Why Marion Makes Sense for New Housing Projects

(Despite what you may have heard!)

by Dave Claborn, President

Marion CAN DO!

September 14, 1999

(A report w)

Community

Marion enjoys both the benefits of a self-contained marketplace as well as membership in the robust Columbus/Central Ohio region.  While Marion is not a true “Columbus suburb,” the community is within easy commuting distance to Columbus and surrounding communities.  Marion is just 45 minutes north of Columbus on US 23.  Marion City has a population of approximately 38,000 in a county of over 68,000.  The community has been a traditional manufacturing center, governmental center, agricultural marketplace, and county seat.  It has also been heavily influenced by the railroads.  Marion has three main lines that cross in the center of town and was once a major marshalling point for the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. Today, the rails are playing an important role in Marion’s economic renewal.  In addition to these influences, Marion was home to the 29^th president of the United States, Warren Harding, providing the community with a rich and colorful heritage. The influence of all of these factors can be felt today in the Marion community.

History

As in many communities, Marion has undergone periods of growth and slowdowns.  Shortly after the city’s founding in the 1820s, Marion and Marion County grew rapidly as an agricultural center.  Transportation links have always been important to the community’s prosperity.  The Columbus-Sandusky Road that passed through the center of town brought the first wave of settlers to Marion.  Later, starting in 1852, Marion was connected to the outside world by railroads.  By 1900, the community was a rail center with 40 passenger trains a day stopping in Marion.  It was the Erie Railroad and the presence of a massive switchyard on the west side that shaped much of the town’s growth. 

As the home of the nation’s 29^th president, Marion enjoyed the national spotlight during and after Warren Harding’s front porch campaign for the presidency.  Marion became the backdrop for Harding’s common-man campaign.  As Harding orated from the front porch of his home on Mount Vernon Avenue, the town surrounding him became symbolic of the American Midwestern work ethic.  The scandals following Harding’s death in office brought Marion another kind of notoriety not unlike the media attention received in recent years.

When it comes to Marion’s industrial history, Edward Huber’s invention of a revolving hay rake in 1863 led to Huber Manufacturing, a significant farm machinery manufacturing operation on the north side of town.  Huber and several business partners started a new venture in 1874, building the first steam shovel and kicking off an industry that would endure in Marion for the next 114 years. 

The Marion Power Shovel Company dominated the local industrial scene for the better part of the 20^th century.  The “Shovel” produced the world’s largest machinery, including the shovels that dug the Panama Canal and the crawler that today carries space shuttles to their launch pads at Cape Canaveral.  In its heyday, the Marion Steam Shovel Company was typical of Industrial-Revolution era companies.  It employed thousands in a heavy, labor-intensive environment.  The men who worked here built the machinery that dug the coal that fueled the rest of the Industrial Revolution.  In its time, the “Shovel” was the model of the modern American industrial plant.

The Shovel’s time came—and went.  As environmental laws took hold in the latter part of the century, the high sulfur coal typically strip-mined with Marion equipment was no longer in such high demand.  Clean air regulations required expensive scrubbers.  Many power companies opted for western low-sulfur coal that was deep-mined, not surface-mined.  Marion’s markets were dwindling and moving overseas.  But the company was slow to change.  And so were its employees.  The entrenched unions at the Shovel and several other major employers did not fit the lean and mean 1980s when American Industry regrouped, downsized and tightened its collective belt to meet the increasing competition in a global marketplace.  In the space of a few years, several major Marion employers closed their doors, often following labor trouble.  Unemployment reached past 20% and the city was faced with the task of remaking itself or dying a lingering death.  In time, after the shock wore off, the community decided to dust itself off and embark on the task of rebuilding the local economy.

Industrial Revival

The task of rebuilding began ten to fifteen years ago.  Plants that had closed were reopened with new companies as tenants.  The former Quaker Oats plant was reborn as Field Container.  The former Tecumseh compressor plant is now home to Drypers Corporation’s manufacturing operation.   In addition, new industrial construction has taken off in our new industrial parks.  Mid Ohio Packaging, LTV, US Yachiyo, Marion Industries, Ohio Galvanizing, Wyandot, Highway Safety Corp., Sika Corp., among others, are investing in new plant and equipment. 

