A new headquarters for Big Lots will be just one of several construction projects springing up just west of New Albany on roughly 300 acres near state Route 161, East Dublin-Granville Road and Hamilton Road.

Big Lots will take up residence in Hamilton Quarter, a 175-acre joint venture among three developers: the New Albany Co., Casto and the Daimler Group.

Hamilton Quarter will be adjacent to Route 161 in Columbus and is within the boundaries of Columbus City Schools.

Although the entire 300 acres of development are outside New Albany’s city limits, a southern portion near East Dublin-Granville Road is within the New Albany-Plain Local School District and will provide property taxes for it. The large-scale construction also is close enough to New Albany that residents of both the city and school district will notice the changes and might be affected by additional traffic.

Hamilton Quarter

Hamilton Quarter is planned as a mixed-use development, said Paul Ghidotti, Daimler executive vice president.

In addition to the Big Lots headquarters, which is planned to open the first quarter of 2018, Hamilton Quarter will include office, retail and hotel spaces, he said.

“The balance of the office will be driven by market demand,” Ghidotti said.

According to the Franklin County auditor’s website, Target Corp. owns 12 acres north of Route 161 at the upper half of the Hamilton Road S-curve and south of the Reserve at Preston Woods condominium complex.

Ghidotti said developers are waiting for a large retail store to commit to anchoring Hamilton Quarter.

He also said space is available for at least two hotels, and two already have expressed interest in land adjacent to the office space.

The land’s proximity to the John Glenn Columbus International Airport and Interstate 270 made it a prime spot for development, Ghidotti said. Not many tracts close to interchanges and Columbus’ central core are undeveloped, he said.

“That was what intrigued us about the site,” he said.

Ghidotti said he expects buildout to take 10 to 12 years. At that point, the market value of Hamilton Quarter could be $250 million, he estimated.

Infrastructure also is planned as a result of the commercial development, Ghidotti said. Road improvements of about $30 million are planned over the next five to six years, he said.

The roads will be funded through tax-increment-financing districts, some of which would extend to 30 years, Ghidotti said. The TIFs also would pay for the Hamilton Road S-curve built last year.

A TIF is an economic-development mechanism available to local governments to finance public-infrastructure improvements and, in certain circumstances, residential rehabilitation, according to the Ohio Development Services Agency.

A TIF locks in the taxable worth of real property at the value it holds at the time the authorizing legislation is approved, diverting the incremental revenue from traditional property-tax-collecting entities to designated uses, such as funding the necessary improvements or infrastructure to support a new development.

Financial incentives

The city of Columbus approved two financial incentives related to Hamilton Quarter.

Columbus City Council approved a job-creation tax credit for Big Lots equal to 50 percent of the amount of new-employee city income-tax withholdings for a six-year term. The credit could yield a tax savings for Big Lots of approximately $72,187.50 over the six-year term.

Big Lots is relocating 750 full-time employees from its headquarters at 300 Phillipi Road to Hamilton Quarter, according to Columbus documents.

It plans to create five full-time positions at its headquarters with a new annual payroll of approximately $362,500.

Big Lots also will add 20 full-time positions at its distribution center, which will remain at Phillipi Road.

Columbus City Council also approved a 10-year, 100 percent property-tax abatement on real-property improvements for the new 25-acre Big Lots corporate campus, which is owned by Hamilton Crossing BL LLC.

The tax abatement could result in a tax savings for the company of $8,480,018 to $12,720,026 over the 10-year term.

Big Lots executives did not return phone calls seeking comment on the project.

Other development

The New Albany Co. is in the process of developing land south of East Dublin-Granville Road, which is within the New Albany-Plain Local School District.

Methodist ElderCare Services is building Wesley Woods, a continuing-care retirement community, along the southern portion of the Hamilton Road S-curve.

Dawn Schaffner, the company’s chief operating officer, said the community would open this summer and would be composed of eight villas for independent living, 70 residential apartments for independent living, 15 assisted-living apartments, 20 memory-care apartments and 16 skilled-nursing apartments.

Tom Rubey, development director for the New Albany Co., said the company owned the 32 acres on which Wesley Woods is being built.

The company sold 9.45 acres to the west of Wesley Woods to Five14 Church, he said.

The New Albany Co. still owns 46 acres immediately north and south of the southern portion of the Hamilton Road S-curve. Rubey said the land is zoned for commercial and retail uses.

