Explanation
BACKGROUND: Columbus City Council (“Council”), by Ordinance No. 2511-2020, passed November 23, 2020, authorized the City of Columbus (“City”) to enter into an Enterprise Zone Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Marble Cliff Canyon, LLC ( the “Enterprise”, and also referred to as “MCC”), for a real property tax abatement of seventy-five percent (75%) for a period of ten (10) consecutive years in consideration of a proposed capital investment of approximately $9,200,000.00 in real property improvements, the creation of five (5) net new full-time permanent positions with an associated annual payroll of approximately $175,000.00, and the retention or relocation of an unknown number of positions from within the City of Columbus or surrounding communities, related to the construction of a new 3-story speculative commercial office structure consisting of approximately 43,000 square feet on roughly 70 +/- acres of undeveloped land (the “Project”) located at 2130 Quarry Trails, Columbus, Ohio 43204 (the “Project Site”), parcel number 560-298029 (the “Original Parcel”). The Agreement was made and entered into effective August 12, 2021 (Agreement No. 023-21-19) with the Project expected to begin in the fall of 2020, with all real property improvements expected to be completed by December 2021, and with the abatement to commence no later than 2022 nor extend beyond 2031.
Paragraph fourteen within Section 6 (Program Compliance) of the Agreement states that the “Agreement is not transferable or assignable without the express, written, approval of the City” and paragraph fifteen of that same section states that “any requested amendment…to any of the terms of the Agreement…shall require the payment to the City by the Enterprise of an Amendment Fee in the amount of five-hundred dollars ($500.00).”
In a letter received by the City on behalf of the Enterprise dated January 6, 2022 and through ensuing correspondence, it was confirmed that the office building transitioned...
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