"Bookend" Development

Journal story.....

MIDDLETOWN

Revitilization isn’t limited to the city’s bookends

MIDDLETOWN —
It took several years for the East End and downtown to become a shell of their former selves, and city officials said it could take that long to rebuild them.

Millions of dollars have been spent on road reconstruction on the East End with the recent work on Ohio 122 and Interstate 75. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent over the years in bringing downtown back to relevance

There are also “behind-the-scenes” economic development discussions with companies, which city officials said the fruits of that unseen legwork have helped to land new businesses, such as along Breiel Boulevard, North Verity Parkway and Roosevelt Boulevard.

STILL NOT ENOUGH DECENT PAYING JOBS. STILL AT TOO SLOW OF PACE. THE CITY HAS SAT ON THEIR HANDS FOR DECADES AND IS JUST NOW STARTING TO SHOW SIGNS OF LIFE IN THE ECON. DEV. AREA. YA DON'T GET CREDIT FOR DRAGGING YOUR FEET WHEN YOU SAW ALL THE JOBS LEAVING TOWN IN THE 80'S AND 90'S AND YOU JUST SAT THERE. TOO LITTLE.....TOO LATE.

East of the interstate is Atrium Medical Center and lots for up to 529 high-end homes, though only about 20 percent of the projected homes have been built. To the west of I-75 is the redevelopment efforts in the East End, which includes the Towne Mall.

AND WHY ONLY 20% HIGH END HOME DEVELOPMENT? DOES THIS TELL YOU ANYTHING ABOUT INTEREST IN THE AREA AND THE CITY YOU HAVE CREATED?

The nontraditional approach for downtown Middletown is needed because a city’s downtown is typically “a unique environment, and attractive to unique and independent restaurants, independent shop owners, as opposed to the newer retail (spaces on the East End) which can be more expensive and more geared toward national chains,” Gilleland said.

INCREDIBLE EXPLANATION FROM GILLELAND ON WHY THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT APPROACH IS NEEDED. "A UNIQUE ENVIRONMENT AND ATTRACTIVE TO UNIQUE AND INDEPENDENT RESTAURANTS. SHOP OWNERS".... EVEN MORE REASON TO ASK WHY THE EMPHASIS AND MONEY SPENT ON DOWNTOWN. IF IT IS PIGEONHOLED INTO UNIQUE AND SPECIALTY BUSINESSES, IT WOULD ONLY APPEAL TO A SMALL FACTION OF THE COMMUNITY. THEN WHY ALL THE ATTENTION AND MONEY TOWARD A SMALL PORTION OF THIS COMMUNITY? WOULDN'T WHAT IS OFFERED IN THE EAST END APPEAL TO MORE PEOPLE? IF SO, WHY WOULDN'T THE MONEY BE DIRECTED TOWARD WHERE THE MOST USAGE WILL OCCUR?

And while the city would like to have a national chain downtown, it typically doesn’t fit a corporation’s business model, said Eisenbraun

A NICE WAY OF SAYING THE DOWNTOWN MIDDLETOWN ARTZY PEOPLE DON'T WANT A CHAIN DOWN THERE. MAY "RUIN" THEIR LITTLE IDEA OF "QUAINTNESS".

“The East End, you have the interstate so built in you’ve got traffic that’s coming down,” he said. “There may be some incidental opportunities with people stopping in.”

WHAT DID HE SAY????   

But downtown is more of a destination, and people coming to the west end of the city will want to invest time into the downtown

HORSECRAP EISENBRAUN. DOWNTOWN ISN'T ANYMORE OF A "DESTINATION" THAN ANY OTHER PART OF TOWN OFFERING SHOPPING/ RESTAURANTS. AS A MATTER OF FACT, RIGHT NOW, THEIR ARE OTHER AREAS OF TOWN THAT OFFER A BETTER SELECTION THAN THE DOWNTOWN. QUIT TRYING TO PAINT WHAT IS NOT ACTUALLY THERE.

Lenny Robinson, owner of Lenny Robinson Real Estate, said the city changed for the worse when it put the roof on its downtown when it created the City Centre Mall. It probably won’t be the major shopping destination it was in the 1950s and 1960s, he said, since the major retailers moved out. He said, “The city has done a nice job to attract the boutique business to really populate the downtown.”

"THE CITY HAS DONE A NICE JOB TO ATTRACT THE BOUTIQUE BUSINESS TO REALLY POPULATE THE DOWNTOWN". ANOTHER NICE WAY TO SAY THE DOWNTOWN HAS NARROWED IT'S SELECTIONS TO OVERPRICED FRU FRU, ATTRACTING A SPECIFIC BUYER WHO IS NOT LIKE 90% OF MIDDLETOWN.

He sees, though, the city having “dropped the ball” on the East End development, especially when there was a big focus on developing the city by the interstate when Middletown Regional Hospital closed and moved to reopen as Atrium Medical Center several years ago. And elsewhere with the city, Robinson said he’d like to see the city be more proactive in finding out what developers are looking at than reactive when developers are looking for land or space. He said there needs to be regular meetings between developers and the city, and possibly with the chamber of commerce, “to find out what’s going on.”

BINGO MR. ROBINSON!!!! YOU SHOULD BE RUNNING THE ECON. DEV. DEPARTMENT INSTEAD OF HAMET AND COMPANY. YOU ACTUALLY SEE IT AS IT REALLY IS. THIS CITY DOESN'T HAVE A CLUE ABOUT DEVELOPMENT FOCUS AND PRIORITIES.

“It seems like there is a vast chasm of separation (between the city and developers),” he said

UNLESS, OF COURSE, YOU HAPPEN TO BE A DEVELOPER THAT AGREES WITH THE CITY AND OFFERS WHAT KOHLER, HAMET, GILLELAND AND COMPANY DEMAND....ON THEIR TERMS.

Nancy Griffith, owner of the Mockingbird Cafe inside the Pendleton Art Center, said the city’s efforts, along with the efforts of the investors of downtown, “has enabled my small business to grow.”

“My sales have probably quadrupled from when I opened (seven months ago),” she said

THAT'S BECAUSE YOU ARE CONNECTED WITH THEIR LITTLE ARTZY THEME.

But more store fronts with things to do and buy is what’s needed for Griffith’s cafe to grow even more.

“We need shops, we need more things that’s going to provide foot traffic,” she said. “People will go downtown to eat and have very little to do.”

DROVE UP CENTRAL AVENUE SATURDAY EVENING. SAW MORE STORES EMPTY THAN FULL. I'D SAY AT LEAST A 3:1 RATIO OF EMPTY TO OCCUPIED STORES. ALOT OF WORK TO DO TO ENTICE BUSINESSES DOWN THERE. STILL DESOLATE BY ALL STANDARDS.