Goetz Tower Project
Printed From: MiddletownUSA.com
Category: Middletown City Government
Forum Name: Community Revitalization
Forum Description: Middletown Community Revitalization News
URL: http://www.middletownusa.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6417
Printed Date: Nov 24 2024 at 2:17pm
Topic: Goetz Tower Project
Posted By: Analytical
Subject: Goetz Tower Project
Date Posted: Feb 04 2017 at 6:36pm
| In addition to the Liberty Spirits deal, Is it also accurate that Mike Robinette is still one of the principals of the pending Goetz Tower project? Also, does he have a piece of the Rose Furniture or other potential "downtown" undertakings? |
Replies:
Posted By: John Beagle
Date Posted: Feb 05 2017 at 1:07pm
 http://www.urbancincy.com/2015/02/state-historic-tax-credit-expected-to-boost-3-1m-renovation-of-goetz-tower/" rel="nofollow - State Historic Tax Credit Expected to Boost $3.1M Renovation of Goetz TowerBY http://www.urbancincy.com/author/demery/" rel="nofollow - DAVID A. EMERY ― The seven-story Middletown Building & Deposit Association tower in Butler County was one of 12 projects in southwest Ohio to receive historic tax credits last month from the State of Ohio. As part of the deal, the $3.1 million project will receive $600,000. http://www.urbancincy.com/tag/goetz-tower/" rel="nofollow - http://www.urbancincy.com/tag/goetz-tower/ ------------- http://www.johnbeagle.com/" rel="nofollow - John Beagle Middletown USA News of, for and by the people of Middletown, Ohio. |
Posted By: John Beagle
Date Posted: Feb 05 2017 at 1:11pm
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I would love to have more current information about these two projects. ------------- http://www.johnbeagle.com/" rel="nofollow - John Beagle Middletown USA News of, for and by the people of Middletown, Ohio. |
Posted By: Douglas Adkins
Date Posted: Feb 07 2017 at 8:25am
| Mike is no longer associated with Steve Coon's group and does not have an interest in either Goetz or Rose Furniture anymore. |
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Feb 07 2017 at 11:44am
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LEGISLATION 1. Ordinance No. O2017-02, an ordinance authorizing an amendment to the Community Reinvestment Area Agreement between City of Middletown, Historic Goetz Tower, LLC and Grassroots Ohio, LLC. (Second
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Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Feb 07 2017 at 11:48am
In the council workbook this property is listed as being located at 1000 Central Ave....however auditor page it is listed as 11S Main Street ??????
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Posted By: Douglas Adkins
Date Posted: Feb 07 2017 at 11:48am
| He was in 2014. He is not now. That's why the legislation is being presented to clean up the ownership in the CRA agreement. |
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Feb 07 2017 at 12:03pm
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Doug Who is the new owner of the Goestz Tower and when did the transfer take place? |
Posted By: whistlersmom
Date Posted: Feb 07 2017 at 12:14pm
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Douglas Adkins posted this on Jan. 20, 2017 at 8:56 am under “Manchester Inn sold” “Rose Furniture will be rebuilt as part of the Goetz Tower project with retail first floor and upper level apartments. Took a long time but it will get done.” John, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for Rose Furniture to be completed. The now deteriorated condition of the structure is obvious. Just stand by a window on the sidewalk and look up inside – you will see the sky due to the roof having fallen to street level. In 2013, we were lead to believe that Robinette was “given” Rose Furniture plus $300,000 to fix the roof. Nothing has been done. Now that Robinette is no longer a part of this project we want to be assured that the $300K is still present and accounted for to be used for its intended purpose by the Steve Koon’s group. How much has the delay added to the cost of rebuilding? Why didn’t (shouldn’t) the city have a contract requiring start and completion dates? No urgency here! Is Koon,s group out of funds? How can that be when little or nothing has been done to refurbish the propeties they received for little or nothing. Is that the reason the city had to lease the first floor of the Goetz Tower? What else can we give away and subsidize? After the Rose Furniture debacle, why does the city continue to favor the Koon’s group over any others who might want to make a real contribution to their revitalization plans? |
