Historical tax credits to help save the Thompson Building
Trending
EAST LIVERPOOL -- The City of East Liverpool received $414,105 in historical tax credits to help save the Thompson Building.
This was the city's third time applying for the historical tax credits. They failed on their first two attempts and due to persistence and reapplying they were successful, according to Mayor Greg Bricker.
The historical tax credits puts the city within approximately $200,000 of the $2.1 million estimated to restore the building.
Bricker said the city is still waiting to hear back on one more tax credit from TMUD (Transformational Mix-Use Development). The grant would be for $217,000.
"We are hoping now that we were awarded the $414,105 from the state, that they are also going to award the $217,000," Bricker said. "We are pretty much there. This thing is pretty much a green light at this point."
Bricker noted that if the city doesn't get the TMUD, they will go down other avenues such as a revolving loan or some other kind of funding.
The historic building located on the Diamond in the heart of downtown will be a mixed use building for retail, businesses and apartments when the renovations are complete. Retail is planned for the first floor of the building. The second and third floors will be business occupied and the fourth floor will be apartments.
According to Bricker, designating a mixed use for the building is how they get the grants, because that is what the grant providers want to see.
Bricker said there are four businesses who have signed letters of intent to use the building when the work is done. The four businesses will bring over 100 jobs to the city.
"This is huge. I have been working on this for three years along with a small team of people. One hundred jobs to East Liverpool, to downtown, it's unreal," Bricker said. "These jobs are going to be good paying jobs with the businesses that are going to be going in there. This is going to change the entire downtown when this is done. It's awesome. I'm kind of speechless."
Bricker has notified the businesses who signed letters of intent that the city has received the tax credit. He is waiting to hear back from them before he releases their names.
This has been three years in the making, according to Bricker. It has been a long road to pull the capital stack together and bring businesses together and get them to sign the letters of intent that if the project happens, they will lease the space.
Bricker noted that saving the building and preserving a valuable piece of the city's history has not been without frustrations. According to Bricker, an unnamed council member had wanted the building torn down without any attempts to save it.
"You look at any historical pictures or photos of the city and this is the coroner stone. So, to be able to save this building is something," Bricker said. "You can't build this type of building anymore with this type or architecture or design, so it's phenomenal that we are going to be able to save it.
"It's been a lot of hard work and overall, this is going to change the city when this project is done. The past month has been very exciting and a great way to end the term -- two huge projects that will change the city when they are done."