HAMMOND | Plans are in the works to develop the old Kmart and Builders Square property.
Developer George Markopoulos hopes to turn a 125-acre parcel on Indianapolis Boulevard, former home to the big-box stores into a mixed retail, dining and 12-screen cinema complex.
The Hammond Redevelopment Commission gave preliminary approval for Markopoulos' "Gateway Promenade" plan on Tuesday night.
Designs call for tearing down Builders Square, which has been closed for more than a decade, and renovating the former Kmart store into retail space, said Nicholas Chulos, an attorney with law firm Krieg DeVault, which represents Markopoulos' Blue Light Holdings LLC.
A new movie theater would be built on the south side of the property, Chulos said, as part of the estimated $20 million to $23 million investment.
The project would involve as many as 250 construction jobs, and staffing the complex would create 100 to 150 permanent jobs, said Chulos, who added actual employment numbers could be higher.
Markopoulos said site preparation for the cinema would begin this summer, with retail shops open in the former Kmart building by the second quarter of 2009, and the theaters open "no later" than the fourth quarter of 2009.
"We're going to have to go at full speed to meet the theater plan," Chulos said. "The sooner we can get started, the better."
The development plan must still pass reviews by the city engineer, Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals.
Although they approved the plan, redevelopment commissioners questioned Markopoulos regarding his ability to complete the project.
Markopoulos, whose Praedium Development Corp. owns the former Woodmar Mall site just two miles north of the planned new complex, told commissioners in October of 2006 he would have a new retail center open there by the 2007 Christmas shopping season.
But one month later, Markopoulos bought the option for the Kmart property, then known as Interstate Plaza, and no new development was forthcoming at Woodmar after the old indoor mall was demolished.
"It is imperative that we do this one right," said Commissioner Rosemary Wojdyla. "We must view this project through the lens of previous proposals from Mr. Markopoulos which have never come to fruition."
Northbrook, Ill.-based Praedium has a date in Hammond City Court this afternoon for a hearing regarding some $700,000 in fines the firm has accumulated over city allegations of incomplete demolition at the Woodmar site.
Commissioners want architectural consistency among the renovated Kmart and proposed free-standing restaurants, appropriate landscaping, and planned hiking and biking trails on the property which connect to greenspace areas to the east and west of the site.
Because the area is in a federally designated flood plain, the Kmart renovation and outbuilding construction will all be subject to additional safety requirements, said City Planner Brian Poland.
"The city administration wants to see a movie theater in Hammond," said Richard Calinski, executive director of planning and development. "We have some issues, and there is work ahead of us, but there are definite positives with this project."
The project does not involve the recently expanded Alverno Clinical Laboratories facility near the site, and there is currently no agreement to house the Bureau of Motor Vehicles' Hammond office in the old Kmart building, Chulos said.
Locally, Praedium was the developer of the Town Square shopping center at the southwest corner of Main Street and Indianapolis Boulevard in Schererville.