Posted By: Douglas Adkins
Date Posted: Feb 07 2017 at 12:17pm
| Historic Goetz Tower, LLC is still the owner. Mike no longer has an interest in HGT and Grass Roots Ohio no longer is involved in the project. |
Posted By: Analytical
Date Posted: Feb 07 2017 at 1:12pm
| Insofar as the Rose Furniture deal is concerned, does the word "CONVOLUTED" describe the city's role since 2013? Are the taxpayers to understand that Mr. Coon will now receive the $300,000 promised earlier to Mr. Robinette? May these funds also be co-mingled with the Goetz Tower deal? A straight-forward response is requested? |
Posted By: Analytical
Date Posted: Feb 07 2017 at 5:02pm
| Once again, does Mr. Coon receive the $300,000 previously allocated to Mr. Robinette for the Rose Furniture deal? If so, will Mr. Coon be able to utilize some or all of said funds for the Goetz Tower deal Mr. Akins? |
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Feb 07 2017 at 8:20pm
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Doug None of the documents in the workbook name the new officers of Historic Goetz Tower LLC. |
Posted By: Douglas Adkins
Date Posted: Feb 08 2017 at 7:53am
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Vivian and Nelson, I'm happy to spend some time here answering questions and trying to explain what we are doing and why. I don't have time, however, to answer the same questions over and over. I have a very difficult city to run and my mother's health is failing and caring for her takes up a lot of the rest of my time. Mike is out of the Goetz deal and has no business association with Steve Coon's group any more. You'll just have to believe me or not. I don't have time to look for officer documents. I'm willing to spend some more time on the Rose Furniture deal, but it probably won't be until next week sometime. I will respond more then. |
Posted By: swohio75
Date Posted: Feb 08 2017 at 12:15pm
Steve Coon has been part of this project since the beginning if you were to go back and review city council meeting minutes. The $300,000 received was to: - Repair the roof at Rose (which collapsed prior to work being able to begin) - Acquire the property at 44 Main and make repairs. This property had been damaged by the Rose roof issue. The property was acquired by Historic Rose LLC on 10/8/2013 for $125,000. It has subsequently been sold (8/31/2016) for $148,000 The roof at Rose collapsed prior to Coon and his group being able to address the issue. Council at the time postponed the initial vote by two weeks, and Coon warned Council about the risk in doing so. I think it's pretty unfair to Coon to say that he hasn't used the money provided to him wisely. There was a tremendous amount of work that need to be done after the roof collapsed    |
Analytical wrote:Posted By: Analytical
Date Posted: Feb 08 2017 at 1:17pm
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It's heart-warming to know that you are so "in the loop" with taxpayer funded activities. Maybe you are much closer to the operations of One Donham Plaza than we realize? And, by the way, I did not say that Mr. Coon spent the $300,000. Thanks for the clarification. |
Posted By: Analytical
Date Posted: Feb 08 2017 at 1:37pm
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A couple of additional questions for you, swohio75: 1) since nearly four years have passed since the $300,000 was allocated for this deal, when will the roof of the Rose Furniture Building finally be rebuilt? 2) since a profit was made on the fairly recent sale of the adjacent property, will these funds be returned to the city? 3) does the new Abuelo group have any financial or contractual ties to the Goetz Tower deal? Sometimes these arrangements handled by the city can be a bit confusing. It's important for city staff to keep the citizenry abreast of these developments on a timely basis especially since taxpayer's dollars are involved.
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Posted By: Analytical
Date Posted: Feb 08 2017 at 2:13pm
| Based upon your Rose Furniture update today, is it safe to say that the net proceeds of the sale of 44 S. Main Street will remain with the new owner rather than the city? Correct me if I am wrong swohio75, but, the $300,000 is essential another major equity contribution by the city for the developers of the Goetz Tower and S. Main Street properties? You might check with Les Landen about this matter. |
Posted By: swohio75
Date Posted: Feb 08 2017 at 2:35pm
Everything I post is a matter of public record and nothing to do with any involvement or close relationship with the city.
