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Groundbreaking Ceremony held in Portage

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Written by Amanda Watson, Marketing Director (Portage, IN)

Today, Holladay Properties hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for The Promenade at Founders Square, a new $40 million mixed-use development in Portage, IN, and the largest single investment in Holladay’s 65+ year history.

Holladay was joined by representatives from Holladay Construction Group (the General Contractor), Tandem Architecture (the architect), Centier and Lake City Bank (the lenders), and the City of Portage to celebrate a project several years in the making.

Holladay’s Portage office first announced the Promenade mixed-use development in an article dated 05/17/2016, but staff have been working with the City of Portage and surrounding property owners to plan the walkable urban community for nearly 5 years.

“Holladay is ecstatic to be moving forward with this project” said Drew Mitchell, Vice President of Development for Holladay Properties. “Our hat goes off to the City for having the bold vision and for steadfastly working with Holladay to bring about this exciting development. The City Council, Mayor’s office, Redevelopment Commission, and City Planning Department have all provided valuable input, and we believe our plan will not only be embraced by the community, but also act as a catalyst for new development in Portage’s downtown.”

The Groundbreaking Ceremony took place at 2 PM on Thursday, May 11. The event was extremely well attended and featured some very striking remarks about the significance of the project from a variety of Holladay and City of Portage representatives including Tim Healy, who spoke about Holladay’s enduring and ongoing relationship with the City.

Then, Councilman Mark Oprisko, who has been a big supporter of Holladay and this project over the years, said a few words. Next, the group heard from Mayor James Snyder, who gave an impassioned speech about the transformation the downtown area has undergone over the past few years. If you weren’t at the groundbreaking in person, here is the opening of the Mayor’s speech.

“The Promenade at Founders Square represents the culmination of something special happening in Portage.  Mayor Olson, Mayor Velazquez, City Councilpersons Lynch, Gottschling, Turnak, Clem, Oprisko, Modesto, Cannon, Plan Commission Members Denise Little, Ken Lorenz, James Hazzard, Larry Widener, Redevelopment Commission Members Susan Kelley-Johnson, Steve Nelson, Greg Lach, City Staff AJ Monroe, John Shepherd, Gregg Sobkowski, Kurt Knutsen, Andy Maletta, Jim Fitzer and more I couldn’t think to add to the list have worked hard and spent many hours to take Portage to a new level.  They all dreamed, they all had a better vision of our City, they all persevered in the face of adversity, and they all showed courage.  This groundbreaking signifies countless hours of hard work, it signifies teamwork and relationship building, and no other groundbreaking in the last decade in Portage exemplifies the great people of this City more than the Promenade at Founders Square.”

And then we heard from Andy Maletta, the City of Portage’s Economic Development Director.

“[The Promenade at Founders Square’s] urban look and feel will be the ideal dwelling place for those seeking amenities and convenience of a downtown area but living in a wonderful, family friendly community. I believe there’s no better place to set your roots, to raise your family, or to retire to than Portage, Indiana,” Maletta said.

So many people attended our groundbreaking and we are thankful for each and every one of them.

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