A Goodwill thrift store to relocate as Franklin County to sell two buildings for $4M

A Goodwill Columbus thrift shop and learning center will have to relocate after the Franklin County Commissioners agreed to sell two county Board of Developmental Disabilities buildings for a total of nearly $4 million.

One of the two buildings the county commissioners approved for sale on Tuesday is a 71,220-square-foot warehouse building on just over 4 acres at 4395 Marketing Place off Williams Road in Groveport. The building is being sold to Acquire Gen 3 LLC for $1,750,000.

The county Board of Developmental Disabilities has had the building since July 1992, originally using it as the site of a sheltered educational and job training workshop for developmentally disabled individuals.

Goodwill has been operating a thrift store and learning center at that location for years, and will have up to nine months after the sale goes through to relocate its operations at no cost for its time there, Morison said.

Built in 1981, the Franklin County Auditor's Office appraised the one-story building's value in 2022 at more than $2.3 million. If the building were not tax-exempt, it would have had a taxable value of $807,420 last year.

The county commissioners also approved selling a one-story, 69,389-square-foot manufacturing/warehouse building at 909 Taylor Station Road in Gahanna for $2.2 million. The buyer, H.T. Hackney Co., a wholesale food distribution firm, owns the building next door at 875 Taylor Station Road.

The county Board of Developmental Disabilities has owned the property since August 1982 and used the property for a sheltered workshop for individuals who had mental retardation or other developmental issues when ARC Industries was a part of the board. ARC, which has since become its own nonprofit, continued to provide vocational training and employment service there until earlier this year, when it relocated operations to another of its facilities, Morison said.

Built in the mid-1980s, the Franklin County Auditor's Office appraised the value of the building and property on Taylor Station Road at $3.7 million in 2022 and its taxable value at more than $1.3 million last year if it were not tax exempt as county-owned property.

Jed Morison, superintendent and CEO of the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities, who is retiring at the end of this year after 54 years of public service, told The Dispatch the buildings are from a time when the board provided job training and other services directly to the developmentally disabled and ARC Industries operated as a part of the board.

Over the years, training transitioned to community-based job training done by providers with board oversight. ARC Industries became its own nonprofit and provided services, but earlier this year relocated its operations at Taylor Station to another, newer facility, he said.

Morison said the board no longer needs the two buildings and they are being sold to the highest bidders.

In other action Tuesday, the county commissioners formally objected to a 30-year, 100% tax abatement the city of Whitehall is proposing for the Fairway Boulevard Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District to support construction of approximately 34 new single-family homes there by capturing and redirecting taxes to fund public improvements in and adjoining the district.

Under state law, the county has the right to object to TIFs longer than 10 years or 75% abatement. The county says such an abatement "places a strain on various social service levy agencies" in the county as that tax revenue is redirected and does not recognize potential service increases. The commissioners want the city to negotiate compensation in years 11-30 of the proposed TIF District for various social service levy agencies in Franklin County.

If a compensation agreement is reached, the commisioners say Whitehall can proceed to create the TIF District. If not, the county will seek compensation at a default rate set under the Ohio Revised Code.

The commissioners also:

• Awarded a $500,000 contract to R&S Halley and Company, Inc., doing business as Darby Creek Nursery & Landscaping, to provide snow removal services at designated county facilities.

• Awarded Moody Nolan a $14,750 to redesign a space plan for the Franklin County Forensic Science Center based on changes being made by the current coroner in response to a study of the office's performance under his predecessor.

• Approved a $900,000 agreement with Godman Guild Association to manage employment training and work search activities now required to receive help under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

• Approved a $220,545 increase to Shelly & Sands Inc. for the Franklin County Township Resurfacing Program in 2022, bringing the total contract to $3,769,855.

jwilhelm@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Two Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities buildings sold