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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-22-00 Community & Economic Developmentr_______________,... ___ CMmmIty&Economic Development Committee South Bend Common Council The May 22, 2000 meeting of the Community and Economic Development Committee was called to order by its Chairperson,Council Member Roland Kelly at 5:20 p.m. in the Council Informal Meeting Room. Persons in attendance included: Council Members Aranowski,Kelly,King, Varner,Ujdak, Coleman and Kirsits;Khadijah Muhammad,Frank Perri, Gunther W. Jordan,Mike Beitzinger, I Jon Hunt,Robert Hunt, Cassandra Moran,Bob Wozny,Ms. Wozny,Terry Bland of the South Bend Tribune,Richard Synder,and Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand, Council Attorney. ii 1 Council Member Kelly noted that the first item to be reviewed was Bill No. 42-00 which would appropriate $ 55,000 from the Urban Development Action Grant Fund for predevelopment costs. Jon R. Hunt,Executive Director of Community&Economic Development made the presentation. He noted that the funds would be used for costs for the preparation of site plans, appraisals, feasibility studies,title and survey work, and related items for the development of potential downtown sites at Main&Jefferson and the River Glenn Office Park, as well as parking options. Following discussion, Council Member Ujdak made a motion, seconded by Council Member Kirsits that Bill No. 42-00 be recommended favorably. The motion passed. The Committee then reviewed Bill No. 00-51 which is a ten(10)year real property tax abatement request for G&B Realty,Inc. for the property located at 1137 South Lafayette Boulevard. Cassandra Moran of Community&Economic Development reviewed her report dated May 15, 2000(copy attached). She noted that the petitioner provides manufactured precision machined parts and components for diesel engines, fuel injector systems,turbo chargers and air compressors for trucks. The petitioner plans to build a 10,800 square foot addition to their current building at a project cost of$350,000. The report concluded that the petitioner meets the conditions for the requested ten(10)year real property tax abatement under section 2-82.1 of the South Bend Municipal Code which addresses industrial development in an Urban Enterprise Zone and in Redevelopment Blighted Areas. Mr. Gunther W. Jordan,President of G&B Realty,LLC made the presentation. He noted that this year will be the 30th year of business in the community. They moved to their current location in 1983 and this is their 11th year of owning Exacto. G&B Realty,LLC bought the real estate in 1997 and are leasing the property to Exacto. G&B stands for"Gunther"and his wife"Barbara". Mr. Jordan noted that his company has a full-time employee trainer and further noted that his company has earned several awards recently. The GSI award certificate was circulated among the Committee members. He noted that the certification cost for GSI was approximately$ -Community&Ecnomic Development Committee Meeting Minutes of May 22,2000 100,060, however it opened many new doors to potential customers. Currently the company has only one limitation, lack of production areas. The proposed addition would address that concern. Mr. Jordan noted that the addition will increase space by 68%. He then showed a proposed site plan to the Committee. His company currently employs 79 individuals of which 44 are minorities and 11 are zone residents. He noted that he is happy to be in business in South Bend and requested approval of his tax abatement request. Following discussion,Dr. Varner made a motion, seconded by Council Member Kirsits,that Bill No. 00-51 be recommended favorably to Council. The motion passed. The Committee then reviewed Bill No. 00-52 which is a ten(10)year tax abatement request for REW LLC(Corporate Services,Inc.)for the property located at 5681 West Cleveland Road. Cassandra Moran reviewed her report dated May 17, 2000 (copy attached)which noted that the petitioner intends to build a 71,500 square foot building for its marketing services which include printing,packaging, assembly, warehousing and distribution. The project cost is estimated to be $2.2 million. The report concluded that the petitioner meets the qualifications for a ten(10) year real property tax abatement under section 2-82 of the South Bend Municipal Code addressing industrial development city-wide. Mr. Robert Wozny,CEO of REW LLC made the presentation. He noted that his company is a good case study of how effective tax abatement can be for the city. In August of 1993 he had seven(7)employees and today he has 152. In response to a question from Council Member Coleman,Mr. Wozny noted that with