A state oversight panel has given final approval for $2 million to help dredge Cedar Lake.
The funds were included in the state budget legislators approved last year, but the project needed a final nod from the State Budget Committee. The five-member panel -- four lawmakers and the governor's budget director -- unanimously approved the project Monday.
Cedar Lake Town Manager Joan Boyer told the committee the $2 million would be used to acquire land to deposit the materials scraped from the bottom of the lake. Once the project is complete, the land will be capped and converted to a large park.
"Cedar Lake does not have a large park," Boyer said. "We just have little pocket parks."
The town is expected to contribute $2.5 million to the dredging project. Combined with the state money, those funds are expected to leverage $8.5 million in federal dollars.
State Budget Committee documents describe the project as an aquatic ecosystem restoration that will "reduce pollutants entering Cedar Creek and downstream communities and support economic growth in Northwest Indiana."
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Lake County housing permits buck national trend
Story BY SUSAN ERLER
serler@nwitimes.com| Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Townhomes being built this year in Crown Point's Ellendale Farm subdivision are part of the latest project by the family-run development firm Fleming Realty.
The company will put up 28 townhome units in its Ellendale Farm addition, while simultaneously constructing New Town West, a combination residential and retail building in the city's downtown.
A major player in the city's development boom of recent years, the company sees no reason to stop now.
"We would not be proceeding with things if we did not see the economy being viable," said Ryan Fleming, who operates Fleming Realty with his father, Tom.
Permits for 172 new single-family homes in Crown Point were pulled in 2007. The year failed to scale the heights of the 2003 to 2005 building boom in the city, but ranked among its top 10 years for home construction over six decades.
"You have to take it in perspective," Ryan Fleming said. "Things don't go up forever, but they haven't come crashing down."
Across Lake County, builders planned nearly 1,235 new single-family homes last year, the majority in south county communities like St. John, Winfield and Cedar Lake.
Close to 2,000 new housing units, from apartments and condos to show-stopper mansions, had been entered onto planning books or were built in Cedar Lake over the past decade, most in the last few years.
Countywide, there were about 425 fewer single-family home starts last year compared to 2006, but the slide was less severe than in many parts of the nation and fell short of the nation's 30 percent decline.
"In residential construction, our area continues to outpace what's happening across the nation," said Todd Olthof, whose family-run Olthof Homes has projects in the Hamilton Square and Covington subdivisions in Crown Point, as well as in other parts of the region.
Migration from across the Illinois state line continues to drive the market, Olthof said, with buyers attracted by relatively lower taxes, as well as the lifestyle and amenities the region offers, Olthof said.
"Many buyers find out their friends have moved here and they come here to join them," Olthof said.
Northwest Indiana's housing market for the most part bucked a nationwide trend last year by holding onto housing values.
In July, the median selling price of a home in the region stood at $154,900, a 7.1 percent climb from $144,575 the previous year.
"Our housing values have stayed stable," said Peter Novak, executive director of the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors.
The housing boom has attracted retail and commercial development to Lake County, from the massive Cabela's outdoor sporting goods store on the north end of U.S. 41 in Hammond to a pair of lifestyle-designed shopping centers farther south on U.S. 41 in Schererville.
Where new rooftops have popped up, restaurants, grocers and other retailers have followed, building new locations across the county, including more than a dozen new bank branches.
The value of permits for commercial and industrial construction totaled an estimated $120 million last year in Crown Point alone, according to the city's planning department.
Jack Phair, whose Holladay Properties partnered with Purdue University to developed Ameriplex at the Crossroads in Merrillville, said his company sees a strong future for the region.
The Crossroads complex, home to a Purdue University technology park, is two years into a five-year build-out.
"We think what's going to happen there is going to be spectacular," Phair said.
Combined with the company's other development in Porter County, including Ameriplex at the Port and a partnership with Memorial Hospital Systems in Valparaiso, "it has renewed our enthusiasm, energized our firm to continue our investments in Northwest Indiana," Phair said
serler@nwitimes.com| Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Townhomes being built this year in Crown Point's Ellendale Farm subdivision are part of the latest project by the family-run development firm Fleming Realty.
The company will put up 28 townhome units in its Ellendale Farm addition, while simultaneously constructing New Town West, a combination residential and retail building in the city's downtown.
A major player in the city's development boom of recent years, the company sees no reason to stop now.
"We would not be proceeding with things if we did not see the economy being viable," said Ryan Fleming, who operates Fleming Realty with his father, Tom.
