West Side Business Center Shows Problems with Government Development
Two things are certain when state and city governments become developers: large sums of taxpayer money will be spent and, at the end, another revitalization project will be needed. A case in point: Columbus’s Sullivant Gardens.
Sullivant Gardens, built in 1941, was one of the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority’s first low-income communities.[1] During the 1980s, the residents of the housing development were given the option to buy out their apartments. In 1996, the area was declared a flood zone, the development was closed and residents were forced to leave.
After razing the apartments, plans were made to construct a floodwall in the region, and the property went from being worthless to prime near-downtown real estate almost overnight.[2] For several years now the city of Columbus has been developing the land for business use. At first, the project was called the Sullivant Gardens Light Industrial Park. Recently, the area has been re-named the “West Edge Business Development Center” and is being touted as the tool that will revitalize the area.[3]
Whether creating an industrial park on this site is a good investment of time and resources for the city of Columbus is debatable. Funding doesn’t stop at the city line, though, as state tax dollars have become a significant funding component.
In February of 2001, the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) approved an $80,000 road development grant to the Columbus Urban Growth Corporation (CUGC) for the Sullivant Gardens Light Industrial Park. That same month, ODOD also approved a $140,000 Urban and Rural Initiative grant and a $950,000 Urban Redevelopment Loan to CUGC for the project.[4] In June of 2002, CUGC received another $80,000 road development grant from ODOD.[5]
This is probably good news to residents of the West Side of Columbus, as the area will finally be rid of a large plot of vacant land. It looks like the good news will be short-lived, however, since the Ohio Arts Facilities Building Fund has decided to get in on the redevelopment action.
The agency has appropriated $10 million to develop the RiverSouth District, west of the capital square.[6] The initial plans include discussion of retail space, housing, and a new stadium for Columbus’s AAA baseball team, the Clippers.[7] In 2000 – 2001, the agency appropriated $350,000 to conduct a relocation feasibility study for the Clippers’ current Cooper Stadium.[8] This old stadium, likely to be demolished or left vacant, is practically next door to the West Edge Business Development Center.
These two projects typify government-directed development efforts and why they are a poor use of tax dollars. Unlike development spurred by private investment, government-directed development rarely creates new resources. Instead, existing resources are merely shuffled around.
Research on new stadiums, for example, demonstrates that they neither create jobs nor spur economic growth. Rather, new stadiums shift spending from other forms of entertainment such as restaurants and movies towards professional sports.[9]
Even if both of these projects are “successful,” Westsiders will be no better off. After all, if both of these projects come to fruition, the West Side will have the West Edge Business Development Center – and an empty Cooper stadium next door in need of redevelopment.
Notes
[1] For more information, visit the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority’s web site at: http://www.cmhanet.com.
[2] J. Caleb Mozzocco, “Better business builder,” Columbus Alive, 14 June 2001. Bob Fitrakis, “The Other Columbus,” Columbus Alive, 14 October 1999.
[3] Mozzocco, “Better business builder.”
[4] See the Ohio Department of Development’s Economic Development Approved Projects website at http://www.odod.state.oh.us/edd/Projects.htm.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ohio Office of Budget and Management, “H. B. 675, as Enacted, Capital Improvements Appropriations for FYs 2003-2004 by fund and agency, Ohio Office of Budget and Management.”
[7] Brian R. Ball, “Georgetown to help redirect RiverSouth development,” Columbus Business First, 13 November 13, 2002.
[8] Ohio Office of Budget and Management, “Am. Sub. H. B. 640, as Enacted, Ohio's Capital Appropriations Bill for FYs 2001-2002.”
[9] Roger G. Noll and Andrew Zimbalist, “Sports, Jobs & Taxes: Are New Stadiums Worth the Cost?” The Brookings Review 15, no. 3 (Summer 1997): 35-39.
