How communication and timing are key to La Porte's redevelopment
With the recent engagement of Holladay Properties as the developer for the NewPorte Landing Redevelopment Project in La Porte, IN, we take a closer look at how projects like this come together and the benefits they bring to the area.
At the end of February, Holladay Properties won out over a number of other qualified bids to redevelop 150 acres in the heart of the city of La Porte. But while that marks the beginning for Holladay, it's actually a story nearly ten years in the making. "The NewPorte Landing site has long been an underutilized asset in the city," said La Porte Mayor Blair Milo. In 2008 the city was very close to reaching this same milestone on the road to redevelopment, but right about then is when the economy collapsed and everything fell through. Disappointed but far from despair, the city of La Porte and its partners knew they had to be ready for when the market rebounded.
"City Planner Mary Jane Thomas focused on cleaning up the properties and acquiring some adjoining properties," Bert Cook, executive director of the Greater La Porte Economic Development Corporation (GLEDC) told us. That way, not only would the space look appealing to new developers but nothing would hold up the process when the time came to act. Cook then tracked retail and commercial interest in La Porte closely, using those trends as a barometer so he would know when that time came. "As interest grew in La Porte, I knew it was essential for us to have locations those businesses could call home," he said.
But Cook gives most of the credit to the partnerships between varies entities that have been working on this project for years: the La Porte Redevelopment Commission, the NewPorte Landing Committee and the Community Development Partnership -which is itself comprised of and supported by local investors, NIPSCO and the La Porte Economic Advancement Foundation (LEAF). All of that has the potential for a lot of red tape if things aren't handled quickly and efficiently. So how did La Porte pull it off? "We're kind of unique," Cook said. By making teamwork a long-term priority, "all of these groups are very close and are able to work together." Instead of turning away developers, La Porte's performance turned its gaggle of committees into a major factor that attracted them instead because it showed both the quantity and quality of support the city was putting into the space. "But the communication has to be seamless" Cook warns.
Holladay began work immediately, assessing the development plan for the site. As soon as late this summer, and definitely by next, La Porte is going to see the benefits. "We're aware that La Porte is limited in its shopping offerings. A lot of people drive to nearby towns to shop, and that's money the city never sees. Beyond the tax base, it's a quality of life thing with far-reaching effects; industrial businesses might love what we're offering on paper, but when they come to the area they also want to see that there are offerings for their employees outside of work. We're going to provide that," said Cook.
While La Porte fully intends to make the most of its work, Cook is also quick to point out that the benefits of developing a space like this will stretch beyond the county: as more parks are developed region-wide, "the more businesses and people that are drawn here, the better it is for everyone."
This post originally appeared in the May 2013 Edition of NIPSCO's "Economic Development Impact".