HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-20-08 New specialist will promote South Bend neighborhoods
Office of the Mayor
NEWS RELEASE
October 20, 2008
Noon
New specialist will promote South Bend neighborhoods
Contact:
Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications & Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564
or Sue Solmos, Residential Marketing Specialist, 235-9660
For the first time, the City of South Bend will take a more active role in the residential
housing market, creating a new initiative to market residential neighborhoods and staffing
that effort with a veteran real-estate agent with similar experience in Indianapolis.
Sue Solmos, a real-estate agent and community activist with national recognition for her
public-private efforts in Indianapolis, began this fall as residential marketing specialist in
the Department of Community and Economic Development. In that role, Solmos will
work to market all city neighborhoods, though her initial efforts will focus on near-
downtown residential areas.
The new position addresses several housing-related objectives identified in City Plan,
South Bend’s 20-year comprehensive plan, which was adopted in 2006 after strong
community participation. They include:
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Increase the marketability of South Bend’s neighborhoods.
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Promote homeownership within city limits.
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Strive for livable, mixed-income neighborhoods that collectively reflect the diversity
of income levels of the region.
“At a time when many Americans cannot afford to own a home, we want to put out the
welcome mat to demonstrate the great value of housing in South Bend. We believe
homebuyers will find a market that offers appealing neighborhoods with diverse housing
choices,” said Mayor Stephen J. Luecke. “Sue will work in partnership with real-estate
agents and businesses in promoting the range of quality housing options available in
South Bend to newcomers as well as to area residents who may not have known South
Bend’s great options before settling for homes that did not satisfy their original needs.”
Reports suggest rising gas prices, environmental concerns about suburban sprawl and a
growing percentage of childless households point to a growing migration back to U.S.
cities, particularly as baby boomers reach retirement age.
“It’s happening all over the United States. Wealthy people are moving to center cities.
We want to capture some of that growth so that wealth will spread to the collar
neighborhoods,” Solmos said. “Some of them are going to be coming from urban
neighborhoods, and they’re going to want to be in urban neighborhoods.”
Solmos was president of Indianapolis’ Near Eastside Community Organization between
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1998 and 2000, when she became founder and president of the East 10 Street Civic
Association, serving between 1998 and 2007. In that capacity, she hired and supervised
the executive director and volunteers for the organization, which created one of the first
two official “Urban Main Street” sites in Indiana. She worked with community and
business leaders as well as economic development professionals and city officials to
implement a five-year strategic work plan. The Local Initiatives Support Corp. gave
national recognition to the association’s efforts for having one of the most successful not-
for-profit commercial corridors in the nation.
Former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson appointed Solmos to the Indianapolis
Neighborhood Housing Partnership, which she served from 2000 through 2007. She also
served in 2007 as co-chair of the Marion County Comprehensive Plan’s Neighborhoods
and Housing Committee.
As a real-estate agent, Solmos worked with Sycamore Group Realtors, ReMax Realty
Mart and Century 21 Realty Group One over a 15-year period. She was among the top 25
percent of all Indianapolis Realtors in sales volume with a career high for annual sales of
$8.5 million. Solmos specialized in creating strategic marketing plans for “hard-to-sell”
properties and managed a team of two full-time and five part-time staff.
“I’ve been doing this for free for 15 years in some of Indianapolis’ toughest
neighborhoods while running a strong real-estate business on the side,” said Solmos, who
is optimistic about South Bend’s prospects. “I love your diversity. I’m so impressed with
your housing stock and so impressed with the neighborhoods. … It’s like Broad Ripple –
only not as expensive.”
Solmos has received several honors, including a Sagamore of the Wabash in 2000 for
significant community volunteer work. In addition, she received the Indianapolis
Distinguished Citizen Award in 2001, the Volunteer of the Year award in 2004 from the
J.H. Boner Community Center and was a two-time Centurion Producer award-winner
(the national award for Century 21’s top agents). She also served on the economic
development committee for Indianapolis’ Weed and Seed efforts, funded through the
U.S. Justice Department, as well as a president of the Little Flower Neighborhood
Association and committee member of the Old National Road Business Association.
Solmos, who grew up in North Liberty, recently began leasing a home in South Bend as
she begins looking for a permanent home of her own. “I’ve just fallen in love with this
city,” she said. “It really is a great city.”
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