The town of Gary, Indiana, has its sights on bonds for several projects in a planned revitalization effort.
Bond financing is probably going for the Gary Metro Center station redevelopment project, and the development of a convention center in Indiana’s Lake County.
Notre Dame’s School of Architecture is working with town on the revitalization, conducting community listening and public urban planning sessions through its Housing and Community Regeneration Initiative. The HCRI will then work with Gary officials to develop a 10-year motion plan for revamping the downtown area.
“This partnership is a novel opportunity to create a recent master plan for our great city,” Gary Mayor Eddie Melton said in a press release. “We’re excited to start this work with the support of a world-class institution like Notre Dame.”
Downtown Gary as seen in May 2023. The town is currently battling extensive blight downtown, but city officials and state legislators have set the stage for a serious revitalization.
City of Gary
The town is within the blight eradication phase of the revitalization effort, said Christopher Harris, executive director of redevelopment for Gary. Harris said town is working to find out the scale and scope of the Metro Center project in consultation with the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, Gary residents and Notre Dame.
Preliminary plans call for a multi-modal transportation center surrounded by a mixed-use transportation-oriented development.
“It is probably going that bond financing shall be involved,” Harris said.
The town’s most up-to-date debt appears to be unrated Series 2019 revenue anticipation notes that matured in 2020, in line with postings on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA website. In 2015, town issued Series 2015 multifamily housing revenue bonds that were rated MIG1 by Moody’s Rankings.
The downtown revitalization effort also involves single-family and workforce housing. Harris noted, with support from the Indiana Finance Authority, development projects throughout the Gary Metro Transit Development District shall be eligible for low-interest bond financing.
“In a market where rates of interest make it difficult for brand new construction, the state of Indiana and our local Regional Development Authority are taking the lead in offering the vital financial tools to encourage investment across Northwest Indiana,” he said. “Gary plans to leverage its federally funded [American Rescue Plan Act] resources to encourage recent construction, including housing inside its transit development district boundaries.”
Along with creating the Transit Development District, Harris said, Gary is using tax increment financing and has created federal Opportunity Zones to spice up the downtown revitalization.
“The redevelopment of Gary is critical to Gary’s tax base,” he said. “With out a functional downtown, town struggles with providing basic services throughout the balance of its neighborhoods.”
Walkable, mixed-use central business districts are inclined to yield the most effective tax return to a city’s general fund, Harris noted. And while downtown Gary offers a mess of public transit options and access to Indiana Dunes National Park, it has struggled to draw the economic activity that its location and history suggest it’s able to drawing.
“While Gary has seen many plans over the course of the last several a long time that did not take off, we reside in a special moment and this time has absolutely the potential to be different,” Marianne Cusato, a School of Architecture professor and director of the HCRI, told The Bond Buyer. “Vision keepers are in place with elected officials, especially the mayor and with town staff. … Federal and state funding is out there to support the vision. Private investors are desirous about being a part of the method. And maybe most significantly, a recent generation of Gary residents are stepping up to assist shape the long run of their city.”
Buildings in downtown Gary, May 2023. The town has Along with creating the Transit Development District, Harris said, Gary is using tax increment financing and has created federal Opportunity Zones to spice up the downtown revitalization.
City of Gary
In a press release, Melton pointed to the state legislature’s passage of SB0434 last yr as paving the way in which for the revitalization effort. Amongst other things, it includes $12 million of blight elimination funding for Gary.
Melton became mayor in late 2023 after representing state Senate District 3 for seven years and was the first sponsor of SB0434.
Besides making a blighted property demolition fund, the laws establishes the Gary Metro Center station revitalization fund. Starting July 1, 2025, Gary will transfer as much as $3 million to the regional development authority for deposit in that fund every fiscal yr, the goal being to secure state matching grants and to issue bonds for the station revitalization project.
SB0434 also establishes a Lake County economic development and convention fund, which is able to hold deposits, appropriations and bond proceeds. Money within the fund could also be used to construct and equip a convention center in Lake County and to pay the principal and interest on any bonds issued by the Regional Development Authority to finance the convention center’s development.
As Gary looks to seize the moment, Harris said, Melton has set town up for a successful revitalization.
“His efforts are why Gary has the downtown TDD and financing available to spark development throughout the TDD,” he said.
Cusato noted downtown is “historically disinvested”: a lot of the buildings are lost and people who remain are in various states of disrepair. The role of the HCRI and city leaders is to work inside fiscal realities, she said, and the fact is recovery shall be costly.
“This recovery would require federal and state grants to upgrade infrastructure, nonprofit participation to assist bridge the gap between cost of housing and wages [and] private investment to develop recent buildings and businesses,” she said.
Inexpensive housing is a top priority, she added. “In essentially the most economically vibrant cities, wages haven’t kept up with the associated fee of housing; in Gary, this issue is much more acute,” Cusato said. “The goal of this partnership is to determine a vision and motion plan that takes all of those variables into consideration so the plan recommend results in positive growth.”
Harris said the following step is a public engagement process, which shall be developed in early August; the ultimate draft shall be made public throughout the city’s Broadway Summit, which takes place August 28, 29 and 30.
“The town of Gary is poised for growth,” he said, pointing to town’s international airport, highway and tollway access, commuter rail system, beaches and deep water port. “All Gary requires to return to its historic role as an economic [powerhouse] within the Midwest is a catalyst. This downtown TDD development is that catalyst.”