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REGULAR MEETING NOVEMBER 14, 2016 number of people but by the City as a body in how it wants to grow and what is to be the character. The existing plan is sound and viable. The East Bank is becoming a very nice place to live but it is coming under pressure of gentrification which is threatening to throw people out of their homes because they won't be able to pay their property taxes. It is a great building and cities do need to grow and evolve. If apartments are going to make the difference, build them but do it in the right place. If Mr. Mathews wants to put up that many floors and garner all that tax money, take the project across the river where it belongs and where it is appropriate. Unfortunately, Mr. Mathews has a real disturbing habit in believing his own particular vision is much better than everyone else. That is not the way cities work. The area plans that we devised through great expenditure and intense effort and real sincerity reflect the community consciousness about what the East Bank should be but that is not good enough for Mr. Mathews because he can't make enough money. That is not how democracy works but it is how money works. It is not good for the community. If the City wants to throw in money to the project that's fine, but do it in the right spot. The project is fine it's just not in the right place. Jaz Alexander, 830 Campden Street, stated he can only reiterate what everyone else has already said. We benefit from the presence of Mr. Mathews and what his company is doing is incredible. The City has missed the boat and missed opportunities to develop South Bend in the past. We are in a competition with Mishawaka and we are losing. But besides all of that, Mr. Mathews admitted he put together the Regional Cities plan in a few hours and didn't think they were going to win but they did. Then he had to put together a real plan and the development grew in size. Mr. Mathews has a great plan but his plan grew too large for the East Bank. The project as it is presently constituted is not an East Bank project. He has developed out of that area. The parcel does need to be redeveloped. The project is wonderful, but the two (2) do not match. Jesse Kurasik, Trilogy Real- Estate Group based in Chicago 520 West Erie Chicago IL, stated they own The Pointe Apartments. He thanked the Council for allowing him to speak and stated that they are not against the project because they are for the grocery store and most of the residences. The reality is, The Point is approximately $1,000 a month rent while Mr. Mathews' project is at a different scale. We have put a lot of money into renovating The Pointe. He stated he has a concern for his residents and the project as a whole. At some point we get shadows from this building and we need the project to be under nine (9) stories from their perspective. The negative of that impact outweighs the positive of having a grocery store across the street. He stated if Mr. Mathews is receiving a grant and a tax abatement, the aggregate amount received is $15 million of taxpayer money and because of that the Council has the right to ask a lot of questions because the taxpayers are still putting more at risk than he is. There are also concerns about demand. If there was truly such a pent up demand, you would see high levels of rent growth and home value growth. We are not seeing that. Housing is good for the area but from a selfish and personal standpoint because of their investment they cannot support the height variance from the nine (9) to the twelve (12) stories. He also stated the relative projects Mr. Mathews is showing as example in Chicago all cost $400,000 per unit to build while he is saying he can do it at $200,000 per unit in costs. There is going to be a disconnect there. This project will probably actually cost around $300,000 a unit. Jay Lewis, 633 N. Coquillard Drive, stated he also works on LaSalle. He stated he supports the idea of some sort of project on this site and is glad Mr. Mathews is here and investing our City. This should happen but not at this height. It is wildly inconsistent with the East Bank Master Plan and would lead to a transformation of the East Bank into just another part of downtown. He asked the Council to take their time on this issue and think creatively. We have a very smart and hard - working Council who need to take their time and put their heads together. Perhaps a public garage, which could be used by the surrounding neighborhood as well, could help bring the height down to a more reasonable size. The way this process is happening, it threatens to undermine the planning process in South Bend. It would be a precedent not just in the East Bank but anywhere in the City. This is a one hundred (100) year decision so let's take our time and think creatively. Jennifer Perri, 234 S. Coquillard South Bend, stated she doesn't normally speak at any public forum regarding real- estate because she leaves that to her husband. When she first heard about this project she was very excited because Mr. Mathews does do great work and has a wonderful 21