Ambitious Brewery District revival project wins historic tax credits

The long-planned $70 million redevelopment of the L. Hoster Brewing Co. complex in the Brewery District is getting a shot in the arm from $5 million in newly awarded historic tax credits.

The tax credits, awarded Wednesday by the Ohio Development Services Agency, represent a big step forward for the ambitious mixed-use redevelopment and could help it gain the leverage to begin construction work.

Dwight McCabe of McCabe Cos. has spent years preparing the complex of brick buildings at 477 S. Front St. for his vision of a 245,000-square-foot mixed-use project with restaurants, retail, offices and a new hotel. He has said the project will create a new "front door" to downtown from I-70.

This looks to be one of the final steps in making the project a reality. In his application for the tax credits, McCabe said he's secured a $49 million loan from First Financial Bank and $58 million more from private sources, and already has three tenants lined up for the project. (McCabe said he's raising additional capital beyond the project's reported $70 million price tag to account for parking and additional work he may do in the future.)

In his application, McCabe called the tax credits "a critical part of the financial structure of the project."

"The cost associated with a historic renovation of this magnitude would not be feasible without the inclusion of historic tax credits," he wrote. "There are substantial hurdles in renovating this building that make it a costly and risky project to undertake. The historic tax credit helps to offset these hurdles and other unknowns that are sure to be discovered as the project progresses."

The project's first phase would focus on 120,000 square feet bound by Front and Fulton streets and Ludlow Alley, where a 40,000-square-foot addition would go. It would include a 140-room hotel and 15,000-square-foot venue, 15,000 square feet of office space and 40,000 square feet of food service, restaurant, retail, coffee and a rooftop bar.

The key anchor for the first phase of the development is a "unique, boutique" hotel, McCabe said in a previous interview.

The second phase would redevelop about 100,000 square feet in the historic warehouse buildings west of Ludlow Alley. That would include 30,000 square feet of office space, 10,000 square feet of commercial and retail space and loft apartments.

The third phase would be a new building – 66,000 to 100,000 square feet – south of the warehouses and west of the alley. It would house either office space or condominiums.

The fourth phase would be a parking structure with space above for either office or apartments based on market need, McCabe said.

This site, initially a brewery, was for decades the headquarters of Wasserstrom Co. That company moved to Whitehall a few years ago. McCabe bought the land last year for $6.44 million, according to the Franklin County Auditor.

The developer is working with Colliers International on marketing the project and has a design team including Schooley Caldwell Architects, Osborne Engineering, MKSK and American Structurepoint.

The project was the sole Columbus proposal to receive funding in the agency's spring round, although a handful of historic building rehab projects had been put forth for tax credits around town. Among them were plans to revive the Broadwin building, a repurposed downtown building for micro-units, and a revived car dealership in Olde Towne East.

“Partnering with communities and developers across Ohio, we’re preserving historic sites that make Ohio unique,” Lydia Mihalik, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency, said in a statement. “We’re creating new opportunities for small businesses and housing.”

Overall, $28 million in tax credits were awarded Wednesday, stimulating $280 million in private investment in 49 historic buildings statewide. Projects in Bellefontaine and Athens won tax credits as well.