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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.
Scott Elliott is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He writes about education, city and suburban issues, politics, business, workforce and consumer issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > March > 24
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Editorial: Let’s see business plan for the Arcade
The new owners of the Arcade say they’re looking for $5 million worth of help from the Dayton community.
Totally not shocking, but they have the cart before their horse.
Gunther Berg, one of the two owners, dropped that expectation recently, even before he has shopped around his business plan.
Officials at the City of Dayton, CityWide Development Corp., Montgomery County and the Downtown Dayton Partnership
haven’t seen his financial calculations and projections. Without that information, they can’t possibly entertain putting up public money, offering other forms of help or even vouching for the project’s viability.
Making matters worse — from a public-relations perspective — Mr. Berg and his partner, Wendell Strutz, haven’t paid their property tax bills on the complex since they bought it at a sheriff’s sale a year ago. They now insist that debt will be paid.
Mr. Berg is unquestionably dedicated to creating a workable development plan. Passionate and sincere, he deserves to be taken at his word that he’s making progress lining up investors.
That said, Mr. Berg and Mr. Strutz have to be sensitive to the fact that the architectural showpiece is in their hands today because the last owner didn’t pay his taxes. The wider public doesn’t have a clue if Mr. Berg and Mr. Strutz are in as far over their heads as the last owner, or if they’re the right people showing up at the right time.
The two men have bitten off a risky, immensely complicated project. If bringing the Arcade out of mothballs were a simple proposition, it would already have happened. Others before these developers have been as impressed about the complex’s craftsmanship and the place it holds in Dayton’s history.
Assume for a minute that Mr. Berg and Mr. Strutz have arrived at the right formula for success, but they’re $5 million short. Everyone who’s ever looked at the Arcade has said that making the numbers work would require a public subsidy, and $5 million matches some previous estimates.
More important, if they’re successful in lining up out-of-town or out-of-country investors, those people, of course, will want to know that the Dayton community is also committed to the project. If individuals outside of Dayton are going to assume financial risk for making over downtown’s so-called living room, this community should be springing for something.
The skepticism that Mr. Berg and Mr. Strutz are encountering is not personal; ironically enough, it’s historical. The best of intentions and bold plans have gone badly multiple times before.
The men also happen to be coming along at possibly the worst time for risky economic development projects, even as this also is a time when there’s a resurgence of interest, especially among the younger generations, about working and living in downtowns.
Denying that resurgence or assuming it’s not relevant in Dayton because we’re not Washington, D.C., New York or Chicago is a mistake.
Dayton is, indeed, lucky to have the interest of Mr. Berg and Mr. Strutz. They could take their investor contacts and their time and engage elsewhere. Though they obviously have an eye — and heart — for remarkable historic architecture, there is no shortage of places that need the attention of people who believe in the power and worth of such buildings.
Still, with all due respect, Mr. Berg and Mr. Strutz have more work and more disclosure to do before they can insist on community partners ponying up.
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