Permits for 172 new single-family homes in Crown Point were pulled in 2007. The year failed to scale the heights of the 2003 to 2005 building boom in the city, but ranked among its top 10 years for home construction over six decades.
"You have to take it in perspective," Ryan Fleming said. "Things don't go up forever, but they haven't come crashing down."
Across Lake County, builders planned nearly 1,235 new single-family homes last year, the majority in south county communities like St. John, Winfield and Cedar Lake.
Close to 2,000 new housing units, from apartments and condos to show-stopper mansions, had been entered onto planning books or were built in Cedar Lake over the past decade, most in the last few years.
Countywide, there were about 425 fewer single-family home starts last year compared to 2006, but the slide was less severe than in many parts of the nation and fell short of the nation's 30 percent decline.
"In residential construction, our area continues to outpace what's happening across the nation," said Todd Olthof, whose family-run Olthof Homes has projects in the Hamilton Square and Covington subdivisions in Crown Point, as well as in other parts of the region.
Migration from across the Illinois state line continues to drive the market, Olthof said, with buyers attracted by relatively lower taxes, as well as the lifestyle and amenities the region offers, Olthof said.
"Many buyers find out their friends have moved here and they come here to join them," Olthof said.
Northwest Indiana's housing market for the most part bucked a nationwide trend last year by holding onto housing values.
In July, the median selling price of a home in the region stood at $154,900, a 7.1 percent climb from $144,575 the previous year.
"Our housing values have stayed stable," said Peter Novak, executive director of the Greater Northwest Indiana Association of Realtors.
The housing boom has attracted retail and commercial development to Lake County, from the massive Cabela's outdoor sporting goods store on the north end of U.S. 41 in Hammond to a pair of lifestyle-designed shopping centers farther south on U.S. 41 in Schererville.
Where new rooftops have popped up, restaurants, grocers and other retailers have followed, building new locations across the county, including more than a dozen new bank branches.
The value of permits for commercial and industrial construction totaled an estimated $120 million last year in Crown Point alone, according to the city's planning department.
Jack Phair, whose Holladay Properties partnered with Purdue University to developed Ameriplex at the Crossroads in Merrillville, said his company sees a strong future for the region.
The Crossroads complex, home to a Purdue University technology park, is two years into a five-year build-out.
"We think what's going to happen there is going to be spectacular," Phair said.
Combined with the company's other development in Porter County, including Ameriplex at the Port and a partnership with Memorial Hospital Systems in Valparaiso, "it has renewed our enthusiasm, energized our firm to continue our investments in Northwest Indiana," Phair said
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
More Good News
Gross works to maintain lake's integrity
BY MELANIE CSEPIGA
Times Correspondent | Friday, February 01, 2008
Although his home wasn't directly on the lake, Bob Gross spent much of his time on Cedar Lake where he enjoyed water sports and always seemed to have a job.
"My grandfather bought the property on Lauerman in 1948. We're third generation. ... I've always worked on the lake," said Gross, who owns Pinecrest Marina.
It should come as no surprise, then, that Gross founded the Cedar Lake Enhancement Association, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lake's health, and has worked tirelessly since the early 1990s to find, and fund, ways to improve the lake's water quality.
Gross credits those in CLEA and the community for the group's success.
"I knew that we needed to win the water quality issue. Then the image of Cedar Lake would change. It needed to be changed," Gross said.
After nearly two decades of projects -- including such things as Potawatomi Park, the seawall and landscaping around the municipal complex and the Museum of the Red Cedars, as well as wetland management and sediment control measures -- CLEA and Gross are nearing the culmination of their efforts.
By July, the town will learn the results of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study that will likely recommend a project that would include dredging the lake.
In addition to the dredging, Gross said, "We want to have the stormwater projects that will come now with the stormwater fee. When that is done, that is the culmination."
Preventing stormwater and the sediment it carries is key to the lake's integrity, he said.
Gross estimates that, by the time it is done, CLEA will have helped to secure $20 million in grant funds from the Corps, the state and federal government.
Gross said he doesn't see himself as an environmentalist, but simply someone who wants to improve the community he loves.
"I told people going in that I would work on this until it is done," Gross said, adding, "It'll be 25 years as a volunteer."
BY MELANIE CSEPIGA
Times Correspondent | Friday, February 01, 2008
Although his home wasn't directly on the lake, Bob Gross spent much of his time on Cedar Lake where he enjoyed water sports and always seemed to have a job.
"My grandfather bought the property on Lauerman in 1948. We're third generation. ... I've always worked on the lake," said Gross, who owns Pinecrest Marina.
