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Greg Hakanen <br /> 51801 Waterford Green Drive <br /> Granger, Indiana 46530 <br /> (574) 850-3981 <br /> January 16, 2026 <br /> Board of Public Works <br /> South Bend City Hall <br /> 215 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. <br /> South Bend, Indiana 46601 <br /> Re: Support for Vacation Petition for 710 & 718 Napoleon Street <br /> To the Members of the Board: <br /> I am writing in support of the petition by Dave and Jennifer Ludwig for 1)vacation of 3.7 feet <br /> of City right-of-way along Napoleon Street and 2) relocation of the existing sidewalk on the <br /> south side of Napoleon between St. Peter Street and St. Louis Blvd. <br /> I write as a private citizen with a great deal of experience in the physical transformation that <br /> has taken place in the Northeast Neighborhood over the last 20+years: <br /> • I served as the University of Notre Dame's Director of Northeast Neighborhood <br /> Redevelopment from June 2004 until September 2019. <br /> • In that capacity I represented the University in the development of Eddy Street <br /> Commons, oversaw the Notre Dame Avenue Housing Program, and represented the <br /> University and the NNRO in the redevelopment of The Triangle. <br /> • From 2004 to 2019 I was one of Notre Dame's two voting representatives to the <br /> Northeast Neighborhood Revitalization Organization. I continue to serve the NNRO <br /> as a volunteer member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. <br /> In one capacity or another, my entire focus for the last 21 years has been the thoughtful, <br /> environmentally-sensitive, high-quality redevelopment of the Northeast Neighborhood. <br /> Dave and Jennifer have shared with me their plans to build two homes on what is currently <br /> a single lot at 718 Napoleon Street. To accomplish this, they are requesting that the City 1) <br /> vacate a small (3.7 feet) strip of right-of-way on the south side of Napoleon and 2) allow <br /> them to rebuild/relocate the Napoleon/St. Peter sidewalk. Based on my experience in the <br /> neighborhood, I believe that this request is consistent with long-established revitalization <br /> objectives in the Northeast Neighborhood (NEN): <br />