Just three days after Ohio University’s Board of Trustees approved the purchase of 15 acres for a regional extension branch of its medical college, Dublin City Council allotted 75 additional acres for the school’s use.
The council unanimously voted Monday to give OU’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine the land, setting exceptions for subareas of the lot.
The original 15 acres, located at 7001–7003 Post Road, cost OU $11 million. The purchase was unanimously approved by OU trustees at Friday’s meeting. It will be paid for using the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation’s $105 million gift, given to the college last year.
“Thank you to our staff to be able to advance this process and install confidence in Ohio University to bring them here,” Dublin Councilwoman Cathy Boring said. “I’m sure they have confidence in this community.”
The council’s collaboration with OU-HCOM was first discussed at its April 9 meeting when OU’s Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit presented.
“We’re very excited about the prospect, and our partners seem to be equally excited,” said Jack Brose, dean of OU-HCOM, before Monday’s resolution was passed. “The provost is doing a great job to make sure that moves forward.”
Dublin has given OU-HCOM three separate parcels of land — labeled Subareas 1, 2 and 3 — with certain conditions.
Subarea 1 will be given to the university as long as OU-HCOM’s land is purchased, designed, renovated and opened by Sept. 1, 2015 — a task Brose hopes to have completed by fall 2014.
Subarea 2 will be available once OU presents a “master plan” for the property by Dec. 31, 2018, according to the resolution.
“I, too, would hope that could happen sooner rather than later,” said Dana McDaniel, Dublin’s deputy city manager. “We’ll all work together to try and move that forward.”
Subarea 3 will house a hotel conference center. OU has entered into a Tax Increment Financing agreement. If OU runs the hotel, they will give Dublin payments as if the hotel were a private entity, McDaniel said.
“We both agree that’s a development we want to see there,” McDaniel added. “Would it be a race to get our flag up? I don’t know. They may have a leg up in terms of doing that, I just don’t know.”
sj950610@ohiou.edu
