The buyer “is a reputable developer who specializes in acquiring distressed properties that have good market potential and reinvesting in the properties and marketing them,” said Ford Weber, Dayton’s director of economic development.
The city of Dayton purchased the 1962 Radio Road property for $2,315 in 2014 through its “Lot Links” program, Weber said.
The purchase was to support a local manufacturer’s expansion project, which did not move forward because of concerns the company had with the findings of an environmental study, the city said.
But a group called Queen City Partners in Cincinnati is buying the property for about $38,000. The company consists of Kris and Jake Bamberger and commercial broker Rob McLachlan.
Multi-Services Inc. was an industrial laundry company that ran into trouble.
The company and its president were convicted of federal environmental charges in 2006 for failing to properly treat sewage water from the plant that threatened to erode public sewer pipes or cause explosions.
The company went bankrupt in 2009, and the vacant facility has fallen into disrepair because of significant vandalism and neglect. In 2013, the property owed more than $313,000 in delinquent property taxes, ranking sixth most in Montgomery County at the time.
But the property went through the Lot Links program, which removed the back taxes.
Weber said the city has found a buyer who can address the environmental issues and bring the site back to life.
“We’re quite confident that we’ll be able to take a property that has been an eyesore and a bit of nuisance in the neighborhood and restore it to productive use,” he said.
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