HFL, City of La Porte Host Notre Dame School of Architecture for Downtown Housing Charrette

The HFL City of La Porte Housing Initiative, which began in 2022 with a six-month in-depth housing study of the City of La Porte, continues its work with a partnership with the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture’s Housing and Community Regeneration Initiative for a downtown housing and regeneration charrette. A charrette is an intensive planning session where architects, citizens, and others collaborate to develop a design or vision for a project. HFL and the City of La Porte are welcoming a professional team from the University of Notre Dame May 22-25 to conduct a charrette for the downtown area of the City of La Porte, specifically the neighborhoods surrounding Lincolnway.

To begin the charrette, stakeholders throughout the community -- residents, homeowners, landlords, business owners, realtors and more -- were invited to participate in two Listening Sessions at the HFL Conference & Learning Center. Hosted by the School of Architecture, these informal gatherings allowed a wide range of voices to be heard regarding the housing needs, concerns, and issues in the downtown area from the people who live and work there.

Then, the team will study downtown and adjacent neighborhoods with a focus on creating a vibrant public realm as well as addressing critical housing needs. The goal of the exercise is to formulate a vision and implementation approach to preserve the heart of La Porte's historic center, making it a reliable place to work, live and invest.

The full Housing Assessment Study, which identified La Porte's housing challenges and opportunities, can be found on HFL’s website.

Public Input Welcome

During the week of May 22-25, the public will have three opportunities to participate in the process. Each public event will be at St. Peter’s Catholic Church School, 1101 Michigan Avenue, La Porte.

Public Events

Monday, May 22, 5:30 – 7 p.m. CDT – Opening Presentation

Tuesday, May 23, 5:30 – 7 p.m. CDT – Preliminary Proposals

Thursday, May 25, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. CDT – Final Presentation

For more information about the charrette, visit hflaporte.org/charrette.