State: Hoffman Estates-Cabela's deal won't scotch Hammond talks

INDIANAPOLIS | Cabela's newly minted marriage with Hoffman Estates doesn't take the outdoor megastore off Indiana's dance card.

"It's obviously a great move for Cabela's, and we're hopeful that they'll make a similar decision in Northwest Indiana," Weston Sedgwick, spokesman for the Indiana Economic Development Corp., said Friday.

"We're still in negotiations with the company."

The corporation reviews business subsidies that involve state dollars. Cabela's has requested $40.7 million in sales tax increment financing for a proposed 175,000-square-foot store in Hammond.

STIF financing has never been approved in Indiana, though Hammond is one of four communities authorized to use the economic development tool.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp., so far has been reluctant to approve such financing. Hammond, meanwhile, has offered $25 million in property tax financing.

Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. asked the state to step up as well. His presentation Wednesday before the State Board of Finance drew compliments from the three-member panel. The board decided to give Cabela's and the city more time to negotiate with the state.

The overall cost of the Hammond project is estimated at $94 million. That includes $16 million in flood-control work needed to transform the 93-acre Woodmar Country Club into retail property.

Cabela's bought the land near U.S. 41 for $14 million. The company plans to occupy about half the property, reserving the rest for restaurants, a hotel or other complementary businesses.

Hoffman Estates, a northwest Chicago suburb about 55 miles from Hammond, was in simultaneous, but not competing, talks with Cabela's.

"It's great news for the company, and I don't think it precludes the possibility of Indiana attracting a Cabela's store," Sedgwick said.