A month after nearly 100 residents gathered at LaSalle Square to discuss the future of the former commercial hub, a market analysis by consultants is supporting their call for mixed-use development

Using an innovative public-involvement tool called "Neighborhood Transopoly," two planning consultant firms from Chicago gathered valuable information on what residents want and need, and their vision for LaSalle Square.

"One thing quickly became apparent: residents want a vibrant LaSalle Square with a variety of uses," said Jeff Vitton, a community development planner who is leading LaSalle Square planning on behalf of the city's Department of Community and Economic Development. "Synergy between public opinion and market realities indicates that LaSalle Square will be a mixed-use center."

The market analysis conducted by the consultants supports the concept, indicating that the retail marketplace will not support large-scale retail uses that used to occupy LaSalle Square. The analysis does indicate, however, that LaSalle Square could possibly support a small convenience-related retail center on its northeast edge.

But the size of the retail space proposed, 20,000 to 40,000 square feet, is much smaller than the hundreds of thousands of square feet once occupied by Target, Kroger and other stores at the former shopping complex on the city's west side.

"The LaSalle Square neighborhood shows a market need for most types of stores. But these needs are more than met by stores in a wider area, primarily by large stores on north Bendix," the analysis said. "The neighborhood within a one-mile radius of LaSalle Square could support a modest amount of convenience retail development on the northeast corner of the complex."

The analysis, prepared by consultants zpd+a, a Chicago-based architecture firm, and the Chicago-based Center for Neighborhood Technology, is part of a presentation that will be made during a public meeting from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19 in the former Payless Shoes facility at LaSalle Square. In the meeting, the consultants will highlight what they learned from an earlier public meeting and market research.  They also will present some conceptual site plans for public comment.

The LaSalle Square Steering Committee, a partnership of residents, businesses and the City of South Bend, is overseeing the process to create an action plan for the site. They seek to leverage public resources in order to expand private investment at LaSalle Square, located at Bendix Drive and Ardmore Trail, just south of Lincolnway West.

According to the presentation, "for LaSalle Square to meet its potential, the neighborhood around it must improve by:

• Upgrading existing housing and residential streets, and adding housing.
• Increasing local employment, especially in the industrial and logistics sectors.
• Improving the educational attainment of neighborhood students and workers."

"LaSalle Square must also be redesigned as an attractive space with limited retail use and additional recreational, institutional or other public use," the analysis said. "An institutional use of the site, or a portion of the site, would be a good way to generate traffic to/from the Square to support retail." This type of investment also will be an asset in retaining and attracting office and light-manufacturing businesses to the area.

While 12,100 to nearly 15,000 vehicles per day pass by the intersection of Lincolnway West and Bendix Drive, traffic counts near LaSalle Square drop by more than half. The highest occur at Bendix and Ardmore Trail (6,893), with 5,337 at Ardmore and Prast Boulevard, and 2,487 on Ardmore, east of Bendix.

The retail space of 20,000 to 40,000 square feet, proposed by the consultants, is comparable in size to the 36,970-square-foot McKinley and Grape Shopping Center in neighboring Mishawaka, which is anchored by a CVS Pharmacy and includes fewer than a dozen small retail outlets. Most area grocery stores are significantly larger, and the "big box" stores near Portage and Bendix exceed 100,000 square feet each.

The consultants' market analysis examined three areas:

• The immediate neighborhood – Within a one-mile radius of LaSalle Square.
• Much of the City of South Bend – Within a three-mile radius of LaSalle Square.
• The greater South Bend area – Within a five-mile radius of LaSalle Square.

Residents within a one-mile radius of LaSalle Square are younger than residents of the rest of the city or the metropolitan area. A majority are African-Americans, a much higher percentage than citywide. Children, ages 5 to 19, represent 27 percent of the population, the largest age segment, while the largest age segment (also 27 percent) for other areas occurs among those ages 30 to 49.

Median incomes were lower within one mile of LaSalle Square, the study said. The neighborhood's median housing sale values have declined by almost 50 percent since 2003. Three times as many neighborhood residents make their living through manufacturing and transportation (48 percent) than do citywide (16 percent). The study showed that 31 percent of LaSalle Square neighbors are employed in service jobs, compared with 69 percent citywide.

LaSalle Square area residents spend about the same for housing as others. Yet the 32 percent who rent pay a larger percentage of income for housing, leaving few resources left to support local businesses, according to the study. Foreclosures around LaSalle Square have risen rapidly since 2001, but at a rate comparable to the rest of South Bend.

More than 5,000 people work within one mile of LaSalle Square – a number that, consultants said, adds to the neighborhood's market potential.

After the Aug. 19 meeting, zpd+a will gather all information into a draft action plan for presentation to the city's Redevelopment Commission for approval. Final action is anticipated in September.

A valuable aspect of the planning process is that it brings together community members with common interests and gives them an opportunity to network. Many participants of Neighborhood Transopoly said they would like to see a Farmers Market at LaSalle Square. Now, a group is organizing a Farmers Market for the west side, planning for a trial run this fall at LaSalle Square.

"Ultimately, implementation of the final plan will need committed citizens, like the residents organizing the Farmers Market, and dynamic community partnerships to succeed," Vitton said. "This isn't a technical plan for bureaucrats to follow and implement. It is a plan for the neighborhood and community as a whole to follow and implement in order to bring their vision to reality."

In summer 2007, the Redevelopment Commission added LaSalle Square, the Marycrest/Hurwich area and the former Sample-Ewing Development Area to the Airport Economic Development Area. Mayor Stephen J. Luecke has pledged to make LaSalle Square a priority for investment, committing $2 million to support those planning efforts and serve as seed money for substantial private investment.

The project is funded by tax increment financing (TIF) revenue from the west-side Airport Economic Development Area, the city's largest TIF district.

In a TIF district, the increase in tax revenue generated by new development stays within the boundaries of the district to fund infrastructure improvements, including curbs, sidewalks, streets, landscaping and other public improvements. These resources are available for economic development but not for general city services – a point often misunderstood as the City faces the loss of $21.3 million in annual revenue from the property tax caps advocated by Gov. Mitch Daniels and adopted by the legislature.

"If the City chose not to make these investments in LaSalle Square, we wouldn't save a single police officer or firefighter, or prevent the closure of a single park facility or recreation program," Luecke said. "By state law, these dollars can only be used for economic development in the same way that individuals cannot use a retirement plan to pay for rising gas and food prices. Just as families use certain funds for their future, the City is making strategic investments to improve economic conditions and raise property values in the inner city."

The LaSalle Square planning already has generated some results. In June, the Redevelopment Commission approved a development agreement between the City of South Bend, Memorial Hospital and Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center to renovate a vacant medical office building across from LaSalle Square to create a west-side family practice facility.

In early 2009, Memorial Hospital and Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center will launch Bendix Family Physicians, a fully staffed physicians' office at 1010 N. Bendix Drive, under the auspices of the non-profit Community Health Partners of South Bend. The hospitals and private foundations will support Community Health Partners.

Renovation of the medical office building will take place in 2008. The facility is expected to open in 2009.

Community Health Partners will invest nearly $1.2 million to furnish and equip the facility as a full-service medical practice and a venue for community health information and programming, and underwrite ongoing operational costs.

Contact:  Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications & Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564 or Jeff Vitton, Community Development Planner, 235-9660