Hammond reels in Cabela’s

HAMMOND — Indiana landed the big one.

Outdoor giant Cabela’s announced plans Friday to open in Hammond in roughly 18 months, though the retailer netted only a fraction of the state incentives it once requested.

Cabela’s plans to build a 185,000-square-foot store on 35 acres of the 100 acres it purchased when it bought the Woodmar County Club in October 2005. The rest of the land will either be developed by Cabela’s or sold for related development, said Michael Callahan, Cabela’s senior vice president of retail operations.

“In every market that we have opened one of these stores, tremendous economic growth has followed,” Callahan said.

The outdoor store will face competition from Bass Pro Shops, which is already constructing its new store just off Interstate 94 in Portage.

Using the backdrop of the soon-to-be-demolished Woodmar Country Club, speakers at Friday’s news conference acknowledged the deal to bring the back-country outfitter to Hammond nearly fell off the map.

Membership of the country club voted down the deal twice before Cabela’s made a $14 million offer. The deal seemed stalled late last year, when Gov. Mitch Daniels balked at Cabela’s and Hammond’s request for $40 million in sales tax increment financing.

At the time, Daniels said he didn’t favor using sales tax to finance a retail development.

He also said Cabela’s was asking for too much, pointing to its competitor, Bass Pro, which is opening a 135,000-square-foot store in Portage, largely without state incentives.

Friday, Daniels announced the state will put roughly $10 million into the project — $7 million to finish a stretch of the Little Calumet River Basin flood project, which affects the rear portion of the land.

And the Indiana Department of Transportation will spend up to $3 million in funds earmarked for economic development to reconfigure the Interstate 94 and Indianapolis Boulevard intersection to serve Cabela’s and Interstate Plaza across the street, Daniels spokesman Weston Sedgwick said.

The governor said he was satisfied with the final agreement.

“They are good negotiators, and maybe so are we,” Daniels said.

The $7 million will match $13.5 million in federal money to complete the flood project west through Hammond and Highland to Northcote and Harts Ditch. It will remove hundreds of homes from the flood plain designation, along with the southern half of Cabela’s property. Hammond will provide $25 million in tax increment financing.

Cabela’s will use the money to build access roads, and provide sewers and drainage to the former country club, Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. said.

“While Bass Pro picked an area that could be developed immediately, Cabela’s picked an area that could be developed — but it is going to take some infrastructure improvements,” McDermott said.

The mayor said the investment will pay dividends. Four developers are looking at purchasing the nearby long-dormant Interstate Plaza for $6 million. The city could not find a buyer for $4 million two years ago.

He said it was a strange ride that brought the retail outfitter giant to Hammond. It included his father, Tom McDermott Sr., who was a consultant to Cabela’s. The older McDermott is also the former Republican mayor of Hammond; his son was elected as a Democrat.

The mayor said his father also acted as a liaison between the Republican administration in Indianapolis and his city administration.

“I am glad this entire soap opera is over,” McDermott said.

Cabela’s expects to employ 400 people and generate millions in sales and property taxes.

Callahan said the incentives offered by the state also benefit surrounding land owners.

Improvement to the site will be funded from the tax dollars generated by the company and any spin-off developments.

The store will be located on the northern part of property, in sight of Interstate 94. The company plans to begin the initial grading of the land that was an 18-hole golf course by the end of summer. If the approval process is completed on schedule, Cabela’s plans to open in late 2007 or early 2008, Callahan said. The company currently has 14 mega stores around the country, with plans to open another 14 within the next two years.

Amid the hunting and fishing equipment, displays of camping gear and rows of sport fishing boats, Cabela’s installs large static displays of native wildlife and an aquarium featuring fish in their native habitat.

If the Hammond store follows the pattern, 50 percent of its customers will come from more than 50 miles away, Callahan said. The chain’s stores tend to be the top tourist draw in the state, he said.

“Once we are open a full year in Texas, we are on track to draw more tourists than the Alamo,” he said.