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Posted By: swohio75
Date Posted: Feb 08 2017 at 2:41pm
Since you appear to be not capable of doing research on matters of public record, you can see the tax mailing address for 44 Main is: ABUELACO LLC Mailing Name 2 C/O AKKO FASTENER INC Address 1 6855 CORNELL RD Address 2 Address 3 CINCINNATI OH 45242 0259 Steve Coon and/or Mike Robinette is not listed as having any involvement with said company. This LLC also recently purchased an industrial facility in Hook Industrial Park. http://www.akkofastener.com/index.php/about-us" rel="nofollow - http://www.akkofastener.com/index.php/about-us You make an assumption that there was a profit made. While the sale price was more than the purchase price, it doesn't mean a profit was made. We do not know the expenditures that were necessary to repair 44 Main, and also the property taxes that were paid while Coon's group owned the building. The city manager is best to speak on the timeline as far as the Rose project is concerned as I have no involvement with the project or city operations. |
Posted By: swohio75
Date Posted: Feb 08 2017 at 2:47pm
If memory serves me correctly, the $300,000 figure was what it was going to cost the city to demolish the Rose building and make repairs to 44 Main. Instead, Council at the time decided to provide those funds to Coon to redevelopment of those properties--which included the Rose roof stabilization and repair. I have no idea the extend of the cost of the clean up and remediation of that disaster nor the additional damage if any it caused to adjacent properties. While I was not on Council or part of city admin, I believe it was the best decision at that time. We can debate all day long whether the city should have acquired the Rose property. That's a whole different discussion. |
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Feb 09 2017 at 4:10pm
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Doug I have just finished reading your blog about the Goetz Tower... https://citymanagermiddletown.com/ "People have asked me why we support the redevelopment of the Goetz Tower into luxury apartments. I’d love to say that we came upon some revolutionary new idea that only Middletown can take advantage of, but the reality is that we are already behind the curve of other redeveloping cities." No Doug we are not behind the curve. Many years ago City Hall chose a different path and spent millions of dollars putting a roof over our downtown business area and it failed. "Some people think I’m dead wrong. I think I’m right. One of us is wrong. I hope it’s them and not me." Five years from now we will know if your gamble with taxpayers money was a successful investment. |
Posted By: Mike_Presta
Date Posted: Feb 09 2017 at 5:36pm
------------- “Mulligan said he ... doesn’t believe they necessarily make the return on investment necessary to keep funding them.” …The Middletown Journal, January 30, 2012 |
Posted By: whistlersmom
Date Posted: Feb 09 2017 at 5:46pm
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Thank you Vivian! If, five years from now, Doug's gamble with our tax dollars is a failure, he will be able to move on to his next victim and take his bonus pay raises with him. But the rest of Middletown's taxpaying (and by then penniless) citizens will be left holding the bag again. I'd prefer not to wait five years for that to happen! Also, it has been over looked that historically many of the original downtown businesses had living space above them. Isn't it true that the city passed an ordinance prohibiting living in a commercial building? Has this been reconsidered? If not the Goetz, Rose and Journal buildings all would not be in compliance. Why shouldn't present owners of those buildings with available living space not be allowed to use them fully? Or have they just given up trying to survive and moved on, leaving another black hole for the city to raze or give away? Is this the reason no one is living downtown? |
Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Feb 09 2017 at 8:20pm
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whistlersmom: "Is this the reason no one is living downtown?" Well now, according to the Channel 9 story on downtown Middletown tonight, I believe they mentioned that there are people who are living in downtown buildings. Replay the segment on 9 News tonight and see if they mentioned this in the story at some point. They did mention the Goetz Tower plans for occupancy I think. ------------- I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over. |
Posted By: swohio75
Date Posted: Feb 09 2017 at 9:47pm
I believe this is dependent on zoning.
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Posted By: swohio75
Date Posted: Feb 09 2017 at 9:54pm
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Upper floor living is permitted in UCC and UCS which is what most of the downtown core falls under http://library.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Ohio/middletown_oh/parttwelveplanningandzoningcode/titlefourzoning/chapter1254ucurbancoredistricts?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0" rel="nofollow - http://library.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Ohio/middletown_oh/parttwelveplanningandzoningcode/titlefourzoning/chapter1254ucurbancoredistricts?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0 Do your homework before you start ranting off hearsay whistlersmom
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Posted By: Analytical
Date Posted: Feb 09 2017 at 10:00pm
| Bill (realtor) or Marty or Sam A,? Just a hunch? |
Posted By: swohio75
Date Posted: Feb 09 2017 at 10:05pm
No, no and no. |
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Feb 10 2017 at 9:20am
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Census records show that over the past 200 years many business
men and their families lived over or behind their shops in the downtown area. Everything
that a family needed was available within walking distance of the downtown
area. An urban dweller does not need or want a front porch, a
backyard with a grill or grass to mow.
