09-25-06 Zoning & Annexation - Laserfiche WebLink

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September 25, 2fl06 [nformal Meeting of the South Bend Common Council Page 2 question "what do you want". Schurz hired a consultant in January of 2006 and they were given the criteria they desired and asked them to locate all the passible sites available in St. Joseph County. Forty-six (46) sites were located and were depicted on an "(Jrban and Greenfield Site Alternatives" map which was shown to the Council by Mr. Ray. These sites were narrowed down to ten (10), with each of them being visited first-hand by the consultants. South Bend and Mishawaka were each provided the locations and requested to provide a presentation. On March 14, 2006, a meeting was held with South Bend administrative officials, and they later met with Mishawaka officials. Following additional design development review two (2) sites were selected, one (1) in downtown South Bend and one (1) in Mishawaka. The South Bend location was the GateslToyota block and the Mishawaka location was at the corner of Douglas and Fir. The best business package was requested for each site and discussions were held with the Mayor of each city. The final site decision was made by the Schurz Communications, Inc. Board of Directors. They did not ask the City of Mishawaka for tax abatement, since they did not want a bidding war to take place between the two (2) cities, Mr. Ray noted that Mayor Luecke offered tax abatement with the bottom line effects being evaluated by Barnes & Thornburg. Schurz looked hard at South Bend, and they "went to considerable financial difficulties to get WNIT to fill the WSBT building once the decision was made to locate in Mishawaka". Senior Vice-President Marci Burdick noted #hat the design fora 70,000-90,000 square foot building was proposed for both an urban setting as well as a green space area. She further noted that Schurz has been looking for over ten (10) years for a new location to expand their operations. In order to get WNIT to move from Elkhart to South Bend, Schurz is investing $3 to every $1 to make it work. Mr. Ray noted that the City of Mishawaka and St. Joseph County have made considerable infrastructure investments with the widening of Douglas Road, Fir Road, sewer and water, metronet lines, etc. Mr. Ray also voiced "concern for the security of their employees, especially around the current station". A heightened concern takes place at night and they took into consideration their comfort level with respect to security which "added complications". In response to questions from Council Member Dieter, Mr. Ray stated that there was an eighteen (18) month delay in vacating the property by the ChevylToyota area which would have impacted WNIT. He also noted that the RinklHolladay properties were promoted by John Phair, but were just not big enough, with the matter being further complicated by its proximity to the river causing engineering problems. As a result, a 3- story building would have been a possible solution for that site.