Staff Reports
The Marian Group is seeking a tax abatement from the city on $14.5 million of a $15.5 million affordable assisted-living complex planned on the east side.
Under the state’s low-income housing tax program, the development planned at 1971 State St. qualifies as a tax credit project, said Robin Hilber, community development programs coordinator for the city.
At an assessed valuation of $4.4 million suggested by Bartholomew County Assessor Lew Wilson, Marian Group will save about $557,000 if a 10-year tax abatement is approved by the Columbus City Council, while paying $568,000 in new taxes to Bartholomew County, Hilber said.
The tax abatement request on the cost of the building goes before the council on Tuesday.
Marian Group will make an additional investment of $775,000 in personal property, which is not subject to abatement, Hilber said. The land is also not subject to tax abatements, she said.
Once this new, four-story development is built, it will provide housing for 114 senior citizens with 52 efficiency and 62 one-bedroom units, the company said. It will employ up to 65 full- and part-time workers when operational. After the abatement program ends, it will generate $112,000 annually in property taxes starting in the 11th year.
Vivera Senior Living of Columbus LLC, a subsidiary of the Marian Group, purchased the 2.37-acre State Street property Aug. 8 from Columbus Regional Hospital for $520,000.
Currently a vacant lot, it is the site of the former Bartholomew County Annex, which was razed in December 2015.
The city council last month agreed to support issuing up to $15.5 million in revenue bonds for the project.
A timetable calls for construction on the project to begin in November with the facility set to open in February 2020.
The hospital had acquired the State Street property in November 2016 from Bartholomew County government in a no-cash property exchange.
The hospital had considered the State Street site as a location for its Volunteers in Medicine program, now known as VIMCare, that serves the uninsured and underinsured. But it abandoned that idea with a change in federal rules that would have cut the Medicaid reimbursement rate to hospitals dramatically for services because it was not within 250 yards of the hospital.
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Columbus City Council will consider a tax abatement for The Marian Group during its 6 p.m. Tuesday meeting at Columbus City Hall, 123 Washington St.
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