Three companies are hoping to build affordable housing complexes in Columbus using state tax credits.
Two will be before the City Council Tuesday night asking for the areas of their development to be designated as economic revitalization areas, a necessary step to receiving the state aid.
Robin Hilber, with the city’s community development department, explains that RealAmerica LLC is looking to redevelop a vacant former nursery site at Midway and 25th Street into an affordable senior housing center, as one of the three projects. She says the city considers that a prime spot for development into a housing complex.
The other two projects seeking the tax credits are Bartholomews at Sycamore, which is planning a housing complex at the former St. Bartholomew Catholic Church site on Seventh Street, and Gateway Apartments, which is planning an affordable housing project at 14th and Michigan. The 14th and Michigan area has already been designated for a revitalization area, Hilber said.
Hilber said the tax credits are in demand around the state and Columbus has already been lucky to receive one approval for the previous Gateway project at the former Golden Castings Foundry site. But Columbus has great need for housing, she said.