(La Porte, IN) - Another brand-name restaurant appears to be on its way to La Porte, with the door opening for construction last evening when the city’s Redevelopment Commission approved a purchase agreement for the old Don George Ford property on Pine Lake Avenue, across from Starbucks.

 

The purchaser is CMG Development, which was behind the 2021 construction of Popeye’s at Boyd Boulevard and East Lincolnway in La Porte.

 

La Porte Economic Advancement Partnership Executive Director Bert Cook said the city is receiving about $40,000 for the roughly one-acre parcel cleared in 2021. Cook would not reveal what franchise would be staking claim, but described the restaurant as fast/casual and a popular chain recognized nationwide that should be a great fit for that part of the city.

 

“It works well for what we have going on at NewPorte Landing,” he said.

 

Cook said the restaurant's name will be released once the developer is ready to do so, and that construction could begin as soon as this summer.

 

The developer has also agreed to a potential kayak launch for public access on the site the city is thinking about constructing on the parcel beside Lily Lake.

 

Eventually, Cook said, the hope is to clean out an existing channel running from Lily Lake to Stone Lake and Pine Lake to allow kayakers to travel to all three of the lakes. He said it could take three to five years, perhaps, to do all of the work necessary in the channel to make kayaking possible from a Lily Lake launch to Stone Lake and Pine Lake.

 

The developer has also agreed to work with the city to provide kayakers parking on the restaurant site if the outdoor recreation project materializes.

 

“He agreed to add some additional parking and grant us the necessary easements to do that,” he said.