South Bend officials, community members top off new downtown building

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Officials in South Bend held a topping-off ceremony as council members, contractors and community leaders watched as an I-beam was hoisted to the top of the new building downtown.

The I-Beam was decorated with American Flags and a Christmas tree.

“It felt nice to celebrate a milestone after a lot of different setbacks and frustrations and learning curves figuring out how to get a new building built in downtown South Bend,” Dave Matthews said, owner of Matthews LLC. “It was good to take half a day or a few hours and celebrate the successes we had.”

Matthews also remarked however that there is still a lot of work to be done.

“So now that we’ve topped off, we have to finish the shell,” Matthews said. “So we’re putting up the exterior wall panels, then windows and balconies, finish putting in the roof. Right now it’s a piece of concrete up there; we need insulation, a membrane, and then we’ll start working on the interior fit and finish.”

The new building is currently at the half-way point of its construction.

Development for the project began in 2016, the city approved it in 2017 and construction was underway by 2018.

Included in the new development will be apartments, a grocery store, and a 150-seat plaza with two fire pits overlooking the east race.

Matthews LLC is currently signing leases for incoming tenants and they are hoping to have those apartments available by spring of 2021.