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JIM NOELKER
Malcolm Blunt enjoys the sun in his downtown St. Clair Street apartment Thursday April 28. Malcolm and his parents, Basim and Toylin Blunt have decided to move out of suburbia and into the inter city of Dayton at the St. Clair Lofts. Information from the census said in the last decade there has been a %17 increase of new residents in downtown dayton
More living downtown as revitalization efforts pay off
Empty-nesters, families with young children drawn to townhomes, lofts, condos, apartments.
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By Ken McCall,
Staff Writer
Updated 1:18 AM Monday, May 2, 2011
DAYTON — There’s a glimmer of light for Dayton in the new census data.
While the city as a whole lost almost 15 percent of its population during the last decade, one census tract, which represents most of downtown and includes the Oregon District, added 567 residents.
That 17.2 percent change is music to the ears of city officials, who have been saying for more than a decade now that downtown Dayton is going to be reborn as a residential and entertainment center.
The city, the county, regional agencies and various philanthropists have invested tens of millions of dollars to add cultural amenities downtown hoping to revitalize the urban core.
It seems the investments have begun to pay off.
Of the 33 census tracts completely within city boundaries, the downtown tract is the only one that grew in the last decade, a Dayton Daily News analysis of census data found.
The tract — bounded by the Mad and Great Miami rivers on the north and west, Keowee Street on the east, and, mostly, U.S. 35 to the south — had 3,866 people living in its boundaries on April 1, 2010, according to the 2010 Census.
Census tract 15.01 also gained 332 housing units during the decade, and maintained a high overall occupancy rate of 89 percent among its 2,371 homes.
“What you’ve seen is the success of those conversions of old commercial or industrial properties into residential,” said Aaron Sorrell, the city’s new director of planning and community development.
“I think you’ve also seen the fruits of the labor of the city, the Downtown Dayton Partnership, the private philanthropy and those individuals who have really taken an interest in downtown.
“And we’re going to see that momentum continue.”
The market for downtown housing is strong, observers say.
“The future of downtown will be very much mixed use — entertainment, office and residential,” said Sandy Gudorf, president of the Downtown Dayton Partnership.
Gudorf said the most recent survey of downtown housing — which is self-reported by members and does not include the Oregon District — found condominiums were 98 percent occupied and apartments were 89 percent occupied.
“We know that we have a demand for downtown housing,” she said. “Moving forward, one of the core strategies is how do we develop more housing?”
Helping downtown development
Part of the answer will be continued incentives given to developers by the city to help defray the costs of building on previously used land.
Charles Simms Development, for example, got a $300,000 grant to help build an 18-townhome project on East First Street and Patterson Boulevard that will break ground this month.
The longtime builder said the assistance is necessary to make housing development at a reasonable price possible in the urban core.
“By the city helping us do that, it’s helping us come in at an affordable price for the young buyer,” Simms said. “Otherwise, it’s too expensive, and we can’t sell them, so we don’t build them.
“So the city is very wise in helping developers do this.”
The Patterson Square Condominiums will be the first foray into downtown housing for Simms, who said he’s built more than 2,000 condominiums and apartments in the suburbs during the last 25 years.
He said the market led him to give the urban core a try.
“We did our market analysis,” Simms said. “There’s definitely nationally a surge toward back to the urban core, especially amongst younger people.
“The younger people don’t want what their parents have. They don’t want that acre out in the suburbs. And there’s a shift.”
Right across First Street, Barry Buckman, managing partner of Litehouse Development Group, has built and sold six new energy-efficient townhomes and is looking to sell 37 more.
Buckman has also developed the 153-unit Cannery Apartments, the 24-unit Cooper Lofts Condominiums among others. In every case, he said, the city helped with development costs.
In renovations of older buildings, Buckman said he often runs into asbestos or lead paint that has to be carefully removed.
And for projects such as the downtown Litehouses, there often are problems with the soil.
Still, Buckman sees demand for more housing, and is working on an apartment complex development across Third Street from the Cannery.
“That’s getting very close,” he said. “We’re very optimistic that we’ll be able to pull that together.”
The city has given about $3.4 million in grants and incentives for downtown housing over the last decade, Sorrell said.
But can the city continue to offer assistance in an era of declining tax revenues and support from the state and federal governments?
“That’s a good question,” Sorrell said. “In the city’s budget we have committed to continue to fund the development fund, which provides incentives.”
Dayton has been able to use federal housing funds to offset some of the costs, he said, but that money is declining, as is state support for cities.
“We’re committed to maintaining some level of assistance,” he said. “I’m not sure it’s going to be as robust as it has in the past.”
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