The Ohio Development Services Agency announced today that two Columbus redevelopment projects – both on the Near East Side – were awarded Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits.
One was a proposal from Brad DeHays of Connect Realty to turn a long-vacant former trolley barn into a public market. Restaurants, offices and plazas are also planned for the site, which is located at the northeast corner of Oak Street and Kelton Avenue.
New-build apartments will be built on the empty lot across Oak Street from the trolley barn site. The $20 million-plus project received $2 million in tax credits.
Also awarded credits is a plan to renovate the McClure Nesbitt Motor Company building, at 1503-1507 E. Main St.
The former car dealership will be transformed into a theater and gallery, with art and music studios on the first floor and 11 apartments on the second floor. It’s listed as a $2 million project and will be receiving just under $250,000 in tax credits. The nonprofit organization Columbus Compact Corp. is the developer.
Overall, 28 projects throughout the state received credits in this round, including 11 in Cincinnati and two in Cleveland (although one of those was a $110 million plan to renovate Terminal Tower, which received $5 million in credits).
The two Columbus projects awarded the highly-competetive credits represent an improvement over the last round, when no local proposal received credits.
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