South Bend Redevelopment Commission

The South Bend Redevelopment Commission last year acquired the properties from the YMCA of Greater Michiana and Oaklawn, the area's nonprofit mental health care provider.

The Mayor James Mueller administration has said it won't spend city money to renovate the historic, long-neglected State Theater, but will look for private developers interested in taking on the project.

Lafayette OpCo LLC has decided to back out of its purchase agreement for the Lafayette Building in downtown South Bend.

The South Bend Redevelopment Commission Thursday will consider earmarking $1.3 million to demolish the long-abandoned South Bend Range factory — if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will clean up of the site.

A locally owned hotel would fill the building's top two floors, restoring large windows that look across Michigan Street at The State Theater.

For now, the city just wants to stabilize and weatherproof the 1917 building, then explore potential reuses.

The 1917 structure at 212 and 216 S. Michigan St. in downtown South Bend has sat vacant for years. The city has yet to announce its plans for the building.

Granger-based Bare Hands Brewery had planned a second location there but the project never materialized.

The alternative site emerged months after the city backed off plans to have New Day build the center on Bendix Drive, under heavy opposition from neighbors