RELATED: ‘A big win:’ $4.5M volleyball, bar/restaurant complex planned
Next month, the city is expected to take action to boost economic prospects at both ends of Central Avenue/Dixie Drive corridor, where it aims to develop a multi-million dollar entertainment district near the Great Miami River.
Demolition of the aging Carrollton Plaza is set to start Nov. 5, clearing 13 acres seen as the catalyst for the Miami Bend Entertainment District.
The following week, the city council is set to vote on a deal to sell seven acres to Spike-It LLC, a Cincinnati firm wanting to build an 82,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor volleyball facility with 17 sand courts, a restaurant/bar and 350 parking spaces on the former Fraser Paper site land that has been vacant since the mill was demolished three years ago.
RELATED: Carrollton Plaza demolition expected soon; entertainment site targeted
“We went for so long and nothing’s happened,” Sanner said of the Carrollton Plaza and Fraser properties. “And we’ve all sat here and wondered: When is it going to happen? Because we knew it was going to. It was just a question of when.”
The volleyball complex at 200 W. Central Ave. is expected to draw between 300 to 500 people per day and provide about 50 jobs during peak times, officials said. The land deal would include a one-year moratorium on the city’s sale of any acreage on the site to another business that operates in the food or beverage industry.
While a vote on the $280,000 land sale is not expected until Nov. 13, City Councilman Rick Barnhart left little doubt last week on where he — and perhaps all of his legislative colleagues — stands on the issue.
RELATED: West Carrollton downtown corridor target of new study
“I think you’re going to be a great anchor for that area to start us some more growth down in that area,” he told Spike-It officials.
Approval next month would set Spike-It on an aggressive course to open its facility by Oct. 1, 2019, said Larry Roberts, a company partner.
The indoor facility alone would include 44,000 square feet, nine sand courts, a restaurant and bar, heat, fans, and 20 large garage doors to regulate the air flow, officials said. Outdoor facilities would feature eight sand courts, showers, restrooms, a bar with food service and a 36-foot wide deck, officials said.
RELATED: Clean up of paper mill site expected to cost more
The Spike-It deal should have ripple effects for businesses along the Central/Dixie corridor, where the city is looking to redevelop a handful of properties it acquired and demolished in the past few years, said Michael Lucking, the economic development director for West Carrollton.
The proposal is “expanding the customer base for the established merchants and creating a new market-potential for entrepreneurs,” he said.
Tearing down Carrollton Plaza’s three buildings the city bought last as part of $3 million redevelopment deal will be completed in five months.
RELATED: Demolition paves way for Kettering Health Network
Discussions with potential users have yet yield solid prospects, but city officials are confident in the land’s marketability.
“It’s a unique property. It’s immediately adjacent to I-75. (There are) 100,000 cars going past the site every day,” Lucking said. “We think it will prove attractive for redevelopment.”
The city is looking for a use “that our citizens can benefit from, that brings people to the community in a positive way,” Lucking said. “We’re going to be deliberate about what we do with the site.”
RELATED: City plans to purchase Carrollton Plaza as part of $3.2 million deal
About the Author
