03-08-93 Human Resources & Economic Development

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Committee Report HUMAN RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE To the Common Council of the City of South Bend: The March 8, 1993, meeting of the Human Resources and Economic Development Committee was called to order by its' Chairperson, Council Member Roland Kelly, at 4 : 15 p.m. in the Council Informal Meeting Room. Persons in attendance included Council Members: Luecke, Kelly, Puzzello, Slavinskas Zakrzewski, Duda and Ladewski; Ernest Szarwark, Bruce Squillante, Mike Beizinger, Don Porter and Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand. Council Member Kelly noted that the first item on the agenda t No. 9 3-22 was to review Resolution w ich is a tax abatement which request for the real property located at 119 West Wayne. Mr. Michael Beizinger of the Department of Economic Development then reviewed the report dated February 9, 1993 (copy attached) . He noted that the petitioner desires to renovate the parking garage at the corner of Main and Wayne Street at the projected cost of $750, 000. 00. He noted that the petitioner does not qualify for tax abatement under the current regulations and therefore would need to petition under Section 2-84 of the Code. Accordingly, the department has set forth a 3 , 6, and 10 year schedule for Coyne Investments L.P. , the petitioner. Mr. Ernest Szarwark of the Barnes and Thornburg Law Firm then made the presentation. He also noted the Mr. Bruce Squillante of the same law firm was also present on behalf of the petitioner. He stated that he believes that the petitioner qualifies as a special exception for a 10 year abatement for three primary reasons, namely that the facility is important to the growth and development of the downtown, that the Norwest garage is physically attached to the old Robertson's building, and that the closure of the garage would exacerbate downtown parking problems. He also noted that the extraordinary obsolescence factor would be lost upon renovation under the assessment process once the capital improvements are made. The building would be reclassified from "poor" to "above 'average".