MANSFIELD — A new affordable senior housing development could be on its way to the corner of Harker and Bowman streets.
The Richland County Land Bank board voted unanimously Wednesday to pursue an agreement with Völker to sell two lots to the Wisconsin-based developer.
The lots include 455 and 445 Bowman street, where the former Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center once sat, and would be contingent on receiving state affordable housing tax credits.
Officials said the land bank will likely schedule a special meeting next week to vote on a finalized purchase agreement.
Before voting on the motion, Tionna Perdue of the North End Community Improvement Collaborative addressed the board and Völker’s managing director of development, Greg Baron, via Zoom.
“NECIC is in support of this project as long as the project supports our community impact center,” Perdue said.
“We are still building our community impact center and we need some of the space for our parking,” she add. “If we can collaborate in some way that we are still able to maintain and get that space for parking — if that means shared parking, if that is a walking path of some sort — we would definitely like to see the whole entire block redone.”
NECIC unveiled its plans for a community center in 2022. The organization’s founder, Deanna West-Torrence, said the facility would restore community services and fill the void created when the Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center closed.
Before voting to move forward with contract negotiations, Richland County Commissioner Tony Vero, a land bank board member, asked Baron to affirm Volker’s willingness to support the NECIC Impact Center.
Baron said the developer would “absolutely” be willing to work with the NECIC on shared access, parking and potential amenities for neighborhood residents.
“Assuming we move on an agreement here, I will bring my architect into the conversation. We can start brainstorming working with NECIC, with the city, with a land bank, on what that looks like and what options we have,” Baron said.
Sale will be contingent on receiving state tax credits for affordable housing development
Völker first presented its vision for the site at a land bank board meeting earlier this month.
The proposal included one- and two-bedroom independent living units for seniors age 55 and older.
Volker’s presentation stated the development would include open concept layouts, a common laundry area, an outdoor walking path, a covered patio and a senior fitness center.
Units would be available to residents earning between 30 and 80 percent of the average median income.
At that meeting, Völker presented an offer to purchase the property contingent on receiving tax credits from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency to help fund the project.
The land bank board tabled that offer after Mansfield Mayor Jodie Perry expressed concern about a lack of community input and a request for proposals.
The land bank collaborated with NECIC to host a community meeting on June 18.
Baron told residents Volker is operating under a tight timeline to acquire the property and apply for the state tax credits needed to complete the project.
He said the company needs to apply for the state financing by Aug. 14, which means the land bank must make a decision on the sale in the next few weeks.
Hamilton, the Richland County treasurer, cautioned those in attendance that “these kinds of (development) opportunities” don’t often come around.
He pointed to an NECIC survey in 2023 on the future of the site that found senior housing was at the top of the list.
More than one in five respondents said they’d like to see senior housing on the lot, while 16 percent said they’d like to see low-income housing.
“There is a divide on the project, but I think that there was a lot of support specifically for the senior housing,” Perry said of the community meeting.
“I think a lot of the concern actually was the lack of things particularly for youth in the community and that’s where we see the tie of the NECIC impact center really potentially playing a role here,” she added.
Perry said she’d spoken with Baron and had ideas about how to make the development a “win-win-win” for the city, youth and seniors.
“At the end of the day, one of the things that former Mayor (Donald) Culliver recognized was that all developers are not equal. This is a good opportunity for us, and they don’t always come around,” she said.
“For me, as I weighed everything in balance, I felt like this was really a good opportunity and there’s a way to leverage that investment to a broader good opportunity for the community.”
Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center closed in 2020, was demolished in 2023
The Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center was named for the first Black resident to be elected to Mansfield City Council. Hill was also the longest serving individual on council in the history of Mansfield, serving from 1961 to 1991.
Throughout the years, the structure has operated as the Creveling School, the Mansfield Opportunities Industrial Center, the Human Resource Bureau and the Neighborhood Youth Corps.
The City of Mansfield purchased the building in 1988. It was home to more than a dozen non-profit and government agencies. It also had a gymnasium used by children and hosted after school-programs like the Culliver Reading Center.
The city closed the building in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. It never reopened.
At the time, then-Mansfield Mayor Tim Theaker said he was not optimistic the building could be saved, saying estimates to replace the boiler, windows, doors and other required work could cost several million dollars.
Mansfield City Council voted in 2021 to give the property to the land bank, which demolished the building in 2023.
When the site was permanently closed, Mayor Tim Theaker’s administration said the city would unveil a plan to replace the building, whether it was with an existing structure or a new one.
That never happened. Theaker left office at the end of 2024.
