Photo provided An artist’s rendition of the Haw Creek Meadows project.
City officials moved forward plans for a potential affordable housing development on Tuesday night.
The Columbus Board of Zoning Appeals granted a conditional use request to allow a daycare center in the Residential: Multi-Family (RM) zoning district at the site of what’s to be known as Haw Creek Meadows.
The request was made by Housing Partnerships, Inc., a non-profit that does business as Thrive Alliance, which is planning for the development to be a combination of workforce family housing and housing for seniors to be built over two phases.
Phase one would see 64 workforce family housing units with a child care component and phase two would encompass 64 units for seniors. The project is currently in phase one, with plans for the next phase to come later.
The development is to be located at the site of the former Columbus Health and Rehabilitation Center at 2100 Midway St. and reserved for those making 30%, 50% and 60% of area median income (AMI), Thrive Alliance officials said.
The multifamily portion will consist of 20, 30 percent AMI units, 13, 50 percent AMI units and 31, 60 percent AMI units, according to Kevin Johnson, executive director of Housing Partnerships at Thrive Alliance.
The child care facility would be open to both residents and non-residents and focused on children up to age 3. Johnson told the board that HPI has a memorandum of understanding with Children’s Inc. to provide daycare services at the facility, which is expected to serve up to 58 children and have 10 employees. Hours of operation at the daycare would be 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Other plans for the development include a quarter-mile walking trail, a picnic area, a gazebo and a community garden. Johnson said they would also look to add a commercial space for something like a coffee shop “so the seniors would have a reason to come out of their units and break down social isolation.”
The project will likely be up for bids in the second quarter of next year and construction will start by the third quarter, according to Johnson. Build time is expected to take 15 to 18 months with leasing getting started in 2026 and reaching 100 percent occupancy in June of 2027.
Haw Creek Meadows would require demolition of the existing property on site and the construction of a new four-story building — the total project cost for phase one is expected to be $20.6 million, according to city officials.
HPI had asked and was granted a 10-year real property tax abatement on a $14.4 million investment into the property by city council members in July.
Members at the time also gave sign-off on a contribution the Columbus Redevelopment Commission approved for the project during a meeting on June 24. Redevelopment is providing an amount not to exceed $4.65 million from the city’s central tax-increment-financing (TIF) district to help with funding and the application process for federal low-income housing tax credits (LIHTC).
HPI is applying for an award of 9 percent federal LIHTC in the amount of $13 million to help with financing of the project, along with about $3.3 million in Regional Economic Acceleration & Development Initiative (READI) funds through the South Central Indiana Housing and Community Development Corporation (SCIHCDC).
However, how much TIF funds the redevelopment commission will actually end up contributing will depend on the amount of READI funds awarded, and will be reduced dollar for dollar on an award greater than $2 million. Because of this, the TIF dollars wouldn’t realistically go out until calendar year 2025.
HPI will find out whether or not they were awarded LIHT credits in November.
