The Columbus Redevelopment Authority has $2.2 million more to put toward the Burns Bottom redevelopment project thanks to a $460 billion funding package Congress passed Friday.
The package includes a Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill that will allocate $2.2 million for the Burns Bottom project. Last year, the state legislature approved a $3 million appropriation for the CRA – giving the authority $5.2 million total for infrastructure work in the project area.
Board member Jason Spears told The Dispatch the CRA has waited to access the state funds but is in a better position to do so now that the federal funds have come through. The CRA plans to request the state funds in April, after which it will have a certain time frame to spend them.
Spears said the federal money is earmarked for specific aspects of the project, including the preliminary infrastructure work needed before the five-block area between Third and Fourth Street and second and Seventh Avenue North can be redeveloped.
“We understand that where we are currently there’s going to be a tremendous amount of infrastructure build that will (happen) first, and that’s what these particular funds can be used for,” he said. “What the (federal) money can be used for in our project specifically is for grading and drainage work. It will be very strictly regulated … that we use the ($2.2 million) for only those parts of the project.”
Spears said the state appropriated funds aren’t as strictly regulated, meaning the CRA will have more leeway on how to spend the $3 million. Once the preliminary infrastructure work is done, that money will be used to address things like sewer, water and road improvements in Burns Bottom.
CRA president Marthalie Porter said the addition of the federal appropriations to the project will help sweeten the deal when it comes to finding developers for Burns Bottom.
“It’s going to be really a terrific amount of money to help us with the infrastructure needs, and to go along with what we had already received from the Mississippi legislature,” she said. “Now that we have an additional $2.2 million, it’s just more icing on the cake, so to speak.”
The CRA was established in 2015 to target redevelopment in the city’s urban renewal zone, including Burns Bottom. The board began purchasing lots in the area in 2017, acquiring 70 in total, with the goal of prepping and marketing the neighborhood for residential and commercial development
The board formally requested proposals in February to redevelop some or all of the project area. The CRA will accept proposal submissions April 25.
Spears said with the state and federal funds secured, the board will have a good idea of where the project will go from here.
“Right now we have our (request for proposals) out, and that will give us a good idea of the various developers and their ideas of what they would like to put together,” he said. “It will give us a good baseline to work from.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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