“We’re marketing it,” he said.

By Sarah Sole
From This Week Community News

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California-based Bocchi Laboratories’ expansion plans will add 75 full-time jobs to its facility on Smith’s Mill Road.

Kevin Lee, vice president of business development for Bocchi, said the 72,000-square-foot expansion would be a $5 million investment.

“Design is complete,” he said. “We are going for permitting at this time with the city of New Albany.”

Bocchi’s 126,000-square-foot facility is used for manufacturing private-label personal-care products, such as perfumes, body mists and body spray, Lee said. The expansion will enable the facility to begin manufacturing lotions, shampoos and hand and body creams, he said.

Lee said company officials want to begin construction for the expansion this spring and complete it by the beginning of September. The 75 jobs would be added over a two-year period.

New Albany City Council on April 4 approved a 100 percent real-property-tax abatement for a term of 10 or 15 years for Bocchi’s expansion.

Jennifer Chrysler, New Albany’s community-development director, said the incentive term would depend upon how environmentally friendly the expansion will be.

Chrysler said she was unable to determine the anticipated value of the incentive because the city doesn’t have the approved design plan. She said she was not comfortable estimating the building value until she knows the final size of the building.

According to council’s legislative report, as of Dec. 31, Bocchi reported 300 jobs and a payroll of $10.3 million at the New Albany facility.

The 75 full-time jobs created as a result of the expansion would have an additional annual payroll of $2 million, the report said.

The additional annual income-tax revenue from the new jobs would be $40,000. Per revenue-sharing agreements, $12,000 would go toward infrastructure debt, $6,000 would go to Columbus, $11,000 would go to the Johnstown-Monroe Local School District and $11,000 would go to New Albany’s general fund. Most of New Albany’s general-fund revenue comes from income-tax collections.

Bocchi opened its New Albany facility in 2015, Lee said. The New Albany International Business Park’s Personal Care and Beauty Campus and its manufacturer groups, as well as the available incentives, helped persuade the business to locate there, he said.

In 2014, City Council approved a 100 percent real-property-tax abatement for 15 years for the initial project.

By  Sarah Sole
From This Week Community News

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New Albany Community Foundation executive director Craig Mohre sees potential in a recent collaboration with the city.

Years from now, markers installed by the community foundation could be included in a walking tour telling the story of how cooperation and shared visions helped New Albany evolve, he said.

Residents might have noticed the new markers at three locations: the Philip Heit Center for Healthy New Albany, the New Albany branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library and the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts.

Mohre said the goal is to recognize ways in which organizations and agencies have worked together to create opportunities throughout the community.

“I want to make sure that spirit of cooperation continues,” Mohre said.

Each location will receive a plaque and a marker including information about everyone involved with the project, he said.

Although the first three markers are installed at the Heit Center, the library and the McCoy Center, the plaques have yet to be installed, Mohre said.

All three facilities were collaborations, he said.

The library was a collaboration between the Columbus Metropolitan Library and the New Albany Community Foundation; the McCoy Center was a product of the New Albany-Plain Local School District, the city of New Albany, Plain Township and the New Albany Community Foundation; and the Heit Center was a joint effort among the city, Healthy New Albany, the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Mohre said.

The New Albany Co. also donated land for the McCoy Center and the Heit Center, he said.

The community foundation plans to add three city locations with markers this year, Mohre said.

The school district’s campus will be one, he said, because the New Albany Co. donated land and the New Albany Community Authority was used to help build the high school.

Similarly, the nature preserve and wetlands near the K-1 building were a collaboration between the school district and New Albany, with the goal that the land could serve as an environmental science lab for students, Mohre said.

“It was forward thinking of those community leaders to actually make that happen,” he said.

Finally, the foundation plans to install a marker at Wexner Community Park, 7600 Swickard Woods Blvd., land for which the New Albany Co. opted to donate to the community instead of using for residential use, Mohre said.

Other past and future collaborative projects that might be recognized include the Plain Township fire station at 9500 Johnstown Road, the planned amphitheater at the McCoy Center and the eventual beautification plans for the Rose Run corridor, he said.

New Albany spokesman Scott McAfee said the community foundation’s initiative is an opportunity for future residents to learn the origins of local attractions and facilities.

