RM 11-16-79 - Laserfiche WebLink

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South Bend Redevelopment Commission Regular Me ting — November 16, 1979 7. PROGREgS RE a. MrJ Ellison continues... a rrospective developer for $10,000, $100,00 or $1.00 or gi e the building away altogether, we believe additional pu lic sector investment will still be necessary to cause onE of those developments to happen.. That investment might in Jude loan_ guarantees, it might include interest subsi- d:i s, it may include a variety of things, but we were not co fident in our analysis that the interest rates as indi- ca ed could be achieved, and secondarily we were concerned that the proposals did not include cost identification for every potential item they're going to have. In light of all that, we felt it was necessary to indicate to the Commission that, in our view, the Odd Fellows Building is a risky proposition. If the Commission elects to retain th building, it has to understand that that will involve some substantial additional investment on our part. That in estment will include on an immediate basis doing some - th ng about the.roof_ problem Mr. Brademas called to our attention. Certainly, to board those windows that remain open and also to take some action to protect the plumbing from a winterization standpoint during the winter that is fo thcoming.; We are not that concerned about those parti- cular costs. Obviously, the more substantial costs we think the public sector will eventually have to put forth will be related to assuring that the private financial arrangement will work. In any event, we do not believe the building, in light of all the prospective development issues facing the commu ni y, should be considered a high priority. We therefore wo ld prefer as a staff to invest our time in the Monroe- Sample, East Bank and the Century Mall projects. We do . not find that there is a clear relationship between the fate of this building and the Century Mall project. As fay as we are concerned there is no relationship whatso- ever since the Century Mall investor group obviously made no effort to make a bid to acquire the building. Thus, a rresumption that their deal hinges on this deal I think is incorrect. I have no indication from them that it does. Thus, the Odd Fellows Building in many respects should be looked at on its own, as an economic proposition pure anc simple. Our opinion is that the deal is too risky to warrant taking more chances with the property, and thus, we have concluded it's necessary for us to recommend to YOL that we reject the proposed redevelopment bids and instead award a bid to demolish the building and cause it to happen as quickly as possible. Again, I want to restate, if the Commission does elect to save the building or attiempt to do that, simply bear in mind that.the staff's