Replies

[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]

I recall that back in the early 90s right after I moved here that Buddy Myers of the Chicago Wolves hockey team as looking into building an indoor event arena in Michigan City. He wanted to locate it across from the airport on U.S. 35 where they keep talking about putting in a truck stop. The three county commissioners that were in at the time who are now all deseased wanted a big chunk of the revenue and mayor Brillson wanted to locate it on the old Memorial Hospital property. Nothing ever came to fruition.

I remember that as well. Brillson also wanted to bring a 2nd casino, (she fought for Four Winds and land based gaming but the state law did not pass) a minor league baseball team and a regional airport. She had great vision and passion. We have not had a mayor to match her vision for Michigan City. She was responsible for much of the growth that we experienced.

As for the mall, it is a blight and I have no clue why nothing is being done about it. All I have heard is that the owners are obstinate and can afford to operate at a loss essentially forever. This is supposedly why the city is at the emanate domain stage as all other options have been exhausted. Though the city has been negotiating with Blocksom for over a decade. If the mall goes anything like that then this will be a futile notion. A Shoe Carnival manager told me last year he heard that a Macy's is supposed to take over the Penney's building. Then they announced their closing a few months later. I hope this isn't true and the mall is indeed demolished. I think there is more potential for the location than what a rejuvenated mall would bring.

[taxthedeer]

I remember that as well. Brillson also wanted to bring a 2nd casino, (she fought for Four Winds and land based gaming but the state law did not pass) a minor league baseball team and a regional airport. She had great vision and passion. We have not had a mayor to match her vision for Michigan City. She was responsible for much of the growth that we experienced.

As for the mall, it is a blight and I have no clue why nothing is being done about it. All I have heard is that the owners are obstinate and can afford to operate at a loss essentially forever. This is supposedly why the city is at the emanate domain stage as all other options have been exhausted. Though the city has been negotiating with Blocksom for over a decade. If the mall goes anything like that then this will be a futile notion. A Shoe Carnival manager told me last year he heard that a Macy's is supposed to take over the Penney's building. Then they announced their closing a few months later. I hope this isn't true and the mall is indeed demolished. I think there is more potential for the location than what a rejuvenated mall would bring.

Marquete Mall property would be an ideal location for the Northwest Indiana Convention and Event Center similar to Donald E. Stevens in Rosemont, IL or McCormick Place in Chicago. There is nothing like that anywhere in the Northwest Indiana region.

[Hypnotic]

Marquete Mall property would be an ideal location for the Northwest Indiana Convention and Event Center similar to Donald E. Stevens in Rosemont, IL or McCormick Place in Chicago. There is nothing like that anywhere in the Northwest Indiana region.

A convention center with a mixed use high-rise tower including hotel/office/retail/restaurants and perhaps live theater space ala "Star Plaza" would be such a perfect utilization of the property and put the city on the proverbial map. Or the site could serve as a satellite campus for a major university with a combination of low & mid-rise offices, halls and dorms and an athletics facility.

Sadly, knowing Michigan City if anything we will see strip malls, banks and gas stations go up in it's place if anything ever happens.

It would require an ambitious developer and a substantial investment on the city's behalf but the rewards would be incalculable.

[Southsider2k12]

A convention center with a mixed use high-rise tower including hotel/office/retail/restaurants and perhaps live theater space ala "Star Plaza" would be such a perfect utilization of the property and put the city on the proverbial map. Or the site could serve as a satellite campus for a major university with a combination of low & mid-rise offices, halls and dorms and an athletics facility.

Sadly, knowing Michigan City if anything we will see strip malls, banks and gas stations go up in it's place if anything ever happens.

It would require an ambitious developer and a substantial investment on the city's behalf but the rewards would be incalculable.

With the local demographics, it would be a really tough sell when compared to the communities around us. You need a pretty white collar, college educated community to not only to support that type of development, but also to staff it. Too many of our college grads are lone gone to greener fields in other towns.

[Hypnotic]

[/b]

With the local demographics, it would be a really tough sell when compared to the communities around us. You need a pretty white collar, college educated community to not only to support that type of development, but also to staff it. Too many of our college grads are lone gone to greener fields in other towns.

