Sears Dayton Mall closing: 7 things to know about plan to change business district

The Dayton Mall area master plan adopted by a board created by Miami Twp. and Miamisburg anticipated shifts in the retail market such as the Sears decision to close its store there.

The plan adopted about three years ago by the board overseeing what’s now known as the Miami Crossing Joint Economic Development District is a framework to keep the mall area a “vibrant” district for business, entertainment and retail in the coming decades due to changing demographics. Here are seven issues to know about the plan:

•The JEDD board commissioned the 145-page document compiled by a Boston-based firm – Stantec's Urban Places Group - for about $275,000. It was adopted after a series of public forums from December 2014 to September 2015.

RELATED: Sears Dayton Mall: How Miami Twp. planned for its closing

•The scope of the plan includes a 2.2-square mile area involving Ohio 725 and Ohio 741, the intersection where the mall is located. The area along Ohio 725 generally runs from Byers Road to west to the Washington Twp. border to the east. North to south, its Ohio 741 borders generally include Cox Arboretum and the Interstate 675 overpass.

•It "seeks to transform" the "commercial and retail strip development surrounding the mall into more walkable, mixed-use developments" using "a new, but authentic, township center for Miami Township and the surrounding region."

•The "ambitious" plan includes a market assessment that projects more than $200 million in proposed investment. The analysis shows a potential to create 1,200 multifamily residential units, and more than 350 new jobs from thousands of square feet of new retail and office space within 12 years.

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•Some initial steps involve rebranding and improving access to the area. The JEDD board has renamed the area the Miami Crossing District. It also has looked at improving two "gateways," the interchanges of I-75 and Ohio 725, and Ohio 725 and I-675.

Plans this year call for constructing improved pedestrian access along the Lyons Road I-75 overpass and Ohio 741.

•The plan outlines three "catalytic" sites for redevelopment over 10 to 20 years: Lyon's Ridge, south of the mall along Lyon's Ridge Drive; Mad River Station at the intersection of Mad River Road and Ohio 725; and Prestige Summit, a combination of two areas; along Prestige Plaza Drive south of Ohio 725 and Mall Woods Drive north of Ohio 725.

RELATED: Restaurant planned at ex-Sears spot at Dayton Mall

•It calls for a 16-acre village center that focuses on housing, retail and a public park between Lyons Road and the mall. The center would include 400 residential units, 35,000 square feet of retail space and a 95,000-square-foot park.

-MORE COVERAGE ON THIS ISSUE:

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RELATED: Village center part of long-term plan

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