Manufacturing is still very important to the local economy, but increasingly, the manufacturing companies reflect a new model—lean, productive and highly automated.  Workers must be good with their brains as well as their backs.  These are the companies who will remain competitive well into the next century.  Just as a company trades out its old equipment for new, so, too, is Marion trading out its old industry for today’s newer model companies.  The transition is far from complete, but by any measure, the momentum is building.

Growth Trends

Recent evidence that Marion is growing is as fresh as today’s news dispatches.  The following story appeared September 23, 1999 in MarionOnline, a local online news source:

Marion Continues Retail Growth

The Marion area continues to see new construction and expansion of retail business, as several area companies are opening or expanding in the next few weeks.

The most noticeable landscape change is the Marion-Mt. Gilead Road area near Rt. 23.  The recent Grand opening of Goody's Department Store was just one of several new businesses going up there.  Steve's Dakota Grill, in the old Bucky's location is now open.  The Country Inn and Suites opened a new location next to Meijers last week, while next-door construction of a Steak and Shake restaurant continues. 

Marion's southern edge is seeing its own expansion.  Ames, which bought the old Hills Department store at 1309 Delaware Ave., is holding its grand opening this Thursday through Saturday.  MotoMart on the corner of Barks Rd. and South Prospect St. should have its expansion completed over the next few weeks. 

And the Southland Mall, which saw the recent loss of The Stage, is anticipating the opening of an Old Navy store on October 20.  Another new mall store has been open for several weeks.  The Marion Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors will cut a ribbon at the Coach House Gifts and Cards at 10 a.m. this Saturday, Sept. 25.  

The Marion County Regional Planning Commission has forwarded a zoning request to the Marion township trustees for land on Rt. 95.  The request is to accommodate Lowe's proposal to build a new super store across the street at a location behind Aldi's grocery store.[1]

It appears obvious that retail is picking up in the area.  The retail growth tends to follow the industrial growth, and in the last two years, Marion has seen a boom in the industrial sector.  Three major new projects have opened or are under construction in Marion’s new Dual Rail Industrial Park. 

These three projects alone account for approximately $110 million in private investment and will add nearly 400 industrial jobs to the local economy. 

In addition, there are a number of other recent additions to the local employment scene.  Accu-tec, a Kentucky-based company will be starting operations November 1, 1999 at the Marion Industrial Depot.  The company handles custom packaging projects and will be under contract with Wyandot, Inc.  Employment of 50 is expected within the first year of operation.  Highway Safety, Inc. recently built two new buildings and, combined with affiliate Ohio Galvanizing, now employs about 50 people.  Bradley Mills is another firm that expanded at the Marion Industrial Depot within the last year and has more than doubled their employment to approximately 35.  We are currently in negotiations with another major employer that could invest over $100 million in the Dual Rail Park, if they pick Marion as their site.  These projects tend to spin off supply and support companies who also locate here in Marion.

Another major project is taking shape approximately one mile from the housing development being proposed for Marion-Cardington Road.  A developer has applied for zoning for a 70-acre mixed-use project that would incorporate multi-family housing, office and upscale retail development. 

With an infusion of over $76 million from the State of Ohio, Marion City Schools are poised to build new or upgrade virtually every school in the district.  Marion Technical College and the Ohio State University at Marion are working on plans to construct a new multi-use training facility.

All of these projects are underway with little or no fanfare from the Columbus media.  They do not match the media’s penchant for the unusual, sensational, or bizarre. However, in the life of this community, these projects and their impact on the local economy will, in my opinion, have far greater impact than the River Valley environmental investigation.

