HOBART | Hobart officials consider themselves fortunate to have portions of the U.S. 30 corridor within their corporate limits.
Indeed, most of the commercial construction in Hobart in 2012 was located either on the U.S. 30 corridor or inside Westfield Southlake mall.
"We had a very good year and we are fortunate to have the U.S. 30 corridor because we do a tremendous amount of construction around or near the mall," Building Official Mike Hannigan said.
The new Cooper's Hawk winery and restaurant anchored in the mall at a cost of $3.6 million.
Several existing businesses inside and outside the mall built new stores or made major improvements, including Ross Dress For Less, which spent $975,000; Victoria's Secret, $942,877; and Albert's Jewelry, $150,000.
The $6.8 million Northwind project was the big ticket item last year as far as total costs, Hannigan said.
That new 100,000-square-foot building in the Northwind Crossings complex off 61st Avenue near Interstate 65 will be occupied by ITR America, a company that provides components and repair parts for use on bulldozers, crawler loaders, excavators, trucks and other equipment, officials said.
Other major construction or remodeling projects included the Solar Farm off of 49th Avenue and Liverpool Road, $1 million and Dollar Tree in Strack's Plaza off U.S. 6 and Ind. 51, $460,968.
Hannigan said Hobart had tallied roughly $29 million in construction costs through the end of November. That figure does include some residential construction - 11 homes and one duplex.
Final December figures are expected to nudge that figure a bit higher.
That compares to the total commercial and residential launched in Hobart in 2011, Hannigan said.
Commercial growth this year should continue to be good, Hannigan predicts.
One of the remodeling projects already in the works is an extensive one planned by J.C. Penney.
The J.C. Penney Home Furnishing store, on the north side of U.S. 30, will be moved to the remodeled home store located inside the mall, Hannigan said.
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