Studebaker Revamp Secures Major Financing

(Rendering of Renaissance District Provided by RDistrict One LLC)

The players behind a massive effort to redevelop the former Studebaker Corp. assembly plant in South Bend have received $23 million in financing. Plans from RDistrict One LLC, a collaboration between Union Station Technology Center in South Bend and Indianapolis-based development firm Strongbox Commercial LLC, involve transforming the facility into a mixed-use Renaissance District innovation center. It will include manufacturing, training and education, technology and incubator space. Studebaker, once one of the country’s largest car makers, went out of business in 1963.

Last year, Strongbox was announced as the developer of the 220,000 square-foot project. Campus designer Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture was selected last May.

The project is the brainchild of entrepreneur Kevin Smith, who founded the innovative Union Station Technology Center in South Bend. The Renaissance District was named as a major component in the north central region’s $732 million Regional Cities Initiative pitch last year. Nearly $150 million was identified as connected in some way to redevelopment on the former manufacturing campus.

The funding partners involved in the funding round include Capital One, U.S. Bank, United Federal Credit Union, as well as a "much needed and critical" New Markets Tax Credit allocation from Urban Research Park CDE LLC and the National Trust Community Investment Corp.

You can connect to more about the Renaissance District project by clicking here.