Notre Dame appeal drives rapid development in South Bend’s Eddy Street corridor
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South Bend’s bustling Eddy Street corridor is growing again.
Members of the South Bend Common Council approved a request for a tax abatement this week from developer Holladay Properties to bring a $31.5 million apartment complex called Five Corners to the corner of Eddy Street/State Road 23 and Corby Boulevard.
It’s the latest in a growing string of projects that has reshaped the busy corridor to the south and east of the University of Notre Dame campus.
The developments, all at various stages, range from high-end condominiums with rooftop views to fully furnished luxury apartments with private fitness centers and ground floor retail.
All have one clear audience in mind; the Notre Dame crowd – some of them students, others alumni or faculty; all willing to pay a premium for high quality amenities a stone’s throw from campus.
“We love South Bend and Notre Dame and everything it has to offer,” said Joseph Stanton, vice president of Three Leaf Development, which is nearing completion on Irish Quarter, a mixed apartment and condominium complex along State Road 23.
Joseph Stanton speaks on appeal of development near Notre Dame.
Stanton’s business partner is Milwaukee Bucks guard Pat Connaughton, who played for Notre Dame in the early 2010s.
“It’s just a testament to Notre Dame as a whole when you see a lot of development,” Stanton said of the rapid growth along State Road 23.
The face of South Bend’s Northeast Neighborhood shifted dramatically with the completion just years ago of the multi-phase, $300 million Eddy Street Commons. The 25-acre area directly south of Notre Dame features two hotels, more than 700 residential units, 35 townhomes and more than a dozen shops and restaurants, including a highly anticipated Trader Joe’s, which opened in 2021.
It completes a near-campus retail and dining district — similar to Bloomington’s Kirkwood Avenue or The Village at Ball State University — which South Bend had never had in the past.
Troy Warner, the South Bend Common Council member representing the Northeast Neighborhood, said Eddy Street Commons was a catalyst for further development. He said this extends not just to the outskirts of campus, but also to neighborhoods connecting the university corridor to downtown South Bend.
“The city as a whole will see the most investment in 2023 that it’s ever seen in its history,” Warner said. “We’re looking at close to a billion dollars in investment citywide just this year, and from the early planning stages, it looks like 2024 will be very similar.”
Recent developments along the State Road 23 corridor include:
- Brennan’s View: A 35-unit condo complex on Corby Boulevard, just behind Trader Joe’s. With one-, two- and three-bedroom units starting in the low $300,000-range. The ribbon was cut on this project in October 2022 and units sold quickly, according to the property’s website.
- Sideline Flats: A four-story luxury condominium building with 27 units and three ground floor retail units located just north of Edison Road on State Road 23. The condos are expected to list for as much at $1.5 million, The South Bend Tribune reported last year. The development’s website states that units are expected to be move-in ready by September.
- Irish Quarter: A two-building complex with a combined 15 condominiums listing at $680,000 to $799,000 and 13 apartments with rents ranging from $1,700 to $4,500 a month. The development just north of Edison Road to the east of State Road 23 will feature 9,700 square feet of retail space and is making its first units available this August.
- The 87: A 335-unit complex advertising “luxury student housing” across five three- and four-story apartment buildings and 26 townhomes. The complex is spread across 431,000 square feet and is a redevelopment of the former Campus View apartments at 1710 N. Turtle Creek Drive across State Road 23 from Sideline Flats. Completion of this project is expected in 2024.
- Five Corners: A $31.5 million development featuring 108 apartments in one building and four condominiums in another at the northeast corner of Eddy Street/State Road 23 and Corby Boulevard. Rent will range from $920 to $2,600 a month. Developers expect to break ground in the fall.
The developments are reshaping a corridor lined with restaurants, bars and other businesses appealing to the university crowd. Irish Quarter has been built on the site of a former Venezuelan restaurant, Mango Cafe; Sideline Flats is going up where Mulligan’s Bar and Grill once stood; and The 87 replaces the former Campus View apartments, an aging complex catering to upperclassmen.
South Bend Councilmember Rachel Tomas Morgan said she believes that Five Corners site has sat vacant for more than a decade.
Some have critiqued the growth for its lack of affordability, especially with some condominiums likely to be scooped up by Notre Dame alumni in town only during football season.
Holladay Properties’ Paul Phair told the South Bend Common Council earlier this month that’s what his company is trying to avoid through its apartment-heavy development. The local developer and property management company will also offer six affordable housing units reserved for those making 80% of the South Bend area’s median income.
South Bend officials know they have a gap of low-income housing, and are working with developers to pursue federal incentives for several affordable housing projects south of downtown.
“You can’t just provide one level of housing, you need to provide a whole, big portfolio of housing to hit all income segments,” Warner said, adding that the recent projects affect the entire housing market.
South Bend Councilmember Troy Warner speaks on development along Corby Street corridor and across the city.
Even condo owners in town only part of the year will be expected to significantly higher taxes than what previous property owners along the corridor had paid. Through tax collection alone, Warner estimates the projects could bring an additional $1 million to $5 million to the city. Proposed retail space and leasing offices also promise to create new jobs in the area.
“Those are very significant gains,” Warner said of the local tax impact. “We’re able to use those funds to work on streets, sidewalks, our water infrastructure and other things all across the city.”
Meanwhile, developers say they’re not currently worried about a slowing of demand in the area. Stanton, with Three Leaf Development, said if the Irish Quarter project goes well, his Milwaukee-based company could look to build again in South Bend.
“There’s nothing on the table or in the pipeline so to speak right now for us, but definitely (we) don’t plan to go anywhere,” Stanton said. “We definitely want to stick around and do some more development around Notre Dame.”