EDA moves on Obici property

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, November 13, 2014

The city’s Economic Development Authority agreed on Wednesday to hire Kimley-Horn and Associates to provide a raft of services related to the old Obici Hospital property.

After meeting in closed session about the agreement, the authority voted unanimously to authorize the city to enter into the agreement.

The site is located at 1900 N. Main St. Set to include about 27.5 acres of re-developed land, it has sat vacant for more than a decade after the hospital moved its operations to the current site on Godwin Boulevard and razed the old building.

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Several attempts to sell and develop the property have fallen through, including one by Robinson Development, which bought it in 2006. After failing to get a theater operator to anchor the mixed-use site, the group sold the site back to the city in 2008.

According to the proposed agreement with Kimley-Horn, the company will receive about $132,000 for its services, which will include a proposed site layout, a public facilities report, a water quality impact assessment, an analysis of fiscal impacts to public services, a traffic impact study, a soils report, an environmental site assessment, wetlands mapping, development of design guidelines, assistance in preparing the rezoning application and attendance at various meetings and public hearings.

About $45,000 of the total is the traffic impact study alone, which will analyze current and future traffic at intersections as far away as Main Street and Constance Road as well as the Route 58 bypasses crossing Godwin and Pruden boulevards.

According to the agreement, the city intends to create a mixed use development on the site by selling the property to multiple users, including a mix of commercial, retail and multi-family residential.