Columbus has granted a tax abatement to an Indianapolis developer planning a $25 million apartment development project on about 8 acres of the former Golden Foundry property.
Herman and Kittle Properties wants to build two apartment buildings near 10th Street and Cottage Avenue containing a mix of 209 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments that would be financed through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority bond and the state’s 4 percent Housing Tax Credit Program.
The apartments will be a mix of affordable housing and market-rate apartments, said Erika Scott, Herman and Kittle vice president for development.
Herman and Kittle’s proposal is the third attempt by a company to develop the western-most acreage on the foundry property, identified as a brownfield with documented contamination.
Scott said her company will conduct further environmental studies of the foundry property. Preliminary results show the acreage has underground storage tanks, chlorinated solvents in two groundwater supply wells and trichloroethene and lead above Indiana Department of Environmental Management standards, Scott said.
In order to build on the site, Herman and Kittle will be required to modify some of its building plans and possibly increase the project cost to mitigate the environmental concerns, Scott said.
Among the proposals for the eight acres on the foundry site that failed to materialize were a plan to build a nursing home dedicated to seniors with memory loss and a 200-unit apartment complex expanding the Gateway Apartments development now under construction on the eastern side of the property.
Gateway developer Tim Morgan of Jonesboro Investments Corp. and foundry property owner Matt Ellegood of KLM National LLC mutually agreed not to pursue that apartment expansion.
Morgan then began working on a proposal to build a senior affordable housing complex called Gateway Senior Village. That project — a three-story, 54-unit development for seniors age 55 and older — is planned at 1525 Michigan St. Jonesboro has received a tax abatement from the city for that project.
City development director Carl Malysz said the Herman and Kittle project combines three aspects that Columbus needs in its housing market — affordable housing units, an opportunity for a mix of affordable units with market rate apartments and the development of a brownfield area that the community can close the books on with this development.
Herman and Kittle’s apartment project is to be called Ashford Park and is expected to have construction begin next summer, with resident move-in beginning the summer and fall of 2017, Scott said.
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The Columbus City Council has approved tax abatements for three housing projects competing for tax credits through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority. Without tax credits, which are extremely competitive to obtain, it is unknown whether any of these projects will move forward.
- Bartholomew on Sycamore LLC, at Eighth and Sycamore streets, two three-story buildings with 30 units being developed by the Woda Group on the site of the former St. Bartholomew Catholic Church. The church will be used as an activities center, but the former school will be demolished to make way for the apartments. The Woda Group is a national affordable housing developer in Ohio.
- Gateway Senior Village, 1425 Michigan St., a three-story, 54-unit apartment affordable housing development for people 55 and older. The site is proposed by Jonesboro Investments Corp. and general partner Tim Morgan, in conjunction with Thrive Alliance. Jonesboro and Thrive Alliance have partnered on the Gateway Apartments on the former Golden Foundry site that are under construction.
- Cottage Avenue Apartments, 1804 22nd St., a three-story, 50-unit apartment complex for people 55 and older or with disabilities. The project is being developed by Developmental Services Inc. and Keller Development Inc.
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