Posted: 6:00 a.m.
Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015
Most downtown Middletown building projects are moving
forward
By http://www.journal-news.com/staff/ed-richter/" rel="nofollow - Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN —
Slow
progress is being made on several key building rehabilitation projects in the
downtown Middletown
core, while others, such as the much-anticipated redevelopment of the historic
Manchester Inn hotel, have stalled for various reasons.
Revitalizing
the downtown is one of the key strategies city officials are pushing in an
effort to return Middletown
to vibrancy. City officials have invested hundreds of thousands of taxpayer
dollars in the purchase of vacant buildings that they’ve turned around and sold
at a reduced rate, and in some cases given away, to investors and groups to
redevelop.
City
officials are banking on success stories like Cincinnati State Middletown and
the Pendleton Arts Center
to be catalysts for change downtown. And there has been some momentum with a
number of new businesses and restaurants opening during the past few months and
more events and activities being planned downtown.
But
progress has been slow, or as City Manager Doug Adkins is fond of saying,”you
can’t change Middletown
on Thursday.”
Local
developer Mike Robinette who has been working to redevelop the Goetz Tower,
located at the southeast corner of Central
Avenue and South Main Street, said it has taken his
group three years just to get the project to the construction phase.
“If
it were easy, then everybody would be doing it,” Robinette said of downtown
redevelopment. “Redevelopment is much more difficult than greenfield development.”
In
addition to the demolition, painting, rehabilitation or other construction
going on downtown, the city is in the midst of creating Ohio’s first Designated Outdoor Refreshment
Area in which the downtown core would become an open container area for patrons
purchasing alcoholic beverages from designated bars to enjoy outside. The DORA
could be in operation in the next few months as it completes the city’s
legislative process.
In
an effort to gauge the progress of the city’s downtown redevelopment plans, the
Journal-News spoke with city officials and developers last week to get the
latest updates on the status of various building projects in downtown Middletown.
The Goetz
Tower
According
to Robinette, the Goetz
Tower is the midst of an
ownership transfer. The seven-story Art Deco building was awarded $600,000 in
Ohio Historic Preservation Tax credits and is qualified for an additional
$600,000 in federal historic tax grants.
Robinette
declined to discuss the status of the new ownership group as those details will
not be finalized for several weeks.
However,
he expects the project will proceed as previously announced to redevelop the
building into 24 market-rate apartments as well as 2,000 square feet of
retail/commercial space. The building currently houses a Fifth Third Bank
branch. The cost of the project has been estimated at more than $2.5 million,
with nearly 50 percent of the cost being covered by the state and federal tax
credits.
Robinette
said all of the building code issues have been resolved and construction
documents and plans are in the process of being drawn up.
Robinette,
a former Middletown and Franklin economic development director, said
the city can only do so much for a development project and that the state
officials have been very cooperative in assisting with the project and
providing “clear guidance” in obtaining the competitive historic preservation
tax credits.
Rose Furniture
Robinette’s
group is also working on rebuilding the former Rose Furniture building for
retail space.
The
building, located at 36 S. Main
St., was heavily damaged by rain in fall 2013. The
damage included a collapsed roof.
Robinette
said the demolition work has been completed behind the facade, which also
included the removal asbestos from the site.
He
said all three floors of the new building will be used for retail and that
construction plans are also being prepared for this project.
The Windamere
In
less than two weeks, the former Bank One/Barnitz Bank building will reopen as
the The Windamere, the city’s newest event venue and art gallery.
“It’s
crunch time,” said owner Mica Glaser. “We open in two weeks.”
She
said the first event will be a networking event for 100 to 125 wedding vendors
in the Cincinnati/Dayton region. Glaser said the venue will be decked out as a
wedding reception.
“I’m
really looking forward to introducing our building to people in the Middletown and
surrounding area,” she said. “We’ve already had a lot of interest from the Cincinnati and Dayton
areas.”
The
Windamere’s first wedding reception will be on Oct. 24.
Glaser
said renovations have been ongoing for nearly four months after the purchase
was completed on June 15 and has cost about $250,000. Some of those renovations
at the new venue will incorporate many of the former bank’s features such as
the two balconies that overlook the main room as well as the vault.
In
addition, the renovation also uncovered a terrazzo floor that is being
refinished as the dance floor, Glaser said.
“It’s
perfect for dancing,” she said.
Glaser
said the 12-foot-by-24-foot vault still has all of its safe deposit boxes and
keys and is being offered to couples to store their wedding keepsakes.
“I
already have two brides who have picked out their safe deposit boxes,” she
said.
During
the renovations, some former bank employees have stopped in to take a look at
where they used sit when they worked there, Glaser said. She said sections of
the bank teller windows as well as some of the safe deposit privacy walls have
been incorporated into the décor to take advantage of the old bank’s
characteristics.
Glaser
said she’s always looking for photos and stories about the building when it was
a bank.
