NORTHERN INDIANA | General Developments

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by Blocky858

I think I heard or read somewhere that this is going to be an expansion of Sweetwater.

Wow. If that's the case, that would be huge. If you find a source for that, can you post it here? I've ordered things from them before.

[deja vu]

I may jump around a little and start expanding our scope to a few smaller cities in Northern Indiana. Entirely coincidentally, all three of these are medical projects -

Valparaiso -

St. Mary Medical Center / Valparaiso Health Center is expanding - upward - with a 3rd story addition. This medical center opened in 2013 along a suburbanizing stretch of Route-49 - northeast of downtown Valparaiso. The addition will greatly increase the presence it has from the roadway, not to mention greatly increase its capacity as well, by providing new space for physical therapy, medical oncology, and gastroenterology services. Construction is expected to be finished in June 2021 -

Valparaiso Health Center of St. Mary Medical Center is expanding
Building Indiana Business | News Release
March 10, 2021

Source: Building Indiana Business


Crown Point -

Franciscan Health is building a new, $200+ million hospital in this distant, outer suburb of Chicago. The project actually broke ground last September, but plans for the main phase of work were just recently approved. It is being built adjacent to the Franciscan Health center, located along Mississippi Parkway, and it is modeled on a recently-completed new hospital in Michigan City (see next project). The existing Crown Point hospital was built south of downtown in 1974. It's future is yet undetermined. The article below explains a bit more -

Commission gets sneak peak at new Crown Point hospital
Mary Freda | Northwest Indiana Times
February 10, 2021; Updated March 1, 2021

Source: Northwest Indiana Times

Michigan City -

Franciscan Health completed a new hospital that opened in January 2019 in Michigan City for $243 million. It was built directly adjacent to the US-421 - I-94 interchange, and it was designed to be the prototype for future Franciscan Health campuses, including the Crown Point project (mentioned above). The older downtown St. Anthony's Hospital still contains some healthcare services, including an urgent care and administrative space -


Source: Draper & Associates

[JMKeynes]

[deja vu]

^ Yeah, I still need to get around to all of the Notre Dame campus projects that have been happening!

Michigan City -

LaPorte County Courthouse (location) is getting an extensive upgrade, in the form of a complete interior rebuild of the 40,000 SF structure built in 1909 and a new, 30,000 SF addition. Designed by American Structurepoint, the total cost is $18 million -

Rendering -


Source: LinkedIn | Tonn and Blank Construction

This photo is from a few weeks ago. You can see the precast exterior walls and steel framing for the 1st & 2nd floors of the addition -


Source: LinkedIn | Tonn and Blank Construction

Earlier demolition & construction photos -






Source: American Structurepoint Inc.

[deja vu]

Fort Wayne -

If you can view it, Weigand Construction posted a video on LinkedIn today, showing the erecting of a 350-ton crane at the Electric Works site that will be used for elevator work, among other things. Here are some screen grabs -










Source: LinkedIn | Weigand Construction

[deja vu]

Fort Wayne -

Indiana Tech has announced a major expansion and renovation of its Zollner Engineering Center. The multi-phase project will break ground this May, and it will include a 30,000 SF addition and a complete renovation of the existing 40,000 SF facility. All scheduled to be ready in time for Fall 2023 -

Fort Wayne's Indiana Tech plans $21.5M project
Staff | Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly
March 25, 2021

Source: Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly | Contributed

[deja vu]

Michigan City -

Just this past week, the LaPorte County Courthouse celebrated placing the final steel beam for its new addition -


Source: LinkedIn | Tonn and Blank Construction

[deja vu]

Mishawaka -

There's a lot of info in the below article and the mayor's recent state of the city address about developments in Mishawaka. Too much for me to unpack tonight, but definitely a good primer for current developments in Northern Indiana's... 6th largest city (I had to google that) -

In the works for Mishawaka: Ice ribbon park, more luxury apartments, Riverwalk expansion
Greg Swiercz | South Bend Tribune
March 25, 2021

[deja vu]

Gary -

Phase 1 of the new Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana is scheduled to open May 14. The casino, located at the northwest corner of I-94 and Burr Street, broke ground in January 2020. The $300 million investment includes a 200,000 SF casino (Phase 1), and a 200+ room hotel & parking deck (Phase 2) -

Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana prepares to open in May
Larry Avila | Northern Indiana Business Magazine
March 26, 2021

Source: Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana

[deja vu]

South Bend -

The United Way's Southeast Neighborhood Center will break ground this Spring on donated land at the corner of Fellows St. and E. Dubail Ave. The $3.5 million project will provide child-care, health services, and community programs for youth & seniors. Arkos Design led the design -






Source: LinkedIn | Millies Engineering Group, courtesy Arkos Design

[The Best Forumer]

Hey! Looks like there's lots going on up there! Congrats!

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by The Best Forumer

Hey! Looks like there's lots going on up there! Congrats!

I'm enjoying discovering it all too. Northern Indiana is a happening place right now. And close enough to my neck of the woods to keep me interested.

