Crown Point, IN (Gary, Merrillville, Cedar Lake: sale, townhomes, buy)

[Northwest Indiana]

Unique complex planned for Crown Point

The units in this development look exactly like what I have seen on HGTV when shows take place in Colorado and I have actually seen some units like this in places like Denver, Seattle, Los Angeles, Austin, and Dallas. This would be very nice to have in NWI. With Sawgrass and Indiana Ave Townhomes being developed, I believe that the stigma of cheap basic row homes in NWI could help be shed. With that being said, while this project is trying to attract millennials, it would probably attract the millennials on the older side but probably be mostly Gen X and Baby Boomers. In Crown Point, most folks with $250K (which seems to be the hotspot price in general) are almost always going to prefer a house and that is just the starting price of Sawgrass townhomes. Also, Olthof has the Hamilton Square development and Centennial Development where townhomes are going for under $150K and even those aren't necessarily filled with millennials. Millennials with money are likely to buy a larger home or maybe stay in a larger city like Chicago. With this all being said, I would much rather see a higher-end development like this! Thoughts?







Source of Images: Diamond Peak Home via NWI Times Article

[cobra86]

I agree with you on who the most likely buyers will be. IMO these will be better than the Indiana Ave (I think only one has been sold?) ones that look out to a gas station, storage facility, and lubricant facility. This is a better location due to the proximity of the fairgrounds, hospital, YMCA, and hopefully the Stracks will remain open near there. Ideally this would be great for someone that works at the hospital that wants a low/no maintenance lifestyle.

[Ned B]

Yes,

I think their are plenty of people in the country, especially childless couples with busy professional lives or active social lives, and empty nesters who have the income for these price points, but don't want to be held down by the exterior maintenance required by a house. We know they exist in droves in Chicago, the real question is how many of those people exist or want to live in Crown Point. Either way, I hope this development is successful.

[richb]

These may appeal to those working nearby (mostly the medical people) then millennials. Millennials as a whole just don't have the money. I like the exteriors, but the site plan is unattractive. All lined up around the edges in straight rows, with lots of road for some reason. It could be softened a bit, and arranged to get rid of the extra pavement and to prevent windows from houses across from each other from looking in on each other. Trying to be kid friendly is a nice touch, but I doubt most families with kids will pick this over a single family house with a private yard.

[Ned B]

^Actually what's unclear about these from the plans is whether their backyards are private space sold with the unit or part of the common grounds. If more private, some of these have backyards in the range of 25'x40', which is plenty for some people. Overall, I think that it's important that NWI continue to offer a range of housing types, high-end townhouses around a common park included. I for one have no interest in the subdivisions that make up most of St. John, Dyer and southern Munster, and would never live there for the exact opposite reasons that you don't like the site plan here: oversized lots, everything too spaced out, no walkability, irrational road layouts. Give me a traditional neighborhood and regular street grid with close neighbors and mature trees any day. Different places for different types of people.

If there's any criticism, it seems that if this development (and the one south of it) is trying to attract a younger, more urban focused crowd that would appreciate it's walkability, density, park, and tighter sense of community, it seems like it is too far removed from the more traditional neighborhoods around downtown Crown Point. Something like this may be better received if it were for instance built along Summit between Merrillville Rd and Indiana Ave where it could integrate with the existing street and sidewalk grid.

[Nikko12]

Those look very nice, but I think the pricepoint is going to turn some people off, especially millennials. Why get a townhome for 250k when you can get a decent sized detached home with a yard for that price. I think it will be the older professional people buying those.

I live in an Olthof townhome though, and I will tell you I would pay for for a decent built home, because the quality of mine is very low, but I don't think I would be willing to pay 100k more for one.

[WildWestDude]

Originally Posted by Northwest Indiana

Unique complex planned for Crown Point

The units in this development look exactly like what I have seen on HGTV when shows take place in Colorado and I have actually seen some units like this in places like Denver, Seattle, Los Angeles, Austin, and Dallas. This would be very nice to have in NWI. With Sawgrass and Indiana Ave Townhomes being developed, I believe that the stigma of cheap basic row homes in NWI could help be shed. With that being said, while this project is trying to attract millennials, it would probably attract the millennials on the older side but probably be mostly Gen X and Baby Boomers. In Crown Point, most folks with $250K (which seems to be the hotspot price in general) are almost always going to prefer a house and that is just the starting price of Sawgrass townhomes. Also, Olthof has the Hamilton Square development and Centennial Development where townhomes are going for under $150K and even those aren't necessarily filled with millennials. Millennials with money are likely to buy a larger home or maybe stay in a larger city like Chicago. With this all being said, I would much rather see a higher-end development like this! Thoughts?

