Future desirability of Crown Point (Gary, Bright: transplants, to rent, house)

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by Ned B

I agree that continued redevelopment efforts in and around city downtowns is very important for maintaining a healthy city, but I sometimes wince at the teardown articles that advocate demolishing things just because they are old and that new buildings are much better. Redevelopment has to be done sparingly and carefully to maintain the character of historic neighborhoods, which is just as much of a draw for people to areas as "newness is." I'm not saying that we are anywhere near that point, but certainly something to watch out for.

Originally Posted by BridgetJones

Agreed. New homes can be built on any open lot, but you can't get back an old home. Once you tear it down, it's gone forever.

I also hate when this is presented as being more environmentally friendly because newer homes are often more energy efficient. However, by doing this you're going to send all of the components made to build that old home to the landfill, and then use a bunch of energy and resources to produce new drywall, windows, lumber, etc. The "greenest" home is one that is already standing.

I do agree that historic and architecturally significant structures should not only be saved when possible but when restored, they should be restored to their original glory. Too often I have seen grand old homes restored with basic materials (you can see evidence of this in Gary in the Morningside neighborhood and the Ambridge-Mann area by Northlake Hospital)...it truly hurts my eyes to see vinyl siding patched in where decorative brick used to be.

In a city like Crown Point where there is a historic core, an older suburban inner ring, and a newer suburban and semi-rural fringe, going "tear-down crazy" does not make any sense. There are definitely some homes around the core that need to be torn down as they hold no significant aside from being "old". Some of the Sears home on Indiana Avenue while somewhat significant were not kept up very well nor were they built with the best materials. The Indiana Avenue Townhomes that have replaced them look very nice. I do wish that they were 100% brick or that at least the siding and backs of those townhomes were wood instead of vinyl. However, it is still better than what was there before.

In general, newer homes are more efficient than older homes. But being LEED-certified is a completey different ballgame. Not every developer will be certified to build a LEED home as the process is very expensive and usually is done on either upscale custom homes or larger commercial or residential multi-unit projects. Also, LEED projects often include the recycling of a previous structures material and possible incorporation into the current project.

Having said all of this, I am still confident that there is room for some proper teardowns to occur in the historic square area in Crown Point and this will help maintain the attraction to people in the area. Again, it won't be many as there is still a lot of growth going on in the fringes and will continue to be as long as cheap housing keeps getting built. There are some properties that used to be mansions but that have been subdivided into multiple units and it is easy to see that the historic value of the property was not maintained in the subdivision of that property.

One thing I do wish is that some stricter standards are held to when approving some subdivisions in Crown Point. I understand that they want to attract residents; however, at some point, people get turned away when the first thing they see is vinyl villages alongside I-65. They look "shiny and new" now but in 20 years, they start to show age easily. Crown Point has been strict about commercial development along the Broadway corridor and incorporating the "Williamsburg" style. While strict, overall, it does look nice and cohesive. But they should try to have developers do this. There is a northeast suburb of Columbus, OH called New Albany. While it is a lot more wealthy than Crown Point, there are some homes and subdivisions there that I think could definitely be developed in Crown Point. A development such as "The Village at Burns Harbor" could do well in Crown Point or Winfield where on some plots, the garages are rear-facing into an alley and homes are a little closer together and more upscale.

Here are the homes and townhomes in New Albany that I am referring to which range from about $450K to $650K (although New Albany has homes upwards of $3M):

[Northwest Indiana]

While this is not necessarily a "redevelopment", this is one of the few pieces of land available in the northern part of Crown Point (in Ross Township). The homes will be pretty mid-scale in offering and will probably cater more to empty nesters as opposed to young families. Either way, seems like a good use of the property.

New subdivision being proposed behind former Chevrolet dealer in Crown Point

There is a large amount of land across Main St from the dealership that could be developed into a subdivision but proximity to the government complex/jail may be less than appealing for potential buyers. Perhaps it could support a rental community but we know that CP would not be for that.

[artemis]

Originally Posted by Northwest Indiana

While this is not necessarily a "redevelopment", this is one of the few pieces of land available in the northern part of Crown Point (in Ross Township). The homes will be pretty mid-scale in offering and will probably cater more to empty nesters as opposed to young families. Either way, seems like a good use of the property.

