A proposed five-story office building in downtown South Bend is making progress in the planning phase.

The developer hopes to bring a first-class office building to downtown South Bend, to the tune of $9 million.

An Elkhart entrepreneur has already expressed interest in occupying the top floor, and there would be retail space on the ground floor. There hasn’t been any new construction in that area for over 20 years. The proposed site, at Main and Jefferson, has been vacant since the year 2000, and the downtown corridor is at about 98 percent capacity according to the developer.

A hearing on the project is scheduled for Dec. 11 to get public input.