Well I would think a new campus for a major university would attract people from the entire region. A college like Indiana, Purdue or Ball State etc. etc. have the resources to fully staff a new institution through recruitment. The reputation alone would attract students and faculty. Imagine news of a "Northern Ball State" coming to Michigan City. That would resonate through the entire Midwest. PNC is flourishing, something on an even bigger scale I believe would succeed in a city environment. One thing that lacks with every other school in the area other than Valpo is a Division 1 athletics program. That would definitely increase viability. I think an 8-10 thousand student capacity sized school would offer competition to attract students and faculty headed to Purdue/I.U./Valpo or out of state.

There are plenty Michigan City residents who could now attend school at home. For instance I know many people who attend Michigan City Ivy Tech and their number one complaint is that they have to travel to South Bend or Valpo for most of the classes that they take since the city campus offers so little. Nursing is the only program I see people actually graduating from and going on to find high wage jobs. My wife had to attend Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor for Dental Hygienist. There are just so few options in Michigan City. It would take years and a few phases but feasible. We have the land across from the airport which could house it or along 94, 400.

Having said all that, I know there is no way anything like this ever happens. I don't even foresee a Valpo sized Ivy Tech ever being built in Michigan City. They won't even build a new High School after combining both and supposedly being on sinking land.

Daniel Burnham said, "Make no little plans, for they have no magic to stir men's blood." The Michigan City NIMBY's need to heed this advice.

[Southsider2k12]

Well I would think a new campus for a major university would attract people from the entire region. A college like Indiana, Purdue or Ball State etc. etc. have the resources to fully staff a new institution through recruitment. The reputation alone would attract students and faculty. Imagine news of a "Northern Ball State" coming to Michigan City. That would resonate through the entire Midwest. PNC is flourishing, something on an even bigger scale I believe would succeed in a city environment. One thing that lacks with every other school in the area other than Valpo is a Division 1 athletics program. That would definitely increase viability. I think an 8-10 thousand student capacity sized school would offer competition to attract students and faculty headed to Purdue/I.U./Valpo or out of state.

There are plenty Michigan City residents who could now attend school at home. For instance I know many people who attend Michigan City Ivy Tech and their number one complaint is that they have to travel to South Bend or Valpo for most of the classes that they take since the city campus offers so little. Nursing is the only program I see people actually graduating from and going on to find high wage jobs. My wife had to attend Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor for Dental Hygienist. There are just so few options in Michigan City. It would take years and a few phases but feasible. We have the land across from the airport which could house it or along 94, 400.

Having said all that, I know there is no way anything like this ever happens. I don't even foresee a Valpo sized Ivy Tech ever being built in Michigan City. They won't even build a new High School after combining both and supposedly being on sinking land.

Daniel Burnham said, "Make no little plans, for they have no magic to stir men's blood." The Michigan City NIMBY's need to heed this advice.

I would love to see it happen. I really would. Ultimately these places have to make money, or they won't survive. That is the biggest hang up. There has to be a market to support the underlying business.

[Hypnotic]

I would love to see it happen. I really would. Ultimately these places have to make money, or they won't survive. That is the biggest hang up. There has to be a market to support the underlying business.

Look at similarly sized Kalamazoo for example, (land area) home to Western Michigan with 25,000 students, and Kalamazoo Valley with 12,000, a downtown business district replete with high rises etc. For being 20 square miles Michigan City is grossly under-populated and under-developed. There are many similar sized cities with double and triple the population. With the city wanting to build luxury high/mid-rises condos, high-end hotels, upscale eateries and becoming a regional destination there is no better way to go about it than having an educated workforce with high earnings potential and opportunities at home. I don't want to oversimplify the process but I think that there is always a market for institutions of higher learning. The industry sells itself really which in turn leads to other industries attaching themselves to the opportunities which are presented by such a massive development which then sells itself to the people.

With forming a university, I am led to believe that along with it, would also come more diversified professional industries to the city and surrounding area. High paying finance/medical/advertising/manufacturing jobs would materialize from large corporations which would locate to the city knowing it is drawing from a college educated population. As it stands, what motivation would a global corporation such as Mercedes have to ever build a Michigan City plant for example? Valparaiso has significantly more and higher paying manufacturing jobs and I believe that is solely due to having a higher educated workforce and better schools.

