Sweet: Let state give to Sleepy Hollow

By Harold Gwin

Wick Neighbors, the project developer, has been working on the same issue.

YOUNGSTOWN — The president of Youngstown State University thinks the state should kick in as much as $5 million to help finance the start of the Wick District/Smoky Hollow Development project.

Dr. David C. Sweet said Tuesday the state needs to provide project assistance through its Capital Budget, suggesting the amount of that help be between $2 million and $5 million.

The Smoky Hollow project is essentially a residential development plan calling for the construction of 270 homes, about 20,000 square feet of retail space and a 10-acre park, all in a $100 million development package.

The area covers about 66 acres bounded by Wick, Rayen and Madison avenues,

YSU owns most of the land targeted for the development and is working closely with Wick Neighbors Inc., the project developer, Sweet said.

State assistance is needed to help pay for the $9 million in infrastructure improvements the project needs, he said.

The city is expected to contribute $2 million toward that effort, and Sweet said he would like to see the state provide between $2 million and $5 million and the federal government come up with the rest to reach the $9 million figure.

Margaret L. Murphy, executive director of Wick Neighbors, said her agency has been working with the governor’s staff and the state local delegation on that issue, and there appears to be positive advancement for the request for state assistance.

Wick Neighbors also is involved in assembling properties for the project and is working with the city and Lien Forward Ohio toward that end, Murphy said.

Sweet said the Northeast Ohio Universities Collaboration and Innovation Study Commission, which completed its work in December, recommended the state Legislature provide targeted, ongoing funding for the public universities in Northeast Ohio to implement a strategy for economic redevelopment partnerships in the urban areas adjacent to their campuses.

Urban universities are “engines for neighborhood development” around their campuses, and Smoky Hollow is exactly that kind of project, he said.

Redevelopment of that area will send a message to the community and beyond that marketable housing is being built for empty-nesters, YSU alumni, people who work downtown and others. It has positive ramifications for the city and beyond, Sweet said.

Once the infrastructure work is done, the project will require another $4 million to $5 million in its first two development phases, he added.

gwin@vindy.com