MANSFIELD — The Richland County Land Bank board approved a six-figure purchase agreement during a special meeting on Friday.
The board voted yes on a final purchase agreement with Woda Cooper, a Columbus-based affordable housing developer, for 64 parcels of land in the city of Mansfield.
Negotiations for the deal have been ongoing for several months.
Woda Cooper will purchase the parcels for $3,500 each, for a total purchase price of $224,000, per the agreement.
The company plans to construct a total of 70 new housing units on the infill lots as part of its Temple Greene development.
“This project is a very important beginning to infill housing on vacant lots in the city of Mansfield,” said Mansfield Mayor Jodie Perry, who serves on the land bank board.
“I look forward to working with (Woda Cooper) as they develop affordable housing in several different areas. It is certainly a much-needed development.”
Temple Greene would consist of 36 single-family homes and 17 duplexes, for a total of 70 new housing units, according to the company’s Vice President of Development Jonathon McKay.
Woda Cooper officials have said they intend to rent the properties to residents, rather than sell them to owner-occupants.
Units would be restricted to residents earning between 50- and 70-percent of the area’s median income, according to the project’s funding application. Rents would range from $875 to $1,050, according to a proposal submitted to the land bank earlier this year.
The map below shows the lots included in the purchase agreement. Green pins indicate the site of proposed ADA accessible units. Light purple pins indicate the site of proposed duplexes. Dark purple pins indicate the site of proposed single family homes.
“It is amazing. It will be even more amazing when the work’s done,” said Amy Hamrick, executive director of the Richland County Land Bank. “(The units) are going into areas that have really lacked any kind of investment for a very long time.”
The agreement sets a closing date of June 15, but states closing can occur earlier or later if both parties agree to do so. The contract permits Woda Cooper to extend the closing date up to 120 days, but would require an additional $5,000 in non-refundable earnest money for each 60-day extension.
The land bank board also voted Friday to take ownership of 37 forfeited properties and one in foreclosure, so they could be part of the larger transaction with Woda Cooper. The rest of the lots were already owned by the land bank.
Hamrick said the board has not discussed a specific use for the funds from the purchase.
“It will always go back into other programs or other projects. We’re always looking for funding,” she said.
The land bank has received state grants for high profile projects like the demolition of the former Westinghouse property and remediation of the former Swan Cleaners building. But those grants typically require matching funds and don’t always cover the whole cost of a project.
Demolition of West Park Shopping Center to begin on Monday
Hamrick also announced at the meeting that the demolition of the former West Park Shopping Center will begin Monday morning.
“I think they’ll probably have the building down within a couple weeks. The cleanup and stuff, of course, will take much longer,” Hamrick said.
The Richland County Land Bank received a $1 million state brownfield grant in May to help demolish the deteriorating shopping center.
The city first ordered the demolition of the structure in 2022. The former property owner, New Jersey-based Namdar Realty Group, appealed the order in the years that followed.
Dan and Brenda Niss, local business owners and entrepreneurs, agreed in December to buy the decaying former strip mall for $1 million.
Dan Niss has said he doesn’t have specific re-development plans in mind for the property. In January, Niss said he and his wife simply saw a need to help the community they love.
“It’s been such an eyesore these past few years,” the local business owner, entrepreneur and philanthropist told Richland Source. “We felt like we should do something with it and help clean up that area.”
