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CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK risky in a lot of ways but not so risky when you stop to think about what is happening right now in South Bend. We are hoping to be a part of that. Committee Chair Ferlic then opened the floor to questions on Bill No. 18-19 from Committee and Council Members. Councilmember Tim Scott asked, How many commercial or retail spots are on the bottom? Mr. Perri replied, It can be broken up into three (3) or it could be one(1)really big one. Obviously we want that place to be alive and that is what it will come down to. Tom Panzica,Panzica Building Corp.with offices located at 416 E.Monroe Street, stated,I would like to note that when people look at these renderings,they always focus on the height of the tower. You really need to look at the detail down at the river front. We don't know what the final river walk design will be. This is a very early concept that was shown to us. But if you look at what goes on between the river walk and the towers, we see restaurants and people. Committeemember Davis stated, I hope it can be like that. I like the steps. That is really creative. It brings a nice freshness to downtown. Mr. Perri replied, Well,that is mandate for the City to build it then, huh? Councilmember Dr. Varner asked, How different is this than the proposal from five (5) to six (6) years ago? I know there have been a lot of changes but what specifically? Mr. Panzica replied,Five(5) or six (6)years ago,the ground floor was proposed to be all parking. On this project, after working with the City for a number of years, we decided to opt with the expense of going underground and free up the first floor to commercial use. The commercial carries a risk of spec space. That is what the tax abatement will assist with is that holding period trying to get someone in there to create all of this. Mr. Perri stated, And just to give you a dollar idea of the difference, we are talking $18 million versus $40 million. Because it was also going to be a lower and shorter building. It is quite a bit different in scale. Committee Chair Ferlic asked, Is there any indication as to when you might break ground? Mr. Perri replied, If you can get us this abatement we are going to break ground really soon thereafter. We will invite the press. Committeemember Davis asked, With the last water situation we just had with the flooding, how did that affect you and this project? Mr. Perri replied, If you had a canoe out there, you would have been stranded because the water never hit the site. We know where the high water mark is and it was probably still eight (8) feet below our first floor. We would have taken a risk on our garage flooding some but the cars won't float down there. EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1227W Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.9173 IM574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 5