It should come as no surprise, then, that Gross founded the Cedar Lake Enhancement Association, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the lake's health, and has worked tirelessly since the early 1990s to find, and fund, ways to improve the lake's water quality.
Gross credits those in CLEA and the community for the group's success.
"I knew that we needed to win the water quality issue. Then the image of Cedar Lake would change. It needed to be changed," Gross said.
After nearly two decades of projects -- including such things as Potawatomi Park, the seawall and landscaping around the municipal complex and the Museum of the Red Cedars, as well as wetland management and sediment control measures -- CLEA and Gross are nearing the culmination of their efforts.
By July, the town will learn the results of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study that will likely recommend a project that would include dredging the lake.
In addition to the dredging, Gross said, "We want to have the stormwater projects that will come now with the stormwater fee. When that is done, that is the culmination."
Preventing stormwater and the sediment it carries is key to the lake's integrity, he said.
Gross estimates that, by the time it is done, CLEA will have helped to secure $20 million in grant funds from the Corps, the state and federal government.
Gross said he doesn't see himself as an environmentalist, but simply someone who wants to improve the community he loves.
"I told people going in that I would work on this until it is done," Gross said, adding, "It'll be 25 years as a volunteer."
Microsoft and Yahoo WOW
Microsoft makes bid for Yahoo
SAN FRANCISCO | Microsoft Corp. has pounced on slumping Internet icon Yahoo Inc. with an unsolicited takeover offer of $44.6 billion in its boldest bid yet to challenge Google Inc.'s dominance of the lucrative online search and advertising markets.
The surprise offer of $31 per share, made late Thursday and announced Friday, seizes on Yahoo's weakness while Microsoft tries to muscle up in a high-stakes battle with Google likely to define the technology landscape for years to come.
In a statement Friday, Yahoo said it will "carefully and promptly" study Microsoft's bid.
With its profits steadily sliding, Yahoo's stock slipped to a four-year low earlier this week and a new management team has been trying to steer a turnaround but sees more turbulence through 2008.
The announcement lifted Yahoo's share price by almost 50 percent in morning trading, while Google fell more than 8 percent, dragged down by a fourth-quarter earnings report that missed Wall Street expectations.
In conference call Friday morning, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer indicated he won't take no for an answer after Yahoo rebuffed takeover overtures a year ago.
"This is a decision we have -- and I have -- thought long and hard about," Ballmer said. "We are confident it's the right path for Microsoft and Yahoo."
Besides the question of Yahoo's acceptance, Microsoft's bid also faces regulatory scrutiny in Washington and Europe. On Friday, the Justice Department said it is "interested" in reviewing antitrust issues. European Union officials declined to comment.
To underscore its resolve, Microsoft is offering a 62 percent premium to Yahoo's closing stock price Thursday. If the deal is consummated, it would be by far the largest acquisition in Microsoft's history, eclipsing last year's $6 billion purchase of online ad service aQuantive.
Since reaching a 52-week high of $34.08 in October, Yahoo shares have fallen 46 percent. Yahoo climbed $8.62 a share, or 45 percent, to $27.80 in afternoon trading. Microsoft shares fell $2.22, or 6.8 percent, to $30.38.
Microsoft publicly disclosed its cash-and-stock offer in hopes of rallying support from Yahoo's shareholders, making it more difficult for Yahoo's board to turn down the bid.
In a letter released Friday, Ballmer pointedly noted Yahoo's financial performance has deteriorated since Microsoft was spurned a year ago. At that time, Ballmer said he was told Yahoo believed it was better off on its own.
"A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved," Ballmer wrote in his letter.
Microsoft's previous offer was rebuffed by Terry Semel, who stepped aside last year as chief executive under shareholder pressure.
Microsoft sent its latest takeover offer to Yahoo late Thursday, shortly after Semel resigned as the company's chairman. The letter is addressed to Semel's successors, new Chairman Roy Bostock and the current CEO, co-founder Jerry Yang, who is one of Yahoo's largest shareholders.
In a prepared statement, Yahoo said its board "will evaluate this proposal carefully and promptly in the context of Yahoo's strategic plans and pursue the best course of action to maximize long-term value for shareholders."
Microsoft views Yahoo as its best chance to thwart Google, which has leveraged its leadership in Internet search and advertising to emerge as an increasingly serious threat to the world's largest software maker's persuasive influence on how people interact with computers.
