Michigan City narrows down bids for downtown mixed-use project
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Officials in Michigan City are narrowing down requests for proposals on a major mixed-use development in the northwest Indiana city’s downtown corridor.
The project calls for 500 new apartment units as well as a grocery store, which city officials tell our reporting partners at the Times of Northwest Indiana is much needed in the city. The Times reports Michigan City received nine proposals, and the city’s development commission has narrowed it down to four.
Redevelopment commission officials are reviewing more detailed information from development companies and are expected to make a decision within the next three months.
The city’s request for proposals calls for the project to go in on eight acres of land starting at the corner of Pine and 5th streets. The city currently owns all the land in that area and the chosen developer would purchase the land as part of the deal.
“City leadership knows how critical these efforts are to Michigan City’s economic future and growth as a truly special place to live, work, visit and invest,” Michigan City wrote in the RFP.
“The properties are bound in a unique context abutting the Franklin Street Historic Commercial District to the west, the growing, more ‘urban’ downtown to the north, Trail Creek, the Marina and Blue Chip anchors to the east and the lower-rise/density residential of the Elston Grove Historic District to the south.”
The parcels are part of Michigan City’s downtown corridor, just a block or two east of the main commercial drag of Franklin Street and within a 5-minute drive from the Blue Chip Casino and the Lighthouse Outlet mall.
Michigan City is pitching the Pine and 5th street project as another piece in a number of positive developments in and around the downtown area. The $280 million SoLa project began construction last September and will bring two hotels, townhomes and retail space to downtown. That’s in addition to more rental units as part of the $101 million Franklin Street Tower and a newly completed South Shore station on 11th Street.