South Bend, developer reach compromise on high-rise project

The future of the project at the Commerce Center had been in question after the council voted 5-4 against the project on Dec. 12. But conversations about the project remained ongoing between the city and developer David Matthews.

The deal announced Tuesday caps the height of the project from street level to nine stories. The project will include 144 apartments, a grocery store and a parking garage.

"One thing that was very clear is everybody in the community wants development like this to happen but not everybody gets exactly what they want," Mayor Pete Buttigieg said. "It's great to see that the developer gave a little, we the administration gave a little, and members of the council are ready to give a little in terms of what they originally came in with to make sure we have something that's actually going to work."

The roughly $35 million project also retains a new Martin's Super Market and pharmacy, a requirement for the project to leverage $4.9 million in Regional Cities Initiative grant money from the state.