Google already controls nearly 60 percent of the U.S. search market, and has been widening its lead, despite concerted efforts by both second-place Yahoo and third-place Microsoft. By combining, Microsoft and Yahoo would have a 33 percent share of the U.S. search market, according to the latest data from comScore Media Metrix.
By joining forces, Microsoft and Yahoo also would widen their narrowing advantage over Google in providing free e-mail accounts -- a service that helps foster more loyalty with users and create more advertising opportunities.
Advertisers around the world are expected to double their spending on the Internet during the next three years as more people get their news and entertainment on the Web instead of television, radio, newspapers and magazine. The trend is expected to create an $80 billion online ad market in 2010, up from an estimated $40 billion last year.
Despite an aggressive push in recent years, Microsoft's online advertising expansion hasn't paid off. Last week, the Redmond, Wash.-based company reported a 79 percent jump in its overall profit, but its online division's loss widened to $245 million.
And Yahoo has been struggling to attract more advertising even though its Web site attracts one of the biggest audiences. The Sunnyvale-based company's profit has declined for five consecutive quarters, prompting plans to cut 1,000 jobs later this month, a 7 percent reduction of its 14,300-employee work force.
Besides helping to boost its online ad revenue, Microsoft believes it could mine more profit from Yahoo by jettisoning workers and eliminating overlapping operations.
Microsoft said it sees at least $1 billion in cost savings if it buys Yahoo. Microsoft executives deflected questions about how many jobs might be lost, but the company emphasized retention packages will be offered to Yahoo engineers and other key employees, including some executives.
The fate of Yahoo's brand also is unclear if Microsoft takes over. Both Ballmer and Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft's platforms and services division, hailed Yahoo's strong brand value but didn't commit to keeping the name alive.
How the businesses of Microsoft, Yahoo and Google stack up
MICROSOFT:
-- Total profit in fiscal 2007: $14.07 billion
-- Total revenue: $51.12 billion
-- Headquarters: Redmond, Wash.
-- Employees: 83,945
-- Business breakdown (and most recent quarterly revenue): Online, including ads ($863 million); Windows operating system ($4.34 billion); server software and tools ($3.28 billion); business software, including the Office productivity suite ($4.81 billion).
YAHOO:
-- Total profit in 2007: $660 million
-- Total revenue: $6.97 billion
-- Headquarters: Sunnyvale, Calif.
-- Employees: 14,300
-- Business breakdown (and most recent quarterly revenue): Online advertising, on Yahoo and third-party sites ($1.59 billion); fees, including for premium Web accounts ($242 million).
GOOGLE:
-- Total profit in 2007: $4.20 billion
-- Total revenue: $16.59 billion
-- Headquarters: Mountain View, Calif.
-- Employees: 16,805
-- Business breakdown (and most recent quarterly revenue): Online advertising, on Google and third-party sites ($4.76 billion); software licensing and other business services ($69.3 million).
Note: Microsoft's fiscal year ends June 30.
Source: The companies, AP research
SAN FRANCISCO | Microsoft Corp. has pounced on slumping Internet icon Yahoo Inc. with an unsolicited takeover offer of $44.6 billion in its boldest bid yet to challenge Google Inc.'s dominance of the lucrative online search and advertising markets.
The surprise offer of $31 per share, made late Thursday and announced Friday, seizes on Yahoo's weakness while Microsoft tries to muscle up in a high-stakes battle with Google likely to define the technology landscape for years to come.
In a statement Friday, Yahoo said it will "carefully and promptly" study Microsoft's bid.
With its profits steadily sliding, Yahoo's stock slipped to a four-year low earlier this week and a new management team has been trying to steer a turnaround but sees more turbulence through 2008.
The announcement lifted Yahoo's share price by almost 50 percent in morning trading, while Google fell more than 8 percent, dragged down by a fourth-quarter earnings report that missed Wall Street expectations.
In conference call Friday morning, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer indicated he won't take no for an answer after Yahoo rebuffed takeover overtures a year ago.
"This is a decision we have -- and I have -- thought long and hard about," Ballmer said. "We are confident it's the right path for Microsoft and Yahoo."
Besides the question of Yahoo's acceptance, Microsoft's bid also faces regulatory scrutiny in Washington and Europe. On Friday, the Justice Department said it is "interested" in reviewing antitrust issues. European Union officials declined to comment.
To underscore its resolve, Microsoft is offering a 62 percent premium to Yahoo's closing stock price Thursday. If the deal is consummated, it would be by far the largest acquisition in Microsoft's history, eclipsing last year's $6 billion purchase of online ad service aQuantive.
