By Jenna Lawson, Springfield News-Sun Staff Writer
The last bit of needed funding has been secured to push forward the ‘Legacy Place’ senior housing project in Urbana. Sourcing all of the funding has been a tedious multi-year task undertaken by several different parties — but soon residents will start to see the fruits of labor. “This is going to be a reality,” said Champaign Economic Development Director Marcia Bailey. “It’s not just sketches on a piece of paper. It’s going to be a reality.” In August, the developers of the project — Flaherty & Collins Properties — applied for a grant through the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati with the help of community partners.
“It’s exciting that another piece of the puzzle has been approved for funding,” said Champaign Economic Partnership Executive Director Marcia Bailey. “Nothing is finalized yet, and we’re not quite ready to sign for the property, but the city, Urbana City Schools and the CEP have done everything we can on our end and now we’re continuing to work with Flaherty & Collins to get this project to the final stages.” According to ODSA, Legacy Place is only the second project to be awarded in Urbana. The awards are planned to assist private developers in rehabilitating historic buildings in downtowns and neighborhoods that, once rehabilitated, drive further investment and interest in adjacent property. “The historic preservation tax credit is another way we’re investing in our communities,” said Gov. Mike DeWine in a news release. “These investments can spur development in a neighborhood or downtown.” “Partnering with communities and developers across Ohio, we’re preserving historic sites that make Ohio unique,” said Lydia Mihalik, director of ODSA. “We’re creating new opportunities for small businesses and housing.” The Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit program is administered in partnership with the Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation Office. The state Historic Preservation Office determines if a property qualifies as a historic building and if the rehabilitation plans comply with the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. Legacy Place Bailey said that in addition to providing a built-in customer base for downtown business owners, the project will be an example for the Moving Downtown Forward committee to inform developers how to move projects ahead in downtown Urbana. According to information from the ODSA, the Douglas Inn was constructed about 1870 in the Second Empire style with a mansard roof. The structure has been vacant since 2004. When ready to complete the sale of property, Flaherty & Collins will work directly with private owner John Doss to acquire the Douglas Inn. “Just seeing the Douglas get put back into use again is a very positive thing for the community,” said Community Development Manager Doug Crabill. “Seeing those school buildings be reused rather than being torn down and vacant lots gives us a good feeling, because at least we know there is a plan for re-purposing those buildings.” “It’s something we’re used to doing and we feel like there’s usually an extra need for senior housing in communities, and in communities like Urbana there’s a need to help older (buildings) continue their life,” said Julie Collier, vice president of Development for Flaherty & Collins Properties. “It’s two-fold for us because we’ll help save some important buildings in … Urbana, and we’ll also fulfill a housing need for local residents.” The two schools, built in 1901 and 1921, served the city’s children until they became vacant in 2018. Bailey said the Ohio Revised Code allows the school district to dis-invest of the two properties no longer needed by the school district. Rather than demolish the buildings, the plan is for them to be purchased by the city for $1 each under an alreadysigned purchase agreement. Then the CEP will act on behalf of the city to sell the buildings to Flaherty and Collins. “The city council agreed to do all of this,” said Bailey. “We had the city schools that were willing because they didn’t want to see the buildings (demolished) either, and it’s a cost savings for taxpayers not to have to pay for the demolition. But the city council agreed that they will take on the buildings … That was an important component, because if the city had not agreed to do that we wouldn’t be where we’re at right now.” On March 19, the Urbana City Council unanimously passed a resolution of support for the developers of Legacy Place to apply to the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program. Flaherty & Collins also obtained tax credits through the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.
Insurance premiums may be lowered in Urbana for local businesses
Going into January, the fire division’s classification was a four within the city and a nine for areas covered by the division and outside the city limits. The PPC rating system grades fire departments from 1 to 10. Class 1 represents an exemplary fire suppression program and Class 10 indicates that the area’s fire suppression program does not meet ISO’s minimum criteria. The four main components of the PCC rating system are fire flows, emergency communications, water supply and fire department capabilities. Prior to this year, it was difficult for areas without hydrants to receive below a nine since water supply accounts for 40% of the overall grade.
On April 22, ISO released the results from the survey completed by the division in January. The fire division received a Class 3 rating within the city and a Class 3X rating outside the city. The “X” after the three is a new classification that ISO believes has a better predictive value for insurers in evaluating both commercial and residential property. Urbana Fire Chief Dean Ortlieb said he believes that since both classifications are lower there is a likelihood that commercial and residential properties will have lower insurance premiums in the coming years. Ortlieb credited Mayor Bill Bean, Director of Administration Kerry Brugger and city council for supporting the fire division and creating a road map to success. He said former Fire Chief Mark Keller and his staff deserve all the credit for putting systems in place and recording the data based off the previous PPC report. He also credited Water Superintendent Joe Sampson and his staff in working with ISO personnel. “When I came to Urbana, I was impressed with the working relationship with the fire division and water department,” Ortlieb said. “This relationship has directly helped our community in fighting fires and saving lives. It now might also have the benefit of having lower insurance premiums for our community. “When we started this process in January we broke down each part of the scoring system and made sure we had the data to support it,” he said. “I was pleased when we received the results, but not completely satisfied. I think we can do better. Although the fire division received high scores in five of the nine rating categories, we lost several points in the other categories by not having enough personnel for proper deployment and manning of equipment. If we can increase these numbers it is possible to even go lower in the classification ranking. We are still digesting all the numbers and developing processes within our control to improve on our next score. It is my hope that in time that we might even be able to make some changes to improve on the deployment and manning of equipment.” |