Considering that we are calculated in the Chicago Metropolitan Population which has roughly 9.7-10 million people and with many of these major universities having a 65-80% acceptance rate. Those statistics provide a potential student population that far, far exceeds what having 10 times the amount of colleges in the area could accommodate. I don't believe Michigan City proper would have to be the catalyst for success. If the school had a reputable research facility, division 1 athletics and post graduate programs I think the institution would make money.

As it stands, Michigan City is a dead end for it's citizenry. Low paying service jobs, a relatively high crime rate and a disillusioned youth who must relocate to find success leaves them taking menial jobs with no ambitions of attending college. All this could change with a systematic overhaul of the school system which would be possible with outreach programs through the university and funding from taxes collected. They could hire better teachers and administrators and students would take a more active role in their studies and preparation for their future's knowing their is an opportunity to attend school and find living wage employment at home.

[Southsider2k12]

Look at similarly sized Kalamazoo for example, (land area) home to Western Michigan with 25,000 students, and Kalamazoo Valley with 12,000, a downtown business district replete with high rises etc. For being 20 square miles Michigan City is grossly under-populated and under-developed. There are many similar sized cities with double and triple the population. With the city wanting to build luxury high/mid-rises condos, high-end hotels, upscale eateries and becoming a regional destination there is no better way to go about it than having an educated workforce with high earnings potential and opportunities at home. I don't want to oversimplify the process but I think that there is always a market for institutions of higher learning. The industry sells itself really which in turn leads to other industries attaching themselves to the opportunities which are presented by such a massive development which then sells itself to the people.

With forming a university, I am led to believe that along with it, would also come more diversified professional industries to the city and surrounding area. High paying finance/medical/advertising/manufacturing jobs would materialize from large corporations which would locate to the city knowing it is drawing from a college educated population. As it stands, what motivation would a global corporation such as Mercedes have to ever build a Michigan City plant for example? Valparaiso has significantly more and higher paying manufacturing jobs and I believe that is solely due to having a higher educated workforce and better schools.

Considering that we are calculated in the Chicago Metropolitan Population which has roughly 9.7-10 million people and with many of these major universities having a 65-80% acceptance rate. Those statistics provide a potential student population that far, far exceeds what having 10 times the amount of colleges in the area could accommodate. I don't believe Michigan City proper would have to be the catalyst for success. If the school had a reputable research facility, division 1 athletics and post graduate programs I think the institution would make money.

As it stands, Michigan City is a dead end for it's citizenry. Low paying service jobs, a relatively high crime rate and a disillusioned youth who must relocate to find success leaves them taking menial jobs with no ambitions of attending college. All this could change with a systematic overhaul of the school system which would be possible with outreach programs through the university and funding from taxes collected. They could hire better teachers and administrators and students would take a more active role in their studies and preparation for their future's knowing their is an opportunity to attend school and find living wage employment at home.

Who exactly is looking to build a new university right now? And your first two paragraphs are exactly why Michigan City wouldn't be the first choice for anyone who was looking to expand. That is kind of my point. Why would THEY want to come HERE? It is obvious why we would want them here.

[Hypnotic]

Who exactly is looking to build a new university right now? And your first two paragraphs are exactly why Michigan City wouldn't be the first choice for anyone who was looking to expand. That is kind of my point. Why would THEY want to come HERE? It is obvious why we would want them here.

Well obviously this is a hypothetical conversation. Please don't lose sight of the fact that I clearly stated that "nothing like this will ever happen." I am only making a case that the city could take steps to move in such a direction to make its self attractive to a university. They can create the climate necessary to bring something like this to fruition. Just like the city could have created the climate to bring in 3 twenty-four story high-rise condos as recommended by Lohan Anderson who would have signed on to be the "master-developer." If the city actively pursued such a venture it would be possible. You don't think that if the city approached say, Purdue or I.U. about bringing in a school and offered tax incentives, a land deal, significant state funding and promises to develop surrounding areas to attract potential students there would be an interest? As you said, they are in the money making business and a deal like that would be irresistible. This is just not where our values are, we are too concerned with building a lakefront shoppers paradise (and failing). As I said previously, P.N.C. is flourishing in Westville of all places with 4,500 students and making multi-million $ investments like a new, student activities center. Attach "Purdue" to a facility and the rest will follow. There is no reason Michigan City couldn't host a college 2-3 times the size. The city generated $27 million for "Artpsace" and a new police station. That sort of investment builds a very large state of the art facility for something like the new "Northern I.U." going up across from the airport on U.S. 12 on the 300 acres secured from the county in a low interest, 20 year tax free agreement where in exchange La Porte County residents receive financial relief on their annual tuitions. lol, That's all I'm saying.