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Posted By: Analytical
Date Posted: Feb 10 2017 at 12:40pm
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Surely not Mr. Robinette or another "downtown" property owner? It says much about you for: 1) being so cognizant of city council, board of zoning appeals and planning commission history pertaining to "downtown"; 2) resource person of zoning regulations, property ownership and transfers, etc. as they relate to "downtown", and, 3) in-the-know source of "downtown" scuttlebutt. And, by the way, your condescending comments about WhistlersMom, etc. were over the top.
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Posted By: swohio75
Date Posted: Feb 10 2017 at 1:30pm
Nope. As I continue to reiterate, everything I have stated or posted is a matter of public record and searchable on the internet with a key search terms. Yes, I do keep a pulse on the downtown area simply because i am interested in is redevelopment and am of the personal opinion that it is crucial if Middletown is to make a turnaround. That is simply an opinion that I have. I do not own property downtown nor do I have a business downtown. What i says about me is that I try to be informed when I post, providing factual backup whenever feasible.
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Posted By: swohio75
Date Posted: Feb 10 2017 at 1:35pm
Goetz is a great building and i think conversion to apartments makes sense. Agree that for this development, an elevator is crucial--i understand this is a component of the project. Disagree on the need for attached parking. At the moment, there is plenty of surrounding surface-level parking. I think it's important to consider future forecast of auto dependency and growth of ride-sharing services and driverless cars.
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Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Feb 11 2017 at 11:51am
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swohio75: "I think it's important to consider future forecast of auto dependency and growth of ride-sharing services and driverless cars". Don't know about anyone else but it will be a cold day in hell before I get in a car that is controlled by a computer and is "driverless". Too much distrust on the computer malfunctioning and loss of control. Prefer a human (me) driving the car. I can't fathom the concept being widely accepted at this time. I don't want a computer driven car coming at me on a two lane highway at 50-60 MPH (although it would be better than a person on heroin or drunk coming at me I suppose). Both are risky. Mass transit/ride share?......right now, don't see it happening in the downtown area as it just isn't, nor, IMO, will it ever be populated enough to warrant ride share or mass transit to and from downtown. Based on the downtown progress/growth in the last four decades, I don't notice a great amount of need for moving people around simply because of the scarcity of downtown foot traffic to date and the potential customer base for mass transit of ride share. Right now, adding to the argument against mass transit and ride share, is the fact the there are very few people actually calling the downtown home right now nor is there any indication, other than this Goetz Tower talk, that there will be in the near future. The Manchester Hotel idea of making the hotel into condos fell through so that is off the table on the "people living in the downtown" topic. All JMO of course. ------------- I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over. |
Posted By: Analytical
Date Posted: Feb 11 2017 at 7:45pm
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Historic Goetz Tower Project Financing Questions Background: As per the last City Council workbook, it states that this project will ultimately cost $3,000,000 (+/- 10%). It also mentions that the ultimate capital outlay of the project redeveloper will total $2,000,000 (+/- 10%). It is understood that $600,000 in tax credits will be available to defray project redeveloper costs. Questions: Please restate where the $400,000 balance in estimated project costs will come from? Second, what is the amount of square footage of ground floor space to be utilized via a five-year lease with the city? Third, as per the lease agreement, how much will the city pay per square foot, monthly rent and annual cost for said space? Note: my apologies in advance to swohio75, etc. if any or all of these questions have been answered already. Thanks.
