The recent downtown South Bend land deals between Beacon Health, Great Lakes Capital and the city have given the city a unique building that sits on a prime piece of real estate.
The city says it has plans for the building it will announce soon.
As part of the three-way land swap needed for Beacon’s planned apartment, hotel and retail complex south of Memorial Hospital, the city acquired a new property downtown. It agreed to take ownership of the Leighton Memorial Healthplex, also known as the Memorial Health & Lifestyle Center.
It’s the massive brick structure that takes up much of the block across Main Street from the Courthouse, the one with the sculpture of Martin Luther King Jr. and Fr. Theodore Hesburgh holding hands.
Beacon provides physical therapy on the ground floor, the second floor is vacant, and it operates a fitness club on the third and fourth floors. It has a small pool and indoor track.
On Thursday the city will transfer the property to its redevelopment commission. Caleb Bauer is the city’s community investment executive director.
"It's a unique building," Bauer said. "We're interested in how can we activate it going forward and make sure it continues to be additive to the downtown. We have some plans for its use but we're not ready to share those yet until we have agreements to bring before the Redevelopment Commission, which we hope to have in the coming weeks."