Do you think Blue Chip blindly picked Michigan City from a map? Not hardly, the city aggressively engaged them and agreed to demolish an entire neighborhood to accommodate it, hence, "creating the climate." Why would a casino want to come to a "ghetto" and a city where the median household income is $40,000 then sit a barge in a creek that is marginally wider than the vessel and can only travel 100 feet? Remember? The casino was looking for a Lake Michigan location where the riverboat could travel for hours at a time. The Trail Creek Corridor Plan, Blocksom and marina relocations, Michigan Blvd beautification, etc. etc. is all steps the city conceptualized when the casino agreed to come to make it a viable and sustainable operation in the future. Blue Chip wants traffic to the district and the city made all sorts of promises to deliver. As I said in the first post they are encouraging the city to attract an "up-scale" hotel with convention space, high end dining and lake views. This could be viewed as competition but they embrace it for the potential increase in tourism. It takes a concerted effort and it's not always the development solely recruiting the location. Often they must be enticed.

Kohl's agreed to come and with that agreement came upgrades in sewer systems, renovating the existing plaza, parking lot, an uptick in pressure on the mall to do something with the property and future U.S. 20 streetscape improvements all on the city's behalf.


Michigan City wouldn't be anybody's first choice or ideal location for a burgeoning artist community either, throw in a $20 million investment on the city and private donor's behalves with renovation of an entire district, a newly renovated low-rise lofts, updated façade grants, attract other art related stores and trendy restaurants and Michigan City has itself a poor man's Greenwhich Village.

This sort of thinking that something can't be done in Michigan City is exactly why the city is so stagnated and been left behind by Valpo. In less than a decade Valpo turned sprawling forests and fields into professional office buildings, medical facilities, a $30 million Ivy Tech campus, large manufacturing facilities with living wage jobs, a regional hospital and big box retail shopping that puts Franklin to shame. Lincolnway has multiple mixed-use low-rise condo's with retail at street level. A completely revitalized bustling downtown with high-end boutiques and trendy shops. Highway 30 is also filled with stores and restaurants for miles, There has also been a 30% increase in population since the turn of the century. In that same period Michigan City built a 4 lane road primed for commercial development that shockingly still sits vacant and hasn't even filled numerous lots on Franklin Street. What resources were there exactly that Michigan City did not have? Michigan City has the lake, Lighthouse Mall and casino paying them tens of millions annually. Valpo's higher property taxes do not account for the amazing development and they always had higher median incomes than Michigan City yet was a ghost town by comparison. They had politicians and officials who went after it. That is why Michigan City went after Craig Philips. We see now there is a study being done every other week. The city might finally be getting it right.

[Southsider2k12]

Well obviously this is a hypothetical conversation. Please don't lose sight of the fact that I clearly stated that "nothing like this will ever happen." I am only making a case that the city could take steps to move in such a direction to make its self attractive to a university. They can create the climate necessary to bring something like this to fruition. Just like the city could have created the climate to bring in 3 twenty-four story high-rise condos as recommended by Lohan Anderson who would have signed on to be the "master-developer." If the city actively pursued such a venture it would be possible. You don't think that if the city approached say, Purdue or I.U. about bringing in a school and offered tax incentives, a land deal, significant state funding and promises to develop surrounding areas to attract potential students there would be an interest? As you said, they are in the money making business and a deal like that would be irresistible. This is just not where our values are, we are too concerned with building a lakefront shoppers paradise (and failing). As I said previously, P.N.C. is flourishing in Westville of all places with 4,500 students and making multi-million $ investments like a new, student activities center. Attach "Purdue" to a facility and the rest will follow. There is no reason Michigan City couldn't host a college 2-3 times the size. The city generated $27 million for "Artpsace" and a new police station. That sort of investment builds a very large state of the art facility for something like the new "Northern I.U." going up across from the airport on U.S. 12 on the 300 acres secured from the county in a low interest, 20 year tax free agreement where in exchange La Porte County residents receive financial relief on their annual tuitions. lol, That's all I'm saying.