Don't see the desirability of such homes unless they are low priced and used as entry level homes as a step up from apartment living.
If you have a few small such areas here and there, it loses any appeal and the any identity of an urban core look.

Here in Las Vegas many new areas are becoming way to compact. Builders say its for environmental reason but its for greed IMO. They are building neighborhoods so tight were you can't even park on the street because the road is too narrow and there is no driveway for your garage or barely a front yard. Homes are so close to each other that they are almost like row style housing of the early 1900's. I see absolutely NO appeal to this!

However, there is a good effort for such a compact community in the suburb of Henderson:
Home - Inspirada

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by WildWestDude

Don't see the desirability of such homes unless they are low priced and used as entry level homes as a step up from apartment living.
If you have a few small such areas here and there, it loses any appeal and the any identity of an urban core look.

Here in Las Vegas many new areas are becoming way to compact. Builders say its for environmental reason but its for greed IMO. They are building neighborhoods so tight were you can't even park on the street because the road is too narrow and there is no driveway for your garage or barely a front yard. Homes are so close to each other that they are almost like row style housing of the early 1900's. I see absolutely NO appeal to this!

However, there is a good effort for such a compact community in the suburb of Henderson:
Home - Inspirada

As far as your second point regarding areas becoming too compact, I have seen a lot of that in places like Texas in suburban areas. I remember the first time I went to Texas as a child, I was expecting it to be kind of like back here as far as suburbia with some decent sized lots. I wasn't naive enough to think that all of Texas would be wide open spaces (just like people think all of Indiana is just cornfields). However, I was shocked when the neighborhood our family friend lived in--in suburbia--was full of single-family homes that were seriously cramped onto the lots and so close together. Granted, this was a tract subdivision with maybe 3 varying floorpans but it was still shocking because it seemed like so many of the neighborhoods were like that, even more upscale custom neighborhoods equivalent to the likes of White Oak, Lake Hills, and Ellendale Farms. I did not like it at all because in my head, if I was going to live way out in suburbia in a subdivision, the reason is for wanting some space. I later found out that one of the reasons was obviously for developers to maximize their profit and in the Houston area (which had and still has very lax zoning laws) this was very common. So I agree that for the most part, it definitely about profit and less about being green (especially if the materials and processes used are not even very "green").

Now, as far as your first point. The problem in NWI and especially in Crown Point is that while people would definitely criticize projects like this because the price point is way above average for a townhouse of that size in that area, I believe that aside from the folks whom would just rather see the land untouched, most folks would prefer this project as opposed to a more entry-level project. If you take a look at the Hamilton Square community and especially Centennial in Cedar Lake, their townhomes are all well under the $200,000 mark. Not upscale at all but they are new and have attracted a decent mix of young, middle-aged, and older buyers. However, this Sawgrass project will not attract the amount of millennials that they probably think they would at that price point. I am not saying that I represent the average millennials but many of the ones I know like city-living...IN THE CITY! In the burbs, they want something like what their parents had and it wasn't a two-story row home that cost as much as a brand new two-story traditional home.

I feel like this project would do slightly better in a place like Munster ONLY because there are rarely any new home offerings (as far as homes under 5 years old) below $500,000 and the only "row home" style townhomes are very old in the northwest section of town and are limited to duplexes with detached garages. But in Crown Point where you can get a brand new single-family home for under $200,000, it will be a tougher sell. They will sell, but I would be surprised if they flew off the market.

With all of that being said, again, this project would have caused more serious uproar if "affordability" was part of the concept unless it was more similar in price to Olthof's or Providence's developments. And if they were rentals, forget about it!

[WildWestDude]

Well said, if I move to suburbia I want a regular stand alone home with some space around me!

[cobra86]

Parking meters could be coming to downtown Crown Point | Lake County News | nwitimes.com


As the link says, CP is looking to install meters but also monitor already established parking restrictions around the square. IMO, enforcement of current signage and publicizing existing parking lots on the streets off the square (East, West Streets) could help alleviate parking problems that exist on the weekends. As someone who resides just off the square it is head scratching to watch people loop around and wait to park when there are parking lots that are often pretty vacant (exception being any time the square is closed to cars for festivals, etc).