Zanesville is Taking Initiative in Community Reinvestment

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – The City of Zanesville is aware of the need for more suitable housing and is taking measures to renovate and reinvest in neighborhoods to attract residents by increasing their appeal.

Zanesville Mayor Don Mason talked about initiatives, called Community Reinvestment Areas, that are being developed along the West Main Street and Sharon Avenue Corridors.

“So C-R-A stands for Community Reinvestment Area and what it is, is it’s one of the tools the city has to help incentivize investment within the city versus investment in another city,” Mason said. “The C-R-A is for anybody who wants to invest in a property. But most important to realize that the application has to be filed and approved before the investment dollars can flow through to the project and see the beneficial tax treatment.”

C-R-A’s encourage people to take existing properties, explain their renovation plans to the city and get a 75 percent abatement on new money during the following 12 years.

“A good example of where the city is presently using a C-R-A to benefit investment right now is really at the corner of… I’ll call it First and Main Street,” Mason said. “The Owners there are putting a… making a multi-million dollar investment into a couple of buildings that have sat underutilized for a number of years. The city is very excited about the plans they have for a mixed use. Everything from housing to shops within the buildings.”

The C-R-A’s are just one tool that the City of Zanesville is using as they partner with the port authority, the county, the land bank, the community improvement corporation and the chamber of commerce to encourage workforce developed housing.

The two areas that have been recently designated as C-R-A’s are the area south of West Main Street, which basically surrounds Chaps Run Park and parts of the city’s east side, near Calvert and Pioneer Parks.