South Bend launches downtown visioning initiative
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South Bend city leaders are launching a new downtown visioning process.
Following the lead of several similar neighborhood planning initiatives, the city’s Department of Community Investment will spearhead the effort, which will also include assistance from Pittsburgh-based urban planning company Urban Design Associates.
City officials plan to spend the first two quarters of 2024 on the downtown effort. They pointed to several active projects expected to bring more than 500 new housing units downtown and referenced other “major investments” at the Morris Performing Arts Center, Four Winds Field, the Century Center and the South Bend Housing Authority.
“From the new Beacon Tower in the north to the rebirth of former Studebaker buildings in the south, the heart of South Bend will see roughly $1 billion of investment over the coming years for new homes, retail, and jobs of the future,” Mayor James Mueller said in a news release. “This downtown plan will create a vision and framework for how to expand opportunities for all and maximize the impacts of these transformational investments beyond the sum of each individual project.”
A city spokesperson said officials hope to share a draft of the plan for the downtown area by the end of next summer.
The city expects to share updates through a forthcoming page on its website, southbendin.gov.