55," he said. "It’s baby boomers working on their 20-year plans that, if we stay in suburbia and we lose the ability to drive, what happens in 10 or 15 years? If we were into our urban setting where we can walk or even wheel to the park and watch live concerts through the summer, go out to eat, have restaurants, entertainment.”

Matthews says construction on the first unit is expected to start in about a month and that the first homeowner could move in by the end of this year.