“They are an opportunity to apply recognition to some of the catalytic projects that have impacted our community in some way,” he said.

By Sarah Sole
From This Week News

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New Albany officials estimate a new $15 million project in the New Albany International Business Park will create as many as 200 jobs and generate $100,000 a year in annual income-tax collections.

More than 80 percent of the city’s annual revenue is tied to income taxes, according to New Albany spokesman Scott McAfee. That’s why city leaders place an emphasis on building a strong job base in the city, he said.

Columbus-based Carey Realty Investments plans to build a 300,000-square-foot industrial building on the southeast corner of Innovation Campus Way and Harrison Road.

The building, which will be used by logistics and manufacturing businesses, is being built speculatively, said company president and CEO Ed Carey.

CRI is working with M+A Architects on the project and is in the process of selecting a construction company, he said.

Construction is expected to begin this spring, and the building should be ready for occupancy by the end of the year, Carey said.

New Albany has awarded a property-tax abatement to CRI, and the duration of the abatement depends upon how environmentally friendly the new building will be, said Jennifer Chrysler, director of community development.

CRI will either receive a 10-year abatement on property taxes, a value of about $2.6 million, or a 15-year abatement, a value of $4 million, Chrysler said.

Of the $100,000 in annual income-tax revenue the project is projected to generate, about $30,000 would go toward infrastructure payments, $26,000 would go to Columbus, $22,000 would go to the Licking Heights Local School District and $22,000 would go to the city’s general fund, Chrysler said.

The project is a result of the city’s infrastructure investment in the expansion of Innovation Campus Way to the east, Chrysler said.

The road is being extended 5,000 feet east from Harrison to Mink Street and is slated to be finished this summer. Innovation Campus Way also was extended 1,500 feet west from Beech Road.

Chrysler said city officials have worked for several years to diversity the industries in the business park. The park began attracting corporate offices and operations centers, but the city’s fiber-optics network soon lured data centers, she said.

Likewise, the presence of Mount Carmel New Albany Surgical Hospital and OrthoNeuro brought businesses in the health-care industry.

As the business park’s Personal Care and Beauty Campus filled out, the city has shown that it also can be a home for manufacturing and logistics centers, Chrysler said.

Chrysler said CRI’s project is its first in New Albany.

“We’re excited to work with this team,” she said.

By Sarah Sole
From This Week News

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Long gone are the days when people regularly saddled Columbus with the derisive label of “Cowtown.”

Today, the Columbus Region is experiencing a boom in economic development and is at the top of the list of hot spots for brawny national businesses like Amazon or IBM, both of which have committed to major investments here, says Bill Ebbing, president of the New Albany Company.

“Central Ohio has clearly had success bringing companies to the region,” he says. “With the recent announcements of Amazon and IBM, it’s a great opportunity to showcase the region as the next Silicon Valley.”

Online retailer Amazon has announced a $1.1 billion investment would be made in New Albany, Dublin and Hilliard over three years. And IBM opened a Client Center for Advanced Analytics at Tuttle Crossing in 2012. There have been other successes attracting outside businesses here, too.

“We are strong believers in the ongoing opportunity to bring additional mission-critical companies to the region and specifically to New Albany,” Ebbing says. “An even greater opportunity exists for growing the businesses that are located here in the region already.”

The New Albany Company, a community developer focused on economic development and quality of life for the neighborhood, has certainly done its part. Its first home in the area was built in 1991 and the International Business Park was started in 1998, since attracting more than 8 million square feet of development on more than 3,000 acres, providing jobs for 14,000 people.

And the Village Center, which includes Market Square, an arts center, school campus and retail, business and government offices, along with the 55,000-square-foot Philip Heit Center for Healthy New Albany, has also been critical to the economic growth and development in the area. Work continues in the center, Ebbing says.

“It’s the heart and soul of the community. It continues to be a focus and we are expanding the mixed-use nature of the center,” he says. “One of our strengths is our commitment to a master plan to develop the quality of life here for residents, employees and for businesses to locate here.”

Continued development in New Albany and the Columbus Region relies on the collaborative nature of groups like Columbus 2020 and JobsOhio and public-private partnerships, Ebbing says.

“Each partner brings different strengths to the table, providing a formula necessary to close deals like Amazon Web Services,” he says.

