LIMA — The landscape of downtown Lima won’t change, but it in many ways will be reborn through the resurrection of a 90-year-old landmark that has sat empty for nearly a quarter of a century.
City officials announced Wednesday the awarding of an $800,000 tax credit over 10 years to the Woda Development Group to renovate the First National Bank and Trust Building, 43 Town Square, at a cost of $15 million. The tax credit was awarded by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and marked the first time that agency backed a historic building in Lima.
“It is the day we have long awaited,” said Amy Sackman Odum, the director of community development for the city. “It is the most significant investment in downtown Lima since the original construction of the building in 1926.”
Lima officials and Woda, along with others, have been working to achieve financial support for the project. The tax credit adds to $500,000 the city received in a federal HOME grant, she said.
The first floor or lobby will have 9,000 square feet of commercial space for business ventures, such as a restaurant or retail, Odum said, explaining they are still looking for tenants, and nothing has been formalized.
The next two floors, moving up, will be office space, and each floor the rest of the way up to the 12th will be home to 47 housing units with up to three bedrooms. Ten of the units will be available at the going rate in Lima, referred to as “market rate,” while the others will be based on income, from low to moderate, she said.
The renovation will begin in April and take just over a year. The plan is to have tenants moving in by the summer of 2018, Odum said.
Lima Mayor David Berger let Odum do most of the talking during the announcement at his weekly press conference, but it was obvious he was just as happy.
“It’s great news for the downtown,” Berger said.
The First National Bank and Trust Building has been a landmark in downtown since it was built in 1926. While it was once a thriving building, it has been empty for more than 23 years, with the doors chained shut in recent years. The building, currently the second tallest in the downtown, is owned by Town Square Center, a company formed by Michael J. O’Connor of Lima, but Woda has signed an intent to purchase agreement, Odum said.
The building is valued at $142,000, but that number will change dramatically after the project is complete. There is no word on the selling price to Woda.
The building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982.
The project will generate local construction jobs to turn an old building into a modern facility with new plumbing and electrical while maintaining the existing architecture and character, Odum said.
Woda, based in Westerville and the fourth-largest affordable home developer in the nation, will develop and maintain the project. The company has a reputation of hanging onto its properties instead of developing and selling. In its portfolio of more than 200 development projects across the country, Woda has only sold one, Odum said.
The building will link to the parking garage next door and will complement the $20 million Rhodes State College satellite campus planned for the downtown, Odum said.
While there have been other big projects in the downtown, such as the YMCA, this is a historical building in the heart of the downtown on the city’s Town Square. Increasing traffic and giving people another reason to go downtown is expected to create more reason to renovate other buildings in the downtown, she said.
Odum smiled with excitement talking about the project, which even before Woda was involved was on her to-do list for many years. The announcement Wednesday marks the end of a long process but in many ways a new beginning.
Odum said this project and the tax credit awarded shows that Lima can be in the hunt and receive funding that often goes to a major city, such as Columbus or Cleveland.
“Lima needs to expect more, and I believe we will get more through this partnership,” she said.
Lima only gets one project this year. The proposed $9.9 million senior village project on the site of the YWCA on West Market Street was not chosen. Officials planned to gear up to apply for a tax credit in the process next year, Odom said.
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