The Fountains of Crown Point (Gary, Merrillville: apartments, crime, hotels)

[iidreamtheaterii]

The Fountains of Crown Point is the latest ideas in sparking the industries along I-65 - even without the Illiana Tollway coming in.


http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/l...39938b9be.html


Even with the failed (stalled) Galleria slotted for 109th/I-65, it seems like Crown Point could still grow with a development such as this.


Developer - CDP Partners / Jeff Ban of DVG Inc. - Project Manager


$150M-$250M

Initial Planning

• 2 Hotels
• Bowling Alley
• Theater
• Fast Casual / Full Service Restaurants
• Specialty Grocery Store
• Residential Townhomes
• Fire Station
• Connection to the planned Lake County Veterans Memorial Bike Trail
• Water Features (Fountains perhaps? )

Anchor

• Premier Outlet Mall (80-100 stores)

This seems great for the region, especially without the Illiana Tollway coming to fruition. Growth south of the Rt. 30 Corridor seems great in helping the region to establish a draw to corporations that have so far steered clear of NWI.

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by iidreamtheaterii

The Fountains of Crown Point is the latest ideas in sparking the industries along I-65 - even without the Illiana Tollway coming in.


'Unprecedented' development in works for Crown Point; cost is estimated up to $250 million | Lake County News | nwitimes.com


Even with the failed (stalled) Galleria slotted for 109th/I-65, it seems like Crown Point could still grow with a development such as this.


Developer - CDP Partners / Jeff Ban of DVG Inc. - Project Manager


$150M-$250M

Initial Planning

• 2 Hotels
• Bowling Alley
• Theater
• Fast Casual / Full Service Restaurants
• Specialty Grocery Store
• Residential Townhomes
• Fire Station
• Connection to the planned Lake County Veterans Memorial Bike Trail
• Water Features (Fountains perhaps? )

Anchor

• Premier Outlet Mall (80-100 stores)

This seems great for the region, especially without the Illiana Tollway coming to fruition. Growth south of the Rt. 30 Corridor seems great in helping the region to establish a draw to corporations that have so far steered clear of NWI.

I hate you for beating me to the punch with this LOL! But this is truly exciting. While there are still folks that do not want any development in that area, the reception for this (so far) has been much better than the previous proposals of Ameriplex commercial and apartments or the proposed Walmart from even earlier. I just hope it does not stall but an outlet mall would do amazing here especially because outlets and upscale stores are doing the best compared to average department stores.

[iidreamtheaterii]

Originally Posted by Northwest Indiana

I hate you for beating me to the punch with this LOL! But this is truly exciting.

You do a much better job at explaining these but I felt "on top of things" wanting to spark the conversation!

[Ned B]

I'm kind of conflicted by this one. While new development in the region is great, and it sounds like this will bring a good mix of uses and need to be fairly compact, maybe even semi-walkable to pack all of those uses in, at the same time I feel like this specific location is just perpetuating the suburban sprawl into countryside and southward migration.

Whereas Centennial Village is filling in a gap in an already developed area, it feels liek something like this would be better located further north rather than on the absolute fringe of the developed metropolitan area.

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by Ned B

I'm kind of conflicted by this one. While new development in the region is great, and it sounds like this will bring a good mix of uses and need to be fairly compact, maybe even semi-walkable to pack all of those uses in, at the same time I feel like this specific location is just perpetuating the suburban sprawl into countryside and southward migration.

Whereas Centennial Village is filling in a gap in an already developed area, it feels liek something like this would be better located further north rather than on the absolute fringe of the developed metropolitan area.

This development would include an outlet mall and outlet malls are known for being on the fringes of suburbia. However, further north (like at 109th & 65) would be more ideal. Too far north though and it may have too much of a negative impact on the Rt. 30 corridor in Merrillville and Hobart.

With respect to the sprawling of suburbia, I do understand the concern; however, housing developments are already further south from there and have been for over 10 years so this would be also serving that area. Additionally, while many folks are against the development due to sprawl and the "loss of small-town feel", many others are against it because they essentially think that Crown Point will become Merrillville and Gary in more ways than one. This is also why CP--while a decent area with good growth--also concerns me with regards to seeing White flight (and the murder on the north side of town this week--which was an isolated domestic disturbance--definitely did not help with the image either ESPECIALLY because it just happened to be a Black family involved...some of the comments online about that situation are disgusting.)

[iidreamtheaterii]

Originally Posted by Northwest Indiana

This development would include an outlet mall and outlet malls are known for being on the fringes of suburbia. However, further north (like at 109th & 65) would be more ideal. Too far north though and it may have too much of a negative impact on the Rt. 30 corridor in Merrillville and Hobart.

I thought the same thing in regards to the location of the Outlet Mall. The Illiana Expressway was slotted to be in between Rt 231 and Rt 2 down in Lowell. I fully expected this development to be right off of that interchange (even further from the suburbia sprawl). With the Illiana's fate undecided, it's obvious they chose the next best intersection to base this off of.


Indiana chose to continue the I-65 widening to 3 lanes despite the Illiana debacle. It was always the plan to expand the region for growth and I for one commend them for not letting that stop them.


Say what you will about crime and white flight. Crown Point has already been in a shape-shift. It is only natural with so much sprawl that you would need the commercial realm to catch up. Let's just hope we do it tastefully in the planning process and continue to grow NWI in a positive direction.

[CGab]

I for one am excited to hear about this and I think it will be good for the area!

[Northwest Indiana]

Here is the most recent update to this project as the plan unanimously approved (7-0) a zoning change from Industrial to Business and now it is headed to the City Council: $250M 'Fountains' project in Crown Point moves a step forward; groundbreaking 2 years away

On facebook, several comments were removed by the times for their racist nature. I swear, as much praise that CP gets for being a hotspot that is family friendly, reasonably priced, and has good schools, the local populace seems to be the most insecure about their future as a municipality more so than any of the other comparable areas in NWI and probably even compared to some of the less comparable areas as well. And I am not even talking about folks whom have had families living there for generations. I am speaking to those who moved to CP to "get away" from other areas due to their demographics in more recent years. It seems like some of the folks in Crown Point moved there with the idea that the door would shut behind them lol and that is not happening! Whether this outlet project ultimately happens or not, the demographic changes that people are fearing would happen anyway. If people decide to panic and sell, well then, that would be the reason for any acceleration of change to occur. As much as I want to see NWI as a whole move forward, it is comments like some of the ones that I have seen that remind me we have a long way to go.

[richb]

Wonder if it could be built without the outlet mall (aka, the whole project dies because they can't fill it). The rest of it seems like there is demand for it.

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by richb

Wonder if it could be built without the outlet mall (aka, the whole project dies because they can't fill it). The rest of it seems like there is demand for it.

I think there is demand for the entire project. The problem is that folks don’t want “the others” to come to Crown Point. And we all know what that really means. It’s a shame really that people have to think that way. To me, it just shows that CP residents are not confident in the future of their city even as nicer developments are proposed. I’ve stated this before but while i honestly would have no major issue living in CP (aside from being far from Chicago to commute) I would be concerned about my property value if people still felt the need to flee at any sign of demographic change (which has already occurred in north CP). I don’t think I can live in an area like that.