Investment, partnerships, projects fueling rebirth in Gary, northwest Indiana
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowNorthwest Indiana is continuing to ride a new wave of momentum fueled by transformational infrastructure projects and historic investment in downtowns throughout the region.
In Gary, the conversation may be changing from what used to be to what could be. The University of Notre Dame is working on a Vision and Action Plan for the city’s downtown. FedEx is building a $60 million distribution facility near Gary/Chicago International Airport, and Japan-based Nippon Steel recently finalized a deal to purchase U.S. Steel. The company employs about 4,000 Hoosiers.
“$3 billion [is] being invested at the Gary plant right here, Gary Works. Thousands of jobs [could be] potentially created from that,” Gary Mayor Eddie Melton said in an interview with Inside INdiana Business host Gerry Dick. “There’s going to be more of a tax base that’s going to really going to benefit from the growth around Buffington Harbor.”
READ MORE: New board, same executives as U.S. Steel transitions under Nippon
One of the city’s biggest projects was announced in May when the city of Gary was selected over Hobart to be the home of the long-awaited Lake County Convention Center.
Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana will serve as the convention center’s operator and will also operate a new, 300-room hotel. The company will contribute $1.5 million for 20 years towards the project.
“We’re right next to a major interstate where over 200,000 cars travel each and every day. That and other reasons really made this the best solution to put the convention center here,” Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana President and CEO Matt Schuffert said. “[At] Hard Rock we do this in so many other locations around the country [and] around the world.”
Schuffert, Melton and other community stakeholders hope the investment helps turn the area into an entertainment hub.
“It really is a game changer. When the Holiday Star Plaza closed down a little bit over a decade ago, it left a void of tourism and hospitality in not just Lake County, but northwest Indiana,” Melton said. “We went from zero hotels in Gary, and [now] we have nearly 1,000 hotel rooms.”
Schuffert says private investors have committed to building two more hotels and restaurants across the street from the hotel and convention center.
“I think that’s just a start of a lot of great things that could happen from an economic development perspective in this area,” he said. “I’m born and raised in Northwest Indiana, lived here all my life. I know a lot of the great successes and a lot of the struggles that that Northwest Indiana has had. This is the start of a lot of success and I think a lot of turnaround.”
South Shore projects spur surrounding development
It’s been just over one year since the double tracking of the South Shore Line was completed. Several communities are seeing new doors open and excitement grow.
“I’ve been really happy with the results that we’re seeing from the South Shore train. When you look along that project line, you see the real estate development happening,” Bill Hanna, CEO of the Dean and Barbara White Family Foundation, said. “It’s great to see dreams become reality, and now the private sector has been engaged, and we’re seeing real estate values go up, population growth in places that haven’t seen growth in 40 years.”
Last month, the new 11th Street Station building along the South Shore Line opened in Michigan City.
Mike Noland, president of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, said the 11th Street Station is the cornerstone of why the Double Track project was implemented.
“Everybody saw the vision of improving train service. That’s great. We want better connectivity to and from Chicago,” Noland said. “But wrapped around that is this vision that we could attract private sector development to invest in and around the train stations, and in so doing, bring back revenue to the state, to the county, to the cities involved, and help revitalize the cities and strengthen their downtowns and their economies.”
The Franklin at 11th Street Station, which will include 220 market-rate apartments and 5,600 square feet of commercial space, broke ground in March.