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YOUNGSTOWN - A company building a $36 million, 120-unit affordable housing apartment complex at the site of the former Woodside Receiving Hospital wants a 100%, 15-year tax abatement for the project.
Stephanie Gilchrist, the city's economic development director, said at Monday's council Community Planning and Economic Development Committee meeting that Homestead Crossing Apartments seeks the tax break.
Any abatement request of more than 75% first needs the approval of the Youngstown school board. Gilchrist said the request will then be in front of city council at its next meeting, Nov. 17.
"We are going through the application process right now, working with our legal team, to make sure we do that properly," Gilchrist said.
In order to receive a Community Reinvestment Area grant, a company must have the application process done prior to the start of construction, Gilchrist said.
Gilchrist said she didn't know how much money Homestead would save with the proposed tax abatement.
Ground was broken Friday on the project, but the actual construction work won't start until February, Gilchrist said.
She added, "We're already in conversation with the city schools to get their approval and to work out some things with them. So far, everyone's in agreement, ready to move forward."
Wallick Development LLC of New Albany received approval from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency for the issuance of up to $21.5 million in Multifamily Housing Revenue Bonds, a $10 million Ohio Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and a $2.5 million Housing Development Loan with the rest of the money coming from banks for the project.
The company is having Wallick Construction LLC, an affiliated company, construct five three-story walkup buildings with 120 total units ---- 30 one-bedroom apartments, 72 two-bedroom apartments and 18 three-bedroom apartments. The site will include 160 parking spots, a playground, and community area with a kitchenette, exercise room, central laundry facilities, sitting area and a covered community patio.
The rentals would be income-restricted to households earning up to 60% of the Area Median Income. Youngstown's median income is about $35,000.
Construction would take 23 months to complete.
The project is being built at 800 E. Indianola Avenue on the city's South Side.
It was the site of the former Woodside Receiving Hospital, which opened in the early 1940s and closed in 1996 as a state-run psychiatric hospital because of the state's reduced funding for such facilities. It then became Lincoln Behavioral Center, a privately owned residential facility for counseling of those between the ages of 8 and 20 sent there by juvenile justice courts and children services. Lincoln closed in 2008.
After that, the structure deteriorated, becoming an eyesore, and it was demolished in late 2014.
SPARKLE MARKET
CPED Director DeMaine Kitchen said he recently heard from Vince Furie Jr., one of the owners of the Sparkle Market in Cornersburg, about revisiting a request for the city to provide a $350,000 grant to keep the struggling supermarket opened.
Council voted 3-3 on Sept. 18 on the request, which meant it was rejected.
Councilwoman Cynthia McWilson, D-6th Ward, said she told Furie that he needed to go back to the administration to make another request, but told him, "I didn't see really a reason why and I didn't see it making a difference if they came back to the table."
Kitchen said: "As far as I'm concerned, it's dead."
McWilson responded, "Right, that's why I didn't understand why he was calling."
Councilman Pat Kelly, D-5th Ward, who backed the bailout, said Furie contended he reached out to council members and was told all were in support.
Kelly said: "I did my due diligence. I'm going to call the council members and all of a sudden, the council members are all no, no, no. So it's just one big story after story."
CARPENTERS UNION
Council heard Monday from officials with the Central Midwest Carpenters Union requesting the city pass laws similar to ones in Toledo and Stow to make sure contractors working in the city use local labor.
The union officials said the proposal would cover general contractors and subcontractors in the city, require a city tax account and tax-compliance certification before work begins, require the general contractor to identify subcontractors and update the list as the project changes, require applicable payroll and withholding reporting to the city, create a clear compliant and investigation process for misclassification and off-book payroll, and authorize proportionate enforcement. The latter would include suspension for material noncompliance with notice, cure provisions and an appeal process.
The union leaders said they are concerned about a project in the city's downtown being done with out-of-state labor.