05-13-19 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING May 13, 2019 about two (2) years ago and it has been built between now and then. Amazon, as we understand it, has signed a lease there. They will be moving into that building. We are not entertaining any tax abatement with Amazon tonight. In fact, Amazon has never had a conversation with the Department of Community Investment or the City, nor have we given or had any conversations with Amazon about any direct incentives. Council Vice President Karen White followed up, So, if any citizens or others have questions regarding Amazon and the potential being part of the spec building, who should they contact? Mr. Buckenmeyer replied, They can contact the Department of Community Investment and I will repeat the same. I've said everything I know. Mr. Buckenmeyer continued,Again,just for the audience's understanding, if there is any indicator of,from an economic development standpoint,how strong your economy is in terms of its business vitality, it is the willingness of investors and companies to build structures without an existing tenant. The fact that somebody is willing to invest in a huge structure, and we are talking about two (2) in the next few moments, that together will encompass about 400,000 square feet under roofs, that is an immense amount of real estate. It is really a testament to the strength of our economy right now and what our smartest developers and investors in town think is going on. So, it is very exciting for us to be considering these spec buildings and supporting them. They bring in great new companies, so we are excited about it. This one(1)in particular is going in just north of Adams Road and Dylan Drive, right along that spot (referencing a slide in the presentation). It is all one (1) tract but will fill this spot. There is a large 400,000 square foot building here which is the home of CTDI which was originally a spec building. But,this one(1)will go here. It is about 166,000 square feet, about a $7 million project. It will have very close access to the Ameritech Drive and Cleveland Road interchange which will be redone next year to both the bypass and the I-80/90. Again,because these are spec buildings, we talk about investment and the other big thing we typically talk about are the number of jobs they will bring to the community because it's a spec building. We don't know how many jobs they will bring today but it takes a few people to manage a building of 166,000 square feet. So, we are confident and certainly GLC has a great record with other spec buildings they have built in the community. Here is a look at what it will look like (referencing a slide in the presentation). It will break ground this year and believe it is planned to be finished next year. But, the petitioner is here to speak to that and will be able to share any additional detail. Jeff Smoke, 112 West Jefferson Boulevard, South Bend, IN, served as the petitioner for this bill. Mr. Smoke stated, Good evening,and thank you. I'm the Director of Development for Great Lakes Capital. I want to thank the Department of Community Investment for all their support. This is our fourth (4th) building out there. The first (1St) three (3) have generated between eight hundred and nine hundred(800—900)jobs. So,there is a good track record out there of our success and we are just trying to keep the momentum going with this one(1). This being the time heretofore set for the Public Hearing on the above bill, proponents and opponents were given an opportunity to be heard. There were none. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic then made a motion to adopt Bill No. 19-29. Councilmember Jake Teshka seconded this motion which carried by a roll call vote of seven(7) ayes. 19-31 A RESOLUTION CONFIRMING THE ADOPTION OF A DECLARATORY RESOLUTION DESIGNATING CERTAIN AREAS WITHIN THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, COMMONLY KNOWN AS 24605 CLEVELAND ROAD, SOUTH BEND, IN 46628 AS AN ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION AREA FOR PURPOSES OF A SIX(6)YEAR REAL PROPERTY TAX ABATEMENT FOR 31 NIMTZ LAND, LLC 5