Corbin City Commission votes to move forward with three transformative projects

The Corbin City Commission recently took action on three separate items, all of which involve construction projects that could end up having a major impact on the city in the coming years.

City approves sale of land adjacent to Corbin Center to hotel group

During a March 9 special called meeting, the commission went into executive session to discuss the sale of a portion of the property located adjacent to the Corbin Center. After a brief discussion, the commission returned and unanimously approved a motion for Mayor Suzie Razmus to sign any purchase agreements or supporting documents pertaining to the sale of the property to Hotel Ventures, LLC.

City Attorney Bob Hammons commented that the lot adjacent to the Corbin Center would be sold to Hotel Ventures, LLC for $1 million with the intention of constructing a 100-plus room hotel facility.

The commission also authorized the opening of a non-interest bearing account with Hometown Bank for the proceeds of the sale to be deposited into.

On Tuesday, City Manager Marlon Sams said that both Hotel Ventures, LLC. and Mayor Razmus had signed off on the sale, and that everything was on track to proceed as planned.

Sams confirmed that the hotel to be built is a Marriott branded facility, and it will include a walkway that will connect the hotel to the Corbin Center.

Sams said that, should everything progress as expected, he expects the project to take about two years to complete.

Educational housing near EKU Corbin campus discussed

Next on the agenda of Thursday’s special called meeting was a discussion about partnering with Volunteers of America to install educational housing near Eastern Kentucky University’s Corbin campus using opioid litigation funds to help pay for the project.

“As I have discussed publicly, we have an idea about partnering with EKU. They have 28 acres off of the Corbin Bypass, and they are looking for a partner to build transitional housing for single parents that have been affected by substance abuse disorder in some manner who also want to further their education,” Razmus said.

“The earmarked funds that we will be receiving can be used to support that project,” Razmus continued. “Volunteers of America has over 100 years of experience with doing this type of work, and they are willing to come aboard with us.”

Razmus said that there is only about $100,000 currently available, and in order to obtain the grant funding that will be necessary to complete this project, she requested that half of that amount be set aside in order to prepare a grant proposal.

“I am requesting that we take $50,000 of that money and earmark it to work on planning, and a feasibility study to make sure that the need is there, and that it will be a good fit for our community,” Razmus said.

“In order for us to submit a proposal for the larger pot of opioid settlement money that is available in Frankfort, we need to be able to present them with this information.”

Razmus’ request to earmark the $50,000 was unanimously supported by the commission, especially Allison Moore, who commented that she “really loves the vision” behind this particular project.

“I think it’s really neat,” Razmus added. “So many single parents find themselves in the situation of being stuck in a job, and stuck in the grind, just trying to make ends meet.”

“They are not able to really pursue a better future for themselves, or their children. This would give them childcare on site, and if they don’t want to go to Eastern they can go to any other higher education or vocational facility to take classes. I think it’s a wonderful opportunity.”

Funding sought for new spec building in industrial park

Finally, a resolution was read Thursday in support of the Southern Kentucky Economic Development Agency’s participation in the 2023 Kentucky Product Development Initiative grant program, and their submission of an economic development fund application to the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority.

If the Development Agency is successful in their quest to obtain these grant funds, an amount “not to exceed $1,892,000” will be designated to help pay for the construction of a speculative building in Corbin’s Southern Kentucky Business Park. If the project comes to fruition, it will be the fifth such building to be constructed in the industrial park.

Director of Economic Development Bruce Carpenter was at the meeting, and addressed the commission, saying, “We have applied for a grant that came out of the last legislative session where they allocated funds toward a product development initiative. The state of Kentucky is suffering for [lack of] existing buildings and property, so the legislators put this in to help with that. Senator [Robert] Stivers was very instrumental in this effort.”

“The application process had somewhere in the neighborhood of 70-80 applicants all together,” Carpenter continued. “They have now notified us that we are one of the 60-or-so that can actually apply for the funds.”

Carpenter explained that the city would need to serve as beneficiary, adding, “If this is approved, and I think it will be, then we will be able to start building our next spec building.”

Carpenter said this new spec building would be the largest ever built in the Southern Kentucky Business Park, measuring approximately 105,000 square feet, whereas previous buildings were in the 55,000-60,000 square foot range.

Carpenter said that the construction of this new spec building would ultimately be a joint effort between the Southern Kentucky Economic Development Agency, the City of Corbin, and Knox, Whitley and Bell counties. In total, all participating entities would come together to foot the bill for the building, which would end up costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $3.7 million.

Currently, Pepsi is operating out of two of the four existing previous spec buildings located in the business park. KOWA Manufacturing is operating out of another, and Smart Wood USA is utilizing the fourth as a distribution center.

If this fifth spec building is constructed, additional room for further expansion will still exist within the Southern Kentucky Business Park.