Merrillville looking at options for the Farm
Determined that the Farm at Crossroad Commons will be developed at the former Radisson complex site, Merrillville Town Council member Shawn Pettit said he’s looking at various tools at the town’s disposal to help fund the mixed-use project.
“I’m not going to turn away those jobs. I will do everything in my power to get this done,” Pettit, D-6th, said.
White Lodging has said the new $350 million development would create more than 600 construction jobs and 1,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Pettit said he’ll talk to members of the town’s Redevelopment Commission during a workshop session Tuesday to discuss possible options the town could take, including creating a new Radisson tax increment financing district.
“We’ll pursue other avenues. We’ll do what we can and will let them (White Lodging) know what we’ve done,” Pettit said.
He is looking deeper into the town’s resources after the Lake County Council expressed little desire to pass a food and beverage tax that White Lodging said was needed to develop the entire project.
White Lodging spokesman Mike Banas said there’s been no change or progress in the company’s plans, which call for upscale hotels, a bed and breakfast, restau-
rants, offices, a greenhouse and equestrian trails, among other amenities.
“We’re focused on completing the ground demolition and preparing the site for future development,” Banas said.
The last building on the property — the Twin Towers office building — was razed at the end of the year, and some debris still remains at the site that once also held a Radisson hotel complex and Star Plaza Theatre.
Banas also said the company is not aware of any progress on the part of the Lake County Council regarding the tax.
Pettit has already said the town would expand its Broadway TIF district to include the 40-acre parcel at Interstate 65 and U.S. Route 30 to help pay some of the public portion of funding for the project.
Merrill ville-based White Lodging said it would pay 67 percent of the cost but hoped to secure public funding from the state, the town of Merril- lville and the Lake County Council, in the form of the food and beverage tax, for the remaining 33 percent.
Banas did not reply when asked whether any new funding sources Mer- rillville could provide would make up for the lack of a food and beverage tax.