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REGULAR MEETING December 12, 2016
<br />there, as well. We want to do what's right for the neighborhood and we are going to do what's
<br />best. If they came back and said that they were ready to go, and if some of the other parcel
<br />owners on the block said that they were happy to sell it at a reasonable price, then I could
<br />definitely understand making the building shorter. Because it's a PUD, it would probably have to
<br />come back through this process for a significant change. We would work with planners, we
<br />would work with Community Investment, and tell them what we need and ask what they want to
<br />see. We want to do what's right for the neighborhood, what's right for the City. I live a few
<br />blocks away. I walked here tonight. This is our neighborhood. We care.
<br />Councilmember Davis requested that James Mueller read Mayor Pete Buttigieg's letter regarding
<br />compromises on the Commerce Center PUD.
<br />James Mueller, Mayor's Office Chief of Staff, with offices on the 14th Floor of the County -City
<br />Building, read the Mayor's letter which is on file with the Office of the City Clerk, accessible in
<br />the flat file of Bill No. 41 -16 as "Mayor Buttigieg Letter to Council."
<br />Councilmember Davis asked Mr. Mueller if he would share the name of the D.C. consultant and
<br />what their recommendation for this project was.
<br />Mr. Mueller stated, The consultant Mr. Matthews referenced earlier from D.C. is Torti Gallas.
<br />Torti Gallas looked at the existing land that Mr. Matthews owned and basically said —well, there
<br />weren't a lot of options, but I will bring Jitin to speak further to the conclusions.
<br />Jitin Kain, Director of Department of Public Works, with offices on the 13th Floor of the County -
<br />City Building, stated that he was tasked with trying to find a reasonable compromise to the
<br />proposal offered by the developer. He stated, We consulted with Torti Gallas and Partners' urban
<br />design firm that has done work in South Bend in the past. The West Side Main Streets plan was
<br />developed by Torti Gallas. They're known not only for doing design planning work but also for
<br />building projects. They are actively involved in a lot of residential Mixed -Use projects. We
<br />worked with them over the last few days. They understood the program. They had conversations
<br />with the developer. Their key suggestion was to balance the program onto the entire site. Given
<br />the constraints of the project, they felt the best approach would be to try and look a little more
<br />horizontally as opposed to vertically. They suggested breaking the project into three (3) different
<br />buildings, with the project being phased -in. The first couple of buildings could be on LaSalle and
<br />the second phase would be on Colfax. The proposal they offered also reduced the height to about
<br />one - hundred and thirty (13 0) feet, or one - hundred and twenty -seven (127) feet. They offered
<br />options for certain buildings being taller than others, so that there was variation in height. Much
<br />of the proposal seemed to be heading in the direction of the compromise that we were seeking,
<br />except the challenge was site control. The proposal was contingent on having site control of the
<br />Fire Arts building and the AEP substation to make that entire program happen. We engaged with
<br />AEP in conversation. They have a mandate by their governing body to overhaul that substation,
<br />but that deadline is the middle of the year in 2019. The developer was seeking site control,
<br />earliest, by next year. AEP was willing to offer a letter of intent, saying, "We intend to work with
<br />the developer on this, however we could not come to a decision on having site control by next
<br />year." I think that seemed to be the sticking issue. We tried to work on a compromise. The
<br />proposal offered seemed unfeasible, in the end.
<br />Councilmember John Voorde opted to defer questioning to the following round.
<br />Councilmember Tim Scott, addressing Mr. Matthews and Mr. Mueller, stated, If I'm looking at
<br />the options that were presented to us by Mr. Matthews, there's an Option B that is eleven (11)
<br />stories, where zero (0) money is put in by the City versus, according to the letter, nine (9) stories
<br />with a minimum of $4,100,000 from the City. If I'm looking at this correctly, according to the
<br />letter, it's an option that the Mayor has put on the table. Does this work for both the City and the
<br />developer? I'll start with the developer.
<br />Mr. Matthews asked, For which option?
<br />Councilmember Scott responded, Option B. Looks like eleven (11) stories, zero (0) money in
<br />from the City.
<br />Mr. Matthews responded, That option still works for us, yes.
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