RM 07-11-80 - Laserfiche WebLink

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South Bend development Commission Regular Meeting - July 11, 1980 5. OLD a. continuea.... Mr. Ellison: Well at this stage the City is in fact playing the role of major developer... yes we are. Nobody intended for that to happen a few years ago, but the nature of downtown develop- ment is that the public sector has to take the risk at a certain point in time. We are now at a point in time whe e we have purchased approximately $4 million worth of real estate which is Etanding. We will be spending ano her $300,000 to clear the site. Cle rly,it is in the public interest then to Co whatever is necessary to make the project happen, and we have taken nun roes steps to refine the notion of what is possible, having Gruen inv lved a year ago to do the design. It has helped us at least to get some COrE work from all these various actors downtown (the retailers, the central office users) about what concept can worl in downtown South Bend. Now having that, it is time, because of our investment to this point, to keel the ball rolling. In order to act as master developer to get the deal to the point where we can go, if necessary, and obtain a developer to do the private portion. There was never a contemplation that a retail mall would actually be developed by the City, but things that we are doi g now are things that a developer would ordinarily have to do if this werE simply a retail development in a corn field, but it is not. It is mix d -use redevelopment, it is compli- cat d and it involves public and private actions which have to be coordinated. Traditionally, in that kind of process, the public sector will initially take the lead and take the cost responsibility. I think it is one of those things where we eally don't have a choice, if we really want to make the project happen. 11