Hammond, IN (Residential & Commercial Development) (Indianapolis, Gary: city hall, townhomes, buyers)

[Northwest Indiana]

This is exactly the type of office space that I envisioned when rooting for upscale office development along highways, especially 65 in the Merrillville/CP area...but I am very glad this is coming to Hammond too! The BW3 building looks very modern too and I when I have driven past in the evenings, it is always packed.

Four-story office building planned at Hammond's Oxbow Landing

[Northwest Indiana]

This is very good to see for that area. It will save many residents from having to travel all the way to Highland/Schererville or Merrillville if done right. (Mostly in reference to stores like Ross)

More retail tenants may be locating around Hammond Wal-Mart

[Northwest Indiana]

This is extremely good for Hammond! I was just talking to my friends about how nice it would be for Hammond to have a Starbucks off the highway and always thought it was so strange not having one. The one by Cabela's will serve probably majority Highland residents heading north to get onto the highway for work as well as some Munster residents for whom the Schererville Starbucks and the new one coming on Calumet at Lake Business Center would be inconvenient. And of course, this will serve south Hammond/Hessville residents. We all know that perception sometimes means more than reality but the perception in Hammond will definitely improve as more good business come.

I was also thinking that a new Starbucks in the Oxbow Landing area would work except that the road leading into that development is very narrow and traffic would be horrible. A Starbucks on Cline in the K-Mart development or one in downtown Highland would be great as well!

Starbucks, another Dunkin' Donuts coming to Hammond

[richb]

Originally Posted by Northwest Indiana

This is extremely good for Hammond! I was just talking to my friends about how nice it would be for Hammond to have a Starbucks off the highway and always thought it was so strange not having one. The one by Cabela's will serve probably majority Highland residents heading north to get onto the highway for work as well as some Munster residents for whom the Schererville Starbucks and the new one coming on Calumet at Lake Business Center would be inconvenient. And of course, this will serve south Hammond/Hessville residents. We all know that perception sometimes means more than reality but the perception in Hammond will definitely improve as more good business come.

I was also thinking that a new Starbucks in the Oxbow Landing area would work except that the road leading into that development is very narrow and traffic would be horrible. A Starbucks on Cline in the K-Mart development or one in downtown Highland would be great as well!

Starbucks, another Dunkin' Donuts coming to Hammond

Starbucks had been planning a location in Oxbow and also the corner of Lincoln and 41 (they even owned the property on that corner for a while) in Highland a number of years ago. Neither happened as Starbucks began to have financial problems at the time and stopped adding locations (they ended up closing locations during that time). So neither happened.

Hadn't remembered that old BK in hammond was gone that long. Time flies.

[midwest1]

Hammond has loads and loads of untapped potential. No city in the region is better positioned to attract the urban Chicagoans across the State Line. Suburban Chicagoans may go to St. John, Dyer, etc, but those wanting a more compact urban lifestyle closer to the city are likely t start to discover Hammond over the coming years. There is a ways to go to make it more ripe for urban redevelopment but according to some, I've heard things are already percolating there.

[censusdata]

How recent is the developments south of I-80 along Indianapolis Ave? The area near Cabela's & Walmart. There's also a golf course and parkland along the Little Calumet River. Was that a brown field or wetland?

[Northwest Indiana]

This would be very good for the Robertsdale area as well as Whiting:

Hammond looks to land swap with schools for residential development in Robertsdale

I could definitely see this being an upscale housing development. This is a rare opportunity that I know Hammond will not screw up.

[Ned B]

^Hoping that new residents can overlook the smells and sights from adjacent BP Refinery and other industry. I would say that would be the biggest hurtle to attracting more upscale construction here.

Also, last week Hammond's mayor tweeted a preview of the plans for the new Woodmar SportsPlex, to be built on the former site of the Woodmar Mall:

https://twitter.com/tommcdermottjr/s...282052/photo/1

I'm not sure what effect sport complexes can have on an area, but here's to hoping it does something.

[Ned B]

Some more good news regarding downtown was announced over the weekend in The Times:

Entrepreneurs, city officials bullish on Hammond downtown district | Hammond News | nwitimes.com

1. 39 bed geriatric psychiatric hospital moving into 5243 Hohman Ave. (former Mercantile National Bank). This was actually announced a month ago, but the sale of the building has now gone through to Assurance Health Systems, Inc. This building has been largely vacant since the BMO Harris moved to Sibley in 2007.
2. Laughing Right Productions purchased 5217 Hohman Ave. (former Dabney University Building). LRP plans to occupy the 3rd and 5th floors and lease out the 1st, 2nd, and 4th floors. I can't find anything on LRp, aside from it being owned by Antuwan Clemons, president of the Gary School Board and former candidate for the Indiana House or Reps. Dabney closed in July of last year, and it doesn't seem that they were ever fully utilizing the building.
3. 18th Street Brewery has purchased and is looking to expand into 489 Fayette (former Firestone building), one block from their current location (to remain open).
4. 5231 Hohman (former Calumet Bank Building) was purchased by Tom Sullivan (of Lumber Liquidators) and is being repaired and is available for lease. Supposedly there has been interest in the building and could see tenants moving in later this year.

[Ned B]

Another article on the sports center in hammond:

Hammond plans to bolster development, create sports destination - Post-Tribune

This clearer rendering gives a better sense of the site plan than the mayor's Twitter post from 2 weeks ago. The sports center will be constructed against the southwest corner of the site, with the parking fronting Indianapolis. This will leave the Carson Pirie Scott standing (visible on the right periphery of the rendering) until they build their planned new one story store, which will likely go just west of the current building so that they can remain open during construction.

Though I do wonder why Carson's chose to keep this stand alone store open, rather than maintaining a presence at or around River oaks.