Tax credits awarded for renovations in 2 downtown Toledo buildings
Posted By: Toledo Blade on December 12, 2024. For more information, please click here to read the source article.
The tax credit for what is now identified as Riverview Tower, and marketed as Tower on the Maumee, is one of two for Toledo buildings and among 37 such credits statewide that Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s office and the Ohio Department of Development announced.
The announcement also included the Stein Building at 602-604 Adams Street, on the northwest corner with Huron Street. It was better known recently as Inns of Court, hosting law offices, and is now vacant. A $1,868,047 tax credit was awarded for a $8,039,330 renovation project expected to create 16 apartments on the second through fifth floors while two commercial spaces will be at street level.
With the tax credit, the Riverview Tower project is expected to cost $16,981,470. It will be the first time since Owens Corning moved its headquarters to its current riverfront campus that the building could be at full occupancy.
Brittany Burns, director of operations for Geyde Management, said 91 “micro-unit” apartments ranging in size between 450 and 700 square feet will be created on the fifth through 11th floors, while the second, third, fourth, 12th, and 13th floors will house commercial space, possibly including a fitness center, lounge, or both for building residents’ use.
“We’re still kind of putting the puzzle together” regarding what will go where on the commercial floors, Ms. Burns said. Construction is scheduled to start in the spring and be finished by early 2026, she said.
Higher floors in the building already have been redeveloped as larger dwelling units.
The statewide project list covers tax credits totaling $56 million. Developers only receive the tax credit after project construction is complete and all program requirements are verified.
“Communities thrive where they honor their roots,” said Lydia Mihalik, the development department’s director. “The awards we are making through the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program are helping communities in their efforts to connect their past with opportunities of the future.”
The tax credit program is administered in partnership with Ohio History Connection’s State Historic Preservation Office, which determines if candidate buildings qualify as historic and verifies that rehabilitation plans comply with U.S. Department of the Interior standards.
Brandon Selhorst, Toledo’s director of economic director, said both projects represent a continuing trend of historic restorations spreading beyond the Warehouse District.
“They are in a part of downtown where we are focused on adding new residential and commercial opportunities,” Mr. Selhorst said.
Planning such projects can take multiple years, he said, so “having two more projects in the pipeline is exciting.”
The efforts represent further progress in converting former downtown office buildings “into what people want for the 21st century,” said David Mann, president and chief executive officer of the Lucas County Land Bank.
Mr. Mann added that the annual appearance of Toledo projects in the historic tax-credit lists, which was not always a given, is a pleasant trend.
The Riverview Tower project will employ the full-time equivalent of 71 construction workers, Ms. Burns said, while the commercial spaces are expected to have a combined full-time equivalent employment of about 35 people. Once operating, she said, the commercial spaces are expected to generate about $80 million in direct economic activity over the first five years.
“It’s really exciting,” she said, to have the building “back to full occupancy for the first time in about 30 years.”
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