Senate Bill 39 is Now Ohio Law

On December 29, 2020, Senate Bill 39 – the Transformational Mixed-use Development Tax Credit Bill – became the law of Ohio.  That new law is extremely important for the commercial real estate industry – it is something that is sorely needed as our economy pulls out of the Coronavirus Recession.
This new law will now enable certain transformational mixed-use developments to move forward.  Mixed-use developments with $50,000,000 or more in total project costs (and 15 stories or 350,000 square feet) that are in or around cities with a population of 100,000 or more, or smaller scale but still transformational mixed-use developments that are located more than 10 miles outside of a major city may qualify.
Unlike any other Ohio commercial real estate economic development law – it includes a first of its kind, built-in return on investment calculation and methodology to ensure that additional state and local taxes generated by the development will exceed the amount of the tax credits awarded to the developer.
Senate Bill 39 also improves Ohio Commercial Broker Lien Law by mandating recovery of all attorneys’ fees and costs for the prevailing party and streamlining the process for serving Broker’s Liens.
Our firm drafted portions of Senate Bill 39, and we were extremely involved in the process of advocating for its passage – before it became law.