A study will determine how much housing LaPorte County needs, especially with multi-billion-dollar data center and battery plants expected to bring thousands of jobs.
The LaPorte County Office of Economic Development commissioned an update of the Vibrant Communities Housing Study that was first done in 2021. The study determined that 5,700 new housing units were needed.
That number is expected to increase due to mega-projects in the pipeline. Microsoft is investing $1 billion in a new data center in LaPorte, adding an estimated 200 jobs after a record private-sector investment for the city. Amazon Web Services plans to build an $11 billion data center in neighboring New Carlisle, hiring at least 1,000 workers. GM and Samsung SBI will invest $3 billion in an electric vehicle battery cell plant expected to bring 1,700 jobs to New Carlisle.
“The original study was a collaborative partnership between the county, our cities and community stakeholders,” LaPorte County Commissioner Connie Gramarossa said. "It now needs to be updated to reflect the major investments we’ve seen across the county.”
Gramarossa helped secure funding through the Unity Foundation of LaPorte County for the study, which is expected to cost about $20,000 to complete.
SEH Engineering will update the housing analysis under the guidance of Beth Shrader. She's a planner with experience with the city of LaPorte, the city of Valparaiso, the then-Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission.
Bailey Tombers, who led the original study as a community outreach manager, said the update was vital in light of subsequent developments. Such reports can help drive more development, she said.
“Planning efforts like this are necessary because they show developers LaPorte County is open for business and ready for development,” Tombers said.
New housing stock is in demand across Indiana and the rest of the country at a time of dwindling inventories and rising prices. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates the Hoosier State has a severe shortage of affordable housing, with only 38 affordable rental homes available for 100 low-income households, according to a study released earlier this year.
The updated LaPorte County housing study is expected to be completed this year.
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