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Cobblestone Hotel & Suites - Urbana Now Open!

6/12/2020

 
The new Cobblestone Hotel & Suites in Urbana officially welcomed its first guests on Friday, June 12th!
Reservations are now available online at https://www.staycobblestone.com/oh/urbana/

New Cobblestone Hotel on Schedule, on Budget

1/1/2020

 
Cobblestone Hotel Urbana construction
The three-story, 54-room Cobblestone Hotel under construction at 170 state Route 55 is on budget and on schedule to be completed by mid-May 2020, according to Urbana Hotel LLC managing member Terry Howell.
By Christopher Selmek, Urbana Daily Citizen
​The three-story, 54-room Cobblestone Hotel under construction at 170 state Route 55, Urbana, is on budget and on schedule to be completed by mid-May 2020, according to Urbana Hotel LLC managing member Terry Howell. The framing crew lost 12 days of work due to weather, allowed under the construction schedule. Roofers were expected to begin placing tile on Monday.

“The schedule had allowances for weather, and they’ve used up all those allowances to date,” Howell said Friday, Dec. 27. “I would personally like to have seen it a week ahead of schedule, but we’ve had rain come at inopportune times. On Monday the shingle people will come in and they’ll start putting the soffit on and the shingles on.”

Howell said that the framing crew was contracted from Florida by BriMark Builders, that the crew is the number one framing crew for BriMark and that this is the 15th hotel they have built.

“Any construction project usually has a little impediment here or a miscommunication there. That’s kind of normal, but there’s not been very much of that,” he said. “There’s always some of that on any project, but there hadn’t been very much of that on this one. It’s going very smoothly.”

Plumbers and HVAC contractors are at work inside the structure. The concrete pool is built and just needs a liner. Howell said there are as many as 10-15 people working on site during any given day depending on what they are trying to accomplish that day.

“There’s a schedule where you have different trades that have to come together to fit,” Howell said. “The rooms are all laid out and numbered already on the inside. They’re laid out in a rough frame, and there’s an electrical map on each room so electricians know where to run wires and so on. It has been sequenced appropriately and is right on schedule and on budget. Everything is going fairly smooth.”

Howell added that the people working on the entrance will install awning, and then signage will go on the cupola. The “mountain of mud” currently surrounding the building will be transformed into a parking lot big enough to park buses beside the building within the coming months.

“I would have no problem staying here,” he said. “I live just three miles from here so I doubt if I ever will spend the night here, but all the rooms have character. We’ve got like six different styles of rooms … and they have varying amenities that they offer, so they’re not all the same. We are really excited.”

Christopher Selmek can be reached at 937-508-2304

Revitalization Efforts in Downtown Urbana Focus on Housing, More Shops

12/9/2019

 
By Hasan Karim, Springfield News-Sun Staff Writer
With the last piece of needed funding recently locked down, the ‘Legacy Place’ senior housing project in downtown Urbana is one step closer in bringing more than a dozen apartments in the area.

It is something city officials say will have a trickle down effect in downtown. The hope is with more people living there, it will boost business for shops and restaurants that are within walking distance.
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In the past five years, the number of living opportunities in the area have about doubled.
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‘Legacy Place’ Senior Housing Project in Urbana Secures Key Funding

12/4/2019

 
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.

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Urbana's Cobblestone Hotel Continues to Progress

10/14/2019

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The Cobblestone Hotel is starting to take shape. Concrete was poured early Friday morning, and on Sunday, the framing crew started.  Floor joists  are coming this Thursday. The goal is to have this totally framed by Thanksgiving. 
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​The three-story, 54-room hotel is being built at intersection of 68 & 55 on the south end of Urbana. The project is expected to be completed by May of 2020.

Click here to learn more about the project and what it will mean for Champaign County!


Urbana Cobblestone Hotel
Framing the Cobblestone Hotel
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Tax Credit Boosts Legacy Place

7/2/2019

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Urbana Douglas Inn
The Douglas Inn on Monument Square is to become a residence for senior citizens. Christopher Selmek | Urbana Daily Citizen
By Christopher Selmek, Urbana Daily Citizen
cselmek@aimmediamidwest.com
The Ohio Development Services Agency awarded $28,033,063 in Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits on June 26 for the rehabilitation of 49 historic buildings in 13 communities around the state, including $988,058 for the Legacy Place project planned in Urbana. The project is eligible for additional tax credit allocation, up to the requested $1,315,118, as it becomes available through withdrawn applications or project savings. The developer, Flaherty & Collins Properties, will not be issued the tax credit until project construction is complete and all program requirements are verified.

ODSA has estimated the total project cost as $13,164,335 for 51 units of senior housing that would occupy the former North and South elementary schools as well as the Douglas Inn on Monument Square. All three buildings will hold apartments designed for residents 55 or older making 60 percent of the area median income or less, roughly $24,000 to $25,000 a year, and the former hotel will also have commercial space on the first floor. Local officials have been working with architect McCall Sharp Architecture, of Springfield.
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“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.
In July 2018, the Urbana City Council unanimously authorized a fee waiver of up to $500 in support of Flaherty & Collins’ application to the affordable housing program of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, including but not limited to water and sewer tap fees, construction permit fees and zoning fees. The resolution affirmed that the city council supports the efforts of Flaherty & Collins to obtain the necessary financing resources to redevelop all three buildings.
​

Christopher Selmek can be reached at 937-508-2304
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Another Step in the Project Puzzle

7/1/2019

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‘Legacy Place’ project in Urbana receives almost $1M in funding from state tax credit

Picture
By Riley Newton, Springfield News Sun Staff Writer
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The plan to redevelop a long-vacant hotel and two elementary schools in Urbana will move forward after developers received almost $1 million in funding from an Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit.