Do you think Blue Chip blindly picked Michigan City from a map? Not hardly, the city aggressively engaged them and agreed to demolish an entire neighborhood to accommodate it, hence, "creating the climate." Why would a casino want to come to a "ghetto" and a city where the median household income is $40,000 then sit a barge in a creek that is marginally wider than the vessel and can only travel 100 feet? Remember? The casino was looking for a Lake Michigan location where the riverboat could travel for hours at a time. The Trail Creek Corridor Plan, Blocksom and marina relocations, Michigan Blvd beautification, etc. etc. is all steps the city conceptualized when the casino agreed to come to make it a viable and sustainable operation in the future. Blue Chip wants traffic to the district and the city made all sorts of promises to deliver. As I said in the first post they are encouraging the city to attract an "up-scale" hotel with convention space, high end dining and lake views. This could be viewed as competition but they embrace it for the potential increase in tourism. It takes a concerted effort and it's not always the development solely recruiting the location. Often they must be enticed.

Kohl's agreed to come and with that agreement came upgrades in sewer systems, renovating the existing plaza, parking lot, an uptick in pressure on the mall to do something with the property and future U.S. 20 streetscape improvements all on the city's behalf.
Michigan City wouldn't be anybody's first choice or ideal location for a burgeoning artist community either, throw in a $20 million investment on the city and private donor's behalves with renovation of an entire district, a newly renovated low-rise lofts, updated façade grants, attract other art related stores and trendy restaurants and Michigan City has itself a poor man's Greenwhich Village.

This sort of thinking that something can't be done in Michigan City is exactly why the city is so stagnated and been left behind by Valpo. In less than a decade Valpo turned sprawling forests and fields into professional office buildings, medical facilities, a $30 million Ivy Tech campus, large manufacturing facilities with living wage jobs, a regional hospital and big box retail shopping that puts Franklin to shame. Lincolnway has multiple mixed-use low-rise condo's with retail at street level. A completely revitalized bustling downtown with high-end boutiques and trendy shops. Highway 30 is also filled with stores and restaurants for miles, There has also been a 30% increase in population since the turn of the century. In that same period Michigan City built a 4 lane road primed for commercial development that shockingly still sits vacant and hasn't even filled numerous lots on Franklin Street. What resources were there exactly that Michigan City did not have? Michigan City has the lake, Lighthouse Mall and casino paying them tens of millions annually. Valpo's higher property taxes do not account for the amazing development and they always had higher median incomes than Michigan City yet was a ghost town by comparison. They had politicians and officials who went after it. That is why Michigan City went after Craig Philips. We see now there is a study being done every other week. The city might finally be getting it right.

All of the things you are mentioning have one thing in common. They all benefit from low wages to pay to their employees, and low costs barriers to entry. They don't need an educated community to survive or to support them.

And if one of the major universities wanted to expand, hypothetically, why Michigan City over say Chesterton or Portage?

[Hypnotic]

All of the things you are mentioning have one thing in common. They all benefit from low wages to pay to their employees, and low costs barriers to entry. They don't need an educated community to survive or to support them.

And if one of the major universities wanted to expand, hypothetically, why Michigan City over say Chesterton or Portage?

I guess we are at an impasse as I see a university as a regional investment where you see it as being reliant upon Michigan City proper to staff and attend it. Where does Westville prison find it's staff? Where does P.N.C.? There are a great number of underemployed college graduates in the area anyway. I know a woman with a Master's in Education who managed the uniform outlet. The institution itself would attract potential candidates to the area. *Example, Dr's wouldn't show up in Westville to work on their own volition. Build a regional hospital and look, There are now a bunch of Dr.s in Westville.

As for why not Chesterton or Portage, that goes to my other point. The location needs to entice the institution and appeal to their needs presenting the ideal climate and securing the best offer possible.