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Saxbys to anchor Oakwood retail center

Coffee shop will feature a drive-through, which some residents oppose.

Contributed photo An artist's rendering of the proposed retail center at Irving and Oakwood avenues.

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By Jill Kelley st, Staff Writer 10:39 PM Sunday, September 4, 2011

OAKWOOD — After years of discussion, some opposition from neighbors and a second approval of plans, Routsong Realty has the green light to build a retail center at the southeast corner of Irving and Oakwood avenues.

“Right now we’re working with the architect, putting on the final details so we can go to bid in the next couple of weeks,” developer Thomas A. Routsong said. “Hopefully, we can get a building up in the air.”

The amended project, formerly known as the development’s “Plan B,” was approved last month by the Oakwood Planning Commission.

Saxbys Coffee has been signed as the site’s anchor, and Routsong said the center will have a maximum of four tenants.

“It is an 8,000-square-foot building, with Saxbys taking 2,000 square feet,” he said. “We can have tenants in 2,000-square-foot segments, or two (others) that want 3,000 square feet.”

The coffee house will include a drive-through, a rarity in Oakwood, on the south side of the lot.

“There are several banks in town with drive-throughs,” Deputy City Manager Jay Weiskircher said, “but this will be the only drive-through (in the city) associated with a beverage/food use.”

The drive-through was one of the primary reasons that a group of area residents opposed the project.

Barbara Miller, who lives a block east of the project at Irving and Glendora Avenue, said there are traffic concerns associated with a drive-through in a residential neighborhood.

“That corner also is part of a historic district,” said Miller, who has lived in Oakwood for 22 years. “That design and parking lot are not part of that look.”

Routsong said his intent is to draw good tenants, and to continue the good community feel.

The project is on Oakwood Avenue, which immediately becomes the more bustling Brown Street north of the Irving intersection.

Routsong said the site will benefit from that location, and from the $25 million apartment-style housing that the University of Dayton is building at the former Frank Z Chevrolet property at 1620 Brown St.

“UD is putting in 400 beds down the street, and certainly a sandwich shop that would cater to the students would be good (for the site), or maybe a nice little bistro,” he said. “It is a cool corner, with a lot of opportunity.”

The project also provides room for outdoor seating and 41 parking spaces.

Routsong said he hopes this long-anticipated development, at the site of the Routsong Funeral Home that closed in 2008, will get under way before the cold weather sets in.

“We wanted to break ground four years ago, so as soon as we get some bids in we’ll get rolling on it,” Routsong said. “We’d like to get it done as soon as possible.”

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