Explanation
BACKGROUND
This legislation authorizes the Director of the Department of Development to enter into an Economic Development Agreement (the “EDA”) with WESTBEND QOZB, LLC (hereinafter the “Developer”) to outline the plans and certain commitments of the Developer and the City as it relates to the WestBend development.
The Developer is proposing to invest approximately $110 million to construct a mixed-use development on the site of the former Buckeye Auto Parts property on McKinley Avenue currently identified as Franklin County Auditor tax parcel ID numbers 010-146234-00, 010-146253-00, 010-200913-00, 010-146278-00, 010-104705-00, 010-200912-00, and 010-104706-00 (the "Site").
The Developer will perform environmental remediation on the Site and construct approximately 750 apartment units, 20,000 square feet of office space that will include 10,000 square feet of music industry based incubator space (in conjunction with the Columbus Music Commission) or business incubator space with a focus on minority-owned, woman-owned and veteran-owned businesses in the first phase and 10,000 square feet available to the general market in the second phase, 8,000 square feet of retail space and , and a 12 to 17 acre park with a lagoon, dog park, public kayak launch and trails/bikepaths that will be conveyed to the City (the “Project). The Developer shall reserve at least 10% of the apartment units for lease to households classified at or below 60% Area Median Income (“AMI”), and an additional 10% for lease to households classified at or below 80% Area Median Income (“AMI”), or, alternatively, 30% of the apartment units may be leased to occupants classified at or below 80% Area Median Income (“AMI”) for a period of not less than 15 years.
In support of the Project, the Department of Development will submit for City Council consideration, subsequent legislation that will: 1) establish a non-school Tax Increment Financing (TIF) area and 2) either expand the Marble Clif...
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