ThisWeek CW 11/17/2011
The Canal Pointe Industrial Park is one of several focal points for city officials as they review current zoning text to make commercial development more attractive in Canal Winchester.
“We’re trying to make everything in code more concise so developers know the expectations up front, because when they aren’t sure, it becomes more costly for planning and to make corrections if there is a misunderstanding,” development director Lucas Haire said. “Specifically (for Canal Pointe), we want to be able to exempt industrial developers from some of the architectural detail and landscape requirements that aren’t as necessary in an industrial environment as they are in the more retail commercial environments.”
According to Haire, the city was the initial developer of the park in the mid-1990s.
“We recognized a need for industrial growth and the village bought about 100 acres at first, getting Caterpillar Logistics to build out there,” Haire said. “That company is no longer there, but the building still is. That was what helped get the infrastructure built in the first place, which is still in place.”
Canal Pointe is currently jointly owned by the city and Dublin Building Systems. There are about 90 acres out of 250 total acres that remain undeveloped at the industrial park, according to Haire.
The industrial park is located on the north side of U.S. Route 33 and west of Diley Road, in the Fairfield County section of Canal Winchester.
The location provides access to nearby commercial road traffic, rail and air freight, which, according to Haire, was a consideration for the city, making Canal Pointe easily accessible for moving materials and for workforce availability.
“We partner with the Fairfield County Jobs and Family Services Workforce Development and Fairfield Career Center to ensure that the programs they offer are the programs area employers need,” Haire said.
Fairfield County currently has a lower tax rate than Franklin County, which is an advantage to this location over other city locations that fall within Franklin County, he said.
“But the biggest advantage is that Canal Pointe is within our community investment area, where the city offers 100-percent property tax abatement for 15 years on improvements,” Haire said. “We’re actively marketing this site to new companies as well as talking to the nearly 30 companies there about expansion.
“The abatement is very competitive for industrial users because it means an owner only pays taxes on the land but not on the building they construct.”
Haire said he will travel to Atlanta next week to meet with nine different business site-selector professionals, hoping to convince them to steer their clients to relocate to Canal Winchester.
“The city is a partner with the public-private development organizations Fairfield 33 Development Alliance and Columbus 2020,” Haire said. “We work with them and provide funding to their broader efforts and in return, we receive support from them and benefit from their resources and tools to attract new business development.”
According to Haire, the city is currently developing a new website to market Canal Pointe, which will highlight the available property, development incentives and workforce availability. The website is scheduled to be completed by the end of the month.