A proposed Delaware industrial site is getting tax incentives from the city and two others will be decided Sept. 28.
Delaware City Council considered three ordinances for tax incentives for development Sept. 14, approving one of them and pushing two others to its next meeting.
Council approved a 15-year, 75% tax abatement on a new 100,000-square-foot speculative commercial/industrial building near the municipal airport.
The building at 119 Innovation Court is anticipated to begin construction soon and finish by December 2028, according to city documents. That project cost from Sawmill Delaware Investments LLC is anticipated to total $12.25 million, between the cost of the land, construction, tenant improvements and other costs.
A representative
for Fed One Dublin is listed as the project lead for the incentive application from Sawmill Delaware Investments LLC.
Logan Brunney, the city's economic development project manager, told city council that there is high demand for industrial space in the city. Over 1.6 million square feet of industrial space has been constructed over the past few years and less than 2% of that is currently available.
Under the agreement, which council unanimously approved, 75% of the property value increase after site development will be exempt for 15 years.
The city previously approved another community reinvestment area agreement for a similar property at 115 Innovation Court in 2025, according to the plan documents.
Two other projects will come up at next meeting
The council will consider two additional tax incentive agreements at its Sept. 28 meeting. The incentives would help move an existing Delaware business to a new location and redevelop its current home into an industrial site.
One proposal would give a 100%, 10-year abatement to relocate Snappy’s Automotive, 320 London Road in Delaware, to a new facility on Belle Avenue and Liberty Road. Economic Development Director Nic Langford told city council that is effectively a 65% abatement because the property would still be making payments to local schools.
The second would provide Hewald Properties a 100%, 15-year abatement to build a new 39,000-square-foot industrial building at the Snappy's site. This would also include payments of about $15,000 annually to local schools while the abatement is in effect.
Langford noted that while the project is not bringing many new jobs in the city, industrial space is running out and moving can be expensive.
“They’re a homegrown business and it’s kind of the success story that we want to see,” Langford said.
Some city council members expressed skepticism about the abatements and held up a vote to suspend council rules for approval at the Sept. 14 meeting. Council instead will vote on the abatements at its next meeting.
Anna Lynn Winfrey is a reporter for the Columbus Dispatch. She can be reached at awinfrey@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Delaware City Council approves tax break for new industrial site
