South Bend firm to expand, add jobs downtown

Feb. 17--SOUTH BEND -- A local company with ties to the insurance industry plans to expand in downtown South Bend and add as many as 25 new jobs over the next five years.

Xanatek will relocate from the Key Bank Building to the Jones Petrie Rafinski building at 402 S. Lafayette Blvd., across from Four Winds Field.

As part of the move, the company will purchase the city-owned parking lot north of the JPR building for $20,000 and spend $120,000 to improve the lot.

The company also will invest $225,000 into the JPR building over 18 months.

The project will preserve 24 jobs with an average salary of $53,000 and create 15 to 25 new jobs over the next five years.

The Redevelopment Commission will consider the sale of the lot to Xanatek on Monday.

Valued at $82,500, the lot, formerly belonging to Gates Chevy World, went through the disposition process in 2013 but attracted no bids.

The city will have first right of refusal should the property become available in the future.

"It's great to see this type of activity downtown," Scott Ford, executive director of Community Investment for the city, said Wednesday.

He added, "That intersection of Lafayette and Western is going to be very dynamic with the continued development around Four Winds Field as well as some other opportunities."

In addition to the Xanatek project, South Bend Cubs owner Andrew Berlin plans to develop a mixed-use project on land adjacent to Four Winds Field.

And the current Veterans Administration site is expected to become available for redevelopment when the VA moves its clinic to Mishawaka in 2018.

Specializing in insurance management solutions, Xanatek was forced from the Chase Tower last year to accommodate a $30-million hotel-condo project.

The company has operated out of the Key Bank Building, 202 S. Michigan St., ever since.

A representative declined to comment on the move Wednesday until it is finalized.

What the move means for the future of Jones Petrie Rafinski, meanwhile, is not clear.

David Rafinski, executive vice president in charge of the firm's South Bend office, could not be reached for comment this morning.

___

(c)2016 the South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Ind.)

Visit the South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Ind.) at www.southbendtribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.