The University of Notre Dame has been awarded $30 million in support of a planned tech and talent district encompassing the former South Bend Tribune building in downtown South Bend, representing a matching grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its College and Community Collaboration initiative.

The Downtown South Bend (DTSB) Tech and Talent Hub will include renovated research and innovation space centered in the historic former South Bend Tribune building on the northwest side of downtown, about two miles south of campus.

“The DTSB Tech and Talent Hub will not only enhance Notre Dame’s research capabilities, but also drive significant economic growth and community development in downtown South Bend,” University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., said. “This project exemplifies our commitment to integrating research and innovation with impactful community engagement, fostering both local and regional advancement. We are grateful to Lilly Endowment Inc. for its generous support.”

The project, informed by the experience of communities like Durham and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, envisions Notre Dame collaborating with industry to advance applied research in areas such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, and advanced computing.

The hub will offer community-facing programming in an adjacent, accessible venue through a partnership with South Bend City Church, as well as leadership and ethics training in collaboration with Holy Cross College. It will also offer drop-in services to local entrepreneurs as part of expanded University programming.

The College and Community Collaboration (CCC) initiative, a competitive Lilly Endowment program established in 2023, provides planning and implementation grants to colleges and universities, both public and private, in support of community development projects that enhance quality of life and place in their respective communities.

Notre Dame is one of 13 higher education institutions in Indiana receiving funding through the latest round of implementation grants through CCC.

“While varied in scope and reach, the proposed initiatives and projects reflect a commitment by stakeholders, inclusive of faculty, staff and students from these institutions, business leaders, government officials, and community leaders, to create vibrant communities where all residents can thrive,” said Jennett M. Hill, president of Lilly Endowment. “The Endowment looks forward to seeing all the projects in the CCC initiative evolve. We are enthusiastic about the prospects for both the institutions and communities and are eager to see these institutions and their community stakeholders collaborate to breathe life into their promising projects.”

“The sense of momentum in our community is fueled by a step-change in cross-sector collaborations at the local and state level,” said Shannon Cullinan, Notre Dame’s executive vice president. “We hope that this purposeful reinvention of a historic venue in downtown South Bend will further enhance the region’s bright future.”

The DTSB Tech and Talent Hub represents a major strategic investment in South Bend’s urban core, which is poised for as much as $1 billion in new public and private investment over the next several years, led by a variety of mixed-use apartment projects, a new medical tower and new performing arts space.

The city of South Bend recently launched a downtown planning process, Downtown 2045, in an attempt to harness that momentum, with the aim of leveraging stakeholder input to establish a vision for the future of downtown and outline concrete steps to get there.

Consistent with that process, the DTSB Tech and Talent Hub seeks to promote a revitalized and recharged urban core — while at the same time advancing Notre Dame’s strategic framework, which, among other things, calls for further collaborations to promote the economic and social well-being of the South Bend-Elkhart region.

“This transformational investment in the heart of South Bend will turbocharge our downtown and our regional economy,” South Bend Mayor James Mueller said. “I am grateful to our partners at the University of Notre Dame and Lilly Endowment for their commitment to a brighter future for our community.”

Notre Dame acquired the three-story former Tribune building — excluding the adjacent press building, which is owned by South Bend City Church — from Schurz Communications in October. The building has been vacant since 2019, when the newspaper, previously owned by Schurz, relocated elsewhere downtown.

Contact: Erin Blasko, associate director of media relations, 574-631-4127, eblasko@nd.edu

Originally published by Erin Blasko at news.nd.edu on August 05, 2024.