Rep. Miller announces $111 million state investment in Hilltop

State Rep. Adam Miller (D-Columbus) today announced the Controlling Board approved the release of $110 million in state investments for two major projects in Columbus’s west side Hilltop neighborhood, including $110 million in facility funding at the Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare Hospital and more than $1.2 million for the Housing Development Assistance Program’s Hilltop City Cottages Project.

“Investing in neighborhoods is more than investing in steel and concrete, it’s investing in the people that make it a community,” said Rep. Miller. “These projects will provide much-needed services, create jobs and continue historic revitalization efforts on the city’s west side.”

Both projects will provide massive state investment in the West Columbus Hilltop neighborhood, including more than $110 million to replace the Kosar civil hospital facility at the Hilltop’s Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare Hospital and $1.2 million for the Housing Development Assistance Program’s Hilltop City Cottages Project.

Twin Valley provides recovery-based, comprehensive, quality, cost-effective mental health services to adults with a severe mental illness in a secure inpatient setting. They work collaboratively with mental health centers to link patients with an outpatient treatment team or their own psychiatrist to maintain their progress in their community.

The City Cottages project includes funding for the construction of six rental homes on land bank sites in the North Hilltop neighborhood of Columbus. Construction is scheduled to begin this year. The project is funded, in part, by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, which provides funding for the development, rehabilitation and financing of low- to moderate-income housing. It is an independent state agency.

The State Controlling Board is a joint committee of the Ohio General Assembly that performs legislative oversight over capital and operating expenditures by state agencies.