SOUTH BEND — The 5 Corners project, which includes a 108-unit apartment building and a second building containing four condo units and a retail space, on the northeast side of South Bend, is slated to finish close to schedule, even with a delayed start due to an inflationary market.
“It’s going to be a valuable addition to the neighborhood,” said James Randolph, Holladay Properties development manager of the 5 Corners project.
Apartment units will have an in-unit washer and dryer and most will have a balcony, Randolph said. A professional office, deli and café are possibilities for the retail space that shares a building with four luxury condo units, but nothing is confirmed, he said. The location is at the intersection of Indiana 23 (or Eddy Street) and Corby Boulevard on South Bend’s northeast side, situated across the street from Trader Joe’s, and south of the Notre Dame campus.
Condo units are anticipated to be available for move-in starting May 2025, ahead of schedule, with two of the four units already sold, Randolph said. Availability of the apartment units for lease will be a phased turnover, with the first 11 units available for lease in November 2025 and the final units of the 108 anticipated available for lease in March 2026.
“We’re ahead of schedule in the first unit turnover,” Randolph said of the condo units.
While the 5 Corners project was initially scheduled to start in September 2023 and complete in fall semester 2025, the start was delayed due to an “inflationary market” with unexpected higher interest rates and rising construction prices, Randolph said. To help curtail the unexpected increase in cost, the design was made more cost effective, without an impact on quality, which delayed breaking ground until April 2024, he said.
“We’ve been able to adapt to the late start and make good headway,” Randolph said.
Warmer winter weather helped extend the construction season, said Caleb Bauer, Executive Director of the Department of Community Investment of the City of South Bend.
“I feel very good on the timeline,” Bauer said.
Even with making the design more cost-effective, the total estimated cost of the project has now risen to roughly $32 million, Randolph said.
This increase in cost has affected the price the condo units are selling for, roughly $1.2 million for each 2,350 sq. ft. unit, Randolph said. The size of the condo units may have also increased compared to initial estimates, he said.
The cost of leasing each of the 108 apartment units, however, is anticipated to remain the same as earlier estimates — $920 to $2,600 a month for a range of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, Randolph said.
Horizon Construction Group, Inc. is the general contractor, Studio M is the architect and Abonmarche the civil engineer, for the 5 Corners project, for which Holladay Properties is the developer, Randolph said. The project is under Holladay Properties’ HP Irish Corner LLC, he said. Holladay Properties, a full-service real estate company, was founded in 1952 and is currently headquartered in South Bend, Randolph said.
The 5 Corners project consists of a large, four-floor building that includes 108 apartment units on the top three floors and parking on the ground floor; a smaller, three-floor building with the four condo units on the top two floors and a roughly 5,000 sq. ft. retail space on the ground floor; and an outdoor parking lot for the smaller building, Randolph said.
Holladay Properties is still committing six apartment units, as planned earlier, for lower-income tenants, Randolph said.
Bauer said having housing for a variety of incomes in South Bend, including lower-income, is important.
“[We] need to be able to accommodate a mix of incomes in our community for people to be able to thrive here,” Bauer said.
In late July 2023, the South Bend Common Council gave final approval for a tax abatement to waive roughly $1.5 million in property taxes over 10 years for the 5 Corners project, which applies to the apartment complex and retail space but not the condo units, Bauer said. Over that time, however, Holladay Properties will have “paid more than twice in taxes as what is being abated,” he said.
Originally appears on the South Bend Tribune Website on March 17, 2025
