2008 Woodie Awards
Kite Realty submits Eddy proposal
Residential, commercial development scheduled to begin southeast of campus this fall
Chris Khorey
Issue date: 5/2/07 Section: News
Ann Arbor has State Street. East Lansing has Grand River Avenue. Columbus has High Street. And soon, South Bend will have Eddy Street - or so city and University officials hope.
Kite Realty Group, a development company contracted by Notre Dame to redevelop the Eddy Street corridor south of campus, submitted its proposal for "Eddy Commons" to the city of South Bend for zoning approval Monday and hopes to start construction on the first phase this fall.
That first phase, which would include 80,000 square feet of retail along Eddy Street, as well 162 condominiums, 268 apartments and two hotels in a triangle between Eddy, Edison Road, and State Route 23 (South Bend Avenue), is designed to better connect South Bend's Northeast Neighborhood with Notre Dame's campus in a physical sense - and perhaps even ease town relations.
"We want to strengthen connections between the neighborhood and the University and at the same time create a vibrant new urban center that can be a model for South Bend as well as other cities throughout the country," South Bend Mayor Stephen Luecke said in a statement released to The Observer.
A decaying neighborhood
Until the 1960s, the Northeast Neighborhood of South Bend - located in large part between Notre Dame, the St. Joseph River and South Bend Avenue - was a thriving community of middle-class families and safe streets. Studebaker automobiles provided jobs, and children played on the vast green swath next to Notre Dame Stadium, where DeBartolo Quad is today.
But that changed when Studebaker started cutting jobs and eventually went out of the car business all together. Families moved and houses were either torn down or rented to students or other low-income individuals. Property values plummeted and the crime rate rose.
A determined group of residents created the Northeast Neighborhood Council, which tried to clean up the area and crack down on absentee landlords.
"It did what it could, but it wasn't blessed with a lot of resources," said Greg Hakanen, Notre Dame's director of asset management and real estate development.
Kite Realty Group, a development company contracted by Notre Dame to redevelop the Eddy Street corridor south of campus, submitted its proposal for "Eddy Commons" to the city of South Bend for zoning approval Monday and hopes to start construction on the first phase this fall.
That first phase, which would include 80,000 square feet of retail along Eddy Street, as well 162 condominiums, 268 apartments and two hotels in a triangle between Eddy, Edison Road, and State Route 23 (South Bend Avenue), is designed to better connect South Bend's Northeast Neighborhood with Notre Dame's campus in a physical sense - and perhaps even ease town relations.
"We want to strengthen connections between the neighborhood and the University and at the same time create a vibrant new urban center that can be a model for South Bend as well as other cities throughout the country," South Bend Mayor Stephen Luecke said in a statement released to The Observer.
A decaying neighborhood
Until the 1960s, the Northeast Neighborhood of South Bend - located in large part between Notre Dame, the St. Joseph River and South Bend Avenue - was a thriving community of middle-class families and safe streets. Studebaker automobiles provided jobs, and children played on the vast green swath next to Notre Dame Stadium, where DeBartolo Quad is today.
But that changed when Studebaker started cutting jobs and eventually went out of the car business all together. Families moved and houses were either torn down or rented to students or other low-income individuals. Property values plummeted and the crime rate rose.
A determined group of residents created the Northeast Neighborhood Council, which tried to clean up the area and crack down on absentee landlords.
"It did what it could, but it wasn't blessed with a lot of resources," said Greg Hakanen, Notre Dame's director of asset management and real estate development.