A 180-unit workforce housing development may be coming to South Bend’s south side.
The common council Monday agreed to rezone land at 250 Chippewa Avenue from Commercial to Suburban Neighborhood development. Birge & Held plans to build five three-story buildings, designed to provide attainable housing for working families.
“The rental rates will be somewhere between $900 for a one-bedroom and $1,300 for a three-bedroom, so it is in that workforce affordable, attainable housing sphere,” said Sam Rogers, senior vice president for affordable development at Birge & Held.
The development would include solar panels on rooftops and carports, to offset its electrical needs.
Rogers promised that the apartments would be well-maintained, saying that property management staff will be on-site. “Our construction type is obviously a very high end,” Rogers told council members. “It’s the same as a market-rate, if you will, class A development. You have Hardie Plank brick, granite counter tops, all of the higher-end items there to make sure that the property looks good long-term and is well-maintained.”
The company plans to begin design work this fall, with construction to start in the spring.
In addition to providing housing options, it would also mean a new use for land that’s been vacant since the 1990s. It was last used as part of a drive-in movie theater.
Rogers said Birge & Held has developed about 3,000 affordable housing units in Indiana. This is its first project in South Bend.