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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-01-09 Longtime firm to make way for Transpo, Ignition Park Office of the Mayor NEWS RELEASE May 1, 2009 11 a.m. Longtime firm to make way for Transpo, Ignition Park Contact: Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications & Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876- 1564, Don Inks, Director of Economic Development, or Bill Schalliol, Economic Development Planner, 235-9371 Two proposals approved today by the City’s Redevelopment Commission will take another step towards the development of Ignition Park, part of South Bend’s two-site state-certified technology park, and the move of Transpo’s headquarters to a new site. The Redevelopment Commission authorized property acquisition and the relocation of Ziolkowski Construction Inc., 1005 S. Lafayette Blvd., from the eastern edge of the Ignition Park site as well as the second phase of marketing efforts related to Ignition Park. The properties for acquisition include two separate sites in the block bounded by Sample Street, Lafayette Boulevard, Broadway Street and Franklin Street. Ziolkowski Construction is seeking to purchase the former PEI Genesis facility, 1915 N. Bendix Drive, in the Airport Industrial Park, to which it hopes to relocate. The Commission voted 3-1 to purchase the Ziolkowski properties for $910,000, and providing additional relocation assistance to the company in accord with federal and Commission guidelines. The total amount is capped at $1.81 million for both acquisition and relocation expenses. As part of a negotiated agreement for Redevelopment Commission assistance in the relocation, Ziolkowski Construction has agreed not to seek tax abatement for necessary renovations to the Bendix site to make it suitable for the company’s operations. “Recently, there were four large vacant industrial buildings in the Airport Industrial Park near the intersection of Voorde and Bendix, but the Census Bureau moved into one building and Fortis Plastics has purchased and is locating its operation in the former Capital Technologies building” said Bill Schalliol, economic development planner with the City’s Department of Community and Economic Development. “The addition of Ziolkowski Construction Inc. into this area will be an asset to the park, put a vacant building back into use and allow for ZCI to have a unified campus site.” Ignition Park is one of the two locations in South Bend that make up Indiana’s first two- site State-Certified Technology Park. The other is Innovation Park at Notre Dame, located on 12 acres on the city’s northeast side across from the Notre Dame campus, where the first building already is under construction. Companies formed at Innovation Park will be encouraged to move to Ignition Park, yet continue to receive support services and other benefits from being part of the same state-certified technology park. While construction won’t begin at Ignition Park for some time, Ziolkowski’s immediate relocation is prompted by efforts to begin construction June 1 on the Transpo site, which includes a portion of the Ziolkowski property. Transpo had planned for years to move to the former Studebaker Corridor, now known as Ignition Park. But when the potential community value of an undivided Ignition Park became clear, Transpo officials worked with the City to relocate their planned facility from the center of the site to its edge. This allows Ignition Park to concentrate on high- potential technologies and ventures, as well as the commercialization of nanotechnology concepts inspired by the Midwest Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery. Ignition Park sits on the grounds of the former Studebaker Corp., the legendary auto manufacturer that was the economic and innovative backbone of South Bend until closing its doors in 1963. Since 2000, old abandoned buildings on the Ignition Park site have been demolished in the state’s most aggressive brownfield reclamation effort to make way for a high-tech manufacturing, commercialization and office complex of buildings arrayed in a park-like environment Also on Friday, the Commission approved an eight-month, $420,000 contract with The Blue Waters Group, a Wisconsin firm with offices in South Bend. The contract will continue the second phase of marketing/communication activities related to the promotion of Ignition Park and economic-development activities in South Bend. The contract, extending from May 1 through Dec. 31, includes development of electronic communication initiatives, national media relations, outreach to entrepreneurs and business leaders along with other promotional efforts. Funding for the efforts comes from Tax Increment Financing revenue from the west-side Airport Economic Development area. By law, TIF funds must be used for infrastructure investment or services that benefit economic development in a designated area. TIF districts are a public-financing method designed to capture the increased property tax value that results from economic growth because of public and private investment. This growth generates new tax revenues, which finance improvements in distressed or underdeveloped areas where economic growth would not otherwise occur. The Airport Economic Development Area, the largest TIF district in South Bend with more than 60 percent of the overall TIF resources, was expanded in 2007 to include LaSalle Square, the Marycrest-Hurwich area along Western Avenue and the Sample-Ewing Development Area, home to the Studebaker Corridor and Ignition Park. - 30 -