Unmatched coverage: The Dayton Daily News reported earlier this week of a developer's plans to extend the Oregon Historic District. We are committed to covering development in the city of Dayton and will keep you updated on this proposed project.
The city of Dayton has transferred two industrial properties that are key pieces of a more than $40 million plan to extend the Oregon Historic District.
City Properties Group, a Kentucky developer, plans to convert one property along Wayne Avenue into housing, commercial and restaurant space and other uses.
The plan for the second property on McDonough Street is renovated office space geared toward technology companies.
The larger objective is to create a vibrant new area currently called Oregon East, which would enlarge the footprint of the Oregon Historic District beyond Wayne Avenue, said Barry Alberts, managing partner with City Properties Group.
“Over the next three to six years, we’ll probably fill out that block (east of Wayne Avenue),” Alberts said.
Future redevelopment could involve adaptive reuse of more vacant commercial buildings, new construction and renovation of the U.S. Postal mail-sorting facility if it empties out, officials said.
Dayton Commissioners on Wednesday approved selling 210 Wayne Ave. and 15 McDonough St. to City Properties Group for $10 a piece. The combined assessed value of the properties is about $561,000, according to auditor records.
Millions expected to be invested in area
City Properties Group, based in Louisville, Ky., plans to spend between $8 million to $9 million to convert the vacant Weustoff and Getz Co. building on Wayne into about 40 loft-style apartments and space for a restaurant or two and possibly retail on the ground floor.
The city authorized transferring ownership of about eight acres, which includes the Weustoff and Getz building, the empty lot just east bordered by Walnut Street and the Garden Station property.
The rehabilitation project in late 2014 was awarded about $1.9 million in state historic tax credits. The city bought the Weustoff and Getz property several years ago for about $450,000.
The city also transferred a six-story commercial building at 15 McDonough St., which is the mostly vacant former Dayton Motor Car Co.
City Properties Group plans to apply for Ohio state historic tax credits this month to support a roughly $13 million rehabilitation of the Dayton Motor Car property to create modern, trendy office space for technology companies, Alberts said.
Plan calls for new buildings too
City Properties Group said it plans at least several future stages of development with projects in the $10 million range, Alberts said.
The total investment in the Wayne Avenue property likely will be about $30 million, Alberts said.
The firm’s goal is to construct a couple new buildings to offer a mix of uses just like the Oregon District, possibly including commercial, multi-family housing, hospitality, offices and entertainment, Alberts said.
“We do districts, and the best combination is new and old,” he said.
The master plan for that section of downtown has identified some redevelopment opportunities, said Shelley Dickstein, Dayton’s city manager.
That includes a vacant, city-owned building at 101 Bainbridge St. and the U.S. Postal mail processing and distribution center at 1111 E. Fifth St., she said.
City Properties Group is interested in the Bainbridge building.
The postal service announced years ago that operations at Dayton’s postal facility would relocate to Columbus. However, the move has yet to be finished after multiple postponements.
“We are not pushing for that to happen … but we are positioning ourselves to work with USPS to make sure we have a strategic reuse for that site,” Dickstein said.
Oregon East will embody the live, work and play mantra at the heart of so much of the successful urban renewal efforts across the nation, officials said.
Oregon East would better connect the Oregon’s historic business and residential district with the Webster Station district, which features the Cannery Lofts, the 2nd Street Market, Water Street and Dayton Dragons stadium.
City Properties has personal ties to Dayton
City Properties Group only takes on projects that have multiple phases, and it will keep and manage the apartments and commercial space that are constructed, developers said.
Financing on 210 Wayne should be secured in the next month or so and construction should begin in the spring, developers said.
The city in the last several years has spent about $650,000 acquiring property to link the Oregon and Webster Station districts, Dickstein said.
The $30 million redevelopment means that $46 private dollars were leveraged for every $1 in public dollars invested, Dickstein said.
City Properties is an out-of-town developer that is experienced at adaptive reuse projects but has local ties, said Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley.
“We look forward to you doing 10 years worth of work in Dayton,” Whaley told Alberts on Wednesday.
One of the firm’s partners, Bill Weyland, was college roommates with Pete Haley, who is co-owner of Gosiger, which is a machine tool supplier headquartered at 108 McDonough St.
Weyland was the architect for the company’s headquarters and helped redesign its campus.
The Oregon East master plan seeks to build on the investments by Gosiger and Shumsky, which is a company headquartered at 811 E. Fourth St. that specializes in promotional and marketing services.
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