Chapter 122:29-1 | Transformational Mixed Use Development Tax Credit

Rule 122:29-1-01 | Definitions.

• Effective: May 25, 2026
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

Terms not otherwise defined in this rule have the meaning given to them in section 122.09 of the Revised Code.

(A) "Amendment" means any approved material change to the project.

(B) "Connected Buildings" means two or more buildings that either share a common wall or are physically connected by a structure such as a shared first floor enclosed building area; an outdoor or underground enclosed or partially enclosed passage, skyway, elevated walkway, atrium, or vestibule; or underground or above ground parking garage that is contiguous with and benefits each connected building. Utility connections and other shared infrastructure are not sufficient, by themselves, to satisfy as connecting buildings.

(C) "Commenced construction" means to begin or cause to begin any construction activities at the project site for the project seeking certification or preliminary approval, including installation of footers or foundations, or erecting physical structures on any portion of the project site. Commenced construction excludes environmental assessment and remediation activities, including, but not limited to, any work that would be part of a scope of work and eligible expenditures for reimbursement or match under a brownfield remediation program grant under section 122.6511 of the Revised Code, such as remediation of environmental contamination, demolition, or installation of infrastructure or utilities and any work that would be part of a scope of work and eligible expenditures for reimbursement or match under a building demolition and site revitalization program gant under section 122.6512 of the Revised Code and guidelines thereunder, including, but not limited to, demolition, excavation and associated activities. In addition, commenced construction excludes clearing structures, landscaping, debris removal, and grading related to demolition and such excluded activities may be performed prior to application approval without affecting eligibility for certification and preliminary approval.

(D) "Contiguous parcels" means means two or more parcels that are adjacent, meaning each parcel sharing a common boundary with at least one of the other parcels, or that would be adjacent but for separation by a publicly dedicated road.

(E) "Director" means the director of the department of development of the state of Ohio or its successor.

(F) "Eligible expenditures" has the same meaning as that term is defined in section 122.09 of the Revised Code and excludes any expenditures defined as ineligible expenditures.

(G) "Ineligible expenditures" means expenditures incurred prior to application submission not otherwise expressly allowed in division (A)(2) of section 122.09 of the Revised Code; expenditures not associated with completion of the project; offsite expenses such as offsite utility improvements, streetscape improvements, roadwork, etc.; expenditures paid for or incurred directly by public entities; and fees associated with the transformational mixed use development tax credit program. Such fees include the application fee, servicing fee, economic impact consulting fees incurred for services required by division (B)(6) of section 122.09 of the Revised Code, and third-party certified public accountant fees associated with reporting outlined in division (F)(1) of section 122.09 of the Revised Code.

(H) "Major city" means a municipal corporation that has a population greater than one hundred thousand as identified by the most recent population estimates by the U.S. census bureau.

(I) "Material change" means a change to the project scope that will decrease one or more of the following: (1) the number of end uses; (2) type of end uses; (3) the project's total square footage of vertical improvements; (4) the project's total number of buildings or structures; (5) the number of floors of the project's tallest building or structure; (6) the gross square footage of the project's largest building structure; (7) the total acreage of the project parcels; or (8) any other change that may have reduced the total score that the project received in the round in which the project was preliminarily approved for a transformational mixed used development tax credit.

One or more material changes may result, in the reasonable discretion of the director, in amendment of the agreement and the project retaining the full amount of the tax credit preliminarily approved; amendment of the agreement and a reduction of the amount of the tax credit preliminarily approved in proportion to the reduction in the overall transformational impact; rescission of the tax credit allocation and preliminary approval if the modified project scope would not be eligible as a transformational mixed use development or if the project, as modified, would not have scored sufficiently high to be certified by the director and preliminarily approved for a tax credit in the round in which its application was preliminarily approved; or (iv) other results as may be determined in the director's reasonable discretion.

