USEPA + HUD Fund Next Steps in Lakefront District Revitalization

Through the sustainable communities partnership, EMS, Vita Nuova and National Development Council (NDC) have been contracted to work on the Lakefront District Implementation Plan. Key outcomes for this plan are land use and development-by-right zoning for the district. The process is expected to take six months to complete.

The EMS, Vita Nuova, and NDC team will assist the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) in its support of the third and final phase of Region 5’s Strong Cities/Strong Communities project focusing on the implementation of Gary, Indiana’s Lakefront District Community Redevelopment Plan.

The project team will continue their efforts to engage residents, local businesses, landholders, elected officials, the National Park Service, and other stakeholders in a planning effort to define a community vision on potential future uses for properties in the Lakefront Development District section of the Gary Northside Redevelopment Project Corridor. Earlier phases of this project resulted in the development of the Lakefront Development District Community Revitalization Plan. The work under this task order will build upon the community outreach work done during Phases 1 and 2 to create a vision for redevelopment of a corridor anchored by Gary’s two main train stations. The geographic scope of the work on this project during Phase 3 will include the Transit Opportunity District (TOD), the Light Industrial Corridor, and the properties adjacent to Route 20 between I-65 and Clay Street. This will result in the development of a final, formal plan for incorporation into the City of Gary’s Comprehensive Plan.

For more on the geographic scope, Phases 1 and 2, and previous work done to bring the revitalization of this area about, please visit our Resources page.