One might suppose that the River Valley publicity would depress home sales, especially in the RV district.  Such a supposition would be inaccurate.  In fact, there has been an increase in home sales in the district during the period that the investigation has been underway at the school site.  In 1997, there were 98 homes sold in the district, selling at 20 to 25% above the County Auditor’s appraised value.  In 1998, after the county’s reappraisal, there were 110 sales in the River Valley district; averaging 10 to 12% above the county appraised value.[2]  Instead of a slowdown in sales, the number of sales has increased and, in fact, the fastest selling subdivision in the county is Crystal Lakes on Pole Lane Road in the RV district, with homes selling in $150,000 range.  This indicates a demand for mid-priced single-family housing.

In the southeast quadrant of the county, where the new subdivision is planned, it appears home values are rising and days on the market are decreasing.  In the first three quarters of 1998, the Marion County MLS reports 68 home sales in the southeast quadrant of the county at an average sale price of $120,559 with average days on the market of 147.  For the same period in 1999, there were 55 home sales, but the average value increased to $134,362 and days on the market dropped to 129.[3]

Another quantifiable indication of the growth in the county is the collection of sales taxes over time.  Real growth in retail activity is evident from these numbers.  The Marion County Auditor’s Office has recorded a steady increase in sales tax revenue from 1994 through 1998, from $4,644,390 in 1994 to $5,510,059 in 1998—a nearly 20% increase.  Some of that can be accounted for by inflation, but certainly not all.  Inflation has been in the two percent per year range over that period, while sales tax revenues have been increasing by about four percent per year.  Such an increase would not be the case in a depressed economy.   

Marion County Sales Tax Receipts1994 - 1998

Source:  Marion County Auditor’s Office

Consider employment.  In the early 1980s, Marion’s unemployment rate hit 23.5%.  In August of this year, the unemployment rate was just 3.6%; four tenths of a point below the Ohio average and six-tenths below the US average.  Of the 32,600 in the Marion County labor force, 31,400 are currently working.  Year to year, compared to August of 1998, the unemployment rate is three-tenths lower, down from 3.9% to 3.6%. 

Chart Source:  Ohio Bureau of Employment Services Data

It is my impression that the growth is only beginning here.  Unlike a number of other communities, whose redevelopment efforts began a decade or more ago, Marion is a fairly late bloomer.  For a variety of reasons, the growth did not start in earnest until about two or three years ago.  Perhaps it was creation of a credible industrial development plan.  Perhaps, it was simply a matter of waiting until other areas cooled before attention could be focused here.  Today, Marion has a credible industrial development strategy in place.  We have hard assets (the Dual Rail Park) to offer prospective employers.  Those, coupled with the robust economy and the fact that Marion represents a good opportunity not very far from the central Ohio marketplace augers in favor of continued growth in the next five to ten years.

Need for New Housing

Is there a need for new housing—especially in the moderate price range?  There is no question.  Following the economic dislocation of the early 1980s, there were very few homes built in the community.  A newcomer perusing the housing market here will find houses built up to the 1970s, and some higher-end newer housing built in the mid 90s, but there is a significant gap in the housing stock, reflecting the downturn of the 80s.  With new companies coming on line, some mid-managers are opting for housing in Delaware County, simply because they couldn’t find the houses they wanted here.  The fastest selling subdivision in the county is Crystal Lakes, featuring houses in the $130s to $150s. 

In the southeast quadrant of the county currently, 61 homes are listed for sale in the MLS.  Only nine are listed in the $120,000 to $140,000 price range.[4]

My guess is, the subdivision planned off Marion-Cardington Road would fill this niche created by the shortage of the 1980s and the increased demand created by the economy in the 1990s. 

In summary, Marion represents a significant opportunity, both for industrial and housing development.  The positive factors, we believe, far outweigh the negatives.  It is our opinion that the River Valley investigation will be limited in time. It is attractive to a news media in search of headlines, but, to date, there has not been one agency that has said the school poses a health threat to its students or staff.  We believe fundamental factors such as employment growth, proximity to markets, infrastructure and available sites create market conditions favorable for the development of new median-priced housing in the Marion community.  

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