A Granger-based business has an uncertain future after City of South Bend officials argue Bare Hands Brewery failed to satisfy all of the terms of its development agreement. On May 10, the South Bend Redevelopment Commission approved a resolution allowing the city to seek legal action in order to recover the title Bare Hands Brewery had for property on Wayne Street,

In August 2016, the brewery entered into a purchase agreement with the City, agreeing to buy the former Gates Toyota building located two blocks north of the baseball park. Finalized in February 2017, the agreement specified Bare Hands Brewery had six months after the closing date of the property to obtain proper zoning and land use approvals -- or negotiate with the redevelopment department to transfer the title to the city.

The May 10 resolution states the brewery failed to prove it obtained the zoning and land use approvals after receiving three letters between November 2017 and April 2018. Additionally, the city says it gave several informal notices.

Mark Bode, spokesman for the City of South Bend, issued a statement, saying: "After numerous attempts to work with the developer, the City is pursuing legal action to enforce the terms of the agreement. We cannot comment further due to pending litigation."

Chris Gerard, the owner of Bare Hands Brewery provided the following statement to NewsCenter 16: "Really it’s pretty plain as Day. They had another buyer come along that wanted the property. They searched the contract and found a loophole with the 6 month building permit clause that I originally asked them to remove before signing. They assured me that the clause was necessary but, that we had nothing to worry about. Notice we put a sign up for the 2018 opening in early 2017. The target opening of late may early June for BH was communicated from the start to the city. It takes that long to open a brewery in Indiana. I never received a notice about the violation of that clause until 5-4 months after that 6 month deadline (which was never mentioned since I had reviewed it before signing). The city actually gave us permits to hold an event there shortly after that six month timeline. They also sent me a tax bill for the property in Feb of this year (after the cease and desist in Nov). Which we gladly paid even though the taxes were 5 years in the rears when I took ownership of the property over in 2017. It’s a little suspicious that it took them that long after the 6 month deadline to notify me. Also, that the first communication was a Certified letter stating that we stop construction immediately no attempt to discuss what was happening. There has been no cooperation by the city in my attempts to negotiate. It’s simple on their end, Get out now because we have someone that is going to pay a lot of money for that property. 'We can’t tell you who the buyer is yet but when it’s finished we promise, you’re really going to love it.'"