Mayor Murphy: ‘Bright future’ for northwest Indiana

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With tens of millions of dollars in projects underway or planned for his city, Mayor Matt Murphy believes Valparaiso and northwest Indiana are poised for transformational growth.  Among multiple projects in Valpo’s downtown is the Journeyman Distillery, which is transforming an abandoned windshield wiper plant into a campus to include a distillery, brewery, restaurant and event space.

“They estimate that we’re going to see 150,000 to 200,00 visitors each year to the Journeyman, and we see tremendous overflowing benefits to our downtown as well,” said Murphy, who says he wants to continue momentum that began under his predecessor.

Murphy was a guest on this weekend’s edition of Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.

“Our downtown had high vacancy rates for a long time and my predecessor Mayor Costas came in and said enough is enough and in 2003 he began that process and through façade grants and special liquor licenses we’ve become sort of a dining destination for northwest Indiana and we’ve seen tremendous vibrancy,” said Murphy. “He inherited a downtown that was struggling, and I inherited a strong one and want to take it to the next level.”

In addition to the Journeyman Distillery, other Valparaiso projects include:

The Grand Gardner Hotel – new boutique hotel in a historic building 

• The Gardner School building located in Valparaiso’s downtown was built in the 1890 ng 
• In 1972 it was converted into a Boys & Girls Club facility and was used until the Boys and Girls Club relocated to a new location 
• A local developer has proposed a project to transform the iconic building into a 58-room and suite boutique hotel, estimated to be an investment of more than $30 million, adding further tourism opportunities to Valparaiso 
• The project is in the planning and design stage  

The Linc  

• The Linc is a downtown residential mixed-use housing project 
• The City and its Redevelopment Commission are working with Hageman on its first project in Northern Indiana 
• The Linc represents a $30 million investment 
• Construction will start in late 2022 and when completed in Spring 2024, The Linc will add 121 apartments with a mixture of floor plans in 3 separate 4-story buildings 
• Retail space will be available on the ground floors 

Lincoln Highway Garage 

• The Lincoln Highway Garage will be a 350+ space parking garage to support The Linc apartments and address additional downtown parking needs 
• The Garage project represents an investment of more than $12 million 
• As a result of the Lincoln Highway Garage, Dynaprop, a Chicago-based developer, has committed to a commercial office and retail project directly across from the Garage, an additional $12 million investment    

 Valpo Sports & Recreation Campus 

• The city recently unveiled designs for its newest and largest sports park and activity campus. 
• Valpo will invest $30 million into the project.  
• Initial feasibility study indicated a local economic impact of approximately $10 million in direct spending and an additional $20 million in indirect spending