“The center has been designed to have four businesses, but if someone wants to take two places, that’s certainly fine by me. At this point, we’re 65 percent occupied.”
The funeral home, which moved into a former residence on the site in 1938, closed in 2008.
Jay Weiskircher, Oakwood assistant city manager, said that with demolition complete, footers for the new building should be poured within a week to 10 days. “The new building should be completed in about four months,” he said.
Routsong said the target opening date, weather permitting, is Feb. 1. “We hope to start the build-out by tenants in December.”
Foundations were laid out earlier this week and excavation began mid-week.
The 8,100-square foot retail center will include a drive-through on the south side, serving Saxby’s. There will be room for outdoor seating and 41 parking places.
Routsong said the center is being planned with traffic flow in mind.
“The coffee shop will be busiest in the morning. The sub shop will reach its peak around mid-day. Now we’re looking for a professional location — a realty’s office, a chiropractor or an eye doctor,” Routsong said.
The value of the .778-acre property and improvements was estimated to be $427,450 by Montgomery County before demolition.
The original building on the site was a home built in 1902. Its top floor was removed in renovations for the funeral home.
Residents in the Schantz Park Historic District and others who live nearby opposed the commercial nature of the center in a residential neighborhood, particularly what they believe will be a hazardous drive-through lane for the coffee shop. The drive-through will be the only one for a beverage business in the city of Oakwood.
Routsong, who grew up in the home that was torn down, said the development “will raise the value of the property, improve that portal into Oakwood and blend in with the project under way on Brown Street. It will be a nice transition.”
He proposed the project five years ago.
“Zoning issues were a real challenge,” he said. “This project shouldn’t have taken more than one a half years. It’s not that big to have taken so much time.”
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