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[Hypnotic]

I think that we should have a thread where we can keep track of and discuss projects that are under construction, planned or proposed for the city. We can also exchange ideas about what types of developments Michigan City needs to attract to be competitive in the region. I am sort of a development nerd and the idea comes from 'Skyscraperpage' where the site is devoted to major construction projects from around the world.

Current projects and proposals:

Michigan City Police Station
Lifeworks Business Park
Construction on South Franklin
Realignment of Washington and Pine
New activities center/pavilion at Washington Park
U.S. 421 Overpass
U.S. 12 bridge
Franklin Street Bridge
LMGIS
Art Space
Proposed "up-scale" hotel for North End
Former Memorial Hospital Site
Trail Creek Corridor
Beautification of Nipsco Cooling Tower
Nipsco "Scrubber"
NICTD Track Realignment

We have a lot of development in the works. I've always felt that Michigan City is a sleeping giant that has the potential to dominate the region. We have had multiple developers envision high-rises and mid-rises in the city at various locations. I can remember back in 2006-2007 a developer from Chicago wanted to demolish Galveston Steakhouse and erect a 13 story "S" shaped condo on the site before the economy collapsed. Another developer proposed two 20 story condo/hotel buildings for the former Memorial Hospital site and Lohan-Anderson recommended 3-24 story condos for Trail Creek next to Blue Chip. The possibilities are endless but the city must rid itself of the terrible NIMBY'ism which harms our growth.

I hope to hear of other projects in the city that people have knowledge of that I am unaware of and welcome even rumors. For instance, I have a friend with ties to sources in the city and he has stated that they are working towards Marquette Mall being demolished with the city claiming emanate domain. Whether it is substantial I don't know but it is certainly conceivable and necessary. He also claimed that the mall doubled the rent of Applebee's and that is why they exited the city. I hope Michigan City does not work to just become Valparaiso redux which I fear is the idea. Michigan City has a unique opportunity to become more South Bend like with major developments. We have almost double the Sq. Mileage of Valpo and La Porte. The problem is Michigan City is largely underdeveloped. We have large swaths of land primed for mixed use projects. Cleveland Ave. for one has the potential to be even more prominent with a greater density than Franklin Street yet it has attracted no interest from what I can glean. The sign for "Cleveland Crossing" has been up for 8-10 years. I would also like to see Michigan City attract more authentic ethnic restaurants and other businesses to give more of a big city feel by offering something for everyone and widening the demographics rather than just being a high-end mono-cultural boutique city like Valpo. A market research company suggested Michigan City also attract a college campus somewhere downtown to give a "university feel" to the North End. Either PNC, Ivy Tech or I.U. That would be an excellent idea to bolster growth.

[Hypnotic]

^^ The redevelopment and planning commissions need to partner with serious and committed major master developers like CMK, BKL, SOM, Related Midwest and Perkins + Will who are qualified and vastly experienced in planning, design and building large-scale modern urban developments all over the world. The city running to Tracy Cross, Hitchcock, Holladay Properties and Haas and Associates for every potential development is creating suburban sprawl that is grossly under-utilizing and neglecting our most prized assets and prime development sites.


The Riverline development in Chicago on an apporpraite scale would be ideal for the Trail Creek Corridor.:



Below is "Atrium Village" that would be perfect for redevelopment of the former Memorial Hospital site:




Obviously these would need to be scaled back to realistic proportions for Michigan City with towers varying in height from the 8 to 20 story range with row housing and low-rise town home developments to fill the gaps and add density.

The city needs to be ultra ambitious and Rich Murphy has said they are working to "create a world class city". "A small town comfort with a big city look and feel"...

This is achievable and the Warren Building only at 7 floors is beautiful at night with the illuminated crown contrasting against the night sky and colored lights casting up the building which at 75 feet is viewable from varying vantage points in the city and projects a big city perception to pedestrians and commuters. At street level it gives the downtown a prominence and big-city dimension that I haven't seen in my lifetime. This why the city must attract further development even taller within the 12 to 20 story range throughout the downtown area with visually stunning design and high-end materials that swallow up these city-killing surface parking lots and empty corner lots all through the downtown.


I don't know who is giving them the impression that 4 and 5 story cookie-cutter apartments and public art displays like giant umbrellas and beach balls in public plazas are "world class". We have an opportunity to develop a truly "world class city" with the right design, developers and public and private support.

The city should work endlessly to create a dense and vibrant downtown core by attracting mixed use projects to the area with properly scaled versions of the examples of the Chicago projects I posted. The city is grossly under-utilizing these prime development sites and once they are built with the currently planned lack-luster small-scale suburban sprawl type projects the opportunity is lost for generations to come.

A truly "world class" Michigan City would have an appropriate scale skyline similar to Schaumburg in density but more modern and thinner & taller offering more diverse architecture, multiple modes of public transportation, a comprehensive river-walk, defined shopping, entertainment, tourist and dining districts, institutions for higher learning and interactive public squares featuring displays more memorable than sculptures that you can't determine what it is supposed to even be as we see popping up all over the north-end.

Like I said because of our lakefront, proximity to Chicago, lighthouse mall and casino which has already proven a high-rise is sustainable in Michigan City and adds a lot to our image places us in a unique position to develop "big-city" projects that no other comparable city in the region could realistically undertake. The NICTD double tracking project makes us a competitor of the western Chicago Suburbs that are light-years ahead of Northwest Indiana so there is no excuse. Young Professionals, artists, students, empty nesters and entrepreneurs would want to reside within the North End in droves if Michigan City produces the modern lakefront "big city experience" I have outlined.