This story ran on nwitimes.com on Saturday, May 13, 2006 12:30 AM CDT
Cressmoor gets favorable reviews
BY CARRIE RODOVICH
crodovich@nwitimes.com
219.762.1397
HOBART | Developers of the Cressmoor Country Club property are backing off their assertion that tax abatement is vital to the success of their $50 million residential development.
At Thursday night's Plan Commission meeting, Randy Sekerez, who is developing the property with the Kapp family, said the project will economically revitalize the north end of Hobart and should be granted an exception to the City Council's suspension of residential tax abatement.
He said abatement would put the project on a more level playing field with other developments in the city.
"I think that to make it successful as we envision it, tax abatement is an important component," Sekerez said.
But Friday, Jeff Kapp, co-owner of the property, said his group wanted to discuss the project with the council as it was being developed, and tax abatement would only be one factor to the project's success.
"We want to get the project in front of the City Council to get their input and to see if it's going to be approved," Kapp said. "Down the line, if and when the time is right, we can discuss tax abatement."
He said abatement may allow his family and Sekerez to add amenities that might otherwise be impossible.
The project calls for developing the 100-acre property over five or six years. The development calls for a nine-hole executive golf course and a combination of 96 townhomes and 189 single-family homes.
The homes will have a variety of styles and prices. Some will feature golf course views, others will view Cressmoor prairie and others will have a more traditional neighborhood. There also will be retail development along Wisconsin Street.
Sekerez said the development was modeled after Princeton Townhomes in Crown Point and the Aberdeen subdivision in Valparaiso.
The Plan Commission passed a resolution to send to the City Council that supports tax abatement for the project, which the commissioners praised.
"You took the existing neighborhood into consideration when you laid (the development) out," Plan Commission president Maria Galka said. "It is a vast improvement."
[EXTRAS]
How does tax abatement work?
Abatement grants homeowners a graduated scale of tax relief over a six-year period. Homeowners continue to pay taxes on the property, and they receive a percentage of abatement for the taxes on improvements -- such as homes -- added to that property.