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Posted By: Analytical
Date Posted: Feb 11 2017 at 10:36pm
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Historic Goetz Tower Income and Project Cash Flow According to the latest City Council workbook, completion of this project will yield 10+ apartments. Therefore, what will be the unit mix and projected rent rates? Even with tax credits and city subsidies, will this project generate sufficient income to cover debt service and maybe generate a little positive cash flow for the redeveloper? As said earlier, the above statement regarding the number of rentals, unit mix and anticipated rent rates would be most helpful to know. Thank you. |
Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Feb 12 2017 at 9:30am
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swohio75: "Yes, I do keep a pulse on the downtown area simply because i am interested in is redevelopment and am of the personal opinion that it is crucial if Middletown is to make a turnaround. That is simply an opinion that I have." Wow!!!! Seriously sw? You actually are of the opinion that the success of the downtown development will make or break Middletown's turnaround? I would think that even if the downtown made it all the way to completion, and they achieved all they wanted downtown, it would only attract a very small, niche clientele interested mainly in the arts, fru fru, specialized coffee shops and "yuppie" type interests. Considering the current direction, lack of measurable progress over decades of business startup/failure attempts, and the ultimate theme they are trying to achieve, I can't see more than 2-3% of the total population of Middletown heading for the downtown area at all, and that may be a generous percentage assumption on my part. If they are going to pull people to the downtown area, given the current/future offerings in their plans, they will have to rely on a huge percentage of out of town patrons to frequent the businesses down there. They are certainly not going to fill the stores with Middletonians. If that is true, I can guess there won't be enough pull from out of town visitors to make a real difference at all and therefore, can assume that the downtown will never prosper as planned by the downtown supporters. IMO, the downtown dream is never going to fully materialize if the reliance is on non-resident customers. IMO, they need to change the theme to match the demographic interests of the community. It is blue collar, not artzy/cultural white collar in make-up. Couple that with the fact the the downtown stopped becoming a shopping, entertainment, attraction destination decades ago and by offering nothing for those decades,has given itself a permanent black eye as to interest. It is now and has been the norm to think there is nothing to go downtown for. I just can't see the downtown having enough clout to make any impact on making or breaking Middletown whatsoever. It hasn't made any impact since it went dormant in the 70's and the city found shopping in the east end, entertainment out of town and interests elsewhere. I see nothing that the majority of the city would be interested in in the downtown, that they haven't made allowances for already. JMO ------------- I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over. |
Posted By: whistlersmom
Date Posted: Feb 15 2017 at 10:35am
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sw said: Upper floor living is permitted in UCC and UCS which is what most of the downtown core falls under http://library.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Ohio/middletown_oh/parttwelveplanningandzoningcode/titlefourzoning/chapter1254ucurbancoredistricts?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0 Do your homework before you start ranting off hearsay whistlersmom In answer: Not sure what, if any, regulations on living space over businesses existed before 2007. The online library for public records, amlegal.com, shows that in 2007 numerous and very stringent regulations for revitalization (including the living space over business) in Middletown’s downtown area, were put in place. It looks like getting through that maze would require at least some insider assistance. An unsuspecting newcomer might be well on the way to building up a business location only to be confronted with an obscure ordinance (unrelated to the matter at hand) which requires a fee of several hundred $ to get a variance, since it will be otherwise impossible to comply. Or at this point the city could decide that it would be impossible to comply and put an end to the project in midstream with no consideration for expenses already incurred. The city is well known for selective enforcement of ordinances. Might this be tantamount to selecting winners and losers? |
Posted By: swohio75
Date Posted: Feb 15 2017 at 1:28pm
Upper level rental units have been a general practice, as I had a family member rent a unit above a commercial building along Central in the 1990s. Also Peggy and Tom Blakely revocated the upper level of the old Greathouse store (ground level was their insurance office) into a single dwelling unit. And this was while the mall was still in tact. I do know of one current project (outside of Goetz) where a dwelling unit is being constructed above retail space in a commercial building. It is a single unit and will be owner occupied. I stand by what I said past on zoning classifications that upper floor living is permitted in UCC and UCS which is what most of the downtown core falls under at this time. Exterior modifications are governed by the Council on Landmarks and Historic Districts. |
