By Jennifer Edwards
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MIDDLETOWN - A stained glass company renovating and moving into the old G.C. Murphy Building at Broad Street and Central Avenue could be the spark to ignite redevelopment downtown.

Hopeful Middletown officials say they must offer a generous tax incentive to BeauVerre Riordan Studios to seal the deal.

"Other cities are doing similar things ... this may bring in 30 jobs but that's 30 jobs," Councilman Perry Thatcher said late Tuesday as council debated the issue. "I feel they would be a very good addition to downtown Middletown. (But) I do feel they are not going to wait much longer."

Late Tuesday, council voted 6-1 to have City Manager Ron Olson and Planning Director Marty Kohler draft a contract with BeauVerre for a no-interest, $300,000 loan and $10,000 job credits off the principal of that loan for every job that adds at least $20,000 to the company's payroll.

In return, the Middletown-based company plans to buy the building and spend at least $600,000 in renovations. It will move the business to the first floor and part of the basement.

Plans call for offices on the building's second floor and residences on the third, which fits the city's vision for downtown.

Olson told council the company's owners are looking forward to starting the project and hope to occupy the building in a year.

The city-owned dilapidated Murphy building has been a headache for city leaders, in part because it contains asbestos. The building also was part of an old shopping mall that was demolished about two years ago.

The term of BeauVerre's loan will be 15 years, but no payments will be made for the first five years. The money for the loan will be pulled from Urban Development Action Grant funds the city received from the federal government in the 1970s.

BeauVerre will spend $30,000 on an elaborate, decorative trim around the top of the building that needs substantial repair work. Anything above that will be paid for by the city in a $30,000 grant.

BeauVerre also wants the city to guarantee the structural soundness of the building beyond flaws noted in a city study conducted in the late 1990s.

Kohler told council he is confident the study is comprehensive but if other structural issues are found during renovations, BeauVerre reserves the right to pull out of the deal.

If that happens, the city will buy the building back and reimburse the company for work completed.

In other city business, council unanimously agreed the city should impose a new, $500 impact fee on new homes to fund parks.

E-mail: jedwards@enquirer.com