LIMA — The Lima Mall will soon benefit from as much as $1.37 million in energy efficiency improvements, thanks to bond funding secured through the Port Authority of Allen County.
The Port Authority met Thursday to approve the ordinance to issue Property Assessed Clean Energy bonds to cover the cost of making energy improvements to the roof of the building, as well as improve the facility’s heating, cooling and ventilation system, the lighting and skylights.
“Many other companies and entities around the state of Ohio have taken advantage of these PACE projects before,” Port Authority executive director Jerry Arkebauer said. “It permits the company to obtain money up front, install the energy efficiency improvements — in the case of the Lima Mall, roofing, HVAC work, LED lighting and improvements to their skylights — and then pay that amount back over 15 years under a special assessment.”
The assessment will be paid back by Columbus-based Mall at Lima, LLC, the owners of the mall, through property taxes, according to Arkebauer. The bonds are expected to be purchased by Hannon Armstrong, an Annapolis, Maryland-based financing company, and American Township trustees agreed Monday to create a Special Energy Assessment District for the mall to facilitate the levy.
“For the benefit of the mall, their energy improvements are calculated to be greater than the amount of money they’ll have to pay back in principal and interest to pay for the improvements,” Arkebauer said. “That’s why they want to do it.”
Only a portion of the mall will be assessed for property taxes, with Macy’s owning its portion of the mall, Arkebauer said.
According to the meeting agenda, neither the Port Authority, American Township, Allen County nor the state will incur any financial responsibility for this venture. The tentative closing date for the bonds is Oct. 22.
Attempts to reach Lima Mall management for comment were unsuccessful.
