Open a year, Austin interchange proving better at keeping jobs than bringing them in

The $75M in upgrades was meant to bring jobs, fix traffic problems

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By Lucas Sullivan, Staff Writer Updated 1:51 PM Thursday, July 21, 2011

MIAMISBURG — The multi-million dollar investment in the Austin Boulevard interchange area has attracted nearly 1,500 jobs since it opened a year ago, though three out of every four of them relocated from areas just up the road, a Dayton Daily News investigation has found.

Records obtained by the Daily News through a public records request show 1,280 of the 1,490 jobs so far around the new interchange off Interstate 75 in southern Montgomery County came from areas like Centerville, Dayton, Kettering, Oakwood, Washington Twp. and West Carrollton.

The development pay-off from the new highway interchange will be years in the making and the interchange was built not just to spur jobs and development but to alleviate traffic congestion on nearby roads. But the early results have shown the project so far has been better at keeping jobs from moving out of the region than it has at bringing them here.

“This is not economic development and it’s just moving things around, calling it development,” said Gene Krebs, a former Republican state legislator from Preble County who now heads the nonprofit Greater Ohio Policy Center promoting regional cooperation of local governments. “When I see this it makes my blood boil ... and from what’s happened so far this is government waste.”

Joe Tuss, the county’s assistant administrator, said the presence of any jobs at the Austin Interchange adds up to economic development because many of the companies moving there were considering moving outside the area altogether. He said businesses have invested close to $90 million for buildings near the interchange in addition to the $75 million in public funds that paid to build the interchange and relocate and widen nearby roads and utilities.

“Economic development is about two things: business retention and expansion,” Tuss said. “Quite frankly I am pleased with where we are.”

Local companies, including Motoman Robotics, Teradata and Dayton Superior Corp., have moved to the Austin Interchange area. A law firm, Thompson Hine LLC, recently announced plans to move more than 100 workers from downtown Dayton to new office space near the interchange.

A development agreement between Montgomery County, Miami Twp., Miamisburg, Springboro, the Montgomery County Transportation Improvement District and developer R.G. Properties Inc. to develop 1,200 acres around the new highway interchange calls for the work to create 20,000 jobs there by 2029. The agreement does not stipulate that the jobs must be new to the region. Nearly 70 percent of the 1,200-acre development is in Miami Twp. and the rest is in Springboro and Miamisburg.

Jobs were just one of the goals for building the Austin Road interchange. Proponents sought an I-75 interchange at Austin Road for more than two decades as a way to ease traffic congestion on Ohio 725 and Ohio 741 near the Dayton Mall and to open up development opportunities in southern Montgomery County from Miamisburg to the Greene County line. One of the primary goals was to make southern Montgomery County more competitive in attracting businesses and easier for residents and commuters to get around and through the area.

“What we’re trying to do is provide the best alternative for people to be in Montgomery County,” said R.G. Properties’ CEO Randy Gunlock. “Whether that alternative is used by existing businesses or new businesses is somewhat irrelevant.”

Development made possible by the interchange continues to evolve.

This week Miamisburg’s city council approved $4 million in financing for them to buy 81 acres of land along Byers Road near the intersection. City officials say they hope to sell the land this year to an unnamed developer.

One prospective new arrival near the interchange, California-based Optivus Proton Therapy Inc., has announced plans to build $170 million cancer treatment facility and create an estimated 400 new jobs. But last week state officials announced they were pulling funds for Optivus’ research and development center. Township officials said Optivus could still secure private funding for the research center and medical facility.

“We have no reason to think they are not (coming),” township administrator Greg Hanahan said.

Optivus CEO Jon Slater did not return a call seeking comment.

An 87,000-square-feet Kohl’s department store is slated to open in September, which will create approximately 110 full and part-time jobs, Hanahan said. A Five Guys Burger and Fries near Kohl’s, along with a 125-room Hilton Garden Inn hotel, will bring a combined 75 new jobs.

A Korean firm, Nautilus Hyosung, that manufactures ATMs and mini-banking machines, will bring 30 jobs in the next year to the area.

State Sen. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, said she remains hopeful the Austin Interchange will attract jobs from outside the region.

“I think we have to realize this project got going at the height of the recession,” she said. “I think there are some attractive and dynamic businesses in that area that will attract those jobs.”

Gunlock said governmental boundaries are meaningless to business owners and retaining companies is just as important as developing new jobs. Gunlock said Austin Interchange is doing both.

“Of course this is economic development,” he said. “Our job as a developer is to provide the best opportunity for businesses to flourish and that’s what we’re doing. How would you feel if we could have retained the jobs from NCR that moved to Atlanta?”

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