Developers pitch PUD for Beckman School site; residents raise health and notice concerns

Developers seeking a planned-unit development (PUD) rezoning for the vacant Beckman School site told the Gary City Council at a public meeting that they need zoning approval to attract tenants, but several nearby residents said they were not properly notified and warned the project could bring pollution and safety problems.

The PUD proposers—represented by developer Christina Primvas and Kyle Glascott of Indiana Investment Properties—said the plan would create an office-warehouse building to support light industrial and business users and that the parcel’s zoning must change before prospective operators will commit. Primvas said the team does not yet have an operator: “We do not at this point. What we have to do is to get the zoning, allowing our PUD in order to attract those, uses that will come.”

Why it matters: The Beckman School parcel is a large, long-vacant site in Gary. Rezoning it to allow light industrial and mixed uses could substantially raise the property’s…