South Bend Redevelopment Commission vote to buy River Glen Office Complex

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The South Bend Redevelopment Commission voted Thursday to buy the River Glen Office Complex downtown with an aim to create a residential area.

The plaza is right next to the Karl King Tower and stretches all the way to Jefferson Boulevard.

The commission voted unanimously to buy the plaza for $3.25 million with the aim of turning it into a residential area while simultaneously making it easier to navigate downtown.

"From a bridge standpoint, there's quite a distance between the two vehicular bridges, the Jefferson bridge and the Sample Street bridge. So, I do think that would help with traffic connections and pedestrian connections. Though, it is a parking lot. And so, a pedestrian can pretty easily walk across it. It's not necessarily an inviting space. And certainly, you know, if you didn't know it, you wouldn't realize that there is a riverwalk there with a pedestrian bridge over to Howard Park," said Caleb Bauer, Executive Director of Community Investment.

City officials say even though the plaza was for offices, because it's zoned for downtown, it won't need to be re-zoned for residential use.