Officials in Northwest Indiana Wednesday morning selected Gary to be home to a new multimillion-dollar convention center and hotel development.
The Lake County Board of Commissioners opted for Gary over a competing proposal in the city of Hobart near the Southlake Mall at U.S. 30 and Interstate 65. The winning project is a public-private development between the city of Gary, the state of Indiana, Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana and Dallas-based infrastructure company AECOM.
“It’s a good day in the city of Gary and throughout Lake County,” Gary Mayor Eddie Melton said. “I believe God favored the work that we’ve done, and he helped us be successful today.”
The $100 million project will consist of a 300-room hotel at the Hard Rock Casino, two additional hotels nearby, a 145,000-square-foot convention center and two new restaurants.
It will be built near the Hard Rock Casino at Burr Street and Interstate 80/94 in Gary.
No date was given for when the project will be completed.
“Our vision has always been about creating strong economic opportunities for our community,” Melton said. “I thank the Lake County commissioners for recognizing Gary’s tremendous potential and embracing a future where our entire region thrives together.”
The project will be funded entirely through gaming taxes, state matching funds established by Indiana Senate Bill 434 and a $30 million commitment over 20 years from Hard Rock Casino.
Since opening in 2021, Hard Rock Casino has become the No. 1 casino operation in revenue in Indiana and second in the Chicago region behind Rivers Casino in northwest suburban Des Plaines.
“This is a tremendous moment for Lake County,” said Matt Schuffert, president of Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana. “We are honored to be selected and grateful for everyone who stood with us throughout this bid process. Together, we have the chance to create a world-class destination that generates economic opportunity, creates jobs, drives tourism and supports local businesses.”
Where to locate the convention center caused some friction with Gary’s neighboring city, Hammond.
The Hammond City Council last month approved a resolution opposing Gary as the location for the convention center because of its potential negative impact on Harrah’s Casino in Hammond.
“As the largest city in Lake County, Hammond has long been a major contributor to the region’s economy,” Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said. “We’ve seen firsthand how recent state decisions have already negatively impacted our casino revenues, and this convention center could further threaten our city’s economic stability.”
Construction of the project is expected to begin later this year, and partners have made commitments to hire local workers — including union labor, trade professionals, Indiana vendors and minority- and women-owned businesses.
“This is going to be more jobs, more increases to our tax base as a city, increase in tourism and hospitality right along one of the busiest highways in North America — 300,000 cars a day driving by the site,” Melton said. “It’s going to be pretty exciting.”
Melton said he is not concerned about more casino competition. There are three other Northwest Indiana casinos near Gary and one less than 10 miles away in the Wind Creek Casino and Hotel in south suburban East Hazel Crest, Illinois, which opened in November. The $1.7-billion Bally’s Casino is now under construction in Chicago’s River West neighborhood.
“Even with the [Wind Creek] one that just recently opened closer to Hard Rock, in our assessment, it has virtually not impacted Hard Rock’s overall revenue-generating opportunities,” Melton said. “But let’s not just solely look at gaming. We got to look at the food and beverage, you got to look at concerts, everything from the entertainment aspect that Hard Rock brings to this region is unmatched. I think it’s going to add another tier of success.”
Michael Puente is a reporter and weekend anchor at WBEZ. Reach him at mpuente@wbez.org.