By Mike Presta

The Middletown City Council meeting held Saturday afternoon, March 2 at Northgate Mall consisted of two main parts.  During the first part, Mr. Chris Hodge presented a brief history of the redevelopment of Northgate Mall, a tour of that mall, and an overview of the challenges facing and possibilities for Middletown’s Towne Mall.  After that, City Manager Judy Gilleland conducted a short review of the goals and strategies for the City of Middletown’s 2012-2017 Action Plan.

Although the meeting was not formally convened nor was the roll taken, in attendance were Mayor Lawrence P. Mulligan, Jr., Vice-Mayor Dan Picard, Council Members Joe Mulligan, Ann Mort, and Deputy Clerk of Council Amy Schenck.  Councilwoman Anita Scott-Jones came in about 15 minutes late, Councilman Josh Laubach arrived about half way through the tour and Councilman A. J. Smith was absent.

In response to a question from the Council, Hodge began by introducing Colerain Township Police Officer Joe Hendricks, who explained how Northgate Mall has a fulltime Colerain Township police presence assigned to it, based at a police substation at the mall.  The officers are members of the township police force, but are paid for by the mall under a contract arrangement.  He said that this presence has led to a sharp decline in incidents at the mall and an increase in the sense of well-being by both merchants and customers.

Mr. Hodge then prefaced his remarks by cautioning attendees that announcements regarding new mall tenants for the mall in Middletown will come from the owner or its public relations firm and not from the mall developer or management firm.  “We will be setting up a website that will link in with the mall’s website so that everybody can see what we have” Hodge said.

“The Township (of Colerain) could not have been greater.  They pretty much gave us very loose rein on what we needed to do here. Obviously it had to go through approval processes, planning and zoning, city council…Hamilton County was involved with this thing…,” explained Hodge concerning the mechanics of turning Northgate Mall around, “and you can see where we’ve gotten to.  Obviously you can’t fix the inside of the mall until you fix the outside of the mall.”

Hodge predicts that, after two-and-a half-years on this Northgate project, come later this spring, “there will be a lot of happy people here (at this mall) and in the community” but that “this could not have been done without planning and zoning, and the township fully, 100% behind this project.  I got no blowback at all,” Hodge added.

Hodge explained that once Northgate and its out lots are fully developed there will be a mix that includes dining, entertainment and shopping that will allow success, and that a similar mix will work at Middletown.   

Mayor Mulligan asked, “Are there things to watch out for, as we move forward with our mall, any pitfalls?” 

“It’s going to take your all’s involvement…you all managing your expectations…everybody’s got ideas.” answered Hodge.

Councilwoman Scott-Jones questioned Hodge about Middletown’s demographics (compared to Colerain’s), the type of tenants, and what would keep them from becoming dead malls again.  Hodge replied “That I can’t promise you, but I can tell you that the tenants that you see here on the Northgate plan, those tenants are built to work in those types of households and demographic ranges.”  He said that Middletown’s mall will not compete with the malls in Monroe or at Liberty Way but will complement them.

Hodge suggested that the current goal and estimate is that the Middletown project exterior work will be complete by the second quarter of 2014, with interior renovations to be complete shortly thereafter.

“We are excited about doing some variant of here (Northgate), there (Middletown)” Hodge summarized.  He then led the group on a walking tour of Northgate Mall.

Hodge is employed by CBRE, the agent of the owner/developer of both Northgate Mall and Towne Mall.  Towne Mall will likely be renamed as part of the redevelopment process.

Following the mall tour, City Manager Gilleland spent about 45 minutes going over the twelve goals of the 2012-2017 Action Plan and their associated strategies with the members of city council.

Among new items and discussions:

·         A “newcomers’ club” was suggested as a way to make the city more attractive to new residents.

·         Gilleland stated that city staff has gone through many strategic planning sessions with Middletown Moving Forward and “we are ready to take the next step.”  “We are going through a process with Middletown Moving Forward to determine what their actual role is and how they can best work with the staff to help with development,” she noted.

·         Councilwomen Mort reminded everyone that she “was very definitely in favor of clean-up” and also mentioned that signs at gateways to downtown should match the new sign at the gateway at the I-75/122 interchange.

·         New office locations being reconfigured (to accommodate the school district offices) within City Hall are in the process of being finalized, with a goal of keeping restructuring costs to a minimum.  However, departments that provide customer service to citizens will be moved near to elevators and stairs, as far as possible during the process.

The meeting ended shortly before 5:00 pm but was not formally adjourned.

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