In
addition, Glaser said venue will also feature the gallery of local artist Chris
Walden, which is becoming another attraction for Windamere. She said 55 people
from the Cincinnati Art Club will be taking a bus trip to Middletown in the coming weeks to see
Walden’s work as well as visiting the Sorg Opera House and the BeauVerre
Riordan Stained Glass Studio.
Windamere
will also host art shows and exhibits as well as other community events.
A
grand opening and an open house are being planned for November, Glaser said.
Cincinnati State
As
the Middletown campus continues to grow in
enrollment, Cincinnati
State will have options
to accommodate that growth and be a catalyst in driving economic development
efforts in the downtown area.
The
buildings include the former Cincinnati
Gas & Electric Building, 1 N. Main St.; the former First Financial
Bank, 2 N. Main St.;
the former Butler County Job and Family Services building at 1021 Central Ave.; and the former
Middletown Senior Citizens Center at 140
Verity Parkway.
Jean
Gould, the college’s vice president of marketing and communications, said the Middletown campus and its
programs are growing.
As
of now, Gould said the only real development at the downtown campus has been
some repairs at the former Butler County JFS building where the Midd State
Academy is located.
She
said there were plans to house a welding lab in that building, however, the
college felt that would not be a good use of that space as Butler Tech had
built new welding bays at their facility. Gould said the Middletown City
Schools approached the college about housing 150 students for its Middie Academy
where they can earn high school and college credit.
The
college and the school district signed a five-year agreement in June.
“It’s
a great partnership with the high school,” Gould said.
Manchester Hotel/Snider Building projects
Last
week, it was announced that plans to transform a vacant Middletown building into a brewery and hotel
are on hold, according to the developer behind the project.
A
lack of support from the city is among the reasons William Grau said he is
putting the Snider
Building microbrewery and
Manchester Hotel projects on hold. However, city leaders say Grau is expecting
too much financial support from the city to keep his project afloat.
“The
Manchester Hotel and Snider Building/Brewery are currently on hold pending an
increase in outside support and interest in the projects … ” Grau recently told
the Journal-News. The Illinois-based developer also said he is considering
selling both properties.
For
the second time in the past several months, Grau did not submit an application
for Ohio
historic preservation tax credits for the latest funding round that had a Sept.
30 deadline. Last spring, Grau opted not to submit the tax credit application
for Manchester Hotel, saying the strategy then was to get the microbrewery in Snider Building
up and running first to create a destination venue before starting the hotel
portion of the project.
Grau
said he also could not get grants from the Duke Energy Foundation or interest
from JobsOhio and the Ohio Development Services Agency for the projects. The
state agency oversees job creation and the historic tax credit programs.
Both
buildings are structurally sound, according to Grau, and roof leaks have been
repaired. Ongoing inspections and repairs are being completed as necessary, he
said.
In
the past year, Grau has run into snags getting through the pre-application
process with the State Historic Preservation Office to get the projects cleared
to allow the historic tax credits application to be submitted.
City
provides wide array of support
Middletown city officials believe
that a revitalized urban area is a great tool to attract millennials, tourists,
and it also provides services supporting businesses and residents.
City
officials outlined several examples of the type of support they provide for
downtown projects that include:
*
The city funds façade grants providing the matching funding up to a cap. It
awarded a $10,000 matching grant for improvement to the Snider Building
as part of that redevelopment efforts.
*
Obtaining pipeline grants to support the historic designation of projects and
it advocates to the state historic preservation office for project listing on
the historic register; Among the projects awarded from these grants was for the
Manchester Hotel and the Snider
Building for listing on
the Register of National Historic Places.
*
Creating Community Reinvestment Areas so that property taxes on real estate
improvements can be abated for a period of time.
*
Jump-starting the redevelopment of downtown by supporting the development of Pendleton Art
Center, BeauVerre Riordan Stained
Glass Studio, and Cincinnati
State as downtown
anchors.
*
Designating much of the downtown business district as an entertainment district
which is poised to be the first city in Ohio
to create an outdoor refreshment area for open alcohol consumption.
*
Supported brownfield cleanup of several projects downtown as well as acquiring
multiple grants to facilitate projects, include a targeted brownfield grant
worth approximately $30,000 for an updated Phase I and Phase II for the Snider Building.
*
Advocates the funding of projects, meeting with lenders, port authorities, and
other grant and loan providers; including regional authorities.
*
The city funds a Small Business Development office to support small business
growth as well a portion of Downtown Middletown Inc.’s costs to establish a Main Street
program.
*
Participating with other regional organizations such as the Convention and
Visitors Bureau, the Great Miami River Corridor Committee to market the river
as well as with Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments and the
MetroParks of Butler County and the Tri-State Trails Alliance.
*
Working with a professional marketing team to assist in publicity for downtown
and the city, and are currently creating a downtown marketing collateral piece.
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