SOUTH BEND | Eddy Street Commons at Notre Dame | Completed

[Pronaos]

Plans have resently been released for a new urban development south of the Notre Dame campus called Eddy Street Commons at Notre Dame.

Developer: Kite Reality
Website: http://eddycommons.com/

The development will include the following:

90,000 sf of retail space
268 apartments
49 condos
20 courtyard townhomes
52 flats
61 city homes
255 room full service hotel
139 room limited-Service hotel
75,000 sf of office space





Site Plan:



As time progresses I'll try to get some construction photos posted. At the moment the site is fenced off, and no real construction has started yet.

[CorrND]

Finally they're moving on this project. They'e been talking about this in concept since my brother started at ND in '92. When I started in '97, they said the project was likely to start in a couple years after they bought that low-rise building a Eddy and Edison. Here we are, 10 years later and itt's actually happening!

I look forward to your updates!

If you get a chance, I'm also curious about the road improvements they've done. The last time I was there was relatively shortly after the Edison realignment, but I understand the Twychenham/Ivy has now been redone and Douglas has been expanded. I love to see pictures if you have a chance!

[Pronaos]

I'll try get out there on Friday to get some pictures.

Speaking of roads...

They also took out Juniper through the center of campus and replaced it with a bunch of landscaping. It looks really cool, especially between the football stadium and the Joyce Center. There are a lot of changes in store for Notre Dame in the near future.

Hopefully these changes will include a couple of wins for the football team...

[Unionstation13]

I would love for Indianapolis to have infill like that.
BTW thats fantastic for southbend, maybe we need a SB development thread?

[CorrND]

My guess is that a South Bend development thread would basically be this project plus a handful of condo buildings being constructed essentially as hotels for Notre Dame football season. You could throw in Notre Dame construction, but that's neither urban nor skyscrapers, so I think it's little outside the purview of this forum.

If my guess is wrong, maybe Pronaos could fill us in.

Go Irish! Beat Sparty!

[hoosier]

Sweet project. Hopefully this will help integrate the ND campus with the city of South Bend.

[Pronaos]

Yeah, there isn't really much of a need for a development thread for South Bend. There are a couple of plans for some condo buildings downtown. At the moment, there is no construction going on, and there are not going to be many new buildings worth noting in the near future.

The one building downtown that has been receiving some press in the highly-anticipated Hall of Fame Gameday Center condo development. Construction was supposed to be well under way, but the sight they planned to put in on remains a parking lot... See website: http://halloffamegamedaycenter.com/

Sorry I wasn't able to get over to ND to get some pictures. I'll get over there tomorrow and post an update.

Go Irish!

[Pronaos]

September 23, 2007
I went out and took some photos of the site today.

View from the corner of Edison and Eddy


View from the eastern end of the site


Not much going on behind the fence besides photosynthesis...


New section of Edison seperating ND from the Commons


There has not been a whole lot of action at the construction site. There is a gate near the middle of the fence that is open and has a dirt road leading into the site. I think it is being used for primary surveying. I will try to post updates as soon as something interesting happens.

[CorrND]

Wow, Edison is so different than when I was there. Eddy Commons is clearly very pedestrian friendly, but they really need to make sure crossing Edison is as easy as possible for pedestrians. Four travel lanes plus 2 turn lanes PLUS median is no picnic!

[IndiexInxIndy]

That not all of the forests are being cut down! That's really shitty if that's true. Considering all the flat farmland surrounding South Bend metro. I mean seriously is this the best spot they could build? Dont get me wrong, i lust the look of the project! Just not the project area. Meh... Pave paradise anybody?

[CorrND]

Originally Posted by IndiexInxIndy

That not all of the forests are being cut down! That's really shitty if that's true. Considering all the flat farmland surrounding South Bend metro. I mean seriously is this the best spot they could build? Dont get me wrong, i lust the look of the project! Just not the project area. Meh... Pave paradise anybody?

Unfortunately, yes. But on the other hand, a project like this isn't really viable anywhere else in South Bend. This is only happening because of the proximity of this land to the campus of ND (and ND's desire for this project to happen).

[IndiexInxIndy]

Are they saving any trees or forested spots atleast? Like even for a little parkland? Meh...

[Pronaos]

I'm not 100% sure, but I do believe they will save some trees at the eastern half of the development.

By the looks of the renders they're putting in trees for landscaping, but many of the old growth trees are being torn down. They are not getting rid of the trees altogether, but they will not dominate the landscape like they once did.

Remember that Indiana used to be one big forest. There's an old saying that a squirrel used to be able to jump from tree to tree and go from Lake Michigan to the Ohio River without ever having to touch the ground.

It's sad to see, but sometimes it is necessary to remove trees for the sake of progress.

[Pronaos]

Nothing really going on down at the site.

