HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-06-2007 While hosting Art Beat, East Bank envisions its future o�sou TH
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Office of the Mayor
NEWS RELEASE
Thursday, September 6, 2007
2:30 PM
While hosting Art Beat, East Bank envisions its future
Contact: Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications&Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564
or Jeff Gibney,Interim Director of Community and Economic Development, 235-9371
As thousands of people stroll downtown and the East Bank today for Art Beat, a smaller
group of developers, business leaders, real-estate agents, city officials and East Bank
neighborhood residents will begin talking about the area's future.
A process to develop an East Bank master plan gets started today as a series of invitation-
only meetings take place along the East Bank in preparation for broader, more public
input in October. The Holladay Group is volunteering its time in leading a planning
process to create an East Bank master plan. With support from the City of South Bend, a
Chicago-based consulting firm, JJR, is guiding the work to create a new master plan.
"The intent here is to create a plan—a realistic one —and one that forces us all to reach to
create a success," said John Phair, president of The Holladay Group, in a written proposal
that was approved in May by the Redevelopment Commission. "This is not a planning
session to create a document that looks pretty but has no chance of success. ... We do not
want to create another plan where no market exists. ... Marketability of the land will be
studied at all steps of the process."
The Holladay Group has led this type of planning before for large projects, including
Portage Prairie, a 450-acre mixed-use private development on the city's northwest side.
Holladay owns the site of the former Wharf restaurant at Colfax Avenue along the St.
Joseph River, which is part of the study area. Other key properties include the former
Rink Riverside Printing site, north of Colfax Avenue, and Troeger Sheet Metal.
The first phase of planning is focused on the East Bank north of Jefferson Boulevard to
LaSalle Street and east to Hill Street. A second phase will follow the riverfront south
from Jefferson to the former Transpo garage site.
"I am excited to partner with John Phair and The Holladay Group to take a fresh look at
key properties in the East Bank. They bring national development expertise and a strong
commitment to our city," said Mayor Stephen J. Luecke. "With their assistance, we will
be able to aggressively market these sites. I'm convinced that a bold community
consensus will emerge from this public-private partnership to help this core
neighborhood achieve its full potential."
Across the river from the central business district, the "East Bank Village" is considered
part of the formal downtown area It also is situated between the University of Notre
Dame and Indiana University South Bend, and includes features such as Howard Park,
the East Race Waterway and several major health-care institutions.
"We will try to be inclusive of everyone that lives or owns property in the neighborhood,
local government officials, utility companies, developers, schools and the like," Phair
wrote in the proposal.
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