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Curtis Infrastructure Initiative - March Newsletter
The Curtis Infrastructure Initiative is happy to share its March newsletter.
Hammond, IN - Virtual Advisory Services Panel
April 6, 2021
Once bustling with retail, the downtown of Hammond, Indiana has seen a downturn typical to many across the country due to mall-culture and commercial migration to nearby suburbs.
The City’s new Downtown Master Plan suggested a bold vision to reimagine the streets and uses. The Urban Land Institute was asked to provide advice on this new Master Plan.
Photo By ULI
The panel was led by chair Christopher Kurz, president of Linden Associates, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland and included panelists Walter Bialas, principal, Goodwin Advisors, Dallas, Texas; Chad Buch, research manager, JLL, Chicago, Illinois; Lucia Garsys, senior advisor on community partnerships, Hillsborough County, Tampa, Florida; Juanita Hardy, founder, Tiger Management Consulting Group LLC, Silver Spring, Maryland; and Tom Murphy, senior resident fellow, Urban Land Institute, Washington, D.C. ULI staff Tom Eitler and Georgia Gempler supported the panel.
Date: March 23-25, 2021
Location: Hammond, IN (virtual)
Sponsor: City of Hammond and ULI Foundation – John Bucksbaum Endowment
Subject Area: Downtown Revitalization
Panel Chair: Chris Kurz, Linden Associates Inc.
Background and Assignment
Hammond, IN is a diverse city of 81,000 residents, bordering Chicago and Lake Michigan to the north and smaller communities to the south. And at its center is Hammond’s downtown, the heart of its community. Once bustling with retail, the downtown has seen a downturn typical to many across the country due to mall-culture and commercial migration to nearby suburbs.
The City’s new Downtown Master Plan suggested a bold vision to reimagine the streets and uses. The Urban Land Institute was asked to provide advice on this new Master Plan with a focus on three specific issues:
- How to best repurpose City-owned property in downtown
- How to leverage the financial resources available to the city
- How to attract retail in first floor and vacant space
Key Recommendations
- Refine the Downtown vision to focus development, public realm investment, and building revitalization along (around) Hohman Avenue in downtown’s core to create a critical mass of activity and amenities.
- Create comprehensive communications plan and community engagement initiative to share solicit and inform the citizens and business community about the city’s efforts in downtown.
- Modify the open space and amenities plan for Hohman Avenue to accommodate wider sidewalks and a larger Town Square that will act as the centerpiece of redevelopment.
- Establish and encourage Arts and Culture act as a central organizing feature for the entire revitalization effort.
- Rehabilitate and re-tenant several ground-floor retail space that can acts as catalysts for downtown activity.
- Create a new small-scale indoor/outdoor performance space on the first block of Hohman Avenue
- Create a restaurant incubator to supplement the exiting new restaurant along the first block of Hohman Avenue
- Provide city support for the revitalization effort by creating three teams:
- Activation Team – dedicated to sparking energy and engaging community
- Real Estate Team determined to, fill open storefronts and bring jobs downtown
- Public Realm Team – disciplined to build a Creative Place and keep the public realm clean and safe
- Create Partnerships that focus on
- Housing
- Retail
- Entertainment
- Jobs
- Create a $30-40 million Downtown Hammond Development Fund to supply patient money for loans, uses and governance.
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