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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 0929 rdc minutesSouth Bend Redevelopment Commission 227 West Jefferson Boulevard, Room 1308, South Bend, Indiana SOUTH BEND REDEVELOPMENT COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING September 29, 2016 9:30 a.m. Presiding: Marcia Jones, President The meeting was called to order at 9:33 a.m. 1. ROLL CALL 227 West Jefferson Boulevard South Bend, Indiana Members Present: Marcia Jones, President Dave Varner, Vice President Don Inks, Secretary Gavin Ferlic, Commissioner John Anella, Commissioner Members Absent: Greg Downes, Commissioner Legal Counsel: Benjamin Dougherty, Esq. Redevelopment Staff: David Relos, Associate Mary Brazinsky, Recording Secretary Others Present: Brian Pawlowski Aaron Kobb John March Brad Emberton Regina Emberton Mark Peterson Eric Walton Erin Blasko Conrad Damain 1 South Bend Redevelopment Commission Regular Meeting — September 29, 2016 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Approval of Minutes of the Regular Meeting of Thursday, September 15, 2016 Upon a motion by Secretary Inks, seconded by Commissioner Ferlic, the motion carried 4 -0, the Commission approved the minutes of the regular meeting of Thursday, September 15, 2016. 3. APPROVAL OF CLAIMS A. Claims Submitted September 29, 2016 Claims submitted Redevelopment Commission Claims submitted September 29, 201G for approval 324 RIVER WEST DEVELOPMENT AREA South Bend Tribune RealAmerlca Donohue & Associates United Consulting Engineers Hull & Associates, Inc Jones Petrie Rafinskl 422 FUND WEST WASHINGTON DEVELOPMENTTIF Lehman & Lehman Explanation of Project 69.24 Notice to Bidders 221,769.60 The LaSalleApartments 14,230.00 Fellow & Dubai[ St. Neighborhood Improvement 69,081.75 Coal Line Trail 10,498.05 General Consultant/ Oliver Industrial Pk/ Ignition Pk 22,758.05 Phase II ESA 605.00 Cemetery Master Plan Items added after Agenda Distributed Total $339,011.69 $0.00 Upon a motion by Secretary Inks, seconded by Vice President Varner, the motion carried 4 -0, the Commission approved the Claims submitted September 29, 2016. 4. Old Business A. Disposition Bids for Brick /Cleveland Road David Relos noted for the record that bids were due on these five lots as of 9 am on September 15, 2016, and that no bids were received. 5. New Business A. River East Development Area (1) Development Agreement, Newman Center Mr. Pawlowski gave a general overview of the Newman Center, which has not been utilized for a number of years. This area includes the Regional Cities Blue Ways initiative, which will receive funding for river walk improvements with a focus from Leeper Park to the Farmer's Market. This project fits into the vision for that area. Working with Mr. Emberton has been a good experience as things are in place and ready to go. Financially we are looking at a TIF contribution of $586,000 in addition to the building and land which requires remediation. Mr. Emberton will be investing a minimum of $1.3 million. ■ South Bend Redevelopment Commission Regular Meeting — September 29, 2016 Brad Emberton presented a site plan and rendering of the proposed Armory building to the Commissioners. Mr. Emberton spoke about his plans for the building and the surrounding community. From 1928 until the mid- 1960's it was utilized as a National Guard Armory, which is why they want to keep the historic name of the Armory. A substantial amount of money will go into the restoration and remediation of the existing building and its build out. The intention is to put in a Winery with tasting room and a Culinary Events Center, which will be anchored with a shared use kitchen. Mr. Emberton has found a way to work with food trucks and other area businesses utilizing a shared use kitchen in this space. The kitchen will be a little over 1,600 square feet. The building will also include office and meeting space with the balance of the space being used as a winery. Ironhand Winery, the only winery located in St. Joseph County will be moving into the building. Most of the year the space will be utilized as a tasting room since creating wine happens only a few months each year. Mr. Emberton spoke about a central parking location for food trucks in the South Bend area in the future, and would like to see them stationed in one of the Howard Park lots. A shared use kitchen or incubators as they're called, utilizes the space for a short period of time and moves into their own space once they become established. It is not our goal to lose business, we want to maintain the businesses coming through. We will have an anchor business that will utilize about forty to forty -five percent of the space. That person is licensed and will manage the kitchen. Up to ten people will sub -lease space. Space will be filled with food trucks, caterers, vendors and other food businesses. Small startup businesses, making for instance salsa out of their homes, can now use this kitchen. The goal is to have the Armory open for business by the end of 2017. Mr. Pawlowski spoke about investment percentages for different projects, explaining that we vary between 3 and 20 percent on investment ratios; with this project at this time, it is a good investment that is going to compliment other things that are in motion in this immediate area, including work along the riverfront. When we talk about projects and get into some of the numbers that include millions of dollars, we have to make challenging decisions. When we have decisions like this one where the project fits into place, it makes our decision less of a challenge and we appreciate the flexibility. Mr. Relos noted that typically on buildings we are going to market, we go in ahead of time and do environmental remediation work, which we did not do on this project. 3 South Bend Redevelopment Commission Regular Meeting — September 29, 2016 Mr. Pawlowski talked about small businesses. As a department, we want as much investment as possible. We don't want to put an investment onus on a project that we think is unrealistic and that will cause it to fail. If at a smaller investment we get a use that benefits the public and rehabilitates a historic space, that may allow us to invest more. We are looking at business like this across the board. When it comes down to the difference in dollar amounts we look at the overall investment of the project and what will work for the City of South Bend. Upon a motion by Commissioner Ferlic, seconded by Secretary Inks the motion carried 4 -0, the Commission approved the Development Agreement, Newman Center submitted September 29, 2016. B. South Side Development Area (1) Funding Request, Bowen Street Project Area Mr. Relos presented a Funding Request for Bowen Street Project Area. Bowen Street is a short public street that goes west from Miami and dead ends at the Erskine Plaza by Martin's. This is a low spot that has always been prone to flooding. The funding request is for a $300,000 project budget, to study engineering possibilities and correct this street's flooding. Upon a motion by Vice President Varner, seconded by Commissioner Ferlic the motion carried 4 -0, the Commission approved the Funding Request, Bowen Street Project Area submitted September 29, 2016. 6. Progress Reports A. Tax Abatement B. Common Council None C. Other 7. Next Commission Meeting: Thursday, October 13, 2016, 9:30 a.m. 8. Adjournment Thursday, September 29, 2016, 10:06 a.m. Aaron Kobb, Director of Economic Resources I Marcia I. Jones, President