this project he would have approximately a quarter of a million square feet in business usage. He also introduced his daughter to the Committee who is a recent Indiana University graduate. Mr. Wozny noted that he does experience problems of transportation for his employees since TRANSPO does not service this area. He noted that he provides taxi transportation for several of his employees who reside at the Center for the Homeless. Council Member Kelly stated that conversations with TRANSPO on this topic would be in order. Council Member Varner inquired as to the number of individuals currently using taxi service. Mr. Wozny stated that two(2)taxis per day with four(4)to five(5)employees in each is the average. Dr. Varner noted that lack of TRANSPO service was raised by representatives from Goodwill when the Council took a tour of the area a year or two earlier. Mr. Wozny noted that his company provides flex hours to help assist his employees with their transportation problems. Council Member Aranowski suggested that the Council contact their TRANSPO representative on the Board so that service to this area in general can be addressed. Bob Hunt suggested that the Redevelopment staff conduct a survey of the employers in this area of the city and their needs for transportation. -Community&Ecnomic Development Committee Meeting Minutes of May 22,2000 Y ' Council Member Kelly stated he would follow-up with letters to address these issues. Following discussion,Dr. Varner made a motion, seconded by Council Member Kirsits,that Bill No. 00-52 be recommended favorably to Council. The motion passed. The Committee then reviewed Bill No. 00-53 which is a request for a ten(10)year real property tax abatement request for Cleveland Road Partners L.P. for the property located at 4647 Cleveland Road. Cassandra Moran reviewed her May 16, 2000 report(copy attached). She noted that the petitioner is proposing to construct a speculative tilt wall multi-purpose multi-tenant industrial building in two(2)phases. The 1st phase would be to construct a 100,000 square foot structure at a cost of$4,400,000; and that the 2nd phase would be to add 56,000 square feet. The report concluded that the petitioner does not meet the qualifications for an abatement due to the inability of the developer to identify the end users of the buildings. The petitioner is seeking a special exception due to the enormous risk to be taken with regard to mortgages with no guarantees of lease revenues and the overall costs of the development. Mr. Michael Beitzinger of Community&Economic Development noted that in 1998 the Council began reviewing speculative building requests. Action on the confirmatory resolution is typically withheld until the end users were identified. In this case however, in light of the square footage,the petitioner would exceed the local requirements. He further noted that the Council approved a confirmatory resolution two(2)weeks later on a similar project for the Olive South Bend,LLC where the square footage exceeded local requirements. In this manner,the provisions for a special exception under section 2-84 of the South Bend Municipal Code would be met. Mr. Frank A. Perri,a partner, made the presentation. He showed a conceptual site plan for the project(copy attached). He noted in response to a question raised by Dr. Varner that no construction can take place within the 50 foot easement which is flown weekly by the oil companies. Mr. Perri also noted that the typical lease is 3-5 years which raises the risk factor. The Council Attorney noted that if the Council would take favorably action this evening and would plan to act upon the Confirmatory Resolution in two(2)weeks,that an amendment to section 6 of the Resolution would be necessary. The last line of that section would need to be deleted. Following discussion, Council Member Kirsits made a motion, seconded by Dr. Varner that Bill No. 00-53 as to be amended be recommended favorably by Council. The motion passed. In response to a question from Dr. Varner,Mr. Perri noted that the construction would be similar to that recently seen along I-465 which is cement pre-wall construction. Under miscellaneous business,Richard Snyder requested that he would like Bill No. 00-49 addressing the Confirmatory Resolution for Playing Mantis be continued for two(2)weeks. There being no further business to come before the Committee,the meeting was adjourned at 5:55 p.m. by Chairperson Roland Kelly. -Community&Ecnomic Development Committee Meeting Minutes of May 22,2000 Respectfully submitted, Council Member Roland Kelly, Chairperson Community&Economic Development Committee KCF:kmf Attachments -Community&Ecnomic Development Committee Meeting Minutes of May 22,2000