The City of Hamilton and Spooky Nook Sports are the recipients of this year’s Best Public-Private Partnership Award for the renovation of the Champion Paper Mill in Hamilton.
Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill is one of the largest preservation projects in Southwest Ohio and the largest private investment in the City of Hamilton in decades. The project is an adaptive reuse of a former industrial paper mill into a 1-million square foot indoor and outdoor sports facility, gymnasium, convention center, and hotel space.
The overall project cost for Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill is $165 million. The multi-faceted, multimillion-dollar site was made in partnership with both private and public investors, such as the City of Hamilton and the State of Ohio. The City of Hamilton helped aid the construction of the project by funding approximately $31.75 million. The State of Ohio aided $4.7 million of construction through historical tax credits and grants for Mill 2. The total equity received in both federal and state historic tax credits for the project is $12.14 million. The project received a total of $51.25 million in Tax Increment Financing and PACE bonds. Community Design Alliance (CDA), a Hamilton-based architecture firm, and Sandvick Architects developed the design and layout of the project. The construction work was completed by three general contracting companies that specialize in large-scale developments.