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o�sou TH <br /> F dx <br /> :J b <br /> W eFacE � � <br /> y� a 1, a2 <br /> 1865 <br /> Office of the Mayor <br /> NEWS RELEASE <br /> Thursday, September 6, 2007 <br /> 2:30 PM <br /> While hosting Art Beat, East Bank envisions its future <br /> Contact: Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications&Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564 <br /> or Jeff Gibney,Interim Director of Community and Economic Development, 235-9371 <br /> As thousands of people stroll downtown and the East Bank today for Art Beat, a smaller <br /> group of developers, business leaders, real-estate agents, city officials and East Bank <br /> neighborhood residents will begin talking about the area's future. <br /> A process to develop an East Bank master plan gets started today as a series of invitation- <br /> only meetings take place along the East Bank in preparation for broader, more public <br /> input in October. The Holladay Group is volunteering its time in leading a planning <br /> process to create an East Bank master plan. With support from the City of South Bend, a <br /> Chicago-based consulting firm, JJR, is guiding the work to create a new master plan. <br /> "The intent here is to create a plan—a realistic one —and one that forces us all to reach to <br /> create a success," said John Phair, president of The Holladay Group, in a written proposal <br /> that was approved in May by the Redevelopment Commission. "This is not a planning <br /> session to create a document that looks pretty but has no chance of success. ... We do not <br /> want to create another plan where no market exists. ... Marketability of the land will be <br /> studied at all steps of the process." <br /> The Holladay Group has led this type of planning before for large projects, including <br /> Portage Prairie, a 450-acre mixed-use private development on the city's northwest side. <br /> Holladay owns the site of the former Wharf restaurant at Colfax Avenue along the St. <br /> Joseph River, which is part of the study area. Other key properties include the former <br /> Rink Riverside Printing site, north of Colfax Avenue, and Troeger Sheet Metal. <br /> The first phase of planning is focused on the East Bank north of Jefferson Boulevard to <br /> LaSalle Street and east to Hill Street. A second phase will follow the riverfront south <br /> from Jefferson to the former Transpo garage site. <br />