Developer Ken Schon of Bloomfield/Schon and Associates has plans to redevelop the nuisance property into 15,000-square-feet of commercial space and 130 “market rate” apartments.
Credit: Lawrence Budd
Credit: Lawrence Budd
The nearly $26 million project had some setbacks in the early stages of planning. The developer had budgeted $100,000 for tapping into the county’s water and sewer systems but then was confronted with an estimated cost of $980,000. In January 2017, Warren County commissioners decided to cut nearly $500,000 of the cut-in fees.
» LEARN MORE: $25 million plan to save old Warren County ammunition plant hits snag
Bloomfield-Schon will still pay $491,000 for tap-in fees, if it goes forward with the development. Schon said the reduction would help, but would leave him with a funding gap.
“We’ll roll up our sleeves and figure out how to do it,” he said earlier this year. “It will just take us longer.”
» MORE: Nearly $500,000 in tap-in fee cuts for former ammunition plant redevelopment
The Peters Cartridge Factory is just part of the county’s plan to overhaul and rehabilitate this area.
In 2009, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued an order calling for the cleanup of the factory and surrounding area due to soil contamination including lead, copper, mercury, boiler ash and slag.
Credit: Lawrence Budd
Credit: Lawrence Budd
The $5 million environmental cleanup began in April 2015 and stretched across a half-mile area on the popular Buckeye Trail near the factory. The cleanup took nearly a month to complete.
» RELATED: Little Miami trail section closed for $5 million cleanup
» BUCKEYE TRAIL: How to hike 1,400 miles around Ohio
The latest development near the property is a new $9.5 million bridge that is to be built in 2022 or 2023. The new Kings Avenue bridge would ease the sharpness of a curve on the west side of the river leading to Grandin Road and Mason.
This public investment would take total investment in the area around the former factory over $40 million.
To the north, the King Avenue bridge can be seen. Behind the factory on the northern side, going from east to west along the river bank, is the Buckeye Trail.
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