Developers continue to eye the area around Notre Dame for housing projects as South Bend officials this week approved the latest proposal to put up units at the intersection of Corby Boulevard and State Road 23.
On Monday the South Bend Common Council approved a proposal from Holladay Properties to put up over 100 apartment units and a handful of luxury condos on that site which sits across the street from Trader Joe’s.
The development has been dubbed 5 Corners and will feature 108 apartment units and around 5,000-square feet of retail space in one four-story building, while another three-story building will house a handful of luxury condos.
Holladay Properties is managing the project and estimates it will spend around $31 million. Paul Phair, vice president of development for Holladay, said the apartments will range from $920 to $2,600 in rent while the condos will sell for around $1 million each.
With the rising cost of construction, Phair said the development is using the condos — which are likely to be scooped up by wealthy Notre Dame fans — as a way to offset the cost of building the apartments.
“We didn’t want condos to be the entire project. It’s a high-profile location with a Trader Joe’s across the street and campus proximity,” he said. “It's easily walkable and we wanted to have activity there year round.”
Phair added that six of the apartment units will be set aside for lower income tenants.
Also offsetting building costs are $1.5 million in tax abatements over the next 10 years that were preliminarily approved by the city council this week. The tax breaks apply to the apartments and retail space but not the condos.
The council will give a final vote in two weeks, while Phair said he’s hoping to break ground in September. The land where the buildings will go is currently vacant after being cleared in a project to widen Eddy Street.
The 5 Corners project is the latest housing development to spring up around Notre Dame in the past few years. Phair said the proximity to campus was the most attractive feature of the location, but he added that the extensive repairs to Campeau St. and the new Trader Joe’s location boost desirability.
“The proximity to Notre Dame was obviously a key factor,” Phair said. “We actually started looking at this project before either Trader Joe’s or the Campeau improvements were contemplated. But both of those are huge improvements and upgrades for the area. Trader Joe’s locating where it did is just an awesome asset for the residents of that area.”
Other developments near campus include a 35-condo complex just across the street on Corby Boulevard called Brennan’s View and the Sideline Flats project which is putting 27 luxury condos up on SR 23 where the former Mulligan’s Bar used to sit.
“Apartments have started to spring up as people have realized that being near campus and walkability to campus is just a huge draw for people in our market," said Phair.
