NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio -- City Council is expected to soon approve a Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) agreement with Fieldstone Developers, Inc. regarding the construction of a 100,000-square-foot warehouse/office facility at 31330 Industrial Parkway.
“There are a lot of unique circumstances that drove the decision-making on this project,” North Olmsted Director of Economic and Community Development Max Upton said. “The first of which is the fact this land was owned by the city of North Olmsted for more than 20 years and not producing any revenue whatsoever.
“There’s a commitment to create 100 jobs that pay at least $15 an hour or higher and a new payroll in excess of $2 million. It’s a significant investment.”
The family-owned Fieldstone Developers, Inc. already has two fully-occupied buildings, which combined have 77,000-square-feet of space, located at 31351 Industrial Parkway.
“The city got real comfortable real quickly with this particular project, the owners and the incentive package that was put forward,” Upton said.
If approved, Fieldstone Developers will receive 100 percent property tax abatement for 10 years followed by 75 percent for five years.
Upton said analysis of the deal indicated the city is going to benefit tremendously from the project. While the CRA will cost the city $71,367 in property taxes over the life of the deal, North Olmsted expects estimated income taxes generated during that same period to be $792,000.
“What we’re seeing in the market right now is it’s tough,” Upton said. “Costs are up on everything. Prices are through the roof. Also, interest rates have been raised, so the cost of money is going up.
“In order to make this project happen in a way which it doesn’t jeopardize long-term viability, a tax abatement made the most sense.”
In addition, the city, which has owned the land since 1999, sold the two properties -- roughly seven acres -- for $438,000.
Due to the current valuation of the property, North Olmsted will receive $23,392 of property taxes over the next 15 years. What the city is giving up during that time are property taxes tied to the increased value of the land.
The same goes for the North Olmsted City Schools, which will be receiving $240,206 in property taxes related to the current valuation while giving up $314,624 tied to the increased value of the land.
“Bearing in mind that the property for the last two decades has been tax-exempt,” Upton said.
“However, that being said, the schools will receive new property tax revenue over that same period of time because of the city selling the property to a private developer and putting the parcels back on the tax duplicate.”
North Olmsted Mayor Nicole Dailey Jones is in favor of the Fieldstone CRA agreement.
Jones said, “It speaks to future economic opportunities.”
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