“It’s an important part of retaining the critical mass we need in downtown, which is are economic engine for the whole city, generating 65% of our general fund annually,” said Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein.
The development agreement comes after the firm looked at office locations outside Dayton. The law office has had a Dayton presence for more than 40 years.
Managing Partner Michael Rake said the firm outgrew its former Dayton office and wanted to expand to a space that was more accessible to its clients. The firm specializes in personal injury, veterans’ disability, workers’ compensation and other situations.
Dayton and its surrounding region contain many county and municipal courts, and is also home to a federal court building. The firm’s Dayton office serves as the headquarters for the business, Rake said.
“We have committed to the city and we feel good about what we do,” Rake said.
This project supports an investment of almost $1.5 million from the law firm for interior and exterior building improvements, as well as electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems work, new machinery, equipment and furniture, according to city documents.
The agreement retains at least 47 full-time jobs and supports the creation of 10 new positions. City documents say these new positions will occur over the next three years.
It also ensures that millions of dollars in employee payroll and city income tax revenue continue to be generated and retained in the city, Dickstein said. The law firm has an estimated annual payroll of $4 million.
The grant is performance-based, meaning it’s tied to job retention and creation and is only paid out after verified payroll tax withholdings.
Rake said many law firms saw unprecedented growth due to the pandemic, which expedited many courts’ plans to modernize their technology and adopt teleconferencing for court hearings.
New positions at the Dayton firm in the coming years will include attorney and paralegal opportunities and could also feature positions related to office administration and information technology.
Horenstein, Nicholson & Blumenthal also maintains smaller offices in Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati.
Downtown development
This grant funding comes from the city’s economic incentive program, which the commission approved in 2014. Roughly 20 companies have received incentives through this program since its birth, according to Dickstein.
Commissioners approved the development agreement unanimously during their Feb. 18 meeting, with Dayton Mayor Shenise Turner-Sloss absent.
The development agreement with Horenstein, Nicholson and Blumenthal was originally an agenda item for the commission’s Feb. 11 meeting, but discussion was bumped to Feb. 18 upon the request of commissioners for additional review.
Commissioner Darryl Fairchild said he was curious about how the vacancy rate has been moving in downtown Dayton in the past few years. The COVID-19 pandemic nationally impacted how businesses operate, with many continuing to implement hybrid or work-from-home policies.
“That’s one of the questions I raised,” Fairchild said during the Feb. 11 commission meeting. “Is that, given work from home, does the strategy that we had prior to COVID, is that the same strategy we use now?”
Commissioner Chris Shaw said nearly six years out since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies are returning to their office spaces or want to have a physical office presence in downtown Dayton.
“I think there’s a trend that is bringing folks back to work from home,” Shaw said “And I think it’s important that we encourage all of our companies, our organizations, to do just that, to bring folks back to work.”
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