(La Porte, IN) - A proposed large housing development in LaPorte is moving closer to construction, as on Monday the LaPorte City Council unanimously approved a zoning change for the development of 167 homes on Park Street near the Thomas Rose Industrial Park.
The over 30-acre wooded parcel was previously zoned just for single-family homes, but the change allows for the addition of multi-family units.
The developer, Park Street Community, LLC, has changed its original plans, which called for 118 townhomes and 19 more traditional single-family dwellings. The plan is now to build 97 townhomes, 14 more traditional single-family dwellings, and 56 apartments inside four buildings.
LaPorte Economic Advancement Partnership Executive Director Bert Cook said the homes available for purchase would still have a price range of $340,000 to $405,000, as originally planned. He said monthly rent for the two and three-bedroom apartments has not been decided but should be anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000.
“As construction costs start to come in, it’ll be more clear what the rents will be,” he said.
Cook said apartments were added to the plans at the request of the city, because of the need for more rental units in the community. The plan is to construct about a dozen or so homes and then build a similar number again once the previous ones are sold.
“I want to emphasize, they’re not going to be built all at once,” he said.
The development is another step in the ongoing race by the current administration to modernize a housing stock built primarily before 1940.
Cook said people wanting to live here but going elsewhere for newer housing has been a longstanding problem that needs to be solved to grow the city’s population.
The current population of about 22,000 has barely changed since 1960, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Mayor Tom Dermody said more housing choices are also important for keeping current residents looking to upgrade, as well as drawing some of the 1,700 workers expected to be hired at the electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant going up outside New Carlisle. He said it’s almost like the city slammed the door on any new housing construction for decades, and when that happens “you’re going to get behind the eight ball and we’re well beyond the eight ball.”
Resident Kevin Sheeler, who lives nearby at 1866 N. 100 West, expressed concerns about how the property will drain once rain, now absorbed by the ground, starts running from pavement and gutters from homes.
“They have to have somewhere for this water to go and nobody has told us,” he said.
About three months ago, the door opened for the project when the city approved an agreement with the developer to extend water and sewer lines to the site.
“There is a full infrastructure build planned,” Cook said.
He said there’s also a stormwater management plan that still has to come up for review by the city later in the ongoing approvals process.
Dermody said “The Banks,” consisting of 200 resort-type apartments near Clear Lake, is one of several new housing developments completed since he became mayor in 2020.
Construction has started on many others while more housing developments are still in the design stage.
A study in 2022 recommended the city add more than 900 homes for ownership and over 750 rental units over the next few years to achieve balance with a housing stock consisting of 20 percent of all homes built since 1980.
“We just had several conversations with a developer out of Evansville that wants to come in and look at more affordable housing in certain areas. We know we’re in every level of need for housing,” he said.
Cook said the next step is for the plans to undergo a site review where the developer and city department heads address any concerns. He anticipates the start of construction later this year.