(J) "Project" means the transformational mixed use development submitted by the applicant to the director for certification and preliminary approval of a tax credit. For multi-phase developments, only the phases identified as the project in the application will be considered. Previous phases, or future phases not identified in the application as the project will be excluded from consideration for certification and preliminary approval.

(K) "Project parcels" means the total legally defined parcel of land or multiple contiguous parcels of land upon which a transformational mixed use development will be constructed.

(L) "Public space" means indoor or improved outdoor space that is commonly open and freely accessible to the general public for the purpose of public gathering, social interaction, or community activities. Public space may have specific rules and operating hours, but public access to public space is not generally limited by requiring an admission fee, permit, or exclusive access, outside of a special community event.

(M) "Submerged land" means areas permanently or temporarily covered by water, typically located below the ordinary high-water mark of navigable freshwater bodies. Submerged land does not include stormwater management infrastructure, or land intended as an end use for the transformational mixed use development.

(N) "Vacant Building" means an average of at least fifty-one per cent of the enclosed leasable building square footage has been unoccupied for the twelve months immediately preceding the application submission date. Leasable square footage includes all enclosed areas intended for occupancy, excluding common areas, mechanical rooms, and other non-leasable spaces.

(O) "Vertical improvements" means enclosed floor areas within a building. Parking garages, underground parking garages, and basements are also vertical improvements. Vertical improvements exclude horizontal construction, which includes the construction of infrastructure such as roads, sidewalks, parking lots, fields, and utilities.

Last updated May 26, 2026 at 7:49 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 122.09
Amplifies: 122.09
Five Year Review Date: 5/25/2031

Rule 122:29-1-02 | Eligibility.

• Effective: May 25, 2026
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

(A) An eligible applicant is the property owner at both the time the application is submitted and the project is certified by the director . If there are multiple property owners within a project, only the property owners included in an application are eligible applicants and only the portions of a project associated with an eligible applicant will be included for consideration as part of a project.

(B) The project is a transformational mixed use development as defined in division (A)(4) of section 122.09 of the Revised Code.

(C) The estimated increase in tax collections from the project site during the completion period exceeds ten per cent of the estimated eligible expenditures for the project.

(D) The applicant has not closed on construction financing, commenced construction, excluding any brownfield remediation or demolition that may have already been performed, nor will be able to complete the project unless the applicant receives the credit.

(E) If the project site is located within ten miles of a major city, the estimated eligible expenditures to complete the project exceed fifty million dollars.

(F) The project has in place or has obtained commitments for a minimum of fifty-one per cent of the estimated eligible expenditures attributable to the project. Applicants may only include financing commitments for use on eligible expenditures. Financing sources to be used to pay for the costs associated with ineligible expenditures are not to be included as financing sources. Financing commitments for the project are to be provided at the time of application submission and not older than twelve months from the date of application submission. Commitments may include, but are not limited to, public financing awards, commitment letters, letters of intent or term sheets from financial institutions, or evidence of available equity.

(1) Private financing documented by any one or more of the following:

(a) Term sheet on official letterhead of the investing entity, signed by a bank, financial institution or other investment source declaring its total funding investment in the project, the date that the investment will be made, the term of the investment and any conditions upon closing;

(b) Commitment letter or letter of intent on official letterhead of the investing entity, signed by a bank, financial institution or other investment source declaring its total funding investment in the project, the date the commitment was made and an established period in which the investment will take place;

(c) Executed loan agreement document demonstrating a commitment to loan a specific amount of funding for the project, the date the commitment was made and an established period in which the investment will take place.

(2) Equity documented by the following:

(a) A signed and dated letter of commitment from the equity source identifying the project and containing the dollar amount committed; and

(b) Information from a bank, financial institution or third-party accountant that clearly demonstrates the committed equity is available for investment in the project.

