Columbus Redevelopment Authority board members are publicly working to avoid perceived conflicts of interest with bringing the Burns Bottom Development project to fruition.
To that end, one of the board’s five members, Andrew Colom, has “taken a leave of absence” from board discussions while the project takes shape since his family owns property within the proposed redevelopment site. Another board member, commercial developer Mark Castleberry, said he “has no interest” in bidding on any of the property within the site if the project progresses that far.
The CRA board, through its president, John Acker, told the Columbus City Council last week it had targeted the five-block Burns Bottom area downtown — which includes blocks running east of 3rd Street North, from 7th Avenue to 2nd Avenue North — for its first project in the city’s designated urban redevelopment district. The project area includes 80 properties, of which 68 are privately owned. Of those, he said 40 are residential and mostly “low quality.”
Both CRA board members and Columbus officials hope to tether the redevelopment with the county’s soccer complex and the city’s Riverwalk in building a more attractive entry to downtown. Developers the board met with about the site have guided the CRA toward residential development.
Acker said CRA would first obtain independent appraisals for the private lots, then pursue public funding to purchase them. A public entity, however, cannot pay more than the appraised market value for private property. From there, developers could bid on the parcels for commercial or residential projects.
CRA members plan to ask the city and county to partner in purchasing the lots, and Acker is on Friday’s meeting agenda to discuss the project with the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors, according to County Administrator Ralph Billingsley.
Property values
Records in Lowndes County Tax Assessor/Collector Greg Andrews’ office show a combined appraised value for all 80 lots in the project area at $965,520, an average of $12,069 per lot. Andrews said the appraised tax value of each property represented 82 percent of its market value, making the total market value of the proposed project area roughly $1.18 million.
Colom’s father, Will Colom, and his business, Genesis Real Estate, own six parcels within the project site. But those six properties, which county tax records appraised at a combined $228,400, represents almost 24 percent of the site’s total appraised value. At market value based on the county’s appraisal, Will Colom and Genesis stand to make more than $278,500 from the redevelopment.
Because of his family ties to Burns Bottom property, Andrew Colom said he has not participated in CRA board discussions since December and recused himself from voting on the project. City and CRA board attorney Jeff Turnage said he consulted the Mississippi Ethics Commission before advising Colom to recuse himself.
“I think this project is an amazing thing, and I don’t want the story to become about my leave of absence,” Colom said. “This is currently not a great neighborhood. We have the Riverwalk and the soccer complex in that area, which are great developments, and we have one of the poorest neighborhoods right next to those investments.
“I’m totally for this,” he added. “I’m so for it that I didn’t want there to be any hint of bias on my part.”
Castleberry’s previous interest
Castleberry said on Monday that he considered privately developing the Burns Bottom area in 2011, but he stopped pursuing the project because of “timing.”
“I determined the economy was not at all right at the time,” Castleberry said. “I obviously believe in this project, or I wouldn’t have supported putting it forward now. … Houses are selling again, the economy in the Golden Triangle is stronger than it was in 2011 and nationally, I think, people are feeling better about the economy than they did in 2011.”
Castleberry, who specializes in hotel and retail development and is most notably spearheading the Mill at MSU hotel and conference center development in Starkville, said he agrees residential development best fits Burns Bottom. If the proposed project gets public funding, though, Castleberry said not only does he understand the conflict his bidding on any of those properties would cause with his CRA board position, but also that “there are better people” than him for residential development.
“They say you should never say never, but it’s not my intent (to bid on Burns Bottom properties),” he said.
Columbus Mayor Robert Smith, through his company RES Real Estate, also owns a vacant parcel in the Burns Bottom project area, which county tax assessor documents value at $3,000. Smith said he had owned that property for several years.
Public funding in question
To strike an interlocal agreement between the city and county on the project, the CRA has an uphill climb with the board of supervisors. Board President Harry Sanders said in a Sunday article in The Dispatch he did not favor using public funds to purchase property for residential development, especially if the entities had to use eminent domain to obtain properties. Sanders added that with residential development, neither the city nor county could guarantee the development wouldn’t become a “hood” in 10 years.
Smith said he took exception to Sanders’ comments, adding he expecting the development to yield “upscale” homes or condominiums.
“I don’t see it coming to the point where it turns into a ‘hood’ in 10 years,” Smith said. “I disagree with that statement, and I can’t believe he said that.”
Smith, however, agreed that eminent domain should be “a last resort” for acquiring properties. Further, he said he did not support using public funds to purchase the lots without a city-county partnership.
“I don’t speak for the council, but I personally would not favor the city taking this on itself if the county will not partner with us,” he said. “If the county has no interest, then I hope the Columbus Redevelopment Authority would look at private developers coming in and purchasing the property (from the existing landowners).”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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