The New Albany Company itself is “pretty lean,” with 10 employees who work primarily on planning and design with various consultants, Ebbing says.

Besides the solid collaborative aspects of the region, other keys to continue economic development success will be investments and planning for infrastructure from Downtown to the Outerbelt and a persistency in telling the story of the region, he says.

“Private entities and developers must spend more time planning for growth, which is valued by businesses who want to locate here or grow their business,” Ebbing says. “We are now on the national stage and competitive on a very large scale. We need to keep telling that story nationally and internationally.”

By TC Brown
Columbus CEO

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As the stewards of central Ohio’s economic-growth strategy, Columbus 2020 conducts business outreach to companies in the 11-county Columbus region and around the world. We promote the Columbus region and its various communities to growing companies to create awareness and generate local employment opportunities.

Communities, like nations, want healthy economies and jobs for their citizens to maintain and improve their quality of life over the long term. To say that it is a difficult task is an understatement.

Economic and employment growth are required to fund infrastructure and education assets needed to maintain the quality of the community. Finding the right recipe to induce growth in the short term to achieve positive long-term results is, and should be, a dialogue that community leaders — both public and private — consistently have with residents.

Long-term success requires careful planning and, from time to time, tough decisions. Communities have physical and financial constraints that shape these decisions and they must creatively build new opportunities and capacity for future growth. This often requires forgoing some short-term revenue to achieve results, squeezing public finances even in times of great growth.

Providing incentives to help companies expand is necessary to reduce costs and compete with other communities and states also trying to grow and prosper. These incentives can be a powerful tool to build a sustainable tax base and contribute to the area’s economic and cultural diversity.

The use of public and private incentives helps level the playing field with other communities and states that have different tax structures. These incentives can help mitigate costs for businesses and their use is most beneficial when they align with a community’s well-planned development strategy to result in a healthy return on investment.

When incentives are provided, companies locating in our region benefit for a specified time. In return, the communities attracting these companies benefit from increased capital investment and job growth, leading to higher tax revenues to support local services.

The New Albany International Business Park is an excellent example of the economic value generated by attracting businesses that invest in the community and create careers for residents.

These companies have come from all over the world and are helping to fuel local infrastructure development and city and educational services. New Albany’s progressive, forward-leaning philosophy has helped to attract these businesses. It is a good example of the pro-business attitude so many central Ohio communities have developed to compete in the global economy.

The Columbus region has a diverse, growing economy and population base. Growth is poised to continue due to a young, educated workforce, aggressive economic-development efforts and geographic and institutional advantages.

Job creation is a critical factor in moving everyone — our local communities, our region and our state — forward. Communities that actively work to build business partnerships are creating a better region for all of us.

By Kenny McDonald
This Week Community News

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Axium Plastics’ expansion in New Albany’s International Personal Care and Beauty Campus has increased in scope, according to local officials.

The expansion project, which is expected to be completed by December, has increased from 90,000 square feet to 158,000 square feet.

Jennifer Chrysler, New Albany’s community-development director, said City Council in March approved a 15-year, 100 percent property-tax abatement on the proposed 90,000-square-foot expansion.

“They need to make the facility larger, which is different than what was approved,” she told City Council on July 7.

City Council on July 7 voted unanimously to amend the agreement to include the increased expansion.

The new expansion plans include “an additional 8,000 square feet of manufacturing space and an additional 60,000 square feet of warehouse space,” according to the legislative report.

Axium also “will commit to create an additional 20 jobs with an annual payroll of $600,000,” the legislative report said.

Axium built a 110,000-square-foot facility in 2011 and expanded by 90,000 square feet in 2012, Chrysler said.

She said the company has exceeded all the city’s benchmarks for the development.

Axium officials said in March the company has more than 200 full-time employees working three shifts and seven days a week at the site. They said the annual payroll is $7.5 million.

“Once complete, the total project (including all expansions) will generate at least $33,500 annually for infrastructure debt service, $30,800 annually for the Johnstown-Monroe school district and $30,800 annually for the city’s general fund. The overall growth of the company has resulted in a $2,000,000 increase in payroll in 2015 from the benchmarks provided in the original two community-reinvestment-area agreements,” according to the legislative report.

Chrysler said Axium officials hope to begin the expansion within the next three weeks.