Flaherty and Collins Properties, a developer based in Indianapolis, worked to secure the funding for a project that would convert the Douglas Hotel, as well as North and South Elementary Schools in Urbana, into affordable senior housing.
​
The project, called Legacy Place, would create 51 housing units available to residents 55 and older.

“We are super excited, this was a big hurdle and achieving this credit is a really exciting achievement,” said Marica Bailey, Director of the Champaign Economic Partnership. “We are ready to move forward with this process.”

MORE: Plan might find new use for Douglas Hotel, longtime Urbana eyesore

While funding for the project has been secured, Bailey said, the project is still a work in progress.

“There is no start time,” Bailey said. “This project is still in the making, but this is a big step in the making.”

The Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit is administered in partnership with the Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation office and the Ohio Development Services Agency. The credit is awarded to, “assist private developers in rehabilitating historic buildings in downtown and neighborhoods.”

“Partnering with communities and developers across Ohio, we’re preserving historic sites that make Ohio unique,” Lydia Mihalik, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency, said in a news release. “We’re creating new opportunities for small businesses and housing.”

The Legacy Place project is just one of 22 projects awarded the tax credit. In total, the Ohio Department of Services Agency awarded more than $28 million for the rehabilition of 49 historic buildings, according to the ODSA.

Under the Legacy Place project, the city of Urbana has agreed to take ownership of the two elementary school buildings and transfer them to the Champaign Economic Partnership. The CEP will then transfer the two buildings to Flaherty and Collins.

The next step in the Legacy Place project since receiving the credit, will be to work on transferring and finalizing property agreements, Bailey said.

“We are going to be meeting up and working through the fine details of the project and finalizing some of the purchasing agreements and stuff like that in the coming months,” Bailey said.

The former Douglas Hotel is privately owned by John Doss, who plans to work out a separate agreement with the company.
Doss said previously that he purchased the Douglas with plans to eventually restore it, although it’s been a slow process to track down funding and find a suitable project.

The former hotel has been vacant for more than a decade and city officials have said in the past they believe the building is an eyesore downtown. Turning the site into senior housing will encourage more residents to live downtown and create new opportunities for retailers, Bailey said.

“This is going to have a tremendous impact and the making of this has been an incredible effort,” Bailey said.

Thank you for reading the Springfield News-Sun and for supporting local journalism. Subscribers: log in for access to your daily ePaper and premium newsletters.

$988,058: Total tax credit the Legacy Place project has received as a part of the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit
51: Housing units for residents 55 and older the Legacy Place project will create
3: Total properties involved in the senior housing plan- 2 elementary schools and the Douglas Hotel
The Springfield News-Sun is committed to covering economic developments in Clark and Champaign counties.
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Urbana Hotel Project Seeks to Put City ‘On Map’

6/19/2019

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Champaign County gets visitors, and soon they’ll have a place to stay, too.

Picture
By Jenna Lawson, Springfield News-Sun Staff Writer
​Investors and Champaign County leaders are hopeful that the new Cobblestone Hotel in Urbana will bring people to the city — and keep them there.

Ground was broken at the threeacre site near the intersection of U.S. 55 and U.S. 68 on Tuesday afternoon.

“If the rain stops, we can use these shovels for real,” said Champaign County Economic Development Director, Marcia Bailey.


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Cobblestone Hotel Planned for South Urbana

4/26/2019

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Urbana Cobblestone Hotel
The new hotel will be located along US-68 across from the Champaign County Community Center. Photos by Christopher Selmek | Urbana Daily Citizen
By Christopher Selmek, Urbana Daily Citizen
cselmek@aimmediamidwest.com
A 54-room hotel is planned for Urbana later this year due to the efforts of an investment committee that recently purchased three acres in south Urbana for a Cobblestone hotel.

Sale of the land formerly owned by Kay Slesinger at 170 state Route 55 was finalized on Feb. 21 for $225,000, and according to investment committee cochair Mike Major that land will soon be turned over to BriMark Builders, LLC, a division of Cobblestone Hotels, to begin the building process.

Urbana Cobblestone Hotel
From left are investment committee co-chairs Mike Major and Terry Howell, Champaign Economic Partnership Executive Director Marcia Bailey and Kim Slesinger-Fraley standing by plans for Urbana’s Cobblestone Hotel. Photos by Christopher Selmek | Urbana Daily Citizen
Major thanked the 10 members of the investment committee, including cochair Terry Howell, who he said brought a great deal of construction and site preparation experience, as well as connections with the Slesinger family, and who will be essential in determining which contractors to use locally. He also thanked Champaign Economic Partnership Executive Director Marcia Bailey, who he credited with getting the group together, presenting and doing research.


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Legacy Place Planned for Unused Structures

4/26/2019

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Urbana Douglas Inn
The Douglas Inn | Photos by Christopher Selmek | Urbana Daily Citizen
By Christopher Selmek, Urbana Daily Citizen
cselmek@aimmediamidwest.com
Representatives of Flaherty & Collins Properties have been working with the city of Urbana and the Champaign Economic Partnership to develop Legacy Place, a proposed 51 units of senior housing that would occupy the former North and South elementary schools as well as the Douglas Inn on Monument Square. Local officials have been working with architect McCall Sharp Architecture, Springfield, and hope to close on the property sale this summer after they have secured all of their funding sources.


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CEP Office Location:
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Urbana, Ohio 43078
937-653-7200
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