Shopping in Munster, Indiana (Michigan City, Schererville: sales, real estate, condos)

[Northwest Indiana]

Now that the plans for a possible town center for Munster are back in the works, I think it is a good idea to get an idea for the type of stores/restaurants/businesses that we all would like to see at the development (if at all).

The following is a list of stores & restaurants that I would personally think would benefit the area or that I would personally shop at:

Von Maur
Nordstrom Rack
Apple Store
Foot Action USA
Banana Republic
Dooney & Bourke
Williams-Sonoma
Coach
Brooks Brothers
P.F. Chang's China Bistro

This is only a small list. Also, as far as most restaurants go, I would try to avoid large chains (such as Applebee's, Olive Garden) and stick to smaller chains or even family owned restaurants.

*Also, there is the proposed developments in Schererville (Oak Street Commons & Shops on Main) but as of now, I believe the Shops on Main is no more and Oak Street Commons is pretty stagant.

[WildWestDude]

where is it suppose to be build in Munster?

[Northwest Indiana]

It is supposed to be built where the Lake Business Center along Calumet stands right now. They are supposed to demolish the Lake Business Center and Pepsi bottling plant to make way for this development. The bottling plant will then be relocated somewhere around the Midwest Business Park further south.

[rrah]

Hmmm.....upscale, outdoor mall. Not the Lake County I grew up in.

[Chuckity]

That will make that crazy cluster intersection (with the tracks) over there even worse - are there plans for changing the traffic flow or anything?

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by Chuckity

That will make that crazy cluster intersection (with the tracks) over there even worse - are there plans for changing the traffic flow or anything?

Yes. You know the current intersection of 45th & Calumet (the one north of the tracks)? Well that is supposed to be no longer. They are supposed to get rid of that intersection and make 45th an overpass starting a little east of columbia avenue, over where Munster Steel currently stands and then it will meet up with the 45th south of the tracks. And then Calumet Avenue is supposed to become an underpass under the tracks. The businesses that will lose access have been warned and Munster Animal Hospital (one of the businesses) has already built a brand new Hospital by the open area near Cobblestones subdivision. Oh and also, they are widening Calumet Avenue from Fisher Avenue to the tracks and making a constant center lane so that the traffic that wants to turn into all of the businesses and hospital will hold up significantly less or no traffic at all.

Personally, if this development means more jobs and economic development for Northwest Indiana, the traffic will not be any problem for me at all. I would rather have traffic to get to stores in my state then have to go through Illinois traffic to pay more taxes that go to them.

Hopefully everything goes through with this!

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by rrah

Hmmm.....upscale, outdoor mall. Not the Lake County I grew up in.

Do you believe the ideas for upscale shopping in Lake County are good or bad? Can you also explain your answer too? Thank you, I'd appreciate your response!

[rrah]

I intentionally did not explain my answer because I have very mixed opinions on this.

I just finished doing a bit of googling on this though because my interest was piqued. Perhaps you can fill in the blanks. 2006--A commerical real estate management firm is named to develop and manage an upscale "lifestyle" center at the location you mention. It's slated to open in the Fall of 2008. 2007--Because of the possibility that a similar development may go up in Schererville the plans are scraped. Nov. 2009--The town of Munster releases a revised comprehensive plan that includes a town center with a mix of housing and commercial uses and a rail station. I found nothing about plans for a "lifestyle" center being resurrected.

I view a town center and a shopping mall that calls itself a town center as two very different things. A town center as described in Munster's plan can give a town a distinct identify. "Lifestyle" centers are just fancy names for malls. One is just like the next in my opinion and do little to create an identify or sense of place. If I still lived in NW IN and wanted to purchase goods from some of the stores you mention, I would likely travel to the outlet Mall in Michigan City. Based upon what I read in business mags and newspapers, many Americans have changed their buying habits in the last year. It maybe a long time, if ever, before the days of carefree spending return. I suspect that many people are coming out of this economic crisis like myself with a new attitude of delayed gratification: I might want that Coach purse, but I don't want to pay full price for it.

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by rrah

I intentionally did not explain my answer because I have very mixed opinions on this.

I just finished doing a bit of googling on this though because my interest was piqued. Perhaps you can fill in the blanks. 2006--A commerical real estate management firm is named to develop and manage an upscale "lifestyle" center at the location you mention. It's slated to open in the Fall of 2008. 2007--Because of the possibility that a similar development may go up in Schererville the plans are scraped. Nov. 2009--The town of Munster releases a revised comprehensive plan that includes a town center with a mix of housing and commercial uses and a rail station. I found nothing about plans for a "lifestyle" center being resurrected.

I view a town center and a shopping mall that calls itself a town center as two very different things. A town center as described in Munster's plan can give a town a distinct identify. "Lifestyle" centers are just fancy names for malls. One is just like the next in my opinion and do little to create an identify or sense of place. If I still lived in NW IN and wanted to purchase goods from some of the stores you mention, I would likely travel to the outlet Mall in Michigan City. Based upon what I read in business mags and newspapers, many Americans have changed their buying habits in the last year. It maybe a long time, if ever, before the days of carefree spending return. I suspect that many people are coming out of this economic crisis like myself with a new attitude of delayed gratification: I might want that Coach purse, but I don't want to pay full price for it.

Thank you very much! I appreciate your response! I would like to take the opportunity to clarify something. In my first post, I stated that there is a possibility of a new town center being developed. It is not a 100% definite plan as of yet, so I started this thread just to get some views on what people would like to see IF they were to go forth and completely redevelop the area. On the one hand, if I understand you correctly, I do agree with you that I would not want a basic shopping mall that does not add a sense of identity to the town. However, I believe that the proposed town center's inclusion of brownstones, condos, and townhomes and a possible South Shore station will insure that it really feels like a nice village within a town rather than a boxy ugly shopping mall. As for the changing of American shopping habits, I do agree that spending habits have changed and people are waiting a bit longer to buy certain things. However, many people put convenience first and would still rather have shopping directly in their area and save on gas AND sales taxes (instead of shopping in Illinois or Michigan City). On top of this, some residents in Illinois would even opt to come to Indiana to shop and will boost sales significantly. On an additional note, Munster's property taxes are pretty high because of the schools but many prospective new homeowners are going to need more than schools to attract them to a certain area as other towns in the area are becoming increasingly competitive (in terms of housing, quality of life, education). Hope this helps you understand where I am coming from! Thanks!

[Northwest Indiana]

For everyone who is interested, here is a link to the Munster Comprehensive Plan:

http://www.munster.org/egov/docs/617581257537956.pdf

This includes all of the proposed redevelopment plans for the town as well as the limited space for new development. If all goes according to plan, I believe that Munster will not only become an upscale shopping destination and NWI commuter rail hub, but also retain its image as a family friendly town.

***Note***Once the link is opened, I would recommend saving it to your computer, it makes it easier to load the pages and scroll without waiting very long for the images to load...this worked for me at least...