(3) Public financing documented by an approved council or commission ordinance; development agreement; letter of commitment or approval letter from a jurisdiction or public agency on official letterhead that is signed and dated and contains the funding amount, date funding will be available, and identifies the project the funds are intended for. Any committed public dollars for public infrastructure improvements do not count as sources or uses for the project.

(4) Monetization of state or federal historic preservation tax credits and transformational mixed use development tax credits documented by one or more of the following:

(a) Commitment letter on official letterhead of the investment entity that is signed and dated by the investor, lists the discounted value the investor will be paying for the credits, and indicates when the credits will be purchased;

(b) Bridge loan that satisfies the requirements in paragraph (F)(1) of this rule and identifies the tax credits as collateral.

For federal historic preservation tax credit monetization to be included as a committed source of funding, applicant is to include an approved part 2 national park service application.

Monetization of transformational mixed use development tax credits are not considered a committed funding source towards satisfaction of the fifty-one per cent eligibility requirement but may be included for consideration of the total committed sources of funding if the total amount of other committed sources is equal to or in excess of fifty-one per cent.

(5) Architectural and engineering fees or due diligence costs paid by the applicant in connection with the project prior to application submission documented by an itemized list of invoices and proof of payments as support documentation that includes:

(a) The source of each invoice, the invoice number, the invoice amount and the invoice date; and

(b) The check or payment number, the check or payment amount, and the check or payment date.

Last updated May 26, 2026 at 7:49 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 122.09
Amplifies: 122.09
Five Year Review Date: 5/25/2031
Prior Effective Dates: 7/5/2021

Rule 122:29-1-03 | Application and certification.

• Effective: May 25, 2026
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

(A) The director will provide the form of application for certification of a transformational mixed use development and preliminary approval of a tax credit on its website prior to the opening of each application period.

(1) The director will develop scoring criteria, scoring instruments, and materials for use by the director in reviewing applications under the program. The scoring criteria, instruments and materials are to be consistent with the factors set forth in section 122.09 of the Revised Code.

(2) The application will include instructions and minimum requirements to satisfy the criteria of the development plan set forth in division (B) of section 122.09 of the Revised Code and other criteria as may be requested by the director in order to evaluate the potential impact of the transformational mixed use development.

(3) The director will use the scoring criteria and procedures specified in division (C) of section 122.09 of the Revised Code and the application to review and certifyprojects for preliminary approval of a tax credit.

(B) An application for a project may be submitted by a single property owner or multiple property owners within the project. If an application contains multiple property owners, each property owner is to be a party to the application and the applicants will include a description of the allocation of tax credits among the multiple property owners.

(C) Applications are to be submitted to the director by the deadline published on the program website and specified in the application for each application period. No late applications will be accepted by the director for any reason other than impossibility due to state network error. No additional or supplemental materials will be accepted after the application deadline, unless requested by the director.

(D) The director will preliminarily evaluate applications for completeness and meeting minimum requirements set forth in the application instructions. Applications missing required information or that do not otherwise satisfy the criteria in the application instructions will be rejected and will not be evaluated by the director nor scored for ranking. The director will provide the applicant notice in writing that its application is incomplete. Submission of an incomplete application does not disqualify a project from reapplying in a future fiscal year or round.

(E) Applications that meet the minimum requirements will be evaluated and scored by the director. Upon completion of evaluation and scoring, the director will rank applications and certify projects in accordance with division (C) of section 122.09 of the Revised Code.

(1) For projects that are certified, the director will issue the statement required by division (C)(2) of section 122.09 of the Revised Code in writing to the applicant.

(2) For projects that meet the minimum requirements and are evaluated but not certified by the director, the director will provide the applicant notice in writing in accordance with division (C)(4) of section 122.09 of the Revised Code. The applicant may submit an application for its project in future rounds.

Last updated May 26, 2026 at 7:48 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 122.09
Amplifies: 122.09
Five Year Review Date: 7/5/2026
Prior Effective Dates: 7/5/2021

Rule 122:29-1-04 | Agreements and amendments.

