South Bend city officials Thursday approved giving an affordable housing developer more help to get a former industrial site ready for redevelopment. Their vote came despite a neighbor’s worries about buried contaminants.
The redevelopment commission unanimously approved giving Indianapolis-based KCG Development a $700,000 loan, on top of $1 million the city already has committed. The company plans to build a 50-unit complex on the city’s south side at Main and Donald streets.
KCG says the contractor who demolished the site’s previous building buried the debris instead of hauling it away.
More concerning, they also didn’t remove wells that held toxic materials, the site’s neighbor, Rebecca Ford, told the commission.
“Big holes in the ground filled with industrial chemicals, strippers, that would strip electrical components to their bones," Ford said. "And I watched when this demolition took over and I seen them push the building materials into these wells and cover it up.”
But a KCG representative and city officials said tests have shown the soil is not too contaminated for residential use.
