12-05-08 Commission Approves Certified Tech Park agreement

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The Certified Technology Park agreement, for a maximum four-year term ending Dec. 31, 2012, allows the City of South Bend to capture the maximum $5 million in sales and income taxes to support the park. According to the terms, the City is required to complete acquisition, demolition and remediation at the Sample Street site no later than June 1, 2011. The City also is required to invest an additional $6 million in infrastructure or other construction costs by the end of 2012. Each year, the City is required to make an Annual Report to the state that highlights the total employment and payroll for all businesses in the Park, the number of jobs created during the year, the nature and extent of any technology transfer (from research into commercial products), the nature and extent of any non-technology businesses in the Park, the use and outcome of any State monies, as well as an analysis of the Park’s overall contribution to the technology-based economy in Indiana through capital investment, product development or commercialization. The Certified Technology Park agreement will require final approval by the South Bend Common Council in its Dec. 8 meeting. The Redevelopment Commission previously authorized submission of the technology park and grant applications to the IEDC in August. City and state officials have worked to draft the agreements since that time. According to the grant agreement, the City will submit quarterly reports (supplied by Notre Dame) to the state. The business incubator built with state grant funds must remain an incubator for the useful life of the facility. The first building at Innovation Park, estimated at $10 million to $15 million, is expected to be substantially completed by fall 2009. It will house a reception area, administrative space and a greenhouse incubator facility as well as space on the second and third floors for client/tenants to work to transform research into marketable enterprises. The University will own the building and equipment, which will be leased to Innovation Park. Three additional buildings, with another 146,000 square feet of space, are expected to be added at Innovation Park between 2010 and 2018. “Together with the City, Innovation Park is working to ensure that Park clients have the resources they need to successfully bring their ideas to the marketplace,” said David Brenner, president and CEO of Innovation Park at Notre Dame. “The Certified Technology Park agreement is a tangible step toward that reality.” Innovation Park’s first phase is projected to create 17 to 23 permanent, full-time jobs and one part-time job during its first year of operation with an annual payroll of $1.15 million to $1.45 million. There are no projections at this time for the number of jobs anticipated to grow out of the project as start-up enterprises are transplanted to other sites. The property, now valued at $210,000, is estimated to have an assessed value of $51 million after improvements. “When this technology park is completed successfully, it will have significant long-term benefits that will continue to percolate and send ripples through the community’s economy,” said Patrick McMahon, executive director of Project Future, an economic-development organization for the greater South Bend area. “It’s not just commercialization of intellectual capital. It’s a tool for transitioning a significant portion of our economy.” - 30 -