onMain, a partnership between Premier Health and the University of Dayton to redevelop the former fairgrounds property, proposes to construct a five-story building at South Main and West Stewart streets that will be home to Ohio’s second innovation hub.
onMain officials say this $73 million investment will anchor the first phase of the “vertical construction” at the 38-acre former fairgrounds property, which is west of Miami Valley Hospital and the UD campus.
“The vision (for the site) is to create a walkable and connected neighborhood, one designed with five community spaces and a street grid tying in the current Fairground neighborhood,” Brian Heitkamp, CEO of onMain, said back in December.
onMain says the 120,000-square-foot building will be a gateway into a district where “economic opportunity, academic research and community life intersect.”
Plans for the entire fairgrounds site call for offices, housing, retail, community spaces, open spaces and parking.
The first building, which could be called the “Think Dayton Building,” will be home to a Digital Transformation Center and flexible office and research spaces that are designed to support emerging companies, university partnerships and industry collaboration, onMain officials say.
“The first building will serve as a catalytic anchor, establishing the site as a destination for innovation and investment,” onMain said.
Renderings of the proposed building at 1229 S. Main St. were submitted to the city as part of an application for final plan review. The first proposed phase of infrastructure also will head to the Dayton Plan Board for consideration and approval.
All phases of development of the onMain project require final plan approval from the city. NBBJ, an architecture and design firm, designed the proposed building.
The first phase also will create community spaces around the building, including a plaza and landscaping.
onMain has said Phase I focuses on about 13.5 acres of the property, and this stage could see an investment that exceeds $130 million. About $35 million for the first building comes from the state of Ohio’s innovation hubs program.
onMain officials say the initial infrastructure work is expected to start this month, and vertical construction, with Plan Board approval, should begin this fall. The building is slated to open in 2027.
“We can’t build vertically until we get the infrastructure into the ground,” said Heitkamp in December.
Officials said the infrastructure work will create the street and utility backbone for the entire district. There will be four new streets built, and hundreds of parking spaces.
The city of Dayton has committed to spend about $7.8 million for new infrastructure at the property. The total infrastructure costs could exceed $23 million.
Phase I also could create about 170 new rental housing units.
When fully developed, the entire site could have as many as 3,000 new jobs, Heitkamp said.
Work to stabilize and renovate the historic roundhouse on the old fairgrounds began earlier this year.
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