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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRedevelopment Commission Minutes 05.08.25 - Signed CITY OF SOUTH BEND REDEVELOPMENT COMMISSION SOUTH BEND REDEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES May 8, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. Council Chambers 4th Floor or https://tinyurl.com/RDC-2025-2T The South Bend Redevelopment Commission was called to order at 9:30 a.m. President Troy Warner presiding. 1. ROLL CALL Members Present: Troy Warner, President David Relos, Vice President Eli Wax, Secretary Gillian Shaw, Commissioner Ophelia Gooden-Rodgers, Commissioner Members Virtually: Marcus Ellison, Non-Voting Advisor – Joined 9:47 a.m. Legal Staff: Danielle Campbell Weiss, Senior Asst. City Attorney Redevelopment Staff: Erin Michaels, Property Development Manager, DCI Rosa Tomas, Director of Finance, DCI - Virtual Tim Corcoran, Chief Planner, DCI - Virtual Laura Hensley, Board Secretary, DCI Others Present: Jitin Kain, Deputy Director of Public Works Timothy Schuster, J.C. Hart Attorney - Virtual Tina Patton, 707 Sherman Ave. Matt Barrett, 110 S. Niles Ave. Greg Swiercz, SB Tribune Tyler Gillean, Seven Diamonds LLC CITY OF SOUTH BEND REDEVELOPMENT COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING – May 8, 2025 2 JP Wielgos, Seven Diamonds LLC Pat Matthews, Seven Diamonds LLC 2. Approval of Minutes A. Approval of Minutes of the Regular Meeting of Thursday, April 24, 2025 Upon a motion by Eli Wax for approval, second by Ophelia Gooden- Rodgers, the motion carried unanimously; the Commission approved the minutes of the regular meeting of April 24, 2025. 3. Approval of Claims A. No Claims Allowances 4. Old Business A. None 5. New Business A. River West Development Area 1. Opening Proposals (Main Street Housing RFP) Erin Michaels, Property Development Manager, stated we received two (2) proposals prior to the deadline. Ms. Michaels asked staff to review and make recommendations at the next RDC meeting on July 10, 2025. I. Seven Diamonds, LLC 1130 South Bend Ave., Ste 350 South Bend, IN 46617 J. Patrick Matthews, President Pat@7.Diamonds 574.315.9668 II. Flaherty & Collins and Garmong Construction 211 N Pennsylvania, Suite 300 Indianapolis, IN 46204 Deron Kintner, VP of Development dkintner@flco.com 317.819.1559 CITY OF SOUTH BEND REDEVELOPMENT COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING – May 8, 2025 3 President Warner and Vice President Relos asked that the Commission receives a summary prior to the July 10th RDC meeting. Upon a motion by Eli Wax to refer the proposals to staff for review and recommendations, seconded by Ophelia Gooden-Rodgers, the motion carried unanimously; the Commission approved the Proposal Openings as presented on May 8, 2025. 2. Agreement to Release Easement (JC Hart) Danielle Campbell Weiss, Senior Assistant City Attorney, presented the Agreement to Release Easement benefitting the River Glen Office Park site. On January 9, 2025, the Redevelopment Commission (RDC) and JC Hart Company (the Developer) executed a Development Agreement to work together on a transformational project on the western bank of the St. Joseph River in downtown South Bend. This project is located just north of the old River Glen Office Park, which the RDC bought on May 6, 2024. As the owner, the RDC is the beneficiary of a non-exclusive ingress and egress easement that allows pedestrian and vehicular access to get to and from Wayne Street/Jefferson Boulevard. As part of the Development Agreement, the Developer agreed to create the Riverwalk Project, and the RDC agreed to build and dedicate certain public roadways, sidewalks, and other related improvements. These improvements are mostly funded by a READI 2.0 grant from the State of Indiana. Once finished, these roads will provide access to and from the RDC-owned property at the River Glen Office Park. On March 13, 2025, the RDC approved an agreement to temporarily suspend the use of the path during the Riverwalk Project's construction and to relinquish the easement entirely once the new roads are completed. This agreement has been held in escrow, waiting for the Developer to close on the acquisition of the property and has not been recorded yet. Recently, the Developer asked to replace the previous agreement with the new one before the Commission today which is entitled “Release of Easement.” This new agreement would release the path sooner, instead of waiting until construction is finished. If approved, the new agreement would replace the old one, making it null and void. The need to release the path has always been at the center of the Developer’s needs for the project. This new agreement, in addition to causing the release of easement to occur sooner, will also help explain the situation to the Developer’s construction lender, clarify title records, CITY OF SOUTH BEND REDEVELOPMENT COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING – May 8, 2025 4 and provide clarity and administrative ease to both parties involved. In return for the RDC agreeing to this new release, the Developer promises to include in its plans a commitment to dedicate all necessary rights-of-way on the project site, which will enable the development of a public