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Board: No Definite News About Target, Kohl's

Laurie Wink
The News-Dispatch

LaPORTE - It seems even LaPorte County Redevelopment Commission members don't always know the answer to rumors about whether Kohl's and Target stores will be built here.

At Tuesday's meeting, discussion about progress in the Interstate 94/U.S. 421 economic development area predominated. Commissioner Don Przybylinski asked about the possibility of attracting these two retail giants to the area. Michigan City Planner John Pugh, who attended the meeting, offered up what he called "the mayor's pat answer."

"They (retailers) are represented by multiple developers, all of them competing for these golden rings," Pugh said. "It's the developers who are looking to place a Kohl's and Target."

Matt Reardon, economic development consultant for LaPorte County, added Kohl's and Target lease the facilities from developers.

Earlier, Reardon said PlazaCorp of Kalamazoo, Mich., gave generalized reasons for deciding not to pursue development of the northeast corner, specifically because of soil suitability and issues with wetlands and labor.

"I think they weighed the development issues and could find another spot that didn't require these things," Reardon said. He said Lauth of Indianapolis and GK Development of Barrington, Ill., continue to be interested.

"Our goal is to make sure we have utilities to provide the necessary infrastructure for investment," Reardon said.

Design engineer Fred Larmore of Beam, Longest and Neff LLC, Indianapolis, said he is working with the Michigan City Sanitary District to resolve design issues for water and sewer systems at county roads 950 West and 300 North. He said the lift station will be relocated from the northeast corner to the northwest corner, where less digging is required, and a different kind of lift station pump will be used.

Reardon also told the commission about a possible residential development on 100 acres south of County Road 300 North near Patriot Park. The developer would like to start building $220,000 to $250,000 single-family homes by March 2008, and would share some of the cost of installing utilities in that area.

In other business, the commission:

• Agreed to give $5,000 toward the cost of hosting a broker excursion Aug. 2 and 3. Tim Gropp, Greater LaPorte Economic Development Corp. executive director, and Pugh said a "very elaborate event" is planned to get brokers and corporate real-estate investors from the Chicago area into LaPorte County to showcase the area's assets. They hope to continue the event each year, shifting the location to show off various parts of the county.

• Authorized President John McDaniel to sign a letter of support to apply for the Indiana Shovel Ready Program, a new effort to help communities certify sites as "ready for development." The program is intended to give companies information they need to locate and develop a site quickly, giving Indiana a competitive advantage in creating more jobs.

"Any sites on the list are going to be on top of the minds of developers," Reardon said.

The next LaPorte County Redevelopment Commission meeting is at 4 p.m. Aug. 28 at LaPorte County Complex.

Contact Laurie Wink at lwink@thenewsdispatch.com.