City Council heard a first reading for creation of the North Main Corridor Community Reinvestment Area (CRA). The CRA encompasses the area for a proposed multi-use retail, office and residential development. The CRA would allow city officials to abate the property tax for development in the area.
(Photo submitted)
—
Marysville City Council took the first step to abate the property tax on a proposed $100 million investment in the city’s Uptown.
At its meeting Monday, council heard the first reading of proposed Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) for the north end of Marysville’s Uptown.
Union County Economic Development Director Eric Phillips said CRAs are created to spur investment and reinvestment in areas of a community “where development has been discouraged.” The CRA allows property owners to apply for property tax abatements.
Phillips said that CRAs and the tax abatements serve a public purpose to “encourage economic stability, maintain real property values, generate new employment opportunities.”
Area included in the proposed North Main Corridor CRA is already part of the existing Historic Uptown CRA. That Historic Uptown CRA was created in 1984 and provides an avenue for the city to abate the property tax on commercial and industrial properties as well as residential property as long as it has two or less homes. The city’s housing officer, currently the city manager, can approve abatements in the Historic Uptown CRA without the approval of city council.
If approved, the new CRA will allow abatements for office and industrial properties. It could also provide a tax exemption for residential structures with 2 or more units.
“This will allow us to abate multi-family in this area and gives us that flexibility,” Phillips explained to council.
Abatements in the new CRA could not be granted by the city manager, but would need council approval.
City council member J.R. Rausch called that “a better situation because council would then be the one approving any tax abatement.”
Officials said the new CRA primarily covers the proposed Silos at Marysville development. Phillips said the proposed CRA also includes properties that Connect has identified for possible future development.
“This is a project focused CRA because we have special things we are doing in it with the multi-family, the mixed-use type of set up with commercial and some office as well,” Phillips said.
Connect Real Estate is planning to develop The Silos at Marysville project on 16.6 acres around the city’s former water treatment plant, the Heritage silo site and several other commercial properties. The development is expected to cost about $100 million to build.
The development is set to include several multi-family buildings with 250 to 300 apartments, a fitness center; corporate housing; a co-working area; a 12,000-square foot office and hospitality space in the former water treatment plant; public parking; a community arts area; a 26,000-square foot mixed-use building with a restaurant, event space, bar-arcade and outdoor gathering areas; and 112,000 square feet of “inviting hospitality venues, outdoor gathering spaces and a versatile event destination” on the former Heritage Grain Silos site. The project is also slated to have a multi-use trail and a pedestrian bridge that connects to other city trails.
At Monday’s meeting, officials stressed that the legislation does not actually create or approve any abatements or agreements for the project. All the legislation does is create the CRA area, paving the way for potential tax abatement agreements.
“It is important to note that this is just a designation of an area. You are not approving a tax abatement tonight,” Phillips said. “You have to designate the area, then you come back with the agreement. That’s where we would discuss specifics about the agreement and talk about that.”
The economic development director said that CRA agreement has not yet been finalized but could include a tax increment finance agreement, payment in lieu of taxes agreement between the developer and the school district and service payment agreement between the city and the school district. He said that agreement for the development will hopefully be presented at the March 25 council meeting.
At Monday’s meeting, city council waived the third reading of the CRA creation at Phillips’ request. He said he was asking council to expedite the public process because it takes at least 14 days for state officials to certify the CRA creation.
Phillips said that by waiving the third reading, the CRA could be officially created at the March 25 meeting following a public hearing and second reading.