Mayor, two councilmen trade comments before UA housing measures OK'd in 10-3 vote
Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic sparred with two City Council members Monday night over two land deals to aid a downtown developer.
At-large council members John Conti and Michael Williams spoke out against the deal, criticizing the city's investment of about $2 million at the expense of the neighborhoods.
The council approved the deals in a 10-3 vote, with Ward 2 Councilman Bruce Kilby, Conti and Williams casting dissenting votes.
The city will buy the Akron Area Board of Realtors building and its 2-acre lot at South High and Cedar streets for $1.405 million.
The city is expected to use the site to help provide 250 parking spaces for a 450-bed apartment and retail complex planned for the block at East Exchange, South Main, Cedar and South High streets.
The council also approved the sale of a city-owned 1-acre lot across from Cedar to the project's developer for $129,000.
The property is along South High Street and has a 116-car surface parking lot on the south side and the historic Richard Howe house on the north side at East Exchange Street.
The city purchased the Howe House in 1998 for $289,500. The city will pay to have it moved a block west. A city official said the moving cost would be at least $200,000.
Conti and Williams each said they supported the new housing development effort, but they questioned the extent of the city's investment in the private project.
''We have over 7,000 vacant homes in this city, we have blighted buildings in this city, and this is where people live,'' Conti said. ''It's about time this council and this city started reinvesting in those neighborhoods
because people are moving out of our city.''
Plusquellic accused the two councilmen of playing politics. He said the project is important to bringing people downtown, which would spur retail growth and jobs.
Downtown housing development has been talked about for 30 years, he said, and the city's investment is merely a ''priming of the pump'' for future growth.
''I urge the rest of council members, let the two (members) do what they want. If they think they're going to get political advantages, so be it. But I ask all of you, do what's right for the city and follow a plan that has been in existence for more than 30 years,'' the mayor told the council.
Williams countered with remarks that prompted Plusquellic to point to the council chamber doors.
''First of all mayor, I've had about as much of your stuff that I can really take. What is really clear right now, is that anybody that disagrees with you, they have to have some other kind of agenda. And it's getting real old,'' Williams said. ''I happen to believe the amount of money we're putting into this is disproportionate with the value that we're going to receive out of it.
''Now, if you don't like that, that's fine. But it doesn't have to be a political agenda. . . . .Maybe that's how you operate, maybe that's how you function, maybe that's your thought process, but that's not mine.''
When the property deals were announced two weeks ago, city officials defended the plan. They said the Board of Realtors purchase price was near its appraised value and the selling price of city-owned land to the developer was part of the cost of urban development.
The developer intends to market the housing strictly to University of Akron students.
On Monday, developer Martin Mehall told members of the council's special economic development and job creation committee that he considered sites closer to the UA campus, but that ''instincts told us this was the best site.''
Warren Woolford, Akron's planning and urban development director, told the committee the project appears viable and that there is currently a waiting list for students seeking UA dormitory space.
Businessman Kevin Davis, who is selling Mehall the western half of the block, added that acquiring property closer to UA would mean costlier land purchases and making deals with multiple property owners.
Mehall has committed at least $25 million to the project and plans for it to be opened in 2009.
He has already struck a deal with Davis for a 1-acre strip along South Main Street where Brubaker's Pub and the former Jillian's nightclub currently sit. Terms of the purchase have yet to be disclosed.
By Phil Trexler, Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Tuesday, Dec 04, 2007
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com
