Real estate around the state: the latest commercial real estate news.

THERE'S BEEN LOTS OF talk in the media about a slowdown in the residential real estate market. But when it comes to commercial real estate, the band keeps playing on--all over Indiana.

There seems to be no end to Hoosiers' desire to shop in new and different places, and the industrial market is just fine, too. There's a bit less activity on the office side, but still a reasonably healthy scene in much of the state. Following is a roundup of the latest commercial real estate news and trends.

Northwest Indiana. If you're in search of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, this is the place to be. Portage is the site of the recently opened Bass Pro Shops superstore. The Missouri-based chain builds giant retail showrooms---in this case about 130,000 square feet--that typically become shopping destinations luring visitors from many miles away. Bass built on about 15 acres Of Holladay Properties' AmeriPlex at the Port development, and views Portage as a prime spot for serving the Chicago market and beyond. A look at the invited guest list from its February grand opening indicates the desire to lure Chicago shoppers--headliners included William "The Refrigerator" Perry and Dan Hampton of Bears fame.

One of Bass' biggest national competitors is Cabela's, which also has had this corner of the state in its sights. Last year the company inked a deal to build a 185,000-square-foot superstore in Hammond, on the site of the former Woodmar Country Club. The roughly 100-acre site is expected to become a magnet for additional development-things that are typical around Cabela's stores include hotels, restaurants and complementary retail stores.

Meanwhile, a former industrial site in LaPorte could one day transform into retail, housing and recreational development, according to Jay Pouzar, commercial real estate broker for CB Richard Ellis in LaPorte. The proposal is to create NewPorte Landing on the old Allis Chalmers site, where environmental cleanup of the 150-acre site is in the works.

The biggest talk on the commercial real estate scene, he says, has to do with the proposed Illiana Expressway, a brand-new highway that would circle through the southern reaches of "The Region," linking Interstate 94 near Michigan City with Interstate 57 south of Chicago. An exact route is far from finalized, but a preliminary concept shows the highway heading south, cutting to the west through southern Porter County and crossing the state line somewhere south of Crown Point. The implications for commercial development could be major, according to Pouzar. The Indiana Department of Transportation is conducting preliminary studies now.

Another transportation topic with serious real estate implications involves intermodal logistics, according to Pouzar. There are a number of proposed developments in the region where goods would be transferred from railcars to trucks to serve Midwest markets, he says. Though details are up in the air, one potential site is near LaPorte, another near Kingsbury "Intermodal would immediately bring a lot of jobs," he says.

The industrial scene is healthy across the region, Pouzar says, who points out that Holladay Properties continues to enjoy growth at two big sites in the region: AmeriPlex at the Port and the AmeriPlex at the Crossroads development near Merrillville that includes the Purdue Technology Center of Northwest Indiana.

Northern Indiana. Retail is a big story in the South Bend/Mishawaka area, too, reports Christian Davey, broker with Grubb & Ellis/ Cressy & Everett in Mishawaka. Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group is replacing the former Marshall Field's store at the University Park Mall in Mishawaka with a "lifestyle" development likely to include a bookstore, specialty stores and restaurants. "In other markets where they've done these kinds of developments, they've been successful at increasing sales both within the mall and at other retailers in the area," Davey says.

Meanwhile, "for the first time in more than 10 years, we have a new speculative industrial project," Davey says. That would be the Huron building, which Holladay Properties is developing at its Portage Prairie project on the northwest side of South Bend. Portage Prairie is to be a major mixed-used development, including businesses, homes and retailers. The overall project will take years to develop, but Holladay officials say it could ultimately see half a billion dollars of investment across some 500 acres.

South Bend's central business district is seeing healthy development, Davey says, including a mix of uses. In fact, he says, some commercial buildings are being converted into residential condominiums.

Atlanta-based Gameday Centers, which develops what it calls "luxury sports condominiums," is creating the Hall of Fame Gameday Center, featuring fully furnished condos designed to appeal to Notre Dame fans. Located near the College Football Hall of Fame, the development will include first-floor retail tenants.

Work is progressing at the Edison Lakes business park in Mishawaka, where Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center is building a replacement hospital. The 270-bed facility will encompass 650,000 square feet and is to open in 2009.

Northeast Indiana. The northeast corner of the state has been enjoying solid industrial growth, reports Mike Dahm, senior broker with NAI Harding Dahm in Fort Wayne. Last year the region saw more than two dozen new projects totaling nearly a million square feet and promising to generate more than 1,200 jobs, he says.

"We also had 76 expansions," he says. Those include growth at the Steel Dynamics site in Columbia City. No new spec industrial space to report, though the big supply of warehouse space that was on the market only a few years ago is drying up quickly. Observers expect 2007 may bring some new speculative projects.

Downtown, the commercial real estate story is mixed, but hopeful. The office market has been soft, Dahm says. "Demand for downtown office space has been very limited."

But the city is hoping for new downtown vibrancy through the proposed Harrison Square development project. Plans suggest a new minor-league baseball stadium, hotel, park and a range of mixed-use developments that would include retail and residential uses, all near the Grand Wayne Center.

