Variance requests approved for Hawcreek Meadows

Plans for what will eventually be a 128-unit affordable housing project at 2100 Midway St. moved forward this week.

Housing Partnerships, Inc., a non-profit that does business as Thrive Alliance, is planning Hawcreek Meadows, a two-phase, four-story development with a combination of workforce family housing and housing for seniors at the site of the former Columbus Health and Rehabilitation Center.

Phase one involves the construction of 64 workforce family housing units with a child care component and phase two will encompass 64 units for seniors. The project is currently in phase one, with plans for the next phase to come later.

The Columbus Board of Zoning Appeals on Tuesday approved a pair of variance requests regarding phase one of the project— one a use variance to allow a restaurant in the Residential: Multi-Family (RM) zoning district where technically a restaurant isn’t allowed.

They also asked for, and were granted, a development standards variance to allow the driveway on Midway Street to not meet the required 100 feet of separation from another drive. The drive is proposed to be 73.7 feet from Prosperity Drive.

The project will likely be up for bids this quarter and construction will start by the third quarter, Thrive Alliance officials have said previously. Build time is expected to take 15 to 18 months with leasing getting started in 2026 and reaching 100 percent occupancy in June of 2027.

The prospect of phase one of the project— expected to cost around $20.6 million— was significantly boosted after it received a 9% award of federal low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC) from the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority (IHCDA) in November.

Kevin Johnson, executive director of Housing Partnerships was joined by Milestone Design Group’s Tim Thomas before the board.

Johnson said the restaurant would be open to residents and the general public. He envisions the restaurant would be “something along the lines of a coffee shop,” with salads and sandwiches— “anything that would bring possible job training plus provide nutritious food to residents and the neighborhood.”

The plan is for the restaurant, which would be operated by a private entity and not Thrive Alliance, to potentially employ individuals with developmental disabilities, similar to the former Special Dogs & More establishment that operated in the former FairOaks Mall and later on Washington Street from 2017 to 2022.

“The other alternative would be providing employment for individuals living at the facility or in the community, to man this,” Johnson said, adding the details are still being hammered out.

Its hours of operation will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Sunday, according to city documents.

The workforce family housing portion will be reserved for those making 30%, 50% and 60% of area median income (AMI), Thrive Alliance officials said, made up of 20, 30 percent AMI units, 13, 50 percent AMI units and 31, 60 percent AMI units.

The child care facility will be open to both residents and non-residents and focused on children up to age 3. Housing Partnerships has a memorandum of understanding in place with Children’s Inc. to provide daycare services at the facility, which is expected to serve up to 58 children and have 10 employees. Hours of operation at the daycare would be 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Other plans for the development include a quarter-mile walking trail, a picnic area, a gazebo and a community garden.

Columbus City Council members on June 18, 2024 agreed to rezone the property from Public/Semi-Public Facilities (P) to RM. The board of zoning appeals on August 27, 2024 approved a conditional use request to allow the daycare center in the RM zoning district.

Housing Partnerships had asked and was granted a 10-year real property tax abatement on a $14.4 million investment into the property by city council members in July.

Members at the time also gave sign-off on a contribution the Columbus Redevelopment Commission approved for the project during a meeting on June 24. Redevelopment provided an amount not to exceed $4.65 million from the city’s central tax-increment-financing (TIF) district to help with funding and in Housing Partnership’s application for LIHTC.

Planning staff recommended approval of the two variance requests, with commitments, which were included in the final motion, that the restaurant be limited in scale, with a maximum of 1,250 square feet of floor area and 24 seats.

In considering use variance requests, board members look to the following criteria

• The approval will not be injurious to the public health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the community.
• The use and value of the area adjacent to the property included in the variance will no be affected in a substantially adverse manner.
• The need for the variances arises from some condition peculiar to the property involved.
• The strict application of the terms of the zoning ordinance will constitute an unnecessary hardship if applied to the property for which the variance is sought.
• The approval does not interfere substantially with the comprehensive plan.

These are the criteria they look at when considering development standards variance requests:

• General Welfare: The approval will not be injurious to the public health, safety, morals and general welare of the commuity.
• Adjacent Property: The use and value of the area adjacent to the property included in the variance will not be affected in a substantially adverse manner
• Practical Difficulty: The strict application of the terms of the zoning ordinance will result in practical difficulties in the use of the property. This situation shall not be self-imposed, nor be based on a perceived reduction of, or restriction on, economic gain.