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REGULAR MEETING April 8, 2019
<br /> CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA,
<br /> COMMONLY KNOWN AS NE CORNER OF
<br /> ADAM ROAD AND U.S. 31 BYPASS, SOUTH
<br /> BEND, IN 46628 AN ECONOMIC
<br /> REVITALIZATION AREA FOR PURPOSES OF
<br /> A SIX(6)YEAR REAL PROPERTY TAX
<br /> ABATEMENT FOR GLC PORTAGE PRAIRIE
<br /> IV, LLC
<br /> Councilmember Gavin Ferlic, chair of the Community Investment Committee, reported that they
<br /> met this afternoon and send this bill forward with a favorable recommendation.
<br /> Dan Buckenmeyer, Director of Business Development for the Department of Community
<br /> Investment with offices located on the 14th floor of the County-City Building, South Bend, IN,
<br /> served as the presenter for this bill. Mr. Buckenmeyer stated, This is the first (1St) of two (2), I'll
<br /> just do a little preamble on the next two (2) coming if you will humor me. As I said this afternoon,
<br /> if you want to show economic strength, growth and vitality in a community, look for spec
<br /> buildings. We just talked about in the past five (5) abatements, we've talked about$40 million of
<br /> investment in our community. These next two (2)including$20 million of investment in buildings
<br /> that currently have no proposed tenant. We can't count proposed jobs yet because we don't know
<br /> who is going to go in there but,again,we have a good track record.The last three(3)spec buildings
<br /> that the current petitioner, GLC, did brought about seven hundred (700) jobs. So, it is just an
<br /> exciting moment, really, for an economic development geek like me, to stand up here and talk
<br /> about this level of investment from two (2) of our most trusted partners and valued partners in the
<br /> City in terms of developers and their commitment to the community.
<br /> Mr.Buckenmeyer continued,That said,we will start with Great Lakes Capital.This is where CTDI
<br /> is(referencing a slide in the presentation). That was what was known as spec three(3)when it was
<br /> built. It now houses five hundred (500) plus employees. The subject area for the new building is
<br /> just north of that. It's just all yellow because it is a single plat right now. It will be platted off into
<br /> smaller pieces. In any event,it will be a$7 million investment and a 166,000 square foot building.
<br /> Again, it will be styled to house a light industrial manufacturer or a logistics warehousing
<br /> distribution company. And again, there is great access to I-80 and I-90. Again, we don't list any
<br /> jobs,per se, in this but we do expect indirect jobs by the eventual tenants.
<br /> Councilmember Regina Williams-Preston stated, I think it will be good to clarify about the traffic
<br /> patterns and how people will access that property.
<br /> Council President Tim Scott replied, I can speak to that. When CTDI went in, there was a lot of
<br /> concern with what is in yellow(referencing a slide in the presentation)right now going all the way
<br /> up to Bertrand Road and the Michigan State line. This Council has approved buildings within here
<br /> that would have no access to Mayflower or anywhere up to Bertrand Road. I've worked as the first
<br /> (18t) district rep with Community Investment, Dan has been involved, as well as Engineering, on
<br /> working to improve the roads and access in and out of this for better and more peaceful traffic for
<br /> the citizens that live within the area,which is county. So,if you look, Mayflower Road is a county
<br /> road and everything around this is pretty much county. The houses along Adams Road is county
<br /> as well. One (1) thing that was mentioned earlier that was kind of over-looked was the State will
<br /> be working on the off-ramps and the bypass within that area but also the City and TIF dollars are
<br /> going in to improve Cleveland Road and that access. The twelve (12)points go beyond that. Dan
<br /> and I have been working together and right now it is an Engineering study. Our Engineering as
<br /> well as the County Engineering because we have to have county cooperation on this as well. We
<br /> have to look at traffic patterns and road conditions. Also, we are going to be working with
<br /> developers and the businesses to make sure their employees understand where they need to come
<br /> and go out of there so everybody has a better quality of life. We will be looking at other traffic
<br /> solutions with it. One (1) thing is, there really is no good wayfinding signs when anybody comes
<br /> off the highways. There is a very small sign that says, 'No Trucks.' We need to see lighted signs
<br /> that point trucks in the right direction. There are simple and cheap solutions we can do and there
<br /> are some more expensive things that we will need cooperation for, not only from the developers
<br /> but the City and the County. That was mentioned earlier in Committee today. We will continue
<br /> those conversations. I did send,last week an email, and we will pool that information together and
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