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Austin Pike cancer center deal surprises officials

Questions arise about  funding, job projections,  tie-in with local hospitals.

View of Austin Boulevard looking west at I-75. Developer RG Properties has committed $54 million toward development of the northeast quadrant of the Austin Pike interchange in southern Montgomery County.

Ty Greenlees/Staff Photographer View of Austin Boulevard looking west at I-75. Developer RG Properties has committed $54 million toward development of the northeast quadrant of the Austin Pike interchange in southern Montgomery County.

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By Kristin McAllister, Lynn Hulsey and Tom Beyerlein
Staff Writers Updated 12:46 PM Friday, October 30, 2009

MIAMI TWP., Montgomery County — The announcement by Miami Twp. officials that they had landed a cancer treatment center for the Austin Pike interchange caught top county officials by surprise.

It also raised questions about how the proposed $170 million project would be financed and whether public money would be involved.

And the company, California-based Optivus Proton Therapy, Inc., has not confirmed it is building in Miami Twp. President and chief executive Jon W. Slater did not return calls requesting comment.

“I hope this would come to fruition. I don’t know enough about the company, about the prospects or the nature of the deal to comment,” said Steve Stanley, executive director of the Montgomery County Transportation Improvement District, which is managing the local public portion of interchange development.

Stanley and Montgomery County Administrator Deborah Feldman said they knew the township had been courting an out-of-state health care company and that it was highly confidential. But Feldman said she learned about the township announcement from a Dayton Daily News article that was posted online on Wednesday, Oct. 28. She said Miami Twp. Trustee President Deborah Preston did not call county commissioners until Wednesday.

Feldman said the news is exciting but she’s unclear on the jobs projections, financing and other details.

Dan Slane, a commercial real estate developer and former Ohio State University trustee who has been trying to establish a similar proton cancer treatment facility in Dublin, was also was taken by surprise.

“What I would question about the announcement is how is it going to be funded or financed in this environment,” Slane said. “Whoever’s driving this project would probably have to come up with 50 percent of this funding as their equity contribution.” Uncertainty over the health care overhaul makes the current environment less suitable for such investments, he added.

“Any project of this size, there’s going to be requests for state and federal development dollars,” said state Rep. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, who is excited about the project.

Township Administrator Greg Hanahan and Preston said Optivus would begin construction in 2010 at the southwest corner of the Austin Pike interchange being built at Interstate 75. They said the center would open in 2013 or sooner. A township impact study showed it would bring an estimated 400 permanent jobs and $170 million in economic development to the area.

Hanahan said the treatment center would complement, not hurt, area hospitals. “Optivus, they have said to us, ‘we want to work with all the hospitals,’” he said.

However, area hospital officials weren’t approached about the project, according to Bryan Bucklew, executive director of the Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association. “I’m interested in seeing how Miami Twp. thinks this is going to be complementary to the hospitals,” Bucklew said. “I don’t know if it’s complementary, competitive, not needed in the community, cutting-edge technology.... It could be a great thing, it could be a competitive thing — we just don’t know. Details seem to be a scarce commodity.”

Montgomery County, Miami Twp., Springboro and Miamisburg are part of a Joint Economic Development District governing the township-owned parcel.

“This basically accomplishes everything we’ve hoped for — to bring jobs for the region and not steal them away from other communities nearby — and that it’s within the JEDD is even better,” said Springboro City Manager Chris Thompson, who learned about the deal just days ago.

Records show that on July 28 Miami Twp. officials signed a development deal for the project with Clivus Development LLC, a company that incorporated in Ohio just five days prior to the agreement. It’s not clear what connection Clivus has with Optivus.

Preston said the township’s reason for withholding news about that agreement is two-fold: Optivus did not want it disclosed, and the township wanted the findings of the impact study before announcing the deal.

Hanahan said the township and Optivus were brought together through a broker who works in the development industry, but he wouldn’t reveal the identity of the broker. “We were told they (Optivus) were looking for a place, that they wanted to come to Ohio,” he said.

Lehner seemed to sum up what other local officials were saying: “It looks like the first good news we’ve had in awhile. Let’s just hope it happens.”

Staff writer Ben Sutherly contributed to this report.

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