Explanation
Background: Pursuant to Ordinance No. 0785-2005, the City entered into an option contract with Columbus Urban Growth Corporation ("CUGC") to convey up to 19.49 acres of property commonly known as Gowdy Field. CUGC has been working with Gowdy Partners LLC and Time Warner Cable to redevelop this site. As part of Phase I of the redevelopment Time Warner Entertainment Company LP intends to purchase a new office building to be constructed on this site by Gowdy Partners LLC. In the future Time Warner Cable may expand its operations at the site which will require additional office space. In that event, additional acreage for parking will be required. Available unused acreage included in the option with CUGC is considered by Time Warner Cable to be too remote and insufficient for employee parking. Time Warner Cable has requested an option from the City for the purchase 2.529 acres of Gowdy Field now used by the Division of Police as a heliport. Conveyance of the 2.529 acres of the heliport site necessitates either the relocation of the heliport to a new site or discontinuation of the heliport operations. The term of the option will be four (4) years with a purchase price of $50,000 per acre. During the first three years of the option, the option may only be exercised if the City has funded relocation of the heliport to a new site. In the fourth year of the option, the option may be exercised regardless of whether the heliport has been relocated. This ordinance authorizes the Directors of Recreation and Parks, Finance and Management and Public Safety to execute the option agreement with Gowdy Partners LLC, which may be assigned to Time Warner Entertainment Company LP, for the 2.529 acres.
Fiscal Impact: Conveyance of the 2.529 acres requires relocation of the Division of Police heliport if operations are to continue. The cost of the relocation of this facility is currently unknown.
Title
To authorize the Directors of Recreation and Parks, Finance and Management and Public Safety to execute an Option Agreement with Gowdy Partners LLC for the sale of 2.529 acres of the property commonly known as Gowdy Field and to waive the provision of the Land Review Commission, Chapter 328 and the competitive bidding provisions of Chapter 329 of the Columbus City Codes.
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Columbus, pursuant to Ordinance No. 0585-2005, entered into an option agreement with Columbus Urban Growth Corporation ("CUGC") to sell up to 19.49 acres of property owned by the City, and commonly known as Gowdy Field; and
WHEREAS, CUGC receive a proposal from Gowdy Partners LLC for redevelopment of the site; and
WHEREAS, Gowdy Partners LLC will have an agreement with Time Warner Entertainment Company LP for the purchase of office buildings and parking lots to be constructed by Gowdy Partners LLC for the location of the operations of Time Warner Cable; and
WHEREAS, the agreement with Time Warner Entertainment Company LP provides for the right to expand its office space and such expansion will necessitate the need for additional land for parking; and
WHEREAS, in the opinion of Time Warner Entertainment Companty LP the available unused acreage included in the 19.49 acres is too remote and insufficient to be used for employee parking if there is an expansion; and
WHEREAS, in the event of expansion Time Warner Entertainment Company LP desires to have 2.529 acres for parking closer to its office buildings; and
WHEREAS, the only nearby acreage available to meet Time Warner Entertainment Company LP's demand is 2.529 acres of Gowdy Field currently being used as part of the Division of Police heliport; and
WHEREAS, the purchase and use of these 2.529 acres will require the City to shutdown helicopter operations at the heliport and to relocate these facilities if operations are to continue; and
WHEREAS, funds received from the sale of the property shall be used to acquire additional parkland and develop parks and trails along the Olentangy River and within the Harrison West community; and
WHEREAS, it is deemed to be in the best interest of the City to relocate the heliport and make the 2.529 acres available for redevelopment by Time Warner Cable through the proposed option contract; now therefore
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
Section 1. That the Directors of Recreation and Parks, Finance and Management and Public Safety be authorized to enter into an option contract with Gowdy Partners LLC, which may be assigned to Time Warner Entertainment Company LP, for the conveyance of up to 2.529 acres of the following described real property:
Situated in the State of Ohio, County of Franklin, City of Columbus, lying in Section 6, Township 5, Range 22, Refugee Lands, being part of the original 30.92 acre tract conveyed as First Tract (original Lot. No. 7 of William Neil's Heirs Land, of record in Plat Book 3, Page 168) to the City of Columbus by deed of record in Deed Book 700, Page 243, (all references refer to the records of the Recorder's Office, Franklin County, Ohio) being more particularly described as follows:
Beginning for Reference, at a monument box in the centerline of Third Avenue, being South 86º 24'25" East, a distance of 3.43 feet, from the centerline intersection of said Third Avenue and Olentangy River Road;
Thence North 86º 24' 25" West, a distance of 820.06 feet, with the centerline of said Third Avenue, to a point;
Thence South 11º25'16" East, a distance of 253.13 feet, partly across the right-of-way of said Third Avenue and with a line common to said original 30.92 acre tract and the 1.45 acre tract conveyed to The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company, nka CSX Transportation Inc. by deed of record in Deed Book 924, Page 338, to a 5/8 inch rebar capped "7862" found;
Thence South 11º25'16" East, a distance of 153.39 feet, with a line common to said original 30.92 and 1.45 acre tracts, to an iron pin set;
Thence across said original 30.92 acre tract, the following courses and distances:
South 86º52'56" East, a distance of 236.97 feet, to an iron pin set;
South 04º46'15" West, a distance of 175.00 feet to an iron pin set, the TRUE POINT OF BEGINNING:
South 86º52'56" East, a distance of 386.30 feet, continuing across said original 30.92 acre tract to an iron pin set in the westerly right-of-way line of said Olentangy River Road;
Thence with the westerly right-of-way line of said Olentangy River Road, the following courses and distances:
South 05º59'04" West, a distance of 237.62 feet, to a point referenced by ⅝ inch rebar found in concrete (North 0.06 feet, East 0.22 feet);
South 00º22'10" East, a distance of 49.89 feet, to an iron pin set;
Thence across said original 30.92 acre tract, the following courses and distances:
North 86º52'56" West, a distance of 385.74 feet, to an iron pin set;
North 04º46'15" East, a distance of 287.24 feet (passing at 7.63 feet, a ⅝ inch rebar capped "7863" found in concrete), to the TRUE POINT OF BEGINNING, containing 2.529 acres, more or less.
Subject, however, to all legal rights-of-way and/or easements, if any, of previous record.
Section 2. That the option agreement shall be in a form approved by the Real Estate Division of the Department of Law and shall contain the following terms and conditions:
a) The term of the option shall be for no more than four (4) years commencing on the execution of the option but in no event extending beyond June 1, 2010.
b) The purchase price for the four (4) years shall be $50,000 per acre.
c) During the first three (3) years of the option term, the option may not exercise the option unless and until City Council has approved the relocation of the current heliport, including the necessary funding, and if the heliport is relocated during the full term then Gowdy Partners LLC, or its assignee, must purchase the acreage. During the fourth year Gowdy partners LLC, or its assignee, Time Warner Entertainment Company LP, shall have the unilateral right to exercise the option regardless of the relocation of the heliport.
d) The option agreement shall provide that the conveyance shall be by quitclaim deed and "as is" without any warranties or representations by the City.
e) With the exception of an assignment to Time Warner Entertainment Company LP, the option agreement shall not be assignable except by consent of City Council.
Section 3. That Council deems it is in the best interest of the City of Columbus to neter into an option to convey the above described real property to Gowdy Partners LLC without following the provisions of the Land Review Commission and the competitive bidding provisions of Chapter 329 of the Columbus City Codes, and said provisions are hereby waived with respect to said conveyance.
Section 4. That this ordinance shall take effect and be in force from and after the earliest period allowed by law.