SOUTH BEND — Construction on a recently announced $27 million apartment complex is set to begin this month after the South Bend Common Council approved a tax abatement proposal for the project.
The complex will be on the site of a currently vacant former medical building at the northwest corner of Cedar Street and Notre Dame Avenue, just north of St. Joseph High School, and will feature a mix of 69 studio and one-bedroom apartments that could be completed by late summer of next year.
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Developer ND QOZB LLC, an Idaho-based firm, filed for tax abatements in November and the council last week approved an agreement that will give the company an eight-year tax break, while stipulating that 20% of the units will be reserved for lower-income tenants.
Council member Troy Warner, whose district the project is in, called the development a "win-win" as the city will get more affordable housing units and will double the amount of tax revenue it gets from the property, even when accounting for the abatements.
"It’s repurposing a building that hadn’t been used in eight years and was empty," Warner said. "The tax valuation on it was depressed because of that. Once they do this major investment into it, even with the tax breaks, the city is going to be collecting twice as much in taxes right off the bat and it’ll be quadrupled at the end."