State Approves Mentor's Expanded Community Reinvestment Area

The state of Ohio has approved a Mentor in Community Reinvestment Area expansion so it can benefit business owners along Tyler Boulevard and Twinbrook Road.

Mentor Economic Development Director Ron Traub explained that the city has received administrative approval but is still waiting on the final signature.

CRAs are an economic tool that allow the city to offer tax abatements for building or expansion in a specific area.

The original CRA was established on Heisley Road between Hendricks Road and Progress Parkway in 1984. It was expanded in 1988 so it is now bounded by the city's border with Painesville Township, State Route 2, Hopkins Road and the Norfolk & Southern railroad line.

City Council voted to expand it again in September.

It will now include the buildings along Tyler Boulevard from Hopkins Road to Center Street and Twinbrook Road.

The area's buildings are 87 percent industrial and 13 percent single-family homes, Traub saod.

Any buildings in the aforementioned CRA get 100 percent property-tax exemptions for five years on any new construction or expansions.

"We're hoping this will furnish expansion (for the industrial businesses in the area) and create more jobs," Traub said.