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 Post subject: Cressmoor Country Club to keep 9-hole course
PostPosted: Sun May 07, 2006 11:21 am 
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Cressmoor to keep 9-hole course

HOBART | A nine-hole golf course will remain as part of a new Cressmoor Country Club development plan that will be presented to the city's Plan Commission next week.

Randy Sekerez, president of Sekerez Development Corp., and members of the Kapp family talked about the plans for the property after the City Council approved rezoning a portion of the property for commercial use.

A portion of the property facing Wisconsin Street, where the golf course's country club now is located, will be rezoned and developed into businesses that can be used by the subdivision and other members of the community.

Sekerez said one of the retailers that has approached him about the Cressmoor development has also expressed interest in the trailer park that is owned by someone else but sits on the corner of the Kapp's development. However, those plans have not been finalized.

Sekerez said he envisions the Cressmoor development to be similar to the Aberdeen development in Valparaiso, which incorporates housing, businesses and a golf course.

Jeff Kapp, a co-owner of the property, said the golf course will be a nine-hole, par 3 course that will be maintained by the development group.

Between 250 and 300 homes could be built in the development, Sekerez said.

Several councilmen expressed concerns about bringing more retail into an area that was struggling, but Sekerez said the "community center" retail area along Wisconsin Street would not be developed until a portion of the development had been leased to tenants.

Mayor Linda Buzinec said she hoped this development, along with the widening of Ridge Road, which is expected to take place beginning this summer, would spur other growth and development in the area.

"Once Ridge Road is done, it will be very exciting," she said.

Councilman Carl Lindsey, R-2nd, agreed.

"I'm generally very cautious in that area (of Hobart)," he said. "But I think this development will enhance it."

nwitimes 5/4/2006


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 Post subject: Cressmoor gets favorable reviews
PostPosted: Sat May 13, 2006 12:03 am 
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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.


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