ASHLAND — In an attempt to be more attractive to developers, the city of Ashland is adding two new ten-year, 100 percent tax abatements to its existing list of Community Reinvestment Area tax incentives.
At its regular meeting Tuesday evening, Ashland City Council unanimously approved an ordinance amending previous legislation to include the new incentives for developers, who are constructing new apartment buildings or subdivisions with at least 12 units or buildable lots and are not receiving other government incentives.
“The short term sacrifice far, far pales to the long term gain,” said Mayor Matt Miller.
He told council that he has spoken with at least two developers who were waiting on possible tax incentives before moving forward with Ashland projects. One developer has proposed 32 two-story townhouses at the corner of Fourth and Union Streets in the Pump House Corridor and the other would be a “several million dollar investment” on Commerce Parkway, the mayor explained.
“They are ready to enter a purchase agreement with the city, to purchase the corner. They are willing to pay the appraised price of the land, which is a good price for the city, and quite honestly, it’s exactly what we were working towards,” Mayor Miller said of the first project.
Based on his conversations with area developers, Miller has seen that these types of tax credits are common. They are offered in many communities, and often allow for developers to more affordably invest in larger metropolitan areas than in places like Ashland. Further, the risk is far less in a larger city.
For instance, Ashland’s lower cost of living could mean developers could make a few hundred less on an apartment rental. The market still hasn’t quite proven itself, the mayor said.
The new tax incentives will go into effective within 30 days.