Though many details are unresolved, the city and Merrillville-based White Lodging Services recently released preliminary details of the proposed hotel development. The $47 million, 250-room hotel would rise 11 stories and include dining and meeting space. The original Harrison Square plan called for a 300-room hotel, but city officials said they were willing to give a little on the room total in order to ensure a financially feasible development.

Other action downtown includes a new newspaper printing operation, Dahm says.

To the north, medical-related development continues unabated, he says, with Parkview North and Lutheran Health Network's Dupont Hospital enjoying tremendous success, expanding and adding medical office space. That, in turn, is helping to drive retail growth in the Dupont corridor and nearby areas, Dahm says.

Other retail action includes three Wal-Mart Supercenter developments around town, as well as changes at the city's Glenbrook Square mall, where Barnes & Noble is building.

Central Indiana. "The Indianapolis commercial real estate markets have not looked this good for a number of years," Jeffrey Henry, managing principal in the Indianapolis office of Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, reports in the annual "State of Real Estate." Office vacancies are lower than they've been in a while, speculative office development continues, retail is thriving, downtown is booming and industrial development continues on a record pace.

On the retail front, Simon Property Group is doing basically the same thing in Castleton and Greenwood that it's doing in Mishawaka--tearing down a mall anchor store and replacing it with more of a "lifestyle center" type of development. In both central Indiana cases, former L.S. Ayres stores are making way for the new developments, vacated when the Macy's brand took over (both malls already had a Macy's from an earlier merger). The Castleton project will include a 14-screen cinema.

Simon also is involved in a major Hamilton County project known as Hamilton Towne Center, an open-air lifestyle center along Interstate 69 that will approach a million square feet of space.

Office vacancies dropped to 16.6 percent by the end of 2006, according to Colliers Turley Martin Tucker. That's in spite of the ongoing construction of new office space in the suburbs, including the recently opened Opus Landmark at Meridian Building One, a 106,0000-square-foot multi-tenant building in the north part of the metro area. Speculative multi-tenant development now on the drawing board includes almost 900,000 square feet that could begin construction this year or next, nearly two-thirds in the north market.

On the industrial front, Colliers Turley Martin Tucker reports that occupancy grew by more than five million square feet for the third year in a row, and vacancies are negligible. Some 5.8 million square feet of space was added to the market in 2006, and about that much is under construction for this year.

Logistics continues to be a major driver, and the west side of town continues to be hot. The very latest development is the 360,000-square-foot Plainfield Business Center at Airwest Building 11, for which Opus North Corp. started construction this month. But, reports Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, new industrial parks are luring developments to other parts of the metro area as well, including Whitestown, Monrovia and Greenwood.

Southwest Indiana. The Green River Road corridor in the Evansville area continues to develop rapidly, according to Ken Newcomb Jr. at F.C. Tucker Commercial in Evansville. An area that not all that long ago was farmland has more recently sprouted a new Walgreen's and the Green River Commons retail center, among other newer projects.

Also hot is the Epworth/ Lloyd area, where Evansville is now blending into nearby Newburgh. A major driver is the Deaconess Gateway Hospital and The Women's Hospital, and competitor St. Mary's has acquired nearby acreage for future growth. The northeast side of town is seeing retail growth, including at Lynch and Oak Hill roads, where a new retail center and drugstore are locating.

As is the case elsewhere in the state, Wal-Mart continues to build Supercenters, including one in the works in Princeton. And restaurant development is cooking all around town, with new entries including Cheeseburger in Paradise.

There's lots of growth and opportunity on the industrial front, according to Newcomb. Locally based Shoe Carnival registered a vote of confidence in the area by building a 410,000-square-foot warehouse, and Brake Supply expanded to 190,000 square feet, he reports.

The Ohio River in Spencer County could be the scene of new development, according to Newcomb. That's where MidAmerica Terminals plans to build a major port that could develop into one of the busiest between Pittsburgh and St. Louis. The 900-acre project could get under way this summer, with completion in 12 to 18 months following investment of $30 million, he says. Intermodal connections are already in the area.

Downtown office vacancies remain high, Newcomb says, but there are some positive office plans. Locally based American General Finance has plans for a new building, and a new technology incubator is planned for the formerly vacant Centrum building.

Growth is also happening at the city's Mesker Park Zoo. Evansville-based Industrial Contractors is currently constructing a $14.5 million tropics building called Amazonia. The structural steel building will have a polycarbonate roof, creating a tropical atmosphere inside.

"It's basically a rainforest, starting with the top canopy and moving down to the floor of the rainforest," says Mark Elpers, manager of preconstruction and major projects for Industrial Contractors. A winding path will lead visitors through the 19,400-square-foot building, he says, which is to open in about a year and exhibit everything from jaguars to monkeys to toucans.

For a company that typically builds office towers, hospitals, power-generation facilities and other industrial projects, the chance to create a rainforest in Evansville doesn't come along every day, says Elpers. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing for us."