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CITY OF SOUTH BEND ! OFFICE OF THE CLERK
<br /> typically about fifty (50) a day. We are excavating and dug out the first (1St) floor. We put in
<br /> somewhere around four hundred and ninety(490) pilings into the ground. We started framing and
<br /> pouring concrete walls of the first (1st) floor. We have our sub-basement water collection and
<br /> pumps installed. So, moving along, we've hit several stumbling blocks. The biggest item of
<br /> discussion is talking about Martin's Super Market. So, when they did the sale, there was a
<br /> discussion of this project but when they took possession and controlled ownership in January,they
<br /> reached out and said,hey,we know you had a lot of discussions and we didn't. We want to restart
<br /> those conversations. So, they signed a new letter of intent and started running their own numbers
<br /> to account for things like how big of a store it should be.
<br /> He continued, To talk about the pharmacy, we need to know what has to be inside of it, parking
<br /> requirements, etcetera. Maybe after a month or two (2), they came back and said we are still
<br /> looking at going forward but they are a definite"No"on the pharmacy component. So, we started
<br /> looking out for pharmacists. We've had very good conversations with one (1) who plans to open
<br /> in the facility.We are not ready to announce that publicly yet,but we think we have that component
<br /> taken care of. Now, it's the question of what we do for the grocery side. Our commitment with the
<br /> RDA and the City, the language is similar but vague. A full-service grocery store and pharmacy.
<br /> It's much more specific on how many dollars we have to spend, how many apartments we have to
<br /> open up, and the square footage of commercial retail. Not all of it has to be a grocery store, but,
<br /> the question at hand is what is going to make sense for both the legal side and then also what we
<br /> have to deliver to honor the expectation of providing a grocery store. What does a full-service
<br /> grocery store and pharmacy look like?
<br /> He went on, So, the current conversation we are having, and this is all open to discussion. We
<br /> haven't signed anything yet, so, if you have strong feelings one (1) way or the other, this, and
<br /> going forward privately, feel free to reach out and share your thoughts with us. We are looking at
<br /> having a pharmacy open up inside the Commerce Center as the Commerce Center gets re-
<br /> envisioned, specifically the first(1st) floor. So, for those who haven't been through,it is a 107,000
<br /> square foot office building. I bought it out of foreclosure in 2015. We've stepped it up
<br /> tremendously. We have a coworking space that is opening up inside, I think we have five (5)
<br /> tenants already moved in, even though we haven't started advertising it yet. We have a food
<br /> incubator that is in construction now, modeled after Baker and Rose and what we did in the
<br /> Emporium Building. So, the Emporium Building had a little café built out. We did a call for
<br /> proposals,we had four(4)people submit. What became Baker and Rose had the best presentation.
<br /> They moved in and they pay the utility bills and they pay a percentage of gross sales. So, if sales
<br /> are slow, there is no minimum rent, so, we can't evict them because they didn't pay rent because
<br /> they didn't have any business. It was a chance for that vendor to move into a restaurant location
<br /> without hundreds of thousands of dollars of build-out expense. So, they moved in and they
<br /> announced they are moving out into the old Dainty Maid spot. So, after a year and a half in this
<br /> incubator, they got a reputation, created a catering business, and are ready to move up. Now we
<br /> are marketing that for another entrepreneur, somebody who is more of a Chef who hasn't had the
<br /> experience running a business, to practice without having to take on that expense.
<br /> Committee Chair Ferlic stated, Just so we stay on topic, I would like to hear about the particulars
<br /> about the agreement that will be changing.
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