• Effective: May 25, 2026
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

(A) Following approval and certification of an application in order to be eligible to receive a credit, all applicants will enter into a tax credit agreement with the director setting forth the terms and conditions, in accordance with section 122.09 of the Revised Code and Chapter 122:29 of the Administrative Code. If an applicant does not execute the agreement within ninety days of certification, the applicant is not eligible for receiving initial approval for tax credit and the project will be deemed uncertified.

(B) The agreement will incorporate the development plan and application materials and will set the potential total amount of tax credit and proportion of the total tax credit allocated to each property owner, if more than one property owner is included in the application as certified by the director.

(C) The agreement may be amended prior to the completion date to reflect minor changes to the project scope as described in the development plan and application materials or changes in property owners. The director may consider material change requests to amend the scope of the project on a case-by-case basis. The director may only approve a material change amendment request if a project, as requested to be amended, would remain a transformational mixed use development and a rescoring of the project against other applicants within the project's application round would still result in the project scoring high enough to receive certification and preliminary approval of a tax credit. A material change request is to include an updated analysis of the economic impacts associated with the project as proposed.

Last updated May 26, 2026 at 7:50 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 122.09
Amplifies: 122.09
Five Year Review Date: 7/5/2026
Prior Effective Dates: 7/5/2021

Rule 122:29-1-05 | Transformational Mixed Use Development Tax Credit.

• Effective: May 25, 2026
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

(A) The tax credit will be in the form determined by the director and as approved by the tax commissioner.

(B) Pursuant to division (H) of section 122.09 of the Revised Code, the aggregate value of all tax credit certificates issued for the project may not exceed ten per cent of the actual eligible expenditures of the project, the sum of all estimated credit amounts preliminarily approved by the director in connection with the project, or the amount approved by the director as a result of an approved material change request. In any event, no more than twenty million dollars in tax credits may be issued for the same transformational mixed use development.

(C) The tax credit may be sold or transferred, in whole or in part, by the property owner under division (E) of section 122.09 of the Revised Code. The property owner will notify the director of the transfer and will provide the information on the form determined and provided by the director.

(D) The effective year of the tax credit will be the calendar year in which the last certificate of occupancy is issued for the complete project scope.

Last updated May 26, 2026 at 7:51 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 122.09
Amplifies: 122.09
Five Year Review Date: 5/25/2031
Prior Effective Dates: 7/5/2021

Rule 122:29-1-06 | Reporting.

• Effective: May 25, 2026
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

(A) Start of construction report. Within twelve months of the date a project is certified by the director, the property owner will provide the director with a start of construction report that includes the following:

(1) An updated schedule for the progression and completion of the project;

(2) The amount of eligible expenditures that have been incurred for the project;

(3) Documentation sufficient to demonstrate that physical construction of the project has begun. Physical construction consists of post certification site work, demolition, remediation, renovation of existing buildings, or erection of new buildings. Demolition or remediation activities done prior to certification of the project by the director and environmental assessment activities do not qualify as start of physical construction; and

(4) Any additional information requested by the director.

(B) Construction progress report. Annually, after the start of construction report in paragraph (A) of this rule, until the project is completed or as may be requested by the director, the property owner will provide the director a construction progress report detailing the status of the project, including percentage of the project completed, costs remaining, schedule updates, and any other information requested by the director.

(C) Completion report.

After the completion of the project, the applicant is to certify to the director that the project is complete as originally certified by the director or as modified by an approved amendment in a completion report in a format acceptable to the director. No tax credits may be issured until the entire project, as certified or approved in an amendment, is completed.The completion report will include the following:

(1) A report completed by a third party certified public accountant detailing the actual development costs and eligible expenditures attributable to the project in a form and manner determined by the director;

(2) Certificates of occupancy for all buildings included in the project. Temporary, partial, or conditional certificates of occupancy are not sufficient;

(3) Photographs and other digital assets documenting the completed project;

(4) A summary of the completed scope of work, including (a) the number of end uses; (b) the types of end uses; (c) the total square footage of vertical improvements of the project; (d) the total number of buildings or structures in the completed project; (e) the number of floors of the tallest building or structure of the project; and (f) the gross square footage of the largest building of the project; and

(5) Any other items as may be requested by the director.

