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4. As part of the ongoing efforts of redevelopment in the <br />Studebaker Corridor Development Area, over 26 acres of land <br />is available for new development. In preparing these sites <br />for diposition, significant investment has been made by the <br />Commission in this area through acquisition costs, <br />relocation payments, environmental remediation activities, <br />and demolition. Presently, five sites have been sold. <br />Capital improvements such as sidewalks, curbs and <br />streetlights are needed in the area in order to improve <br />circulation and upgrade existing inadequate infrastructure. <br />Due to the cost, the provision of such public improvements <br />will not occur solely through the ordinary operations of <br />private enterprise. <br />C. In the portion of the Area designated as Expansion Area No. 1, <br />and described at the fourth Whereas clause of Resolution No. <br />1151: <br />1. In the period 1980 -1990 the United States Bureau of Census <br />data shows that Expansion Area No. 1 (including Census <br />tracts 28, 29, 30, and most of 34), lost more than 292 <br />housing units, or 7.1% of the 1980 total. <br />2. Notwithstanding the scale of the loss of housing units <br />between 1980 and 1990, residential vacancies increased from <br />275 to 384, an increase of more than 39W in the census <br />tracts comprising Expansion Area No. 1. <br />3. In the period 1980 -1990, the population in the census tracts <br />comprising Expansion Area No. 1 declined ilg, or more than <br />one thousand persons. In 1980 the population was over <br />10,400; by 1990 the population had decline to under 9,300. <br />4. In 1980 the median value of owner occupied housing units <br />within Expansion Area No. 1 was $16,500, or only 63.4W the <br />City -wide median of $26,000. In 1990 the City median value <br />increased to $40,000, while the median value in Expansion <br />Area No. 1 only increased to $26,000. <br />5. In 1991 a survey of the exterior condition of all housing in <br />the City of South Bend was conducted. The survey classified <br />housing on a four segment scale which ranged from "sound" <br />(no apparent deficiences or needing only minor repairs) to <br />"substandard" (deteriorating or dilapitated). For the city <br />as a whole, only about 1.5* of all units were classified as <br />substandard. In the census tracts comprising Expansion Area <br />No. 1, however, 4.6W of the housing units were considered <br />substandard, more than three times greater than the <br />city -wide percentage. With only 8.3% of the City's housing <br />supply, the census tracts comprising Expansion Area No. 1 <br />contain about one -third of the City's substandard <br />structures. <br />6. Unstable soil conditions found in some portions of the <br />Expansion Area No. 1 are a deterrent to private business <br />development. <br />D. In the entire Area: <br />1. Of the approximately 2400 acres included in the Area, 592.8 <br />acres, or 24.7* of the total land area is vacant. <br />2. Collectively, the Area shares several negative physical <br />factors that hinder private redevelopment. These factors <br />include: unsuitable soil for development in the Rum Village <br />Industrial Park and portions of Expansion Area No. 1; <br />obsolete industrial facilities in the Studebaker Corridor <br />and Expansion Area No. 1; poor internal circulation in <br />portions of Rum Village, Studebaker Corridor, and Expansion <br />Area No. 1; potential environmental contamination in the <br />Studebaker Corridor and portions of Expansion Area No. 1. <br />