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REGULAR MEETING <br />MAY 14, 2007 <br />SECTION L The Petitioner has presented testimonial and documentary evidence of the <br />following facts and the Common Council hereby makes the following findings of fact in <br />support of this resolution: <br />A. The new tenant of the building is the law firm Baker and Daniels, who has <br />made along-term commitment to remaining in downtown South Bend, <br />and whose partners and staff have made significant contributions for many <br />years to the improvement of the economic and cultural vitality of the City <br />of South Bend. <br />B. The Petitioner is committed to maintaining the Property at a high level and <br />to attracting and retaining quality tenants for the downtown over the long <br />term. <br />C. Many floors of the Key Tower Building have remained empty for several <br />years and the new tenant will increase the Property's occupancy to 95 <br />percent by filling floors 11 to 14. <br />D. Lease negotiations were complicated and protracted because they involved <br />several parties including the two current tenants that had to be moved, the <br />new tenant, the City and the petitioner while the new tenant's lease at its <br />current location had expired. <br />E. The sequence of moves by the two current tenants was further complicated <br />by the fact that one tenant was moving into the location vacated by the <br />other tenant which required that work to prepare for the first tenant's move <br />had to be expedited to meet the end of year deadline for the move in by <br />Baker and Daniels. As a result, the renovation work for the first tenant <br />was completed on Apri130, 2007. <br />F. The property is located within the Central Development Area, an area <br />within the city that has been targeted by the Common Council for <br />consideration of tax abatement for redevelopment and rehabilitation of <br />office space, Section 2-78 of the South Bend Municipal Code. <br />G. The Petitioner acknowledges and respects the ling-standing policy of the <br />Common Council to require that the economic revitalization area <br />declaratory and confirming resolutions be adopted by the Common <br />Council before a building permit is obtained and before rehabilitation <br />begins. <br />H. At all times throughout these proceedings, the Petitioner has acted in good <br />faith, has promptly cooperated with all requests of the Common Council <br />and the South Bend Department of Community and Economic <br />Development, and has made every effort to comply, to the best of its <br />ability, with the requirements of law and the policies of the Common <br />Council. <br />L Because of the unusual and adverse circumstances described herein, the <br />Petitioner was forced by the exigencies of the situation to proceed with <br />rehabilitation of the Property without first receiving adoption of <br />declaratory and confirming resolutions by the Common Council. <br />SECTION IL The foregoing facts, taken together, lead the Common Council to conclude <br />that compelling reasons exist to waive noncompliance by the Petitioner with certain <br />conditions precedent to rehabilitation of the Property, in accordance with Indiana Code <br />section 6-1.1-12.1-11.3. <br />22 <br />