Explanation
BACKGROUND: Columbus City Council by Ordinance 0443-2010, passed April 5, 2010, authorized the Director of Development (City) to enter into an Enterprise Zone Agreement (Agreement) with Wood Real Estate, LLC and Wood Operating Company, LLC (together identified as Enterprise) for a tax abatement of seventy-five percent (75%) for a period of ten (10) years in consideration of a $4.2 million investment in real property improvements, the retention of twelve (12) full-time employees with an annual payroll of $551,000 and the creation of three (3) full-time permanent positions with an annual payroll of approximately $111,300 related to the renovation of a 1-story commercial building into a 4-story mixed use property comprising of 45,700 square feet of office and residential space on parcel number 010-077892, located at 937-951 N. High Street in Columbus Ohio and within the City of Columbus Enterprise Zone. The Agreement was made and entered into effective June 3, 2010 (EZA #023-10-03). The Agreement stated that construction on the improvements was expected to begin in June 2010 with these improvements expected to be completed by December 31, 2011 and that no real property exemption was to commence after 2013 nor extend beyond 2022.
In a letter to the City from The Wood Companies dated December 4, 2013, it was indicated that property upon which the improvements have been made is undergoing a refinance process with part of this process being the transfer of property ownership from Wood Real Estate, LLC to a new special purpose entity, Wood Co. Building, LLC, a company wholly owned by Wood Real Estate, LLC. The letter requested that Wood Real Estate, LLC be replaced by Wood Co. Building, LLC as Enterprise and party to the Agreement. The letter also indicated that the development took longer than expected to complete and requested that the Agreement be modified to allow the 10-year abatement period to cover the period of 2014 through 2023 instead of 2013 throu...
Click here for full text