11-14-16 Zoning and Annexation - Laserfiche WebLink

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Brian Pawlowski, Director of Community Investment, with offices on the 14`" Floor of the County -City Building, added to the discussion. He stated, The criteria used in that specific project I certainly think aspects of it are used in other projects as well throughout the city. Mr. Pawlowski then apologized on behalf of Community Investment for the last minute change in recommendation they offered to the Council, which Committeemember Oliver Davis had referenced earlier in the evening. He went on to explain the process by which Community Investment, through long deliberations with the petitioner, came to their decision. David Matthews, 215 East Colfax Avenue, South Bend, IN, served as petitioner of the bill. He explained that the East Bank Plan calls for a sixty (60) foot height limit, but that the ABZA raised that to ninety -eight (98) feet, a sixty -three percent (63 %) increase. The petitioner met with the ABZA to propose the project at that height and had it shot down. They presented another project, and the ABZA denied them again, at which point they discovered that they could go through the PUD process and so chose to do that. The South Bend Common Council approved of the PUD at ninety -eight (98) feet. He explained that he had been before the Committee that evening to ask for one - hundred and seventy -five (175) feet, which would be an additional seventy -eight percent (78 %) increase from the proposed ninety -eight (98) feet. He pointed to the Eddy Street Commons as a project that the City plan did not account for that was a successful PUD. He explained that his project met all the criteria for the East Bank, except for the height, and that he has received fifty (50) letters in support of the project. At this point, he moved on to the rest of his presentation. Mr. Matthews presented images of the Commerce Center in 2010, when development began on the site, and of it in 2016. He showed images of the townhomes that he built across from the Emporium, stating that that site used to be a half -dirt, half -paved parking lot. He then stated, We've done a great job of selling our successes, but the neighborhood is still really quite poor. He then presented a chart from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation showing demographics for the neighborhood. He stated, In 2015, 2,100 people lived in the neighborhood in 1,200 households. The median income —fifty percent (50 %) of the households' income make less than $16,000 a year. That's $1,400 a month, per household. You can see the breakdown: forty-seven percent (47 %) make less than $15,000; twelve percent (12 %) make between $15,000 and $25,000. And at the bottom, the $200,000 - plus —the $150,000 to $200,000: twenty -one (21) households who are in those brackets. He stated that a lot of those people were probably his customers. He stated that he has not torn any buildings down or evicted anyone in the area, and that in fact he has taken vacant land to build on so as to drive people and business into downtown South Bend. He stated, That's what we need as a city. Our city is based on people. As we look around the County, the new apartments that have been built in the past decade have almost all been focused toward student housing. South Bend is really well - positioned, because if you're not a student and you're living in an apartment, chances are it's twenty (20) to forty (40) years -old, and it's not that nice. So, as a city, if we can get new apartments coming into our downtown, we can get those people to move out of the County and into downtown South Bend. There's a good competitive opportunity for South Bend to see some rapid growth, and we want to be part of that. Mr. Matthews then presented a picture of the Commerce Center parking lot. He expressed his interest in making that area is pedestrian- friendly, comparing his efforts to the City's Smart Streets effort. He stated, The existing site is 90,000 square feet, two- point -nine (2.9) acres, with a 13