City of Columbus - File #: 2895-2026

• File #: 2895-2026
• Version: 1
• Type: Ordinance
• Status: Consent
• File created: 10/9/2026
• In control: Economic Development & Small and Minority Business Committee
• On agenda: 10/26/2026
• Title: To create the WestBend TIF encompassing property at the southwest, southeast, and northeast, corners of the intersection of Fisher Road and McKinley Avenue and between the New York Central Railroad to the west and the Scioto River to the east; to declare improvements to those parcel(s) to be a public purpose and exempt from real property taxation; to require the owner(s) of those parcel(s) to make service payments in lieu of taxes; to require the distribution of the applicable portion of those service payments to the Columbus City Schools; to establish a municipal public improvement tax increment equivalent fund for the deposit of the remainder of those non-school service payments; and to declare an emergency. ($0.00)

Explanation

Background: WESTBEND QOZB, LLC (the “Developer”), an affiliate of Thrive Companies LLC, and the City entered into the Economic Development Agreement dated April 19, 2024, as amended by the First Amendment to Economic Development Agreement dated August 19, 2026 (together, the “EDA”), pursuant to Ordinance No. 1866-2023 passed by City Council on July 31, 2023 and Ordinance No. 1511-2026 passed by City Council on June 22, 2026. The EDA provides for the mutual commitments and obligations made towards the former Buckeye Auto Parts brownfield site consisting of approximately 50.28 acres of the real property at the southwest, southeast, and northeast, corners of the intersection of Fisher Road and McKinley Avenue and between the New York Central Railroad to the west and the Scioto River to the east (the “Site”). The Developer intends to privately invest nearly $200 million to develop in multiple phases approximately 895 apartment units (including affordable housing units), up to 8,000 square feet of retail, off-street surface parking, and appropriate associated amenities. The City committed in the EDA to form a tax increment financing area pursuant to R.C. Section 5709.40(B) over the Site (the “WestBend TIF”) to pay for, offset the costs, or reimburse the costs of certain public infrastructure improvements described in the EDA financed by bonds or obligations issued by the Columbus-Franklin County Finance Authority, another port authority, and/or a new community authority established on the Site.

This Ordinance establishes the WestBend TIF under Ohio Revised Code Section 5709.40(B). The WestBend TIF provides for a one hundred percent (100%) exemption from real property taxation on improvements to the parcels within the WestBend TIF for a not more than a thirty-year period for all parcels in each of three separate phases (or any other phases designated by ordinance) within the WestBend TIF. Columbus City Schools will receive, in the same manner as usual, all...