$250,000 Tax Credit for Ohio Mutual Renovation Project
SALEM, Ohio — The former Ohio Mutual Insurance Co. building at 525 E. State St. is getting a $250,000 tax credit for an estimated $1.25 million renovation project here.
The credit is part of $26.5 million in Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits awarded to projects by the Ohio Development Services Agency. The credits will assist the rehabilitation of 51 historic buildings, leveraging some $259 million in private investments in 11 communities, according to a department release.
“Twenty-four rounds of this program have proven that historic preservation is a catalyst for investment in our downtowns and neighborhoods,” said Lydia Mihalik, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency. “These historic buildings will be a part of our recovery, providing homes for Ohioans and job opportunities during the rehabilitation and long after, when new businesses move into the buildings.”
The agency reports after the Ohio Mutual rehabilitation project is completed, the building will house a first-floor ice cream parlor and commercial space in the basement with apartments upstairs. The building owner intends to develop the apartments for lease and operate both the ice cream parlor and the basement retail space, the agency reports.
Documents from the agency report a projected completion date of Oct. 1, 2022. Total project investment is $1,252,918, documents show.
It’s the second such project to receive the historic preservation tax credit in Columbiana County, the agency stated, the first being the rehabilitation of the Oglevie Block in downtown East Liverpool. In 2015, that $8.6 million project received a tax credit of $1,565,314.
The Oglevie project was completed in 2017. The building is currently used by the Pennsylvania-based New Castle School of Trades.
The Ohio Mutual Insurance building, constructed in 1897, housed the company offices on the first and second floor, as well as a meeting hall on the third floor.
Later, the upper floors were converted into residential space and the first floor was converted for restaurant/billiard hall use. Until recently, the building was vacant.
In June, building ownership changed hands to 452 Development LLC based in Sebring, according to documents from the Columbiana County Auditor. It was purchased in May 2019 by Gano Land Development Inc. for $7,800.
A representative from Salem’s Planning and Zoning office said no official plans have been submitted for the project. As of this posting, a phone call to the building’s owner was not returned.
Pictured: The Ohio Mutual Insurance Co. building is at 525 E. State St. in downtown Salem.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
