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Projects could be tipping point for area
The Renaissance Alliance is leading an effort to bring new life to older Dayton neighborhoods.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
DAYTON — It's not easy to pinpoint just when and where new investment may begin taking off.
At least not for those working to fuel new investment in the neighborhoods of Grafton Hill, Riverdale, Dayton View, Jane Reece and Five Oaks.
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Since 2000 community and business leaders, known as the Renaissance Alliance, have been working to do just that.
Having landed federal grants and other funding commitments worth upwards of $1.5 million that have paid for the purchase and demolition of blighted properties, plans are under way to build up to 10 unique "recreation" homes along Central Avenue.
Headed by St. Mary's Development Corporation and the Grafton Hill Historic District, the plan calls for recreating the estates of notable Dayton families like the Ketterings and Meads whose homes were once perched along the hillside neighborhood.
Named Victorian Row, the project could be launched this spring with the first home slated to be a recreation of the estate of Edward Deeds, who was among the founders of the Dayton-Wright Airplane Co.
Supporters of the plan say the project is just the beginning of bigger things for area.
"The most important thing about the Victorian Row is that this really is just a very small piece of an extraordinarily ambitious program to bring investment and market rate development back into these neighborhoods," said David Bohardt, president of St. Mary's Development Corporation. "All the preconditions here are right for reinvestment."
Prime for redevelopment
Bohardt points to planned improvements to the I-75-Main Street interchange and efforts to expand Grandview Hospital's campus as additional catalysts for renewed investment.
The planned interchange upgrades are expected to improve access to the hospital and free up land near the Main Street and Salem Avenue business districts.
"It will be very, very attractive to commercial development," Barton said.
Additionally, Grandview Hospital is in the midst of crafting a master plan for it's campus which could include a $50 million to $70 million expansion, said Kelly Fackel, vice president of development for the Grandview Foundation.
The project, which is at least five years out, would expand the hospital's campus across Forest Avenue, reroute traffic around campus and add additional medical research space and private patient rooms, Fackel said.
"The idea is to make it more of a campus with green space and walking paths around it, rather than have such an urban feel," she said, adding that the move could bode well for the neighboring Main Street business district.
"North Main Street is prime for redevelopment," she said. "We would love to see a Panera Bread, or some small retail come in."
To help fuel community investment, the hospital also offers employees up to $4,000 toward the purchase of homes in the nearby neighborhoods.
"It's one of those things where if you build it they will come," Fackel said. "I think our expansion and our plans will really take off once the I-75 work is done."
Outside firm takes interest in area
The synergy has caught the attention of at least one outside development firm. JED Investments purchased the Regency and Cornerstone apartment complexes, located in the 100 block of Central Avenue, and is in the midst of a $1.5 million renovation.
The Cleveland-based firm bought the $2.2 million complexes for $800,000 after they fell into foreclosure.
"This area, Central Avenue in particular, has had a bad wrap for a while, but we've found some things down here that has sparked our interest and we're continuing to look around," said Steve Egger of JED.
His partner, Jim Dixon, told the Dayton Daily News in January that his team was excited by the Alliance's plans and was considering purchasing at least one other Central Avenue property.
"This area has a lot of flavor," Dixon said. "With the art museum and the river, they're just natural good borders around the property."
Many trials on road to redevelopment
Growing interest aside, those directly involved with Victorian Row admit that challenges do exist.
"There probably hasn't been new residential construction in Grafton Hill for more than half a century," said Bohardt, who also is the former head of the Home Builders Association of Dayton and the Miami Valley.
Compounding the challenge is the current housing market in which residential building permits are down 42 percent locally.
"Getting builders to come to a location where construction has not been a routine thing, is going to require some effort on our part," Bohardt said.
Still, the group is expected to begin soliciting bids from builders within the next month.
Another issue involves the Alliance's plans for continued financing to drive projects like Victorian Row into the surrounding neighborhoods.
Requirements for federal grants state that the group must find a revolving funding source, or one that continually pays into a fund specified for the project.
The Alliance has proposed creating a residential tax increment financing district. TIF districts allow government agencies to take additional taxes generated from increased property values and divert the money into a fund. For the Alliance's purposes, the allocated funds would be used to continue purchasing and removing blighted properties in Grafton Hill, Five Oaks, Dayton View, Jane Reece and Riverdale, Barton said.
"In a nutshell, it's going to take $1.5 million to get Victorian Row delivered, but it's expected to recover $3.4 million through increased property value," Barton said. "Out of this scenario, everybody wins."
However, the city of Dayton, has yet to give its nod to create the special tax district.
"We're still evaluating that proposal," said Aaron Sorrell, Dayton's manager of housing and neighborhood development. "Once we get the results from the interested developers and have a better understanding of what the costs of a home will be versus what they can sell it for, we'll work to finance that gap, if there is one. I'm still pretty confident it will move forward."
Meanwhile, Barton and Bohardt said they are going to continue working with Grandview Hospital on their expansion plans.
"(Grandview's) campus is going to create a demand for the commercial district," Barton said. "The commercial district is going to create a demand for housing. These are like a series of dominos that once they start falling, they'll keep going."
Contact the reporter at (937) 225-2147 or lbernard@DaytonDailyNews.com.
