After decades of slow growth, South Bend region poised for post-Studebaker comeback

It’s seemingly taken decades for the greater South Bend area to move beyond the wounds that were left when automaker Studebaker Corp. closed in 1963, more than a century after it started as a blacksmith shop.

Just a couple of years ago, the area measured success in terms of projects that were in the tens of millions of dollars and perhaps offered a few hundred new jobs. But projects unveiled by St. Joseph County in just over the past year are now blowing through the $1 billion mark and promise to have a multi-generation effect, providing thousands of jobs for residents here and beyond.

So far, the most prominent of those projects is the $3.5 billion GM/Samsung SDI EV battery plant that's being built near New Carlisle. But officials expect more announcements soon, as the area is moving past the shadows of its past industrial might and into a new era.

But why did it take so long?

First, there was hope that another manufacturer might move in to occupy some of the Studebaker buildings that were abandoned on the south side of the city. Or, perhaps, a developer might eventually convert some space into a mixed-use project similar to how such buildings are used in more densely populated areas.

Stephen J. Luecke, who served as South Bend mayor from 1997 through 2011, remembers how the city even offered developers the millions of dollars it would have to spend on demolition as an incentive to rehabilitate a piece of the complex.

“I would have liked to repurpose them, but most of the buildings had relatively low ceilings and columns every 24 feet,” Luecke said, adding that his predecessors were faced with the same issues.

By 2008, the city was ready to announce plans to remove the largest portion of what remained of Studebaker ― an area bounded roughly by West Sample Street to the north, Prairie Avenue to the west and South Main Street on the east.

“The buildings weren’t just a blight on the physical landscape but a blight on its psychology,” Luecke said. “But it takes a lot of grunt work to turn the page.”

Namely, the city used federal dollars to help with some of the costs of buying land, tearing down buildings, cleaning up pollution and preparing the site along Sample for redevelopment as Ignition Park, a state-certified technology hub.

Rebirth: Ignition Park gaining traction in South Bend

By June 2016, the city estimated that about $40 million had been spent on the project.

But today, there are nearly 600 jobs on the site ― mostly tech related― with about an additional 50 or so acres still available for development, said South Bend Mayor James Mueller, who believes South Bend and the region is on the cusp of a massive redevelopment surge.

About the same time that Studebaker buildings were being removed, the University of Notre Dame was taking its first steps into the commercialization of its research and, hopefully, boosting the area’s entrepreneurial culture with construction of Innovation Park at the southeastern edge of campus and eventually the placement of its Turbomachinery Laboratory at Ignition Park.

And just to the north of Ignition Park, local businessman Kevin Smith came up with plans to redevelop the bulk of what remains of Studebaker with offices, schools and businesses already occupying a portion of an estimated 1.2 million square feet of space he owns, mostly along South Lafayette Boulevard on the south side of downtown.

And while South Bend has been shedding or reimaging its past, the same has been happening in Mishawaka.

The former Uniroyal complex along the St. Joseph River in downtown Mishawaka was removed by implosion in 2000 to make way for what ultimately has allowed for the development of Beutter Park, Ironworks Plaza and other projects along the river ― creating new jobs but perhaps more importantly creating hundreds of new apartments, condominiums and townhomes.

What's changed?

Besides moving on from the past and looking for ways to piggyback on Notre Dame’s efforts ― including the rapid development of the Eddy Street Commons mixed-use project ― another big step occurred around 2017.

That’s when economic development leaders realized the area wasn’t quite ready to compete for marquee projects like the $3.5 billion GM/Samsung SDI plant that already is under construction just north of Indiana 2 at Larrison Boulevard.

Rapid growth: $3.5 bllion EV battery plant underway near New Carlisle, and more could be coming

Potential site selectors wanted large tracts of preassembled land, environmental studies, utilities and the proper zoning to allow for speedy action, said Bill Schalliol, executive director of economic development for St. Joseph County.

“Speed is the new currency in development,” Schalliol said. “And the more answers we can provide, the more we can stay in the game.”

Even with some criticism, millions of dollars were spent forming the Indiana Enterprise Center between South Bend and New Carlisle and solving those issues that can cause time delays and uncertainties for potential developers.

By December 2021, GM was investigating the possibility of locating one of its four proposed EV battery plants here to go along with three others it developed with LG Energy Solution in Ohio, Michigan and Tennessee.

Though the deal with the county was ultimately approved in 2022, the project was delayed by about six months when LG reportedly got cold feet for a fourth such project and GM opted to move forward with Samsung, necessitating a new round of hearings and meetings.

In June, the EV battery project was given the greenlight and work got underway on the 680-acre site in September with completion targeted for December 2027. In the meantime, Schalliol was already in discussions that continue with a still-secretive prospect ― called Razor5 LLC ― that is interested in an 840-acre site near GM/Samsung.

That prospective business is still investigating the site, but Schalliol indicated it has the potential of equaling the investment and jobs coming here as a result of the GM/Samsung plant with other potential suppliers for GM/Samsung as well as Razor5 likely to look for spots nearby or in the region.

The kind of investment and job creation coming to St. Joseph County right now has never before been seen in its history, said Jeff Rea, president and CEO of the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce. “We’ve never seen interest like we’ve seen the past two years.”

And all of the thousands of new jobs will all pay middle class wages of roughly $50,000 and above if Razor5 opts to also locate here, Rea said. “These jobs will lift the county, the cities and spill into the entire region,” he added.

What now?

With so much interest being shown in the Indiana Enterprise Center, officials already are studying possible landing spots ― including brownfield sites ― for other types of lighter industrial development, office, research facilities and housing, among other things.

Investment is nearly ubiquitous.

German-based Verbio plans to invest $230 million in the ethanol plant on the south end of South Bend and the adjacent Pure Green Farms hydroponic business could eventually turn into a campus where leaf lettuces and other produce might be grown throughout the year.

Investment: Germany's Verbio buys South Bend ethanol plant and plans $230 million upgrade

On the eastern side of the county, AM General is investing $70 million in its complex along McKinley Highway just east of Mishawaka so that it can begin producing the military’s new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle along with the Humvee.

“It’s an exciting time for South Bend and the region,” Mueller said. “One of the principal factors on why I ran for mayor is that I felt we were on the cusp of a transformation. It took a lot of hard work by many mayors, county officials and other leaders to get to this moment.”

And while the area is succeeding in bringing in new jobs and investment, the region also has been at work actively developing amenities in its downtowns through the state’s Regional Cities Initiative and the READI program so that people want to live here.

Officials: Development coming at historic levels here and across Indiana

Mueller believes that not just South Bend ― but the entire Midwest ― is poised to get more than its fair share of projects because of federal initiatives favoring the production of EVs and reshoring of some critical industries.

Rea cited Indiana taxes and its centralized geography to major markets as other important factors for the Michiana region, but even still, development on the scale of GM/Samsung and Razor5 wouldn’t be possible without three critical ingredients.

“We have water, we have power, and now we have land that’s shovel-ready for development,” he said, adding that the already announced projects also should be able to reverse 60 years of only modest population growth in St. Joseph County while also boosting wages.

It’s taken more than a half century of effort to turn it around following the collapse of Studebaker.

“I’m not surprised by the developments,” Mueller said. “But I didn’t think it would happen so quickly. It’s an exciting time for South Bend and the region.”

Email Tribune staff writer Ed Semmler at esemmler@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend rebounding after losing automaker Studebaker 60 years ago