Since reaching a 52-week high of $34.08 in October, Yahoo shares have fallen 46 percent. Yahoo climbed $8.62 a share, or 45 percent, to $27.80 in afternoon trading. Microsoft shares fell $2.22, or 6.8 percent, to $30.38.
Microsoft publicly disclosed its cash-and-stock offer in hopes of rallying support from Yahoo's shareholders, making it more difficult for Yahoo's board to turn down the bid.
In a letter released Friday, Ballmer pointedly noted Yahoo's financial performance has deteriorated since Microsoft was spurned a year ago. At that time, Ballmer said he was told Yahoo believed it was better off on its own.
"A year has gone by, and the competitive situation has not improved," Ballmer wrote in his letter.
Microsoft's previous offer was rebuffed by Terry Semel, who stepped aside last year as chief executive under shareholder pressure.
Microsoft sent its latest takeover offer to Yahoo late Thursday, shortly after Semel resigned as the company's chairman. The letter is addressed to Semel's successors, new Chairman Roy Bostock and the current CEO, co-founder Jerry Yang, who is one of Yahoo's largest shareholders.
In a prepared statement, Yahoo said its board "will evaluate this proposal carefully and promptly in the context of Yahoo's strategic plans and pursue the best course of action to maximize long-term value for shareholders."
Microsoft views Yahoo as its best chance to thwart Google, which has leveraged its leadership in Internet search and advertising to emerge as an increasingly serious threat to the world's largest software maker's persuasive influence on how people interact with computers.
Google already controls nearly 60 percent of the U.S. search market, and has been widening its lead, despite concerted efforts by both second-place Yahoo and third-place Microsoft. By combining, Microsoft and Yahoo would have a 33 percent share of the U.S. search market, according to the latest data from comScore Media Metrix.
By joining forces, Microsoft and Yahoo also would widen their narrowing advantage over Google in providing free e-mail accounts -- a service that helps foster more loyalty with users and create more advertising opportunities.
Advertisers around the world are expected to double their spending on the Internet during the next three years as more people get their news and entertainment on the Web instead of television, radio, newspapers and magazine. The trend is expected to create an $80 billion online ad market in 2010, up from an estimated $40 billion last year.
Despite an aggressive push in recent years, Microsoft's online advertising expansion hasn't paid off. Last week, the Redmond, Wash.-based company reported a 79 percent jump in its overall profit, but its online division's loss widened to $245 million.
And Yahoo has been struggling to attract more advertising even though its Web site attracts one of the biggest audiences. The Sunnyvale-based company's profit has declined for five consecutive quarters, prompting plans to cut 1,000 jobs later this month, a 7 percent reduction of its 14,300-employee work force.
Besides helping to boost its online ad revenue, Microsoft believes it could mine more profit from Yahoo by jettisoning workers and eliminating overlapping operations.
Microsoft said it sees at least $1 billion in cost savings if it buys Yahoo. Microsoft executives deflected questions about how many jobs might be lost, but the company emphasized retention packages will be offered to Yahoo engineers and other key employees, including some executives.
The fate of Yahoo's brand also is unclear if Microsoft takes over. Both Ballmer and Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft's platforms and services division, hailed Yahoo's strong brand value but didn't commit to keeping the name alive.
How the businesses of Microsoft, Yahoo and Google stack up
MICROSOFT:
-- Total profit in fiscal 2007: $14.07 billion
-- Total revenue: $51.12 billion
-- Headquarters: Redmond, Wash.
-- Employees: 83,945
-- Business breakdown (and most recent quarterly revenue): Online, including ads ($863 million); Windows operating system ($4.34 billion); server software and tools ($3.28 billion); business software, including the Office productivity suite ($4.81 billion).
YAHOO:
-- Total profit in 2007: $660 million
-- Total revenue: $6.97 billion
-- Headquarters: Sunnyvale, Calif.
-- Employees: 14,300
-- Business breakdown (and most recent quarterly revenue): Online advertising, on Yahoo and third-party sites ($1.59 billion); fees, including for premium Web accounts ($242 million).
GOOGLE:
-- Total profit in 2007: $4.20 billion
-- Total revenue: $16.59 billion
-- Headquarters: Mountain View, Calif.
-- Employees: 16,805
-- Business breakdown (and most recent quarterly revenue): Online advertising, on Google and third-party sites ($4.76 billion); software licensing and other business services ($69.3 million).
Note: Microsoft's fiscal year ends June 30.
Source: The companies, AP research
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