Explanation
BACKGROUND: City Council passed Ordinance 1993-2019 on July 22, 2019 authorizing the Director of the Department of Development to enter into an Economic Development Agreement by and between the City of Columbus (the “City”), North Market Development Authority, Inc. (“NMDA”), and NM Developer LLC (the “Developer”), dated September 11, 2019, as modified by the letter dated August 9, 2021 from the City to the Developer (as so modified, the “EDA”), concerning the development of a 31-story, mixed-use building on the surface parking lot adjacent to the existing “North Market,” which is owned by the City and located on Franklin County Tax ID Parcel No. 010-054645 (the Nos. 010-054645, 010-307273, 010-307274, 010-307275, 010-307276 (collectively, the “Site”). The mixed-use development will include an expansion of the North Market, a new public atrium and plaza, structured parking, office, residential units, and a hotel (collectively, the “Project”). The Developer has agreed to provide 20% of the residential units as affordable workforce housing on the condition that the City provide financial assistance, which the City intends to fund using a portion of the hotel/motel/short-term rental excise taxes (“Bed Taxes”) that are generated by the hotel located within the mixed-use development (the “North Market Hotel”). Additionally, the City has committed to using the remaining Bed Taxes generated by the North Market Hotel to providing funding to NMDA for the maintenance of the North Market and the cultural enrichment it provides to the community.
This legislation will amend Chapter 371 of the Columbus City Codes regulating hotel/motel/short-term rental excise taxes to provide that the tax revenues generated from a rate of three and six-tenths percent (3.6%) of the overall five and one-tenths percent (5.1%) hotel/motel/short-term rental excise tax rate applied to the North Market Hotel will be deposited into two new City funds, the North Market Housing Fund and Nor...
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