“It’s dead with Heartland,” said George O’Donnel, a member of the Columbus Airport Terminal Stabilization Fund, who said the group is now talking with another possible tenant.
In a recent email to city, state and airport officials and proponents pushing the project, Heartland Bank President and CEO Scott McComb said the project is not economically feasible to rehab and house its corporate operations.
“After months of hard work by you all, the numbers simply do not work for our company,” McComb wrote.
McComb did not return a call from The Dispatch.
Heartland Bank is withdrawing its application for state historic tax credits. And Columbus City Council put a 10-year, 75 percent property-tax abatement for the project on hold, said Steve Schoeny, the city’s development director.
“Historic renovations are among the hardest projects to do,” Schoeny said. “I’m never shocked when one of these falls through.”
Heartland’s decision wasn’t a surprise to Robin Holderman, chief asset and development officer for the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which owns the buildings.
“The budget became burdensome for them,” Holderman said.
O’Donnel said it is more expensive per square foot for Heartland to rehab the buildings than to build a new one.
The airport restoration group last month submitted a $3 million grant application to state officials to consider in the next capital budget.
This past summer, Gahanna-based Heartland had signed a letter of intent to lease the property and move its corporate headquarters to the site. The terminal at 4920 E. 5th Ave. and a nearby hangar both opened in 1929. They are at the southeastern edge of Port Columbus.
The Heartland project was to have cost between $6.25 million and $8.5 million, according to the state capital budget application.
The preservation group raised $53,295 to nail down a matching $50,000 grant from the Columbus Foundation to install a roof on the terminal, which had been riddled with mold, and do other work.
The original terminal was used until the current one opened in 1958.
Source: http://www.dispatch.com
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