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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Office of the Mayor <br /> <br />NEWS RELEASE <br />May 1, 2009 <br />11 a.m. <br /> <br />Longtime firm to make way for Transpo, Ignition Park <br /> <br />Contact: <br />Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications & Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876- <br />1564, Don Inks, Director of Economic Development, or Bill Schalliol, Economic Development <br /> <br />Planner, 235-9371 <br /> <br />Two proposals approved today by the City’s Redevelopment Commission will take <br />another step towards the development of Ignition Park, part of South Bend’s two-site <br />state-certified technology park, and the move of Transpo’s headquarters to a new site. <br /> <br />The Redevelopment Commission authorized property acquisition and the relocation of <br />Ziolkowski Construction Inc., 1005 S. Lafayette Blvd., from the eastern edge of the <br />Ignition Park site as well as the second phase of marketing efforts related to Ignition <br />Park. The properties for acquisition include two separate sites in the block bounded by <br />Sample Street, Lafayette Boulevard, Broadway Street and Franklin Street. <br /> <br />Ziolkowski Construction is seeking to purchase the former PEI Genesis facility, 1915 N. <br />Bendix Drive, in the Airport Industrial Park, to which it hopes to relocate. The <br />Commission voted 3-1 to purchase the Ziolkowski properties for $910,000, and providing <br />additional relocation assistance to the company in accord with federal and Commission <br />guidelines. The total amount is capped at $1.81 million for both acquisition and <br />relocation expenses. <br /> <br />As part of a negotiated agreement for Redevelopment Commission assistance in the <br />relocation, Ziolkowski Construction has agreed not to seek tax abatement for necessary <br />renovations to the Bendix site to make it suitable for the company’s operations. <br /> <br />“Recently, there were four large vacant industrial buildings in the Airport Industrial Park <br />near the intersection of Voorde and Bendix, but the Census Bureau moved into one <br />building and Fortis Plastics has purchased and is locating its operation in the former <br />Capital Technologies building” said Bill Schalliol, economic development planner with <br />the City’s Department of Community and Economic Development. “The addition of <br /> <br />