The Columbia City Council on Monday night passed a series of ordinances related to the development of a series of multi-story office and professional buildings on the north end of Columbia at Route 3 and Sand Bank Road.

The full council voted unanimously to approve annexation into the city limits two parcels of land totaling about 22 acres of land that is bordered by Sand Bank Road, Route 3 and Old Bluff Road. They also voted to zone the area C-3, or Highway Business District, and passed several variances, the most notable of which will allow the buildings to be up to eight stories tall.

Developer Joe Koppeis, as part of Columbia Land Management LLC, plans to build a series of buildings up to eight stories high. The first will house physician offices and medical services, and Koppeis said he already has tenants committed to the project. Site work is already being conducted at the location.

This summer, the city agreed to a tax abatement on the property and buildings for a finite number of years, ultimately increasing the revenue received from the property by millions of dollars compared to the revenue it generates for the city currently.

“In these challenging economic times, along with the uncertainty of state and federal government funding sources, cities like Columbia are looking for more stability in their revenue streams in order to replace any state and federal reductions,” Columbia Mayor Kevin Hutchinson said of the city’s need for additional revenue to ease the burden on property owners.

The Columbia School Board also weighed in on the new project, approving a letter of intent Thursday night to agree to a 10-year tax abatement for the development.

“They’ve asked the school district as well as the city to give them some tax incentives in order to secure funding for the project,” superintendent Gina Segobiano said.

She explained that the district currently receives about $2,500 per year for taxes.

“With this new development, for the first 10 years, we’ll receive an additional $30,000, which, to me, is something that’ll help our education,” she said. “I look at this as an investment to the future. We will be generating about $130,000 additional dollars from this professional building project.”

In the future, she said, the school district will reap the benefits of the investment.

“No one likes to give up anything,” she said. “But would you rather have $2,500 forever or ultimately have $130,000 a year forever? To me, that makes sense.”

School board members also talked about the project creating jobs for the community, how nice it would look for the community, and the opportunities it would provide.

School board president Karen Anderson said this agreement is similar to an abatement the board approved for the new Brockland auto dealership, but this one is more long-term.

“We’re into a five-year agreement with them for $150,000, so that property was generating about $25 a year,” Anderson said. “With that agreement, we’re getting about $10,000. We give up something, we gain something, and then we gain more.”

Koppeis said the building of structures will be market-driven.

“If the first building works, I think the others will follow quickly,” he said. “But until you build it, you don’t really know.”

Anderson reminded the board and meeting attendees that the abatement is not a rebate, but an abatement of equalized assessed valuation.

“The EAV will not increase until the abatement is complete,” she said.

The letter of intent signed by the school board stipulates a 75 percent property tax abatement on proposed buildings one and two beginning on the day of receipt on the first tax bill for each building.

“It also has a cap of $1 million per building, so whichever happens first,” Anderson said.