RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- It was only the first reading of three pieces of legislation, but all are key in terms of getting the ball rolling on construction of the $260 million Belle Oaks Marketplace project.
Following Tuesday’s City Council meeting (Nov. 9), city Economic Development Director Brian Gleisser said that, if council approves the motions upon their third reading at its Dec.14 meeting, a development agreement would be in place.
Demolition of Richmond Town Square mall would then happen in the first quarter of 2022, and construction on the mixed-use project would start shortly after.
“This (talk of the development) began in June of 2018,” Gleisser said, “and now we’re reaching the point where we could have a development agreement in place. That’s really not that long for a project of this size.”
Belle Oaks Marketplace developers DealPoint Merrill, of California, have plans to redevelop -- in two phases -- the entire 69.2-acre mall property at 691 Richmond Road. Included will be nearly 800 Class A apartments, retail, restaurants and daily-needs services.
City Council’s Committee-of-the-Whole met in closed-door executive session for about a half-hour Tuesday to discuss the three pieces of legislation. The legislation was then introduced on first reading during the full City Council meeting that immediately followed.
In explaining the most wide ranging of the three ordinances, Gleisser said: “In simple language, it creates the structure for the tax incentives. It will be used to help finance the Belle Oaks project. It sets all those parameters and structures and accounts, and council is authorizing the use of those tax incentives.
“It also includes the development agreement, which is between the city, the developer and the community authority. It basically sets all the parameters for construction of the project.
“It includes financing, it includes FBE (Female Business Enterprise) and Minority Business Enterprise goals (assuring female-owned and minority-owned businesses have an opportunity to compete for construction work),” he said.
“It includes the impact fee to be paid to the city to cover some of our costs that will be coming out of the development of this. Development agreements are used in all of these kinds of (large) projects.”
As for another ordinance, Gleisser said: “The city has to be in the chain of title, and so (Ordinance) 113 authorizes the mayor (David Roche) to proceed with that. So the city will be in the chain for an instant, and then the quick claim transfers (title) to the developer.”
As for the third ordinance, Gleisser said: “It declares the project site (the mall property) as blighted, and that comes out of a blight study that was completed last year. That’s required (under state law) as part of one of the tax incentives that’s being used to assist in the financing.”
The project will be partially funded using tax increment financing (TIF, in which expected property value increases at a project site are used to help pay for the project).
“They’re using an urban renewal TIF (for Belle Oaks), so the (Richmond Heights Schools) do not (have to) approve the TIF,” Gleisser said. “Regular, other non-urban renewal TIFs, the schools would have an approval. But because we’re using the urban renewal TIF, under the state code, schools do not have that approval.”
Gleisser said that, in the development’s first 15 years, the project will come under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), which allows the developers 100 percent tax abatement in terms of paying taxes that would go to the city and its schools. This money is used to help pay for the project.
“Then,” he said, “in years 16-30, the schools will collect some tax revenue.”
Richmond Heights Local Schools Superintendent Renee Willis and the Richmond Heights school board have been critical of the TIF deal and had called on council not to approve such an agreement.
Also under the CRA, if the project’s commercial payroll exceeds $1 million, tax sharing will be negotiated among the developer, city and the school districts -- Richmond Heights Schools, and, for the southern half of the mall site, South Euclid-Lyndhurst City Schools.
Gleisser said that because tenants aren’t yet known, it is not known if the total payroll at Belle Oaks will top $1 million.
Also from Tuesday’s City Council meeting
-- Councilwoman Juanita Lewis said she has received word from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that deer culling in Richmond Heights will take place sometime in December.
“And,” she added, “we have six people on the list that want to accept the (deer) carcasses.”
Residents who have access to a butcher to process the deer meat can obtain carcasses by contacting Police Chief Thomas Wetzel at 216-383-6305 or via email at police.chief@richmondheightsohio.org.
-- Mayor David Roche said plans are being made with Richmond Heights auxiliary police for Christmas caroling to take place the evening of Nov. 28 at city-owned Greenwood Farm, 264 Richmond Road.
In addition, from 2 to 4 p.m. Dec. 11, also at Greenwood Farm, the city is making plans for a holiday event. Roche said more details are forthcoming.
-- Richmond Heights police are teaming with Euclid police to hold “Skating with a Cop” from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Dec. 18 at C.E. Orr Ice Arena, 22550 Milton Ave. in Euclid (enter from Babbitt Road). Attendees will have the opportunity to skate with police officers, with no admission or skate rental fee charged.
-- Richmond Heights will be participating in the Olivia’s Dream Toy Drive Nov. 19 through Dec. 10. Donors are asked to drop off new, unwrapped toys in special boxes to be located in the front lobby of the Richmond Heights fire station, 457 Richmond Road, or the main lobby of Richmond Heights City Hall, 26789 Highland Road.
Those with questions can call the fire department at 216-383-6325.
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