Barnes & Thornburg has announced that it plans to move to a new five-story office building to be constructed in downtown South Bend, the first new office building construction in the business core in more than 20 years.
The full-service law firm has solidified its commitment to downtown South Bend by signing a 15-year lease for three floors in the building, which will be known as the “Barnes & Thornburg Building,” to be constructed at 201 S. Main St. Firm lawyers and staff are expected to move into the new space by the summer of 2021.
The firm will occupy 31,200 square feet and take up the second, third and fourth floors of the Barnes & Thornburg Building, which plans to feature a coffee shop and restaurant at street level. The project is being co-developed by Bald Mountain, LLC, Norris Equity Partners and Great Lakes Capital. The construction contract for the project has been awarded to Weigand Construction of South Bend. Construction will begin in spring 2019 and take 12-18 months.
A ceremonial groundbreaking took place on April 9 at the future building location. Remarks were made by South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Jeff Smoke of Great Lakes Capital and Faccenda.
Barnes & Thornburg will continue serving clients from its current location at 700 1st Source Bank Center, 100 N Michigan, until it moves into the new building.
The building’s co-developers are working with several partners to design the space, which will include fourth- and fifth-floor terraces that face the building’s west side.
Barnes & Thornburg has deep roots in South Bend. It is the product of a 1982 merger between two well-established Indiana law firms – South Bend-based Thornburg, McGill, Deahl, Harman, Carey & Murray and Indianapolis-based Barnes, Hickam, Pantzer & Boyd.