The only real news to note is ND's victory over UCLA on Saturday. Finally! I'm really looking forward to the ND-BC game next Saturday! GO IRISH!

[Pronaos]

One other thing, if anyone's interested.

The University announced last week that the long awaited renovations to the Joyce Center will finally begin next September. The article is below:

Joyce renovations set for Sept. '08
South Bend Tribune 10-4-07
Construction on the Joyce Center arena addition and renovation will begin in September 2008, the University of Notre Dame announced today. The University has selected the architects for the project, and they currently are in the process of completing final design plans. The first phase of the project, to begin next September, involves construction of a new three-story structure at the south end of the arena. That structure will include a new two-story lobby, the Notre Dame ticket operations (approximately 4,500 square feet) and a varsity shop to sell apparel and souvenirs (approximately 3,000 square feet), in addition to a new club seating and hospitality area. Replacement of the Joyce Center arena seating, including installation of chair-back seating throughout the arena, is expected to take place after the University's Commencement Exercises in May 2009. The project is scheduled for completion in January 2010. The arena is expected to re-open by mid-October 2009, in time for the start of the men's and women's basketball seasons and the end of the women's volleyball season

A rendering of what the arena will look like when finished:

[Pronaos]

Wow, its been a while since anything has happened at the Eddy Commons site...but I was flipping through the South Bend Tribune this morning and there was actually an article in the paper! Below is the story:


Eddy Street Commons impact discussed
Questions arise over bill for ash removal on ND site.

JAMIE LOO
Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- The city's proposed contribution to the Eddy Street Commons project is $37.7 million, which city officials say will later translate into nearly $74 million in tax dollars during the first 10 years of the project.

The Common Council's community and economic development committee met last week with city economic development staff, Kite Realty Group, and University of Notre Dame officials to discuss the city's financing contribution to the Eddy Street Commons project.

Eddy Street Commons is the residential, hotel, retail and office development planned south of Notre Dame.

Don Inks, economic development director, said $36 million in Tax Increment Financing bonds will finance construction of the 1,281-space parking garage. It will also pay for infrastructure improvements such as the Napoleon Street extension from Eddy Street to Indiana 23; improvements to Edison Road, Eddy, Burns, Georgiana and Duey streets, which include sanitary sewer, water and storm sewer lines; and ash removal from the Notre Dame woods. About $5.2 million from the city's Major Moves fund will be borrowed to pay for road improvements and repaid later.

The city will contribute another $1.7 million for the redevelopment in the Triangle, which will have about 63 fair market value homes.Kite Realty Group is investing about $169 million for Phase I development and will not seek tax abatements for any buildings or structures during the terms of the bonds. The parking garage will be owned by the city and leased back to Kite to manage.

Council members Timothy Rouse, D-at large, and David Varner, R-5th, asked why the city is paying $1.3 million in ash removal under the agreement. During discussions last spring, both said they remember Kite agreeing to do the cleanup. Notre Dame dumped ash in the woods for decades, Varner said, and either the university or Kite should be responsible for cleanup because it's their property.

Inks said the ash removal was always considered the city's responsibility in early talks. Mayor Stephen Luecke said this is a site preparation cost and that some of the parking garage will be built in that area.

The city and Kite paid for Crowe Chizek to perform an economic impact study.

Crowe Chizek found that the increased revenues from the project area in its first 10 years will result in nearly $74 million in state sales tax, state income tax, hotel-motel tax, county income and property taxes. Employment estimates over a 10-year period show 824 new jobs and 779 construction jobs during the 2008 through 2010 building period.The council's community and economic development committee will discuss the development agreement at its 4:15 p.m. meeting today and will meet again at 7 p.m. for a public hearing and vote.

Staff writer Jamie Loo:
jloo@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6337

There is still a bit of controversy over the whole project, but the good news is that construction is going to get underway in 2008...more to come whenever some interesting comes up. HOPEFULLY SOON!!!

[Pronaos]

They've begun cutting down trees on the site...

[Pronaos]

Today was the official groundbreaking on the site!

Here's a link to the South Bend Tribune article about it.
http://southbendtribune.com/apps/pbc.../1130/Sports01

Just to let you all know I'm got accepted to ND and will be attending school there to study architecture...I'll get some pics posted once they start the real construction.

[realst8.com]

There are now buildings lining Eddy Street between Napoleon and Angela/Edison.






For more pictures, check out the South Bend Area Blog's November 2009 update on Eddy Street Commons

[SMSC1]

Originally Posted by Pronaos

Today was the official groundbreaking on the site!

Here's a link to the South Bend Tribune article about it.
http://southbendtribune.com/apps/pbc.../1130/Sports01

Just to let you all know I'm got accepted to ND and will be attending school there to study architecture...I'll get some pics posted once they start the real construction.

The next poster beat your construction update shots with the finished deal.