Hohman Avenue reopened to traffic through downtown Hammond on July 16, 2026, after about a year of construction. Within three months the city announced two new restaurant projects downtown. They have something in common that most new restaurants don't. Neither landlord is a private developer. Both buildings belong to the City of Hammond's Department of Redevelopment, which offered each one through a Request for Proposals and then picked the winner.
So the next places to eat on and around Hohman are mostly not appearing at random as leases turn over. The city is choosing them one property at a time, with a rebuilt street and a promised train station as the pitch.
Two Buildings, One Seller, Three Weeks Apart
The first award came on September 16, 2026. In a release published on GreatNews.Life, the city announced a development and purchase agreement for 475 Fayette Street. It will become a restaurant and lounge owned by Batiste Haywood, a Hammond native who already runs restaurants. The plan includes a full bar, and the place will be open to the public seven days a week. In the same release, Haywood pointed to where the building sits: "I also love the location and the fact that I'll be just steps away from the Downtown Train Station." The city didn't name the restaurant. The Times has reported a planned Tootie's Chicken & Fish at the same address under Haywood: a full-service restaurant, bar and private event space aiming to open in summer 2027.
The second award came on October 8. The city announced an approved agreement for the former Mercantile National Bank Building at 5243 Hohman. The plan puts two restaurants on the ground floor and 24 apartments on the top four floors. The restaurants haven't been named, and the city says it will announce grand opening timelines and a ribbon-cutting later.
Both releases quote Mayor Thomas M. McDermott, Jr., and both quotes open with the same line: "Downtown Hammond is moving with incredible momentum and speed." Each award is presented as one more step in the same downtown plan.
The Street Had to Come First
An RFP only works if a restaurant operator wants the building. The street work that ended in July was the city's down payment on that.
The Hohman Complete Streets project ran in two phases. Phase one, from Sibley Street to Russell Street, started on April 4, 2022. It also realigned Rimbach Street and moved the rotunda at Rimbach Plaza to improve parking and walkability. According to Times coverage of that first phase, the rebuilt Hohman has two through lanes, 40 angled parking spaces down the center of the street, parallel parking along the curbs, wider sidewalks, decorative lights and trees. Phase two covers the next stretch, from Russell Street to Douglas Street, and that's the section The Times reported reopening on July 16.
The money explains why the city wants the blocks to fill up. Indiana's state transportation program lists $4,791,377 for Hohman Complete Streets. That breaks down to $3,585,902 in federal Surface Transportation Block Grant funds and $1,205,475 in local funds, counting earlier local design work. About three of every four dollars came from federal grants. Hammond's own spending was closer to $1.2 million, and that local share pays off only if the storefronts along the new sidewalks have tenants.
The Pitch Is a Station That Doesn't Exist Yet
Both releases sell their buildings on the same promise. The city says the downtown Hammond Train Station on the South Shore Monon Corridor is still scheduled for completion in 2027, and that it will connect downtown with the Chicago Loop in a little over 30 minutes.
Two separate things are easy to mix up here. Monon Corridor service has already started. The South Shore Line began running trains on it on March 31, 2026, and the South Shore Line's own announcement lists Hammond Gateway as one of the corridor's stations. The 2027 date applies only to the separate downtown stop. For the restaurant at 475 Fayette, that stop is the whole selling point of the address. For the Mercantile building, it's the reason 24 apartments go above the dining rooms.
That's what ties the timeline together. The new street was finished in 2026, the downtown station is scheduled for 2027, and the restaurant projects the city has picked fall in between, with the one reported opening target set for summer 2027.
What's on the Blocks Right Now
Neither planned restaurant project has an announced opening date from the city, so the street residents walk down today looks like this, block by block.
| Address | Place | Status as of late October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 4715 Hohman Ave. | Guacamole & Grill Street Food | Food truck, usually parked near Hohman and Chicago avenues |
| 5205 Hohman Ave. | Towle Theater | Open, with a holiday show in December |
| 5231 Hohman Ave. | The Reserve A Grand Venue | Event venue for weddings, receptions and community events |
| 5231 Hohman Ave. | Brew Box Coffee & Cafe | Listed for coffee, pastries and sandwiches |
| 5243 Hohman Ave. | Former Mercantile National Bank Building | Two restaurants and 24 apartments planned |
| 5252 Hohman Ave. | Big O's Barbecue and Catering | Opened in 2026 |
| 475 Fayette St. | Haywood restaurant and lounge | Approved September 16; opening date not announced |
The newest established business is Big O's Barbecue and Catering, which The Times covered when it opened downtown. The Lakeshore Chamber held a welcome event for it on June 25, 2026, three weeks before the street fully reopened. It sits across the 5200 block from the Mercantile building, so the bank's future dining rooms will open almost next door to the newest restaurant on the street.
Farther north, The Times reported that owner Rodrigo Barba runs Guacamole & Grill Street Food as a mostly stationary truck. It serves both American and Mexican food, including burgers, hot dogs, tacos and quesadillas, and it's typically open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day except Sunday. Anyone making a special trip should check the truck's social media first.
At 5231 Hohman, South Shore CVA lists The Reserve A Grand Venue, which hosts weddings, receptions, and business and community events, and the same listing includes Brew Box Coffee & Cafe at that address.
December on Hohman, and the Things That Aren't Downtown
Towle Theater gives most people their reason to be on Hohman after dark in winter. Its fall show, Misery, closed on October 11. Next up is A Christmas Carol, Jim LaPietra's adaptation of the Dickens novel, which runs December 4 through 20.
- Fridays: 7:30 p.m. curtain
- Saturday, December 5: 7:30 p.m. curtain
- Other Saturdays and Sundays: 2 p.m. matinees
- Tickets: $35, no refunds or exchanges, and no one under six admitted
The Saturday, December 5 evening show lands on the same day as the city's Holiday Parade, but the two are miles apart. The parade starts at 10 a.m. at Gavit High School and ends at the Hammond Sportsplex, and the free one-mile Santa Sprint Fun Run before it goes from 175th and Indianapolis to the Sportsplex just past 165th Street. It isn't a downtown event. Families can do the parade in the morning and the Towle show at night. Businesses or groups that want a float, vehicle or walking group in the parade have until November 21 to submit the city's participation form.
Dan Rabin Plaza is quiet for the season. Farmed & Forged Hammond, the farmers market at 425 Sibley St., ran Thursdays from 3:30 to 7 p.m., May 28 through September 24, 2026. The organizer lists its return for June 3, 2027. That puts the market's second season in the same year as the downtown station and the reported summer opening target for 475 Fayette.
The next step on Hohman will be the city naming the restaurants for the Mercantile building's ground floor. Those tenants will occupy a city-owned building on a street the city rebuilt, chosen for a train stop the city is waiting on. When their names come out, they'll tell residents which kind of downtown Hammond's redevelopment department has decided to bet on.
Favela Real Estate follows downtown Hammond's redevelopment address by address, in English or Spanish. If you own a home within walking distance of Hohman, we can show you how the changes around your street affect it. Get Your Free Home Valuation and see where your Hammond property stands as the 2027 projects get closer.
