CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — Pickaway County commissioners approved a 15-year, 100% property tax exemption for a $147.7 million industrial development planned near Rickenbacker International Airport, clearing the way for four new warehouse and manufacturing buildings that developers estimate will bring more than 500 jobs to Madison Township.
The Board of Commissioners voted May 26 to approve a tax abatement application from Core5 Industrial Partners LLC and a companion community reinvestment area agreement with the company’s development affiliate, C5 Global Connect LLC, covering a 178.7-acre site at the northeast corner of Airbase Road and Rickenbacker Parkway, according to county records.
The approval follows a bid by Core5 to rezone roughly 118 acres in the area from rural residential to industrial use, a request that drew opposition from area residents at a public hearing in February 2025.
Core5 plans four speculative “Class A” industrial buildings on the site, ranging from about 232,600 to 1.17 million square feet, that the company will market to advanced manufacturers, e-commerce fulfillment operations and warehouse and distribution tenants, according to the application. Combined, the buildings total roughly 2.69 million square feet of new industrial space.
Core5 estimates the project will create 537 full-time jobs and more than $27 million in combined annual payroll once all four buildings are occupied, phased in as each comes online between 2029 and 2032, the application said. The company told commissioners the tax break was necessary to compete for tenants against similar sites in Harrison Township, the villages of Commercial Point and West Jefferson, Madison County, Licking County and elsewhere in the Rickenbacker area.
The project site sits within the roughly 7,250-acre Northern Industrial Community Reinvestment Area the county designated in 2006, and lies within both the Teays Valley Local School District and the Eastland-Fairfield Career and Technical Schools district. Commissioners also approved a tax-increment-financing agreement and separate compensation agreements requiring Core5 to make payments in lieu of taxes to both school districts. The Teays Valley school board approved its agreement April 27, and the Eastland-Fairfield board approved its version May 20, according to the resolutions.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Pickaway County Board of Commissioners.
