Newsletter: Why industrial redevelopment means opportunity in Dayton

Industrial redevelopment. In the right markets with the right support, those words need not strike terror in anyone’s heart.

In fact, such development can spell o-p-p-o-r-t-u-n-i-t-y.

Our first two stories illustrate how industrial development can work, at least in the Dayton area when the right developer comes along.

Owners of Kettering ex-Tenneco plant spending millions to update site

The owners of the Kettering land that was formerly Tenneco are demolishing buildings at the site on Woodman Drive near Forrer Blvd. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Credit: Jim Noelker

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Credit: Jim Noelker

No user has been identified yet, but the owners of the former Tenneco (and former Delphi) plant in Kettering are preparing.

Investment: Industrial Commercial Properties (ICP) owns the 1.1-million square-foot Woodman Drive facility with Industrial Realty Group (IRG).

“What you’re seeing out there is not about any one tenant. It’s just part of a program for us,” an ICP exec said, noting “a long list of things that we want to be able to do to the building.”

Read Nick Blizzard’s story.

‘Project Crispy’ addition would represent near-100% usage of former GM plant

The former General Motors plant in Moraine. 
FILE

Credit: Ty Greenlees

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Credit: Ty Greenlees

Another local concentration of industry that is much further along in redevelopment is in Moraine.

You might say that redevelopment is all but complete here.

When General Motors left the plant at Ohio 741 and Stroop Road in 2008, it was empty.

Fifteen-plus years of development and hard work have nearly filled the plant. If a snack food manufacturer makes a home there later this year, that process will be complete.

Why this matters: “The city was unfortunately a microcosm of the national economy in 2009 and now it’s safe to say we are a wonderful case study in how to approach the redevelopment of a massive auto manufacturing facility,” Moraine City Manager Mike Davis told me.

You should read the whole story.

NASA needs volunteers to endure the Kraken at Wright-Patterson

View of the Kraken capsule with the boarding access door opened. The 245,000 pounds of Kraken will be rotating at 123 degrees per second to achieve the 2.5Gx exposure for this study, NASA said. NASA photo

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If you think you can withstand 2.5 times the force of normal gravity for up to an hour, do I have an opportunity for you. Or rather, does NASA have an opportunity for you.

Inquire within: NASA is looking for active-duty or TRICARE beneficiary voluteers to take a ride on the Disorientation Research Device (DRD), or “Kraken” at the Naval Aerospace Medicine Research Lab at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Read the story for more.

Dayton-bound Joby Aviation completes pre-production flight testing

Joby’s all-electric aircraft in flight above Marina, California. Joby Aviation photo

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Joby Aviation — you’re familiar with that company, aren’t you? — is getting closer to FAA certification and production of its electric air taxis.

Why it matters: Joby says it has completed its pre-production flight test program and is headed to the next phase of testing, which will involve production prototype aircraft to prepare for credit flight testing — testing as part of the company’s certification program with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Please read the story.

Owner of Riverside plaza vacated by Kroger eyes apartments, business

A mixed-use development is being proposed for the site of a Riverside shopping center where a Kroger store closed last year. NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF

Credit: NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF

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Credit: NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF

Retail businesses and hundreds of apartments are outlined in initial documents filed by the owner of a Riverside shopping center seeking to redevelop the site vacated by Kroger, Reporter Nick Blizzard tells us.

The proposal is part of a land-use change Spinning Hills Plaza property owner Diego Gracia wants for about nine acres at the southeast intersection of Burkhardt and Spinning roads, Riverside records show.

Where we stand: The issue would then go before Riverside City Council. Council would vote on the rezoning and — if approved — the property owner would submit a final plan requiring planning commission approval.

Let me know what’s going on with your business. Contact me at tom.gnau@coxinc.com or (937) 681-5610.

Before you go ...

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Shouldn’t you have a sports story here? Fine.

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