Plans for a vacant lot in South Bend

SOUTH BEND, Ind. --The St. Joseph River, breathtaking views of downtown South Bend; it sounds like an easy sell.

Despite the scenery, developers have steered clear of the vacant lot on Colfax, for nearly 10 years.

The city is now stepping in. Tuesday night, The South Bend Redevelopment Commission voted to acquire the property that used to house the Wharf Restaurant.

The plan is to eventually turn it in to high-end apartments, similar to the nearby East Bank Townhomes.

Don Inks, The Director of Economic Development in South Bend said, “There are a number of types of development that we want to see. There's certainly some commercial retail development that we'd like to see in the east bank. Right now, we're seeing more interest in residential development."

Right now, the city doesn’t have a specific developer in mind but officials expect that to change soon.