Axium, based in Mississauga, Ontario, manufactures plastic containers ranging in size from 0.5 ounce to 40 ounces for the food, personal-care, health-care and automotive industries.

Axium officials told City Council the company manufactured 1.6 billion bottles last year at the New Albany facility.

By Lori Wince
This Week Community News

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Vee Pak Ohio, one of the first companies to locate in the New Albany International Personal Care and Beauty Campus, is expanding.

Brandon Bayston, a controller for Vee Pak, said the company started a second shift in January.

Vee Pak officials plan to invest $8 million and add 60,000 to 70,000 square feet to the 105,000-square-foot New Albany facility.

The expansion would create 90 jobs with an estimated annual payroll of $3 million, said Jennifer Chrysler, New Albany’s community development director.

Daniel McCarthy, an attorney representing Vee Pak, said the family-owned company is based in Illinois and has 134 employees at the New Albany location.

McCarthy said the expansion should be completed by December.

Chrysler said the company has met its annual payroll benchmark of $3.8 million.

The company receives a 100 percent real property-tax abatement, which New Albany City Council on March 17 voted to extend by two years.

The abatement could be extended because the company will exceed $5 million in payroll after the addition is built and the new jobs are added, Chrysler said.

The abatement, initially approved in 2010, was extended from 10 to 12 years.

Chrysler estimated the expansion would generate $115,900 annually in income-tax revenue.

Per revenue-sharing agreements, each year the New Albany Community Authority would receive $40,000 for infrastructure-debt payments and the Johnstown-Monroe school district and the city’s general fund would receive $37,950 apiece from the income-tax revenue.

Bayston said Vee Pak produces lotions and soaps and one of its largest customers is Bath & Body Works, which is building a facility in the same business park.

By Lori Wince
ThisWeek Community News

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NiSource, an Indiana-based energy company and the parent company of Columbia Gas, recently signed a 10-year lease for an office in New Albany.

The company acquired 43,000 square feet on the third floor of the Water’s Edge building on Walton Parkway in the New Albany International Business Park.

NiSource spokesman Mike Banas, said 80 to 90 employees would move from the NiSource/Columbia Gas offices in downtown Columbus to New Albany by early July as part of the company’s plan to separate the Columbia Pipeline Group from NiSource.

The Columbia Pipeline Group spinoff was announced last year by company officials. “The actual lease was entered into by NiSource Corporate Services Co. but will be transferred to Columbia Pipeline Group once it becomes an independent entity,” Banas said.

He said moving the Columbia Pipeline Group operations and employees to New Albany would not affect the other 850 jobs in Columbus.

“I want to reinforce that after the separation from NiSource, we will still have 800 some jobs in downtown Columbus,” Banas said. “Columbia Pipeline Group is headquartered in Houston, Texas, and will maintain this office in New Albany to support the company’s corporate-wide services, including information-technology, finance, human-resources, legal and supply-chain operations.”

New Albany spokesman Scott McAfee said the company would employ 150 people at the site, including the 80 to 90 coming from the Columbus office. Another 60 to 70 are expected to be hired as needed.

McAfee estimated the New Albany location’s payroll at $15 million.

Banas said company officials looked at several sites in and around Columbus, but they chose New Albany partly because the space was vacant and ready for the company to occupy.

“Our decision to locate to this facility included a variety of factors, including timing of the facility, design for maximum suitability to our operational needs, parking, proximity to the airport, ease of access and community amenities,” Banas said.

McAfee said the Columbia Pipeline Group is not receiving any incentives from the city for the move.

By Lori Wince
ThisWeek Community News

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Axium Plastics is ready to expand for the second time in New Albany’s International Personal Care and Beauty Campus, company officials said.

Ven Bhindwallam, controller for Axium, said the company intends to add 90,000 square feet to its facility by December.

The New Albany City Council approved a 15-year, 100 percent property-tax abatement for the expansion on Feb. 24.

Axium Plastics, based in Mississauga, Ontario, manufactures plastic containers for the food, personal-care, health-care and automotive industries.

Axium built a 110,000-square-foot facility in 2011 and expanded by 90,000 square feet in 2012, said Jennifer Chrysler, New Albany’s community-development director.

Bhindwallam said Axium has more than 200 full-time employees on three shifts at the site, which operates seven days a week.

He said the annual payroll is $7.5 million.

By Lori Wince
The Columbus Dispatch

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