From Amazon to the Civic, how the Development Finance Authority helps Greater Akron

What do the Amazon distribution center in Akron, the Hall of Fame Village project in Canton and the Akron Civic Theatre have in common?

All are among the hundreds of projects across Northeast Ohio that have secured financing through the Development Finance Authority of Summit County.

Here's what to know about the DFA and its impact in the region.

What is the Development Finance Authority of Summit County?

The DFA is an Akron-based quasi-governmental organization that issues bonds for development projects in Ohio.

The agency also manages and staffs separate organizations that offer additional types of funding for projects. These include:

• Development Fund of the Western Reserve: A private nonprofit established in 2021 that brings New Markets Tax Credit investments to economically distressed communities• Western Reserve Community Fund: A private nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution established in 2019. WRCF provides financing and technical support to small businesses and nonprofits.• Energy Special Improvement District: A public nonprofit that provides Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing to Summit County commercial projects.

The authority and organizations that it staffs and manages have provided more than $882 millionin financing for 341 projects in Ohio since 2000.

Who does DFA help?

DFA President Chris Burnham said “61% of DFA projects have been in economically distressed communities” and “100% of the Development Fund of the Western Reserve projects have been in economically distressed communities.”

WRCF is focused on supporting minority- and women-owned businesses and nonprofits in economically distressed communities, Burnham said. Of WRCF loan recipients, 47% have not had commercial loans before, he said.

DFA Vice President Rachel Bridenstine said WRCF works with borrowers to obtain loans and hardly flat-out says no to loan requests. WRCF’s interest rates don’t exceed 4% and average 3%.

The nonprofit operates a general loan fund and multiple programs: the Minority Contractor Capital Access Program, Summit County Affordable Housing Trust Fund and Akron Resiliency Fund.

GAR Foundation President Christine Amer Mayer said the Minority Contractor Capital Access Program works with the Akron Urban League to pair minority-owned contractors with construction contracts and provides contractors funding and technical assistance.

“I credit Rachel and other partners at the Urban League for really listening to the marketplace and creating something that responded to a need,” Mayer said.

Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro called the program “a success story."

"Those companies — fledgling companies — have gotten millions of dollars in contracts and been able to build ... in partnership with the Urban League and some other partners in the community," she said.

Mayer added: “On the Akron Resiliency Fund, they were responding to the need, post-COVID, of small businesses who were really struggling to keep their doors open.”

What are some of DFA’s major projects?

The Amazon Distribution Center at the site of the former Rolling Acres Mall is among the Development Finance Authority's largest projects. The DFA facilitated $155 million in bond financing for the construction project.

In 2001, the port authority purchased the Akron Civic Theatre. The agency issued roughly $14 million in municipal bonds for expansion and infrastructure improvements.

The port authority also purchased the Akron Airdock in 2006, and it financed environmental remediation to protect workers and the public from potentially toxic polychlorinated biphenyls. At that time, Lockheed Martin leased the Airdock. In 2022, DFA sold the Airdock to Lighter Than Air for $1.5 million, Burnham said.

The port authority channeled $20 million from the Ohio Department of Development into the Goodyear headquarters project, Burnham said.

As part of The Bowery project, DFA gathered funding to develop the Civic’s Knight Stage, grand lobby, box office, administration building and deck overlook. At the end of 2023, DFA transferred the box office, administration building and deck to the nonprofit that manages the theater and property, Burnham said.

The newly renovated Civic serves as a focal point of the $42 million Bowery development along South Main and West Bowery streets that includes the revitalization of six formerly vacant buildings.

DFA is the underlying property owner for the project, and various funds complexly flowed through the agency, Burnham said.

In Stark County, the DFA provided $10 million in bond financing to the Hall of Fame Village project in Canton and $4 million in bond financing for construction of the Shearer's Food manufacturing facility in Massillon. The agency also acilitated $6.5 million in tax-credit financing for the construction of the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank's Canton facility.

Many of the projects that DFA has funded across Ohio have involved partnerships with other development finance agencies, such as the port authorities of Toledo-Lucas County, Cleveland-Cuyahoga County and Columbus-Franklin County. Financed projects have ranged from parking garage construction in Dublin’s Bridge Park development to Renaissance Cleveland Hotel renovations.

One publicized WRCF investment was the financing of Black-owned HG Development. HG’s purchases include a mixed-use building in Akron’s Kenmore neighborhood that houses Reggie Ray’s BBQ and two apartments.

WRCF’s Akron Resiliency Fund also invested $525,000 in four businesses on Kenmore Boulevard, all of them women-owned and three of them Black-owned.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: How the Development Finance Authority supports Greater Akron