City of South Bend to reconsider Bare Hands Brewery agreement next week
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The City of South Bend could take the first steps to reclaim the site of a proposed downtown brewpub next week.
ABC57 broke the news Friday that Bare Hands Brewery failed to meet its September 1st opening date for a South Bend location at the former Gates Service Center.
The City handed over the prime real estate down the road from Four Winds Field in 2016 for just one dollar, but the project has seen years of delays.
Under the latest agreement with the City, the new Bare Hands brewpub was supposed to open by September 1st.
It missed that deadline.
Despite recent progress, the property still has overgrown weeds across the outside walls, garbage piling by the padlocked entrance, and the interior of the building sits empty.
South Bend’s Executive Director of Community Investment Caleb Bauer sent a statement to ABC57:
“Bare Hands has not met the terms of their real estate purchase agreement with the Redevelopment Commission, which requires completion of the planned improvements and issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy by September 1. The Redevelopment Commission has issued multiple extensions to the agreement, which was originally struck seven years ago. Minimal progress has been made since then to open a brewery at the site.”
“The Redevelopment Commission will consider issuing a letter of default at its next meeting on September 14th.”
Bare Hands Brewery has not responded to ABC57’s multiple requests for an interview.