Two new buildings near airport could bring 600 new jobs

“At the end of the day, you’re probably talking more like 500 or 600 (new jobs) between these two (buildings), if I were to say,” Miles said.

He estimated that with what will be eight total Northpoint-developed logistics facilities around the airport in northern Montgomery County being built by 2022, “close to” 5,000 estimated jobs will have been created in that area with all of those buildings. Operating in NorthPoint-developed facilities, Crocs and Chewy in particular have been steadily hiring for some time.

Tenants could be in the newly planned buildings by 2024, Miles said.

“Let’s land some great tenants in these buildings,” Miles told trustees.

NorthPoint is also looking beyond the airport for future development opportunities in the Dayton area, Miles said.

“We are looking at several other sites around the area and in the county,” he said. “We are getting close to running out of land here at the airport.”

Trustees approved resolutions Monday authorizing the port to participate in the project, approving capital leasing structures that will spare the construction projects taxes on materials purchased for construction.

The Dayton Daily News reported Monday that NorthPoint plans to build a seventh massive new industrial facility near the airport. But Miles said two new buildings are planned at this point.

The Missouri-based company has proposed constructing a $13.2 million speculative building at a property containing a former Vandalia fire station, just east of the aviation facility, according to city of Dayton building permit records.

The NorthPoint VII building, known as the “NorthPoint Lightner Industrial Warehouse project,” would be more than 181,000 square feet in size, according to Port Authority documents. Construction would start in the first quarter of 2021 with completion planned by the second quarter of the following year.

A separate planned building, known as the “NorthPoint Firehouse Industrial Warehouse project”, would cover nearly 500,000 square feet, with construction also slated to start early next year, with a similar planned completion date. The Firehouse building could be a two-tenant building, Miles said.

NorthPoint is creating a 400-acre industrial park around the airport called Park 70/75, according to marketing brochures from CBRE. The park is expected to offer about 5.2 million square feet of industrial space.

Also, port trustees learned of the possibility Monday of White Castle expanding its Vandalia manufacturing plant. That project is not certain; the company is also considering a couple of possible sites in Kentucky, Mike DiPerna, of Westerville-based DiPerna Advisors, told trustees.

“This is a developing opportunity,” said Joseph Geraghty, executive director of the Port Authority. “It’s not firm; it’s not set.”