Council clears measure to advance John Carroll University CRA application after negotiation on abatement rate

University Heights City Council voted April 7 to take a CRA-related motion off the table and to approve the council action required to proceed with John Carroll University’s Community Reinvestment Area application for its Gateway redevelopment.

Council first voted to remove the item from the table and then approved the form required under Ohio law to establish the minimum tax-equivalent percentage for the CRA application. Council and university representatives said the application had been revised after negotiations; city council members thanked John Carroll for working with the city and school district on updated terms.

Jeremiah Swiddle, assistant vice president of facilities and auxiliary services at John Carroll University, told council the university “honor[s] and cherish our commitment to the community at University Heights,” and said the project was close to construction: “we're rounding third and sliding in the home, and, we hope to have a shovel in the ground in May.”

Council members pressed for fiscal details during the discussion. A finance official noted that parcels currently owned by the university are tax-exempt and that the taxing effect would apply to the retail parcel created for the development. Council asked for and received a ballpark estimate for annual property taxes from staff during the meeting; staff identified roughly $106,000 per year as the estimated property tax on the taxable parcel absent any abatement, and noted taxes are collected in arrears.

Multiple council members said they appreciated John Carroll’s concessions and framed the abatement as a partnership to catalyze redevelopment along Warrensville Center Road. Some members also voiced concern that tax abatement reduces potential long-term city revenue and that the city is simultaneously considering its own capital projects. Several councilors emphasized the income-tax and economic-development benefits the project could bring, including projected new full- and part-time jobs in the retail component and additional income-tax revenue.

Council approved the motion to proceed; city staff said the CRA application and the required exhibits will be sent to the school board to start the statutorily required notice period and that the formal CRA agreement is scheduled for council consideration at the first council meeting in May.

No final CRA agreement or ordinance was adopted at the April 7 meeting; council’s action approved the administrative step and the revised application language so the process could continue.