South Bend OKs abatement for $14.7 million apartments in city's tallest building, Liberty Tower
SOUTH BEND — The final phase of restoring Liberty Tower, South Bend’s tallest structure, is cleared to begin after city councilors on Monday gave unanimous preliminary approval of a tax abatement plan.
Under the eight-year abatement, the city will forgo tax revenue of about $1.3 million in exchange for the tower’s owner, Tower at Washington Square LLC, to invest $14.7 million and build 90 new apartments.
The apartments will occupy the 25-story tower’s nine highest floors, above the space that comprises the Aloft hotel. The building’s 7th floor will be the site of other improvements, including a bar and lounge with a publicly accessible rooftop, event spaces and meeting rooms.
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Mark Neal, a Bradley Co. employee consulting with the New York-based owner, said Monday that half of the apartments are to be one-bedroom units. The remainder will be split between studio and two-bedroom units. Rent prices are expected to range from $1,250 to $3,500 a month.
Typically, residential developments must designate a certain number of rooms for lower-income tenants to win tax breaks. But the Liberty Tower apartments qualified for an abatement because space on the 7th floor is open to the public, according to Erik Glavich, director of growth and opportunity for the city.
“The 7th floor will be public space,” Glavich said. “It will incorporate not only the amenities for the residential units, but there will be additional meeting space. There will be the bar. There will be a publicly accessible roof deck off the 7th floor off the north side of the building.”
The owner will still pay about $1.3 million over the eight-year abatement period, meaning the city will forgo roughly half of the tax revenue generated during that time. Over 20 years, the apartments are expected to create nearly $5.3 million in tax money.
“We’re talking about a project that otherwise would not move forward,” said Caleb Bauer, executive director of community investment. “So yes, some of those taxes are being forgone to unlock that project.”
More:A timeline of development at South Bend's Liberty Tower
Looming large at 213 W. Washington St. since 1970, the former Chase Tower was on a path toward demolition until Tower at Washington Square LLC bought it in 2014 through a foreclosure sale. The owner renamed it Liberty Tower that year and began a three-phase rehabilitation.
The initial phases included building the Aloft hotel and the WXYZ lounge, which both opened in fall 2017. The first two phases cost more than $40 million.
Glavich said the entire building’s assessed value has risen to $9 million this year from $5 million in 2015.
"This building was about to be torn down, it was in such bad shape," said 1st District councilor Canneth Lee.
The owner aims to finish the apartments by summer 2024, Neal said.
Email South Bend Tribune city reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jordantsmith09
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Tallest South Bend building, Liberty Tower, to house 90 new apartments
