Work is well underway in the JMS Building, a 1910 office building in downtown South Bend that is being converted into 46 market-rate apartments and ground-floor retail space.

The work is expected to be completed in November, with the first residents moving in in December, said Kristen Sawdon, director of asset management for Great Lakes Capital, the firm that owns the building.

The building will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with large windows.

A vault leading to the sidewalk outside the JMS Building sits open, Tuesday, July 19, 2016 in South Bend. Tribune photo/BECKY MALEWITZ

Like some downtown structures, the JMS Building has a basement that extends under the public sidewalks. This week, a construction crew is using heavy equipment to remove debris from the southern section of the basement that runs along Washington Street, then is filling in that space with clean fill dirt.

Workers also are removing old furniture and construction debris in the basement area under the Main Street sidewalk. That space also will be filled with clean fill dirt.

Part of the basement has decorative tile on the floor. A circa 1910 brochure about the building in The Tribune archives shows that a six-seat barbershop and cigar store were to operate in the basement level.

The basement still has a large walk-in bank safe. The safe’s combination has been lost, but a hole was drilled in the thick concrete wall and the safe was found to be empty.

The safe will remain, although the future use of that part of the building hasn’t been decided, Sawdon said.

Construction crews and city officials were aware of the extended basement in the JMS Building. The work at the building won’t cause any delays for the city’s Smart Streets downtown road improvement project.

But a bit farther north and on the other side of Main Street, street construction crews were surprised recently to discover an unexpected vault under the sidewalk outside the Madison Oyster Bar. Filling in that vault will take extra time, putting Smart Streets work about two weeks behind schedule, as reported in Sunday’s Tribune.

Meanwhile, at the JMS Building, the upper floors have been gutted and dry wall is being installed to create the individual apartment units.

The renovation is a $7.6 million project.

The eight-story JMS Building, with a white terra cotta exterior, was built in 1909 and 1910. At its opening, it was the city’s tallest building.

It was designed by Chicago architect Solon Beman, who also designed the Studebaker Administration Building in South Bend and the company town of Pullman near Chicago.

The JMS Building is named after its original developer, John Mohler Studebaker, one of the five brothers who established the Studebaker Corp. wagon company that later produced automobiles.

Source: South Bend Tribune