Marysville officials are learning about a second phase of the Woodside Development proposed for Columbus Avenue. The first phase, the Wilcox section, is already under construction near Benny’s Pizza. The proposed second phase is highlighted. City officials said roads through the project will connect to Professional Parkway, which developers are being required to complete.
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While work is underway for the first phase of a development on Columbus Avenue, Marysville officials are hearing plans for a second phase.
Last week, the city’s Design Review Board heard a presentation about the Maryway Apartments, a 252-unit complex to sit on 20 acres on Columbus Avenue. Earlier this month City Council heard a similar presentation.
The Maryway Apartments represent the second phase for potentially five-phase Woodside development. The development sits on an almost 107-acre tract at the intersection of Dunham Street and Columbus Avenue, in the area of Benny’s Pizza.
The first phase, known as the Wilcox section, is already under construction. That phase is set to have 114 single-story apartments, geared at empty nesters. A second phase of the Wilcox section with identical apartments is also planned and while City Engineer Jeremy Hoyt said there is no set timetable, he expects it would be at least 24 months before they begin. Developers have said they are committed to restoring or preserving the Coleman Homestead north of Wilcox section.
Hoyt said he believes the Maryway apartments will be approved quickly and construction could start as early as the beginning of 2020. The engineer said the property developers have “been working together so a lot of this is already in the process and there is a lot of shared infrastructure costs.”
Plans for the Maryway Apartments call for 252 apartments in eight, three story buildings. Plans also call for a clubhouse and pool to front on Columbus Avenue.
The Maryway Apartments will have what developers are calling “an urban look and an urban feel.”
Developers have said the units will be “geared more toward millennials,” noting that rent numbers have not been finalized but they are looking to start around $900 for a one-bedroom unit. Skip Weiler of the Robert Weiler Company which is helping to develop the project, said millennials are not being served in the current Marysville market.
“You have no options for them now,” he told council.
Part of the draw for millennials, Weiler said, is the idea that they will be able to walk to the Uptown, the hospital or Coleman’s Crossing.
It is revenue from the development that will provide the walkability.
As part of the agreement with the city, the Woodside development will be responsible for extending Professional Parkway from Columbus Avenue to Chestnut Street. City Finance Director Justin Nahvi said that extension could cost about $10 million.
Hoyt explained that another potential development would be responsible for connecting Professional Parkway on Chestnut Street with Professional Parkway at Walnut Street.
Nahvi said the city is looking to put a Tax Increment Finance (TIF) designation on the project, though it would be applied for each of the phases individually. Nahvi said he expects the TIFs to generate about $12 million to be applied to infrastructure in the area. Nahvi said the TIF would be used to install curbs, trees, sidewalks, lighting, paths, storm sewers and other amenities on Columbus Avenue, from the five-points area to Coleman’s Crossing. Additionally, money from the TIF will be used to make street improvements at the five-points intersection. Public Service Director Mike Andrako stressed those improvements will not include a roundabout.
He said developers of the Maryway Apartments are seeking a 10-year, 75% TIF.
City manager Terry Emery said the TIFs are, “an excellent way to fund all the improvements that are necessary.”
Council members asked how the TIF would impact the school district, since it would take a portion of money that could go to the schools and redirect it to the infrastructure projects.
“They are going to get 25% of the improved value,” Nahvi said. “They are going to benefit from this.”
He said that in 10 years, the school district will get the full 100% of the improved value.
When initially proposed, Planning Commission members asked the developer to keep areas like the Easton Town Center in Columbus in mind, noting they wanted a project that felt like its own neighborhood.