Northside Lofts and Townhomes will consist of three multistory buildings of 63 condominiums and 28 town homes plus 21,000 square feet of retail and office space. The new development will be built between the Northside area -- identified by many Akronites as the home of Luigi's pizza -- and Ridge Street, the site of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad's Downtown Akron station. Testa also proposes to construct a terraced walkway linking the train station to Northside restaurants and shops.

"It has been a dream of ours to create first-class housing in Downtown," said Joel Testa, chief operating officer of the Testa Companies. "My father and I feel a strong obligation to create something here that will last for decades and stimulate the revival of the entire area."

The new development of condos and town homes sits astride an area where multiple projects are already in progress:

• 1/2-mile to the northeast is the Hope 6 project that will replace AMHA's Elizabeth Park with 242 new rental units and 27 new homes for purchase, a blend of subsidized, affordable, and market-rate units.

• 1/4- mile to the north is the Cascade Locks Development Project centered on historic Mustill Store.

• 1/4 mile to the east is the $2.7 million construction of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath bikeway and hiking trail connecting Downtown with the Cuyahoga Valley National Park;

• 1 mile to the northwest is the Hickory Street Redevelopment Project of 36 new single family home sites, and a clustered development of 34 townhouses at Memorial Parkway.

"In addition to all we have going on," said Akron Planning Director Warren Woolford, "we are also excited about the planned expansion of nearby St.Vincent-St.Mary High School."

The total public and private investment in Northside Lofts and Townhomes will approach $30 million.

"This is no suburban green field," said the mayor. "It is a difficult site to build on, both from the standpoint of topography, and from the challenges presented by any development in an urban setting."

In addition to a high density of units, the city has insisted on parking of most vehicles below grade.

To enable the builder to borrow sufficient funds to meet the requirements of the city and to make the sale prices of the new homes affordable, Mayor Plusquellic outlined ways in which the city has and will invest in the project with the Testa Companies:

• The city has already acquired all the vacant land necessary, a $700,000 land-banking project that has been underway for several years, even prior to Testa's expressing interest in the area. Funds for acquisition came from the city's Community Development Block Grant funds (CDBG) from the federal government;

• $1.5 million in re-construction of North Howard, Ridge and High streets funded in part by Ohio Issue 2 money, which had been a planned improvement from the city's capital budget;

• $3.7million in tax increment financing (TIF), a value that will be captured from the improved value of the taxable real estate in the project. This will be the first time the city has used residential TIF for such a substantial project. The city will borrow the total sum now by issuing bonds, and the loan will be repaid over the coming years through increased tax payments to be made by the property owners. The Akron Public Schools will also share in the value of the improvements.

Terms regarding the use of TIF will be incorporated into a development agreement that is expected to be submitted to city council for approval prior to its recess in late July.

"Any day we can leverage $4 million to get $30 million in construction of new homes -- especially Downtown -- is a good day for the City," Plusquellic said.