Development may request a site visit to verify information included in the completion report. Refusal or delay of a site visit request may result in delay of verification of completion and issuance of a tax credit certificate.

(D) In connection with the tax credits and reports under this rule, including the CPA report, the applicant will establish and maintain records for a period beginning from the project approval and certification through the date that is four years from the later of recission of eligibility, the project completion date, or the issuance of the tax credit certificate. Such records include, but are not limited to, records documenting the information and data contained in the application, project expenditures and all reports submitted in support of the project. The applicant is to make such records available for review and verification by the director, authority, tax commissioner, local tax administrator or director of insurance or appropriate staff of the director, the authority, or the tax commissioner, as well as other appropriate state agencies. In the event it is determined by the director that an applicant has submitted reports or other information containing erroneous information or data not supported by records established and maintained under this rule, the director may, after providing notice, require the applicant to submit revised and accurate reports.

Last updated May 26, 2026 at 7:51 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 122.09
Amplifies: 122.09
Five Year Review Date: 7/5/2026

Rule 122:29-1-07 | Rescission of tax credit certification.

• Effective: May 25, 2026
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

(A) If the owner does not timely provide the start of construction report or fails to demonstrate the project has commenced construction as required by paragraph (A) of rule 122:29-1-06 of the Administrative Code, the director will provide notice to the owner of such failure and rescind certification and preliminary approval for tax credit of the project.

(B) In addition to paragraph (A) of this rule, the director may rescind certification and preliminary approval for tax credit if:

(1) The owner fails to timely provide a construction progress report and does not cure such failure within thirty days of written notice from the director;

(2) The director reasonably determines, based on the construction progress report that the project has failed to make sufficient progress towards completion in consideration of the schedule provided by the owner;

(3) The director reasonably determines that the owner has abandoned the project or the owner informs the director it has abandoned the project; or

(4) The applicant is found by the director to have provided false information to the director or any other entity of the state of Ohio in any way connected to the certification of the project or determination of any amount of tax credit to the owner or applicant under section 122.09 of the Revised Code.

(5) The applicant does not execute a tax credit agreement with the director within ninety days of certification of the project.

(6) The applicant does not pay the servicing fee under paragraph (B) of rule 122:29-1-08 of the Administrative Code within ninety days of certification.

Last updated May 26, 2026 at 7:51 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 122.09
Amplifies: 122.09
Five Year Review Date: 7/5/2026
Prior Effective Dates: 7/5/2021

Rule 122:29-1-08 | Fees.

• Effective: May 25, 2026
• Promulgated Under: 119.03

(A) Application fee. A non-refundable application fee in an amount determined by and published by the director prior to each application round not to exceed ten thousand dollars is due for each submitted application and is to be paid prior to the application period end date and time. No late fees will be accepted by the director. If an application fee is not received by the director by the application period end date and time, the application is ineligible for consideration by the director.

(B) Servicing fee. For each application that is certified by the director as a transformational mixed use development, an applicant is to pay to the director a servicing fee in an amount equal to one-half of one per cent of the tax credit amount to be preliminarily approved. Failure of an applicant to pay the servicing fee within ninety days of certification will result in rescission of the project certification.

(C) Application and servicing fees paid for certified projects will be credited by the director to the tax incentives operating fund created under section 122.174 of the Revised Code and will be used by the director to administer section 122.09 of the Revised Code.

Last updated May 26, 2026 at 7:51 AM

Supplemental Information

Authorized By: 122.09
Amplifies: 122.09
Five Year Review Date: 5/25/2031