MANSFIELD — Bob Meyers said Tuesday night his plan to convert the Brass Office Center into an apartment complex is personal.
The longtime local attorney and developer, who now lives in Columbus, said his Lawyers Development Corp. owns properties around the country.
But he still considers Mansfield to be his hometown. It’s where he launched his practice nearly five decades ago, the community where he raised his children.
It’s also a project in a building he knows has historic value to the city of Mansfield, as well as a great economic future.
“(The Ohio Brass project) is so personal to me. I first came to Mansfield in 1974 and this community has been so tremendous to us over time. This is a project I am personally committed to doing,” Meyers told Mansfield City Council.
“Hopefully, we can put all the parts together and proceed,” he said.
The 76-year-old Meyers is seeking to have the century-old building designated as historic, which would allow him to seek federal tax incentives and credits that would make converting the five-story brick building into 82 to 84 apartments a cost-feasible project.
Downtown Mansfield Inc. CEO Jennifer Kime has said the designation could set the stage for potential redevelopment of what remains from what was once among the most important manufacturers in the city’s history.
It would give local landmark status to a company and a building that played an integral part in the city’s history.
“I bought this building decades ago and it prospered for many years as an office building,” Meyers said. “But as most people understand today, office space is certainly challenging, especially in smaller communities.”
Meyers said he had spoken with local officials, including Mayor Jodie Perry and Tim Bowersock, the city’s economic development director about converting the building into apartments.
“I was really so pleased to see the mayor’s commitment and the energy and the enthusiasm. She explained to me in some detail about what’s anticipated in terms of the Main Street improvements,” Meyers said.
His idea was to build 82 to 84 apartments with 80 percent of them as one-bedroom units and 20 percent as two-bedroom spaces with perhaps a few studio apartments.
Meyers believes it could be a space for senior citizens, though he would allow the market to determine the ultimate plan for the rental units.
The City of Mansfield Historic Preservation Commission and the city’s Planning Commission previously approved the historic designation, which would protect the exterior of the property in its current form and create standards for the work done inside as it’s remodeled.
Lawmakers appeared receptive to the historic designation. But the vote by local lawmakers was delayed until Aug. 20 after 2nd Ward Councilwoman Cheryl Meier pointed out Meyers owes $84,000 in property taxes on the site.
Meyers seemed genuinely surprised to learn of the tax issue.
“I wasn’t aware of that. If there is (back taxes owed), I will find out and those absolutely will (be paid). I’m not aware of that,” he said.
Meier also asked if his plans to convert the interior of the building were possible with a historic designation.
Architect Amanda Fuson, a historic preservation specialist from the Schooley Caldwell firm in Columbus who joined Meyers at the meeting, told lawmakers the idea of the historic designation and accompanying tax credits and incentives is not to create museums.
“Often we think museum when we think of preserving a historic building,” Fuson said. “The local (historic) commission, and also the federal and state historic tax credits, they use the (U.S.) Secretary of the Interior standards as a guideline for rehabilitation.
“The whole purpose of that program is that they don’t want museums necessarily. They want buildings that are thriving in their communities that are being repurposed.
“So there’s an understanding that it’s not going be a beautiful office building intact as a museum. It’s going to have a compatible use.
“So in this case, residential really fits the building in terms of unit layouts, using the same doors, using the same elevator and stairwells and it’s a really great compatible use,” Fuson said.
Before council opted to push the historic designation vote to Aug. 20, Perry told lawmakers the request was just to protect the building and was not directly tied to the project itself.
“This is the first step in the development process. They’re not at all at a point where they’re going to be pulling (building) permits yet. These historic tax credit projects, they really only come around once a year … or it might be twice a year that you can apply for them.
“There’s still a lot yet to unfold in terms of this project,” Perry said. “This really just allows them to go to the next step of the project, which is with the state and the federal government, not with us.
“The vote tonight really is just to put the building on the National Register for Historic Places, which protects it. I hear everyone in terms of the back taxes.
“This developer absolutely has the means to do this. And this represents probably the most significant opportunity for this building that has existed for at least a decade, if not more,” the mayor said.
At-large Councilwoman Stephanie Zader asked if there were safeguards that could be put into place to prevent development projects from progressing to council when there were taxes or other issues.
“I guess my biggest question is this wasn’t found until it came to council tonight and I’m assuming there’s been lots of discussions and stuff. Are there stopping blocks that we can put in place in the future so that we don’t get something all the way to this point and us having to delay it?” Zader asked.
“Obviously, if we’re looking at major economic development projects, making sure that they’re paying their taxes is probably a big part of that,” she said.
Sixth Ward Councilwoman Deborah Mount asked if the deadline to apply for the status was at the end of August. Once that was confirmed, she asked the vote be delayed until council’s next meeting, a motion that was approved 6-1.