(LaPorte, IN) - A major need for housing has been identified in downtown LaPorte.

In response, officials are looking to offer financial incentives to building owners

for renovating the upper levels of their structures.

That’s according to Bert Cook, executive director of the

La Porte Economic Advancement Partnership.

Cook said the second and third floors in many downtown buildings are vacant so the potential

is there given the desperate needed identified in a recent study.

The city’s Urban Enterprise Association is looking at financial incentives and already offers

80-percent grants to help downtown building owners with the cost of façade improvements, Cook said.

Cook said more than 20 downtown storefronts were given a new look under that program

the past several years and improvements to a half dozen more storefronts are planned this summer.