New subdivision being proposed behind former Chevrolet dealer in Crown Point

There is a large amount of land across Main St from the dealership that could be developed into a subdivision but proximity to the government complex/jail may be less than appealing for potential buyers. Perhaps it could support a rental community but we know that CP would not be for that.

That land back there is pretty wet. This should be interesting.

[Northwest Indiana]

'Major' land-related announcement coming to Crown Point

I know it is only 1 day out, but does anyone have guesses on what the announcement would be?

My guesses are:

1. New Hotel by I-65/109th
2. Andrean officially deciding to move to Crown Point
3. Galleria Center will be moving forward again and an anchor will be announced
4. New housing along the Broadway corridor
5. Development at I-65/231 (AmeriPlex)

[richb]

Originally Posted by Northwest Indiana

'Major' land-related announcement coming to Crown Point

I know it is only 1 day out, but does anyone have guesses on what the announcement would be?

My guesses are:

1. New Hotel by I-65/109th
2. Andrean officially deciding to move to Crown Point
3. Galleria Center will be moving forward again and an anchor will be announced
4. New housing along the Broadway corridor
5. Development at I-65/231 (AmeriPlex)

Guessing something commercial off 65/231 of your choices. Maybe large light industrial buildings, since there seems to be some demand for large spaces. It's the only large area near 65 without homes close by that won't want businesses nearby. Would be best for CP, having more jobs in town, that whole area east of 65 off of 321 should not be zoned for homes. Needs to be business park badly. Easiest place for trucks to come off of 65 too.

Maybe the hotel proposal on 109th, but thats not huge news. Neither would subdivisions. I doubt Galleria is going anywhere since retail is so on the rocks lately. I doubt Andrean has gotten to the deciding stage yet.

Should be interesting

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by richb

Guessing something commercial off 65/231 of your choices. Maybe large light industrial buildings, since there seems to be some demand for large spaces. It's the only large area near 65 without homes close by that won't want businesses nearby. Would be best for CP, having more jobs in town, that whole area east of 65 off of 321 should not be zoned for homes. Needs to be business park badly. Easiest place for trucks to come off of 65 too.

Maybe the hotel proposal on 109th, but thats not huge news. Neither would subdivisions. I doubt Galleria is going anywhere since retail is so on the rocks lately. I doubt Andrean has gotten to the deciding stage yet.

Should be interesting

Thanks for the response. I do agree that the area should be zoned for commercial/light industrial. There just seems to be a lot of NIMBYs not wanting any more development (of course, other than theirs). There’s people complaining about growth whom live in developments built post-2008.

Also in CP, there is a lot of pent-up demand for apartments even on the higher end; however, they have been shot down. In the future, I anticipate that this will end badly for CP as more developers/social agencies around the country have been challenging municipalities denial of their projects claiming violation of fair housing laws. I can also see this being the case with some owner-occupied proposed developments such as Sawgrass which the city stated they would have a “no rental clause” written into the PUD. I’m wondering if this form of restrictive covenant would be legal?

[richb]

Turns out to be a new city hall and police station proposal on old greenhouse site.

Long-shuttered Crown Point greenhouse site slated for new City Hall, police station | Lake County News | nwitimes.com

[knighthood82]

Crown Point has not yet met an expensive project it didn't like.

[cobra86]

Originally Posted by richb

Turns out to be a new city hall and police station proposal on old greenhouse site.

Long-shuttered Crown Point greenhouse site slated for new City Hall, police station | Lake County News | nwitimes.com

As a CP resident, I openly welcome this! Current facilities are undersized and this will allow the fire department to expand as well, which is needed too. Previous discussions about moving the police station were always thought to be more south, but this location will be a good center point with easy access to most areas of the city with exception being to the west/southwest areas of CP. And as someone who lives near the current police station and fire department, cutting some of the siren noise will be welcomed by my family. As for city hall, this will give them a more public view. Most people outside of CP, and some residents possibly, probably don't know where CP city hall is off the top of their head. The new location will give it more visibility and the location will finally have something instead of the dilapidated greenhouse.

[Northwest Indiana]

This building looks great! In addition to the professional offices there, I also think a small Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts would do excellent!



Source: Plans for Lake County Government Complex property would mean new 'gateway' to Crown Point