street and public utilities to serve the site and connect neighboring properties, including the Commission’s property. This was already the plan, but this agreement confirms it. During construction, the River Glen Office site will still have access to Monroe and Columbia Streets. Once the project is fully developed, the River Glen Office Park will have much better access to Jefferson Boulevard/Wayne Street through a newly built public road and sidewalks that currently exist today. President Warner inquired about the specific location of the easement and what alternative access would exist for the RDC property and Ms. Campbell Weiss explained that RDC would retain access to the most utilized entry and exit points. Secretary Wax asked why the temporary easement would not be satisfactory to J.C. Hart. Timothy Schuster, J.C. Hart Attorney, explained that when we first drafted this document, the timing was different. Now, we need to move up the timing. Our main concerns are: 1. From an administrative perspective. 2. Adding clarity for our construction lender. The old agreement focused a lot on the timing of road construction. The economic development agreement includes the construction of roadways by the City, and we were worried our lender would be concerned about delays because the city is responsible for that work. To keep things simple, it's easier to escrow this and record it when we close, as Ms. Campbell Weiss mentioned. This easement is rarely used. Once the roads are completed, there will be public right of way in that area, allowing access from the River Glen Office Park site to Wayne/Jefferson Street. Secretary Wax asked what is the consideration in this case? Is it commitment, or are the future site plans the consideration? Mr. Schuster stated that the commitment is to include the dedication of rights-of-way in the plans and specifications submission. Upon a motion by David Relos for approval, seconded by Gillian Shaw, the motion carried unanimously; the Commission approved Agreement as presented on May 8, 2025. CITY OF SOUTH BEND REDEVELOPMENT COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING – May 8, 2025 5 B. River West, River East, South Side, & West Washington Development Areas 1. Budget Request (Rebuilding Our Streets 2025) Jitin Kain, Deputy Director of Public Works, presented a budget request. This request for funding from the River West, West Washington, River East, and South Side TIF Districts to support the City’s 2025 Annual Paving Program. These investments will directly contribute to street resurfacing and reconstruction projects within each TIF boundary, improving road conditions, enhancing safety, and supporting ongoing neighborhood revitalization. TIF funding is a crucial part of the City’s overall paving strategy, allowing us to maximize the impact of limited local resources while aligning with redevelopment goals. Funding is requested from each TIF District as follows: • West Washington Development Area: $400,000 • River East Development Area: $1,500,000 • South Side Development Area: $1,000,000 • River West Development Area: $1,000,000 Secretary Wax asked about what the allocation from the General Fund will be. Mr. Kain stated that approximately $5 million of the total paving dollars will be coming from other funds, however, the remainder will be from TIF funding, totaling $10 million. Secretary Wax clarified that roughly $3 million from TIF funding and Mr. Kain stated for the first round there will be another request later. Mr. Wax also asked about the number of streets being paved are proportionate to the amount of actual development in that district. Mr. Kain stated that the list will be coming out soon and he will provide that information soon. Commissioner Gooden-Rodgers about how the City chooses the streets that need to be repaved. Mr. Kain explained that Street Logics is hired to assess the streets. They are well-known for their street assessments. They use a car equipped with cameras all around it, including on top and underneath. This car drives through the entire city, capturing videos of every street. The videos are then analyzed by AI (artificial intelligence) software that looks for cracks and other stresses in the streets. The software assigns a score to each street based on what it sees in the videos. A low score, like 15 or 20, means the street needs paving soon. A high score, like 80 or 90, means the street was recently paved. We focus on streets with scores in the 20 to 30 range because anything below 20 should have already been CITY OF SOUTH BEND REDEVELOPMENT COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING – May 8, 2025 6 addressed as part of our previous efforts to fix the worst streets. This process is done by software, so there's no chance of human error. Upon a motion by Troy Warner for approval, seconded by Eli Wax, the motion carried unanimously; the Commission approved the Budget Request as presented on May 8, 2025. 6.Progress Reports A.Tax Abatement None B.Common Council None C.Other None 7.Next Commission Meeting Thursday, May 22, 2025, 9:30 a.m. at Council Chambers 4th Floor. 8.Adjournment Thursday, May 8, 2025, 9:58 a.m. ______________________________ ______________________________ Eli Wax, Secretary Troy Warner, President