Ohio State pays church not to build housing

From Ohio-

A church’s plans to build a nine-story residential apartment on Woodruff Avenue were halted after Ohio State promised nearly $13 million in exchange for scrapping the project.

OSU is paying St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, located at 30 W. Woodruff Ave. across from Ramseyer Hall, more than $12.8 million to withdraw the church’s proposed project, according to an agreement released by the university in June. Other items in the agreement grant the university right of first refusal if the church, which has been at its current location for more than 80 years, decides to sell its property and permit the university to weigh in on any of the church’s future projects, OSU spokesman Gary Lewis said.

The proposed project, which was originally being called the Lofts at St. Stephen’s, would have housed somewhere between 250 to 280 students, according to Rev. George Glazier, rector of St. Stephen’s.

“We were ready to break ground on building and the university did not want us to do that,” Glazier said, who added the housing was meant to “pull students closer in to this area.”

The church will receive a one-time payment of $7.5 million from the university with the remaining $3 million to be payable in 25 years at an interest rate of 5 percent, which is nearly $213,000 a year, according to the agreement.

In addition to the money, the church will get 100 parking spots inside Arps Garage on Sunday mornings, which will ease parking difficulties for churchgoers, Glazier said.

Lewis said the church’s project was not consistent with the university’s plans for the North Residential District.

“The university felt that the previously proposed high-density housing project would be a potential functional and aesthetic detriment to an important gateway into the campus and the North Residential District, which is now moving forward in support of our Second-year Transformational Experience Program,” Lewis said in an email.


More here-


http://www.thelantern.com/campus/ohio-state-pays-church-not-to-build-housing-1.3051305#.UhXu0hY0bUE