A large bright yellow and brown sign has sat on the south side of U.S. 20 near the bypass ramp for several years, promising “exciting retail development” and “great opportunities for local artisans.”

And the first phase of the long-planned proposals may soon be underway.

Mark Tarner, founder of the South Bend Chocolate Company, initially announced in 2017 plans to move his factory from its location on Sample Street westward on about 70 acres of land southwest of the St. Joseph Valley Parkway and U.S. 20, just west of South Bend International Airport. In addition to the factory, plans for a dinosaur and chocolate museum were also laid out.

However, the first of the projects expected to open in the development project will be a restaurant, South Bend Public House.

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Similar to the Howard Park Public House, which Tarner opened in January, the South Bend Public House will be what he describes as an agri-restaurant, where agriculture, food preparation and consumption meet as one. The ultimate goal will be educating visitors about agriculture and the food industry as a whole.

“I think it's going to be a great place,” Tarner said. “We have a lot to learn about agriculture but I’m bringing in professionals.”

Tarner plans to completely transform a rusted warehouse on the property that he believes once housed machinery into a space that will be like a “beer hall meets elegant picnic.” A permit shows that about 6,100 square feet is expected to be renovated, with Chocolate Company director of operators Kristina Tressler saying that another 1,500 square feet will be added. Once complete, the large restaurant will sport a kitchen that Tarner says will be larger than the entire Howard Park location, a large beer garden patio on the western side and a indoor floor plan that is similar to a beer hall you may find in Germany.

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“We're going to have different options out here (than at Howard Park),” Tarner said. “Really Howard Park is a bar with gourmet food. This is going to be the flip flop where the bar is only going to be a part of it and it’s going to have good food.”

Diners won’t have to look far when wondering where ingredients on their plates came from as Tarner plans to use about 30 to 40 acres of the land to grow crops varying from fruits like apples and grapes to fall vegetables like pumpkins. The infamous hen house will also be at the 24820 U.S. 20 location.

“You're going to be able to eat dinner and have chickens wander through your feet until the health department tells me I can’t,” Tarner laughs. “And God knows they will.”

Admitting he’s not a farmer, Tarner said he plans to lean on long-established farmers who have years of experience growing, nurturing and educating people about the crops. The restaurant, Tarner says, is merely a cog in a much bigger plan of making the development a destination.

“What I want to do is make it a destination for people who are traveling and maybe a place where local residents will bring their families and friends,” Tarner said. “It’s really going to be a showplace because I think there is so much competition with restaurants that you have to create an experience and that's what we're going to do.”

But not long ago, plans for the development were in jeopardy.

When Tarner purchased the property four years ago, he was awarded $500,000 in Indiana Regional Cities money for the dinosaur museum. But in order to receive the money, the South Bend-Elkhart Regional Development Authority board required construction to start by April 30, a deadline Tarner said he couldn’t meet due to the effects of the pandemic.

“I’m not even sure I could get the banks lined up for financing in the time period that they asked,” Tarner told the Tribune in late March. “I probably should have delayed them a little bit but I was honest. Or they should have offered (a delay). This was very unexpected.”

But by fall, hopes in the project were somewhat renewed. Tarner, an amateur paleontologist, showed off dinosaur bones he found in Montana over the summer and, while doing so, explained that plans for the museums were back underway thanks to federal aid and other developers.

“I’m kind of a lone wolf, for lack of a better term, but people came to me wanting to partner,” Tarner said. “So I opened myself and my ideas up to developers and that's really what made it happen.”

Tarner said plans for the $15 million development are still yet to be determined, depending on any other money that he may be awarded. On Tuesday, the northern Indiana region received $50 million from the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative or READI program. The area’s Regional Development Authority will now spend the next several months sorting through some 200 proposals for brick-and-mortar projects and programs, including Tarner’s development plans.

“I think we got a shot at it,” Tarner said.

But while plans for the factory and museum are dependent on said money allocation, the restaurant plans have already been budgeted for accordingly, Tarner said. With eyes ever toward the future, Tarner said he hopes to eventually open similar concepts in other locations in the area such as Mishawaka and St. Joseph, Michigan. But the South Bend Public House on U.S. 20 will become the home base.

Tarner anticipates opening South Bend Public House by Sept. 2022.

Have you heard?

Ali on the Boulevard is in the process of closing its popup shop. The temporary storefront at 2031 S. Bend Ave. opened in the fall and items and fixtures are now discounted to sell and liquidate the space. Its hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. ... New Mexican restaurant Don Jose's Mexican Grill and Cantina has opened in Elkhart. The Mexican restaurant is in the former Lucchese's Italian Restaurant space at 655 County Road 17. According to its website, the restaurant offers Mexican staples like tacos, fajitas and chimichangas, as well as soups, salads and appetizers. It is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday from noon to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Contact Mary Shown at 574-235-6244 and mshown@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @maryshownSBT and @marketbasketSBT.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Public House to open September 2022, owner Mark Tarner says