COLUMBUS - The Board of Trustees of The Ohio State University on Friday (7/7) authorized continued funding for Campus Partners' initiatives to improve the University District and requested development of a five-year business plan for Campus Partners.

In its action, the board approved the release of:

· Up to $650,000 annually for the next three years to support Campus Partners' operations to carry out existing initiatives, including the development of the University Gateway Center.

· $3 million in additional funding from the university's endowment to invest in the purchase of property for the University Gateway Center.

· Up to $7.6 million for the purchase of real estate and corporate stock by Campus Partners to support the long-range plans for the University District.

"We are quite proud of the success which Campus Partners and our other partners in this initiative have achieved in the last five years to improve the quality of life of our students and other residents who live around our campus," David Williams II, Ohio State's vice president for student and urban/community affairs, told the trustees. Williams, who chairs the Campus Partners' Board of Trustees, cited programs to increase homeownership and to improve public safety and other critical public services and projects to enhance High Street's commercial vitality, including development of the Gateway Center.

"We have said from the beginning that there is no 'quick fix' in revitalizing these neighborhoods," he said. "Ohio State, however, has made a long-term commitment, has built partnerships with the city and with our neighbors, and will continue to invest in these projects with greater assurance that headway has been made and even greater progress is ahead."

The university trustees in 1995 authorized creation of Campus Partners as a non-profit redevelopment corporation and set aside $25 million in university endowment funds for real estate and related investments to support the revitalization efforts. In May 1997, the trustees accepted the University Neighborhoods Revitalization Plan: Concept Document prepared by Campus Partners and authorized the release of $15 million from the $25 million set-aside for real estate purchases for the Gateway project. At that time, the trustees also authorized operating support for Campus Partners through June 30, 2000.

In their action Friday (7/7), the trustees extended Campus Partners' operating support through June 30, 2003. They also requested that Campus Partners prepare a five-year business plan to help provide the framework for the next phases of the revitalization initiative. Campus Partners was directed to present the plan to the board by its meeting in December.

Campus Partners has moved ahead with plans for the University Gateway Center, which is one of the largest mixed-use urban redevelopment projects ever attempted in central Ohio. The Gateway project will be located on 7.4 acres in the area of High Street and East 11th Avenue and will be a dynamic blend of about 450,000 square feet of entertainment, retail, office space and rental housing, plus a 1,200-space parking facility.

Campus Partners has acquired about 90 percent of the site, selected the project developer, executed an economic development agreement with the city, and secured a grant from the state capital budget to help support construction of the parking facility. The remainder of the property likely will be acquired over the next year, followed by about 18 months of construction.

The Campus Partners staff in 1997 had made a preliminary estimate that acquisition and site preparation costs for the Gateway project would likely total $18 million. That estimate is proving to be accurate. As a result, Campus Partners requested that the university's Board of Trustees release an additional $3 million from the $25 million set-aside.

The trustees approved the release of that $3 million for acquisition of properties in the Gateway area.

The trustees also authorized the release of up to $3 million in additional funds from the set-aside for the purchase of real estate outside of the Gateway site and the release of up to $4.6 million in endowment funds - not part of the set-aside - for the purchase and financing of assets related to the additional real estate acquisitions.

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