Land Swap, Take 2, for Downtown Redevelopment

Land swaps are becoming a common practice as part of downtown Kent's redevelopment efforts.

Today the Kent State University Board of Trustees is expected to authorize a land swap between the city and university as part of the downtown project. Kent City Council has already approved the agreement on its side.

The city will trade a little more than half an acre of land along Erie Street near Haymaker Parkway in exchange for a little less than half an acre owned by the university along South DePeyster Street that runs south to Haymaker Parkway. The properties will be swapped at no extra cost to either party.

The city obtained its acreage through in which the state gave the city ownership of land in the right of way on both sides of Haymaker Parkway. That move was critical to tying together all of the ongoing redevelopment projects.

Kent State obtained the property, originally intended to be the location of the , through a land swap with the city several years ago. That initial trade saw the city swap that property (seized through eminent domain from California developer Right Dimensions) for land Kent State owned at the corner of South Water Street and Haymaker Parkway.

It's confusing, I know.

So what the city initially traded to Kent State for the hotel is now being traded back, and the university is gaining more land where the hotel will be built — on the triangular piece of land bordered by Haymaker Parkway, Erie and South DePeyster streets.

Kent City Engineer Jim Bowling said the swap is necessary to give the city control of its entire redevelopment block and for its development partner Fairmount Properties.

That land then becomes available to Fairmount to further expand the 185,000-square-foot, mixed-use development.

The swap makes me think of , when he described the project partners as a "family."

I find that interesting because I've seen families feud over smaller, less-valuable pieces of land. Yet two land swaps and one exchange have taken place already between three different government agencies with the goal of redeveloping Kent. That's commendable in my book.