$11.5M apartment building planned on Kettering Meijer land

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Credit: JIM NOELKER

KETTERING — A 50-unit, $11.5 million dollar apartment building is planned on land now owned by Meijer off Wilmington Pike in Kettering.

Spire Development has proposed building Darby Run on 5 acres behind the big box retailer near Hempstead Landing, another 40-unit housing complex the Columbus business started constructing last year, city records show.

Both projects — co-developed by County Corp. — target middle-income workers and will receive Ohio housing tax credits, according to state records.

Darby Run “will affirmatively further fair housing by providing new, high-quality housing in a very high opportunity area with very few remaining developable lots,” according to a summary of the proposal filed with the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Total project costs are listed at more than $11.5 million for Darby Run and nearly $8.3 million for Hempstead Landing, state records show.

Darby Run is proposed to be built on a “borrow pit,” Kettering City Planner David Roller said. It is an excavated site Meijer took soil from to build up land the store was constructed on years ago, he told planning commissioners Monday night.

“Developing on this parcel means there’s a lot of requirements that need to be met regarding flood plain regulations,” Roller said.

Credit: STAFF

Credit: STAFF

“There’s a lot of grading. There’s a lot of challenges that need to be met in regard to that to get this to become a developable parcel,” he added.

The commission voted 5-0 Monday night to split 5 acres from Meijer’s 45-acre lot for the new housing plan. The new lot would be accessed from Hempstead Station Drive, west of Meijer, according to Kettering documents.

No city council approval is required and Kettering has a development plan, Roller said.

“This is the final hurdle in that whole process,” he told the commission. “That would allow commencement of the project.”

The Dayton Daily News has requested a copy of the development plan.

Spire co-founder Scott Harrold is listed on documents as the main contact for both Hempstead Landing and Darby Run. Messages left with Harrold and Spire Tuesday were not returned.

Hempstead Landing is expected to open this year and Darby Run in 2023, the company’s website states.

Developments qualifying for state housing tax credits serve workforce, family, general or mixed populations, according to the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.

A workforce housing community “generally targets middle-income workers, including police officers, firefighters, teachers, health care workers, retail clerks,” an OHFA spokesperson said.

The housing tax credit program serves individuals at or below 80% of the area median Income, according to the agency.

The proposal calls for one-, two-, and three-bedroom units with appliances, washer/dryer hook-ups, walk-in closets, and vinyl plank flooring, Ohio records show.

Square footage of the units would range from 632 to 1,050, with tenant paid rents varying from $360 to $1,000, according to records.

Darby Run’s common area will include a community room, resident storage, bike storage and leasing/support staff office space, documents state.

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