(Michigan City, IN) - A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Thursday for a 12-story tower containing 220 apartments beside the new South Shore Railroad commuter line train station in Michigan City.
Flaherty & Collins Properties is the developer of what’s called THE FRANKLIN AT 11th STREET STATION in the city’s Uptown Arts District.
A 549-space parking garage with electric vehicle charging stations beside the tower will also go up on the 1.5-acre site at 11th and Franklin Streets. The parking garage will be available to tenants and riders before and after they step off the trains.
Other planned amenities include a heated swim/spa with an adjacent outdoor movie lounge, an outdoor rooftop sky lounge providing scenic views of Lake Michigan, courtyard grilling decks and fire pits, and a dog park.
The apartments will have LED lighting, quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, a full-size washer and dryer, and private balconies on most units.
David Flaherty, co-owner of the Indianapolis-based development firm, said monthly rent has not been set, but should begin at about $1,500. 68 percent of the units will have one bedroom while 20 percent will contain two bedrooms. What’s left, for the most part, will be studio apartments and a few three-bedroom units, with the average size of the apartments to be close to 800 square feet.
Flaherty said the main level will be available for retail and other commercial establishments like a restaurant or coffee shop. He expects to draw mostly young professionals and empty nesters to the $101 million development on the site of the old South Shore commuter line train station, which was torn down.
“We’re happy to have anybody. We do a lot of these types of developments and the reality is that’s who we get,” he said.
Flaherty said a lot of the residents will likely come from Chicago to take advantage of the nearly completed South Shore commuter line double track from Gary to Michigan City. The addition of a second line is expected to reduce travel times on a train from Michigan City to Chicago by about 30 minutes.
Flaherty said he also expects to attract some Michigan City residents who want to stay, but don’t have much to choose from here in terms of an upgrade in their housing.
Construction of the tower is expected to be completed for tenants to start moving in by the fall of 2025. Flaherty said he expects to have about 300 employees at the facility, which will generate over $800,000 in annual real estate taxes on a parcel currently generating little, if any property tax revenue.
In September, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for a 14-story hotel tower and 12-story condominium tower about a half mile away on U.S. 12. So far however, there’s been no actual construction on that site.
Michigan City Mayor Angie Nelson Deuitch said a half dozen other developers have expressed interest in Michigan City because of the increase in new residents and visitors that quicker travel by train is expected to bring.
Trains are expected to start running between Michigan City and Gary on the double track in May.
“This is only the beginning of something great,” she said.
