MANSFIELD — It’s the government action needed for the private investment in downtown Mansfield.
Mansfield City Council on Tuesday is scheduled to vote on community reinvestment area legislation aimed at redeveloping 14 downtown buildings.
The historic buildings, primarily around the Brickyard area downtown, are being donated by Engwiller Properties to the Richland County Foundation.
The legislation calls for a 75-percent tax abatement for 12 years on improvements made that will add approximately 180,000 square feet of housing, commercial and retail space with an estimated private construction cost of $25 million.
The development will be done through a partnership between the foundation and Windsor Companies, an Ohio-based developer that specializes in turning older buildings into a mix of residential, retail and other commercial uses.
related reading
Local control, lasting impact: Fernyaks donate downtown properties to Richland County Foundation
John and Mimi Fernyak are donating their downtown properties to…
According to the legislation, the work will be done between August 2026 and August 2028 and is anticipated to create 170 construction jobs during the project and 17 operational jobs once work is complete.
Approval of a CRA shows community support of a redevelopment plan and strengthens the case for approval of historic preservation tax credits. These and other state and federal tax credits will aid in redevelopment of the donated properties, including new residential spaces, according to officials.
Another of those tax credits being sought will be via the transformational mixed-use development program for “costs incurred during the construction of a project that will be a catalyst for future development in its area.”
According to the Ohio Department of Development website, such a project “includes new construction and/or improvement of vacant buildings that will have a major economic impact on the site and the surrounding area. This development must be a combination of retail, office, residential, recreation, structured parking, and other similar uses into one mixed-use development.”
Approval on those requests may be known as soon as June.
“The requested property tax abatement is enormously important for the financeability of the project,” according to the CRA request. “In order to secure construction financing, the project must generate enough cash flow to satisfy market debt service coverage ratios.
“In light of the current construction cost environment, coupled with high interest rates on construction loans, cash flow is considerably constrained on many adaptive reuse projects — including this proposed project,” the request said.
“Notably, the abatement request is sized according to the need and does not meet ‘maximum’ threshold levels outline within (the) existing ordinance.
“We are tremendously excited about this transformative project and appreciate Mansfield’s partnership,” according to the CRA request.
Both multifamily market-rate rental housing and commercial development are planned in the project.
“We are thrilled for the partnership with the Richland County Foundation,” John and Mimi Fernyak said in a statement last week when word of the donation was announced by the RCF.
“We believe they have the community’s best interest at heart to shepherd downtown development and create opportunities for downtown living,” the couple said.
Allie Watson, the foundation’s president and CEO, said, “This is huge for us and Mansfield, for the foundation to be able to steward that gift and work toward the redevelopment of properties in the downtown.
“John and Mimi saw the value of the foundation and the stability of the foundation as the right place for their gift and for their assets to move the downtown forward,” she said.
“We have had extremely generous donors to the foundation in Richland County over the last 80 years. There have been some very large gifts. But this one is going to be extremely visible to a lot of people over a long period of time,” Watson said.
The Fernyaks approached the RCF two years ago about their proposal, which will be a transition of the properties into the foundation’s hands, starting with 14 buildings around the Brickyard.
“Hopefully, this summer, we will have more information to share with the public,” Watson said.
The agreement will likely be discussed during a City Council economic development committee meeting Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. Council caucus is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. with its legislative session following immediately thereafter.
(Below is the scheduled agenda for Mansfield City Council on Tuesday evening.)