Posted By: middletownscouter
Date Posted: Feb 15 2017 at 4:21pm
| For a while in the late 1990's I lived with a couple of friends on the upper floor of one of the downtown buildings along Central. There was an antique store below if I recall correctly. We moved out after the owner of the store (possibly building) decided he and his wife were going to move into the residence. |
Posted By: whistlersmom
Date Posted: Feb 15 2017 at 9:15pm
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Here are some excerpts (with inserted comments in parentheses) from the latest article (of 2/15/2017) that Middletown city officials have dictated to the Journal News: NEW DETAILS Middletown focuses on downtown living Goetz Tower project moves forward without 1 developer. By Mike Rutledge StaffWriter The Goetz Tower stands at the intersection of Main Street and Central Avenue. Middletown officials say they are seeing a demand for housing and hope to convert the historic building into apartments. NICK GRAHAM / STAFF MIDDLETOWN — A project to bring more market-rate housing to downtown Middletown is moving forward but without one of the original two developers. (We still don’t know who (other than, formerly, Robinette) the developers are!) Revitalizing 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. (WOW, city officials have blatantly admitted to our complaint about their tunnel vision “strategy of downtown revitalization.” Using taxpayer money to buy buildings to give away is a waste by a city that refuses to repair our streets, refuses to spend tax dollars as intended and refuses to live up to their fiduciary responsibilities.) Almost 2½ years after Middletown signed an agreement with two companies to redevelop Goetz Tower, located at the southeast corner of Central Avenue and South Main Street, council approved an update to the contract without one of the entities. Grassroots Ohio has been removed from the original agreement to renovate and restore the former Middletown Building and Deposit Association Building at 1000 Central Ave. with a mix of retail, office and apartments. Under the original agreement, the city granted a 100 percent tax exemption to improvements to real property for 12 years. The agreement specifies the project was to begin in December 2016, with completion of “all acquisition, construction and installation” by Dec. 31, 2017. (After 2 ½ years, somebody finally decides to stipulate in a contract that the project should begin in Dec. 2016. How gullible is the Journal? Delaying 2 ½ years before starting a project doesn’t make sense. I’d like to see the date and content of the original contract , if it exists. And, thankfully, they have designated a completion date of Dec. 31,2017, which however, will mean nothing without stipulating a penalty for failing to complete.) Mike Robinette, who signed on behalf of both Historic Goetz Tower LLC as its president and also as the president of Grassroots Ohio in the original agreement. According to the amendment of the Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) Agreement, Historic Goetz Tower LLC now will invest $3 million, plus or minus 10 percent, in improvements to the building. (Is this like the $12 million then amended to $20 million that was to be spent on the Manchester Inn? Is it like the $1.5 million to $2 million that was to be spent on the Rose Furniture building? Is it like the millions that was to be spent on the Journal building? To date none of the promised work toward repurposing any of these buildings has occurred. Oh, but there was removal of the valuable antique glass windows from the Journal building.) Robinette said via email he no longer is part of the Goetz Tower or Rose Furniture (at 36 S. Main St.) projects in Middletown. He is, however, still developing two other properties downtown for a micro-distillery set to open this spring. The Goetz Tower project is still an exciting, positive move, said Vice Mayor Dora Bronston, noting that it can increase the vitality of downtown. (The Goetz Tower has not been developed in 2 ½ years. How is an empty building increasing the vitality of downtown? Maybe the rent for the first floor (a gift from council) for unneeded space will help the unknown members of the LLC live a little better lives.) By adding more downtown living space, she said during a recent council meeting, more impetus for additional shops and businesses will be created. Middletown’s draft strategic plan for the downtown corridor noted the need for more downtown residents in order to lure more businesses. (But you need the businesses to lure residents downtown. We continue to see failure after expensive failure on both fronts.) Jennifer Ekey, the economic development director for Middletown, said she believes trendy urban living inside the Goetz Tower will be a large part of downtown’s revitalization. “This will be our first foray into market-rate housing in our downtown,” Ekey said “That’s why this is such a critical piece for us in, sort of, the revitalization of downtown Middletown.” It’s critical because the city doesn’t just want to bring people downtown — it wants to keep them there. But it seems the vision is getting some resistance. City Manager Doug Adkins wrote in his blog that “downtown seems to be the economic development area that irritates people or part of this city’s rebirth that the residents don’t fully understand.” The key to winning people over may involve getting them to stop looking at Middletown’s past