Remote work can be convenient and liberating, but it also can be lonely. A group in South Bend wants to change that.
They plan an “entrepreneurship hub” in a long-vacant downtown space.
The space, at 510 S. Main Street, was known as the Salvation Army Building before the city bought it in 2019. The city had used it as a weather amnesty shelter for the homeless.
Momentum Development Group seeks a property tax abatement to create an entrepreneurship hub with offices, co-working spaces, a commercial kitchen and retail space. They plan to invest $6.3 million in a renovation. Partners include Mark Neal, who served as interim mayor during Pete Buttigieg’s 11-month Afghanistan deployment.
Partner Kris Priemer says the group calls him the “visionary” behind the project.
"I'm really involved in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region," Priemer says. "The entrepreneurs, the small business owners, the freelance tech folks who might be working remotely for a company.
"I've been working for myself the last 10 years and what I've found is it gets very lonely, and it can be very depressing. You know, if you come up against hard problems, you don't have anyone to either collaborate with or bounce ideas off of."
The Momentum Entrepreneurship Hub will charge membership dues that vary with space needs. They hope to start pre-leasing this spring and open in January. To learn more, find this story at WVPE.org.
