12-07-2007 City’s strategy will fuel new growth on the west side

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o�sou TH F dx :J b W eFacE � � y� a 1, a2 1865 Office of the Mayor NEWS RELEASE December 7, 2007 10 a.m. City's strategy will fuel new growth on the west side Contact: Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications&Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876- 1564, or Jeff Gibney, Interim Director of Community and Economic Development, 235-9371 Streetscape improvements along Western Avenue. A new family practice facility jointly run by the city's hospitals as part of a rejuvenated LaSalle Square. Initial investments for Portage Prairie. Completion of scheduled demolition in the former Studebaker Corridor. Those are some of the projects under consideration for support in the coming year by the City of South Bend in the largest Tax Increment Financing district in the city. The Redevelopment Commission heard a plan Friday(December 7, 2007)to invest nearly $43 million in resources generated in 2008 in the city's Tax Increment Financing or TIE districts, including a specific strategy for the recently expanded Airport Economic Development Area. (A three-year TIE budget and strategy for the downtown central business district was unveiled in mid-August.) The Airport Economic Development Area, the largest TIE district with more than $27 million or 60 percent of the overall TIE resources, was expanded earlier this year to include LaSalle Square, the Marycrest-Hurwich area along Western Avenue and the Sample-Ewing Development Area, home to the Studebaker Corridor. "I'm excited about the ability to bring new resources to the west side. The extraordinary growth in the Blackthorn area will help to bring new development, an expanded tax base and good jobs to this area," said Mayor Stephen J. Luecke. "In response to neighborhood requests, the city will mobilize more than $2 million in resources for the LaSalle Square area alone. We are preparing the way for significant private investment to follow."