Originally Posted by deja vu

Mishawaka -

There's a lot of info in the below article and the mayor's recent state of the city address about developments in Mishawaka. Too much for me to unpack tonight, but definitely a good primer for current developments in Northern Indiana's... 6th largest city (I had to google that) -

Here's one of the major projects from the article above. Mishawaka purchased the former Liberty Mutual Insurance building at Main and Lincoln Way in 2019 for a couple million. The plan is to spend ~ $20 million to repurpose it as the new city hall, plus headquarters for the police department and the public utilities department. This seems like a logical move, considering (a) the central location of the building and (b) it's size (nearly 94,000 SF), which will make it hard to find a new commercial tenant in this economy. While Liberty's departure was a blow to the downtown tax base, public officials have made the case that by consolidating and relocating their facilities, they are actually freeing up more real estate for other commercial uses throughout town. And with its 1985 architecture, the building already looks like a "contemporary" city hall design (though it looks like they'll be removing a lot of the angled glass aesthetics). Alliance Architects led the design, and construction is scheduled to begin this spring -


Source: South Bend Tribune | Robert Franklin


Source: South Bend Tribune | Courtesy Rendering

[deja vu]

South Bend -

Press Ganey's new 77,000+, 2-story administrative office building at Ignition Park is wrapping up construction. When complete, it will consolidate hundreds of employees under one roof -


Source: Facebook | Majority Builders, Inc.




Source: LinkedIn | Majority Builders, Inc.

[deja vu]

South Bend -

A substantial project that was completed last year is the new Barns & Thornburg office building at 201 S Main Street. The 5-story structure was the first Class A office building to be built in downtown in 20+ years. It broke ground in spring 2019 and was supported with a $9 million property tax abatement program. The building opened in late 2020, and the law firm moved in to the middle 3 floors in November 2020, under a ~31,000 SF / 15 year lease -


Source: btlaw.com


Source: South Bend Tribune | Courtesy Rendering

Construction progress, summer 2020 -


Source: Twitter | @bradley_company


Source: ojsbsi.com

[Blocky858]

Looks like it is Amazon.

It’s official: Amazon confirms ‘Project Mastodon’ fulfillment center

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – On Monday, Amazon confirmed it is building a fulfillment center on the land owned by the city’s Redevelopment Commission along U.S. 30.

Check out the release below:

Amazon today announced plans to expand its investment in Indiana by opening a new fulfillment center in Fort Wayne. The site, anticipated to open in 2022, will create nearly 1,000 new, full-time jobs that pay at least $15 per hour and provide comprehensive benefits to Amazon employees from their first day on the job. Amazon currently has fulfillment and sortation centers in Greenfield, Greenwood, Indianapolis, Jeffersonville, Plainfield, and Whitestown.

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by Blocky858

Looks like it is Amazon.

It’s official: Amazon confirms ‘Project Mastodon’ fulfillment center

Well, there ya go. They like their code names. A few years back, a new one was build outside Grand Rapids, and it was called "Project Rapids" - really creative.

I just learned that the Mastadon is the mascot of Purdue University-Fort Wayne. Mastadons roamed the Lower Great Lakes Region, and in 1968 one was unearthed near Angola, which led to the inspiration for the mascot.

[deja vu]

Fort Wayne -

Electric Works progress, with screen grabs from a video posted by Weigand Construction -




























Source: LinkedIn | Weigand Construction

[Blocky858]

Fort Wayne

Local developers ready for Riverfront Phase III as Fort Wayne starts Phase II

A private group of local investors, led by Eric Doden of Domo Development, is ready to move on Fort Wayne Riverfront Phase Three but the city has just started Phase Two.

The group hopes the proposed $150 million mixed-use project on the St. Mary’s River near High Street would lure another corporate headquarters to the downtown area. Developers need the city to make improvements on an accelerated timeline.

Food truck park planned for Fort Wayne

The plan to create Fort Wayne’s first-ever food truck park is underway.

“This will be a chance for people to come and connect and gather,” said TK Kelly, the founder of the park. “[Many] food trucks do nothing for six months out of the year. We’re giving them an opportunity where they can make revenue and impact the community.”

Supposedly being based on a similar park in Cleveland:

[deja vu]

Originally Posted by Blocky858

Fort Wayne

Local developers ready for Riverfront Phase III as Fort Wayne starts Phase II

It sounds like the developer is trying to pressure the city while knowing that the city will never move as quickly as they want them to. No doubt the developer is looking at the bottom line and wants to get building. Hopefully they can arrive at some sort of compromise with the schedule, before things become contentious.

I admit I'm a little confused - is Phase One already complete?

[Blocky858]

Originally Posted by deja vu

It sounds like the developer is trying to pressure the city while knowing that the city will never move as quickly as they want them to. No doubt the developer is looking at the bottom line and wants to get building. Hopefully they can arrive at some sort of compromise with the schedule, before things become contentious.

I admit I'm a little confused - is Phase One already complete?

I thought Promenade Park was phase one? Who knows