Heath, developer reach agreement on 320-acre mixed-use development west of Walmart

HEATH − It took eight months, but the city reached an agreement with the developer for the proposed $218 million, 320-acre Central Park mixed-use development, including more than 1,800 housing units, west of Walmart.

Heath City Council unanimously approved the agreement, the third key element to move the project forward, at its July 15 meeting.

Mayor Mark Johns said last year the city needed three things: new zoning for the site and agreements with the school district and developer Ciminello Land Co. He compared it to a three-legged stool that can’t stand on just two legs.

First, the Heath Planning Commission approved Planned Unit Development zoning for the site in October. Then, both the Heath City School Board and City Council approved a city-school district compensation agreement on the same night in November.

“The development agreement is an important part of how some of the financial parts of the development are handled, not just in the short term, but long term,” Johns said. “Some things you definitely want to get right the first time. We feel both sides are happy with the agreement.”

The zoning allows for the creation of a community with areas for single-family homes, apartments, retail, restaurant, parks, assisted living, clubhouse, outdoor recreation with a pool and pickleball, volleyball and basketball courts, government buildings and potential commercial/industrial space near the airport. The plan also includes walkable trails connecting to Geller Park and possibly a new city building and relocated police department .

The housing offerings include 218 single-family homes on 77 acres, 234 units of multifamily ranch housing, 156 units of townhomes and 1,228 apartments — for a total of 1,836 housing units. It will be built in six phases, finishing in 2031.

The Heath Planning Commission heard a proposal for the site in May 2023, from Joe Ciminello, principal with Ciminello Land Co., and Michael DiCarlantonio, vice president of development for Wallick Communities, both of New Albany.

The site is bordered by the Newark-Heath-Licking County Airport to the south, Geller Park and the railroad to the north, retailers like Walmart and Target to the east and Marathon tanks and Keller Drive to the west.

Gov. Mike DeWine announced in January that the project was approved for $4.1 million in state tax credits .

Ciminello said the agreement is complicated, with tax increment financing, a community reinvestment area and a new community authority.

“It’s a large deal for the city and all the people involved,” Ciminello said. “I think it’s the first time they’ve used all the economic development tools available to them. It takes great cooperation from the public and private side.”

The city’s TIF will be a 100%, 30-year tax exemption on the increase in assessed value at the site. The developer will pay 50% of infrastructure improvements in certain areas of the development and create a new community district to provide for the collection of a community development charges on all parcels at the site.

“The mayor’s No. 1 priority was the school district not be harmed,” Ciminello said. “The TIF agreement had to be worked out. The school district is whole and city is not taking any unnecessary risks. And the development is paying for necessary public infrastructure.”

The development will bring an estimated 300 students into the school district by the time it reaches full build-out in 2031.

The city-schools deal amends a 2018 TIF agreement for an area covering most of the same area.

A TIF defers property tax payments in a designated area to pay for infrastructure improvements. Since the tax is on improvements to property in the area, the school district does not lose anything it receives today.

The agreement includes a land swap, including 17.7 acres in the northern part of the site, near the railroad tracks, from the city to the developer and 20.55 acres in the southern part of the site near Ohio 79 from the developer to the city. The city gives a 3.2 acre easement to the developer.

“The development agreement was certainly not the last domino to fall, but an important one," Johns said. "It provides the community a reason to continue to be excited about the possibilities. And a fulfillment of the city’s decades-long dream to have a central gathering place and a downtown feel.”

It’s been 26 years since then-Mayor Dan Dupps proposed a development for the land and 28 years since the historic Davis-Shai House relocated there. Dupps died March 30 at age 81.

“It’s a shame he didn’t get to live to see the day he could participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony," Johns said. "It would have been a wonderful thing. I would be shocked if in some way, shape or form there isn’t part of this development that pays tribute to the efforts of Dan Dupps."

The next steps include approval of an infrastructure improvement plan and a final development plan for the first part of the development.

Then comes installation of sanitary sewer, storm sewer, water, underground utilities and the roads in Phase I, which includes 36 single-family homes, 28 townhomes, 120 multifamily ranch units, 424 multifamily and assisted living units, 40,000 square feet of commercial space and 3 acres set aside for commercial space.

“The goal right now is to have water and sewer lines run onto the property before the end of the year and start to cut roads in in the beginning of 2025," Johns said.

Wallick Communities will develop the easternmost part of the community, including four, four-story mixed-use buildings along an extended Central Parkway near the entrance. The road will have diagonal parking in the middle, with roundabouts at the entrance and at the opposite end of the four-story structures.

Central Parkway, which ends alongside Walmart, will extend to Keller Drive, a distance of about a mile. A new Central Parkway West connected Keller and Thornwood drives in 2021.

kmallett@newarkadvocate.com

740-973-4539

Twitter: @kmallett1958

Central Park development

• Phase I (2024-27): Assisted living facility; 36 single-family homes; 28 townhomes; 544 multifamily units; 40,000 square feet of commercial space; 3 acres reserved for commercial use
• Phase II (2025-28): 40 single-family homes; 20 townhomes; 546 multifamily units
• Phase III (2026-29): 40 single-family homes; 24 townhomes; 372 multifamily units; 20 acres for commercial use
• Phase IV (2027-30): 35 single-family homes; 60 townhomes
• Phase V (2028-2031): 35 single-family homes; 24 townhomes
• Phase VI (2029-2031): 32 single-family homes
• Apartments: 1,228 units on 74 acres along the eastern edge
• Multifamily ranch homes: 234 units on 39 acres in the north
• Townhomes: 156 units on 22 acres in the north
• Single-family homes: 218 lots on 77 acres in the northwest part of the development
• Open space, wooded area with a recreation area for pickleball, basketball and volleyball on 76 acres in the south central section.
• Government buildings: New city building and police station, although no plans currently exist to move the city offices in south central adjacent to the open space.
• Undeveloped area on 30 acres in the south, just north of the airport, which could become commercial, industrial, multifamily or open space.

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Heath, developer reach agreement on 320-acre mixed-use development west of Walmart