The South Bend house where legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne lived stands in the way of more upscale housing development south of campus.
Rockne coached the Fighting Irish from 1918 to 1930, winning six national championships. His lifetime winning percentage of .881 still tops all college and football coaches ever, and he’s widely credited with popularizing the forward pass.
But Greystone Developers LLC wants to capitalize on the gold rush of land redevelopment south of campus. They paid $850,000 for the lot in May, after the prior owner had paid just $401,000 three years earlier, according to county records.
Greytsone, which includes Steve Smith from Irish Realty and Catherine Pingel with Irish Investments, plans to build four condos on the lot. They’ll move the Rockne house, a white two-story at 1006 St. Vincent Street, across the alley from Eddy Street Commons, to an empty lot at 1105 N. Foster St., six-tenths of a mile west.
The nonprofit Indiana Landmarks, although not involved in this move, also plans this summer to move a historical home at 211 W. Marion Street to make way for the housing, retail and hotel development happening south of Memorial Hospital. That house will move less than two-tenths of a mile away to what’s now a parking lot at Navarre Street and Portage Avenue.
