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Committee approves transfer of parcels near East 70 Fifth and Grama to Economic Development with reimbursement requirement
Summary
An ordinance to move several city parcels into Economic Development control for site assembly on the Opportunity Corridor was approved as amended; the committee inserted a condition that future grantees reimburse $536,542.09 to cover prior facility bond site work.
A committee approved Ordinance 231‑2025 as amended to transfer several permanent city parcels near East 70 Fifth Street and Grama Avenue to the Department of Economic Development for inclusion in a consolidated site intended for future industrial or job‑creating development along the Opportunity Corridor.
Trudy Andreske, speaking for the Department of Community Development’s Neighborhood Revitalization Bureau, said the bureau “is in full support of this legislation” and that assembling properties under a single control eases development. City staff said some parcels are already in the city’s industrial/commercial land bank and that five parcels currently owned by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) are under active negotiation for acquisition.
Committee members added an amendment that reads, in part, that the Department of Economic Development must cause any future grantee to reimburse the Department of Public Safety for expenses for site remediation in the amount of $536,542.09 as a condition precedent to any conveyance. City staff explained the amount represents facility bond proceeds spent to acquire and prepare parcels originally assembled for a planned police headquarters; those bond funds must be used for the facility purpose or recouped if the site is repurposed.
Staff further said the reimbursement is intended to be part of a three‑party transaction involving a sites fund and a potential developer; proceeds would be returned to the police headquarters project. Committee members discussed the structure of the swap and whether the sites fund or purchaser would reimburse the facility bond amount; staff said reimbursement will be part of the transaction.
The ordinance, including the amendment, passed in committee and will proceed to further council consideration. Committee members asked staff to confirm details of the sites fund financing and to ensure maps are attached to executive summaries for future street‑vacation and site‑assembly items.
Ending: Staff noted that Grand Avenue will not be vacated because of an existing major sanitary sewer beneath it and because the Regional Transit Authority uses the route; ODOT‑owned parcels directly adjacent to Opportunity Corridor remain part of the negotiated assemblage.
