Downtown area

The Howard Park neighborhood, part of the East Bank Village, is enjoying the resurgence of urban residential living.  Howard Park, which includes the Howard Park National Register District, features a variety of homes and businesses in styles old and new in the downtown area.
 
The historic architecture includes structures in the Queen Anne, Mediterranean Revival, Gothic Revival, American Foursquare, Prairie, Craftsman Bungalow, and California Bungalow Styles. Two are associated with Frank Lloyd Wright and two with the Studebaker family. Zion United Church of Christ's building anchors the historic flavor.

"More recently, for the first time in 50 years, a resurgence of new construction in the neighborhood complements the historic homes. 

Weiss Homes, long headquartered on East Jefferson Street, has converted part of its massive home-style office at the corner of Notre Dame Avenue into lofts for rent or sale and is building new boulevard homes south along the street. 

"More people want to live downtown," said developer Dave Weiss.  "I think we found there is a need for that and a demand for that."

The new houses, which Weiss designs himself, are set close to the street with elevated porches for a view beyond parked cars.  Each home gets the full side yard to the next house as a fenced patio.

Weiss drew on inspiration from visits to Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans for the design, including a rainbow of different colors down the street.

Prices range from the $180,000s to $270,000s. The homes are Energy Star rated and come with a tax abatement.

"I think these houses are beautiful," said the buyer of one of the new homes. "I went house-shopping for the longest time. I just couldn't find anything that I liked outside of a subdivision.

"She and her granddaughter walk her four dachshunds almost every day in 11-acre Howard Park, South Bend's original city park, enjoying the beauty of the St. Joseph River, the peal of nearby church bells and interesting conversations with downtown folk.

"There's always somebody unique that we meet," she said. "It's so friendly down there. In the winter I can take my granddaughter ice skating."

Success with the boulevard homes led Weiss to convert space in his headquarters, left when the company moved its design studio to another location, to provide more downtown residential living: The Lofts at Notre Dame Avenue.

"We saw the response we got from the boulevard homes on Notre Dame Avenue, so we decided to turn some of this into lofts," Weiss said. "There's a good demand for people who want to live downtown, especially with the gas prices and things like that."

The neighborhood is walking distance to downtown and adjacent to the East Bank which boasts a variety of restaurants, retail shops and other businesses.

"I really like the downtown feel," said a homeowner.  It's actually like a neighborhood, with the farmers market down the street. It's very accessible. It takes 10 minutes to get anywhere. It's very centrally located."

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Department of Community & Economic Development
Division of Community Development
227 W. Jefferson Boulevard • Suite 1200 S
South Bend, IN  46601
574.235.9660 • Fax: 574.235.9469