MANSFIELD — More senior housing, rental housing and affordable housing are all well-documented needs in Richland County.
A Cleveland-based housing developer hopes to address all three with a three-story, 65-unit development on Third Street.
Mark Ciepiel of CHN Housing Partners presented his company’s preliminary vision Wednesday during a meeting of the Richland County Land Bank.
The proposed development would be a three-story apartment building with 65 units, each with one bedroom and a total of 609 square feet.
Units would be rented at an affordable rate to residents earning between 30 and 80 percent of Richland County’s Area Median Income.
After some discussion, the board voted to approve a purchase agreement with CHN for three, land bank-owned parcels on Third Street in Mansfield.
The one-year agreement will transfer the parcels to CHN for $45,000, but is contingent on the developer receiving state and local funding for the project.
CHN Housing Partners is a large-scale affordable housing developer, housing service provider, residential lender and housing intermediary that aims to solve major housing challenges across Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania, according to the company’s website.
If its Third Street project goes through, it would be CHN’s first project in Mansfield.
CHN also has an option agreement to purchase five adjacent parcels owned by Mosaic, a church located just south at the corner of Benton Street and Park Avenue West, for the project.
The company is offering the church $2,000, plus a $75,000 donation to beautify other church-owned properties, according to Ciepiel.
If both purchase agreements go through, CHN would own about 1.7 acres, including an alley, on the southeast side of the block between Sycamore Street and North Benton Street.
Project would require variance from Mansfield City Council
Land bank board member Tony Vero cast the lone dissenting vote against the sale, expressing concerns about CHN’s tax credit application competing with one submitted by Volker, a developer aiming to build senior housing on the former Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center site.
Vero wondered aloud if OHFA might be less likely to award funding to more than one project in a county.
Matthew Scruggs, CEO of the North End Neighborhood Outreach Center, expressed similar concerns.
“We did sell that (development at Ocie Hill) to the North End residents and my larger concern is that this could dilute the pool,” he said.
Mansfield Mayor Jodie Perry said from a city standpoint, she would “put the CHN project second” to Ocie Hill because of the latter site’s community significance, but ultimately voted in favor of transferring the land to CHN.
“I’d hate to miss an opportunity if the other one doesn’t go through,” she said. “Ideally, we get both.”
Ciepiel said he had no intention of competing with the Ocie Hill project and that OHFA’s selections would be based on whether projects meet certain eligibility criteria rather than what county they are located in.
“There’s very clear competitive criteria for each program,” he said.
He also said the census tract the land is in scores well under current application guidelines, which look at where affordable housing is most needed and factors that impact quality of life.
“The challenge in development is, can you make it beautiful? Can you make it feasible? And in Low Income Housing Tax Credits, can you compete? This checks all of those boxes,” Ciepiel told the board.
Project would require variance from city
Having a contingent sale agreement in place will allow CHN to pursue additional state funding and finalize its plans, which would include seeking variances as needed from the city of Mansfield.
Perry said the developer would need a zoning variance to complete a three story building in the city.
“We have had some conversation with them about that,” she said. “I think there may be some other variances that they’re gonna need in terms of ingress and egress and some other things, but they’re aware of that.”
“It is zoned appropriately, so the baseline is there, but we will have to work on that,” she added.
Perry said she would ultimately support the project, as housing is needed in the community, but has some concerns about the “density” and proposed height.
“That site is interesting because it sits on a hill, so you pop a three story on top of a hill that’s already about one story, it’s going to seem very, very tall,” she said. “It’s not necessarily a deal breaker.
“I just think that’s where the conversation about it being on the doorstep of the historic district is really gonna take effect.”
Final state tax credits likely won’t be announced until December
Ciepiel said the project’s feasibility depends on securing funding from multiple sources, including state tax credits and a 15-year property tax abatement through the city of Mansfield’s Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) program.
The CRA program is a tax exemption designed to spur renovation and new construction in economically distressed areas. Perry said all tax abatements must be approved by city council.
Ciepiel said CHN intends to apply for a 9-percent Low Income Housing Tax Credit from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. Applications are due at the end of Feb. 26. Developers whose projects OHFA determines meet the competitive criteria will be invited to submit a final application in May.
Ciepiel said final applications will be due in September and developers should hear back on whether tax credits were awarded by December.
The board also:
- Voted to approve $10,000 in financial support for the North End Community Improvement Collaborative’s dumpster day to cover the cost of dumpster and backhoe rentals.
- Voted to approve the terms of a development enforcement mortgage and agreement with Dan Niss, who is purchasing the former Hamilton Park property. The terms require Niss to begin work on the property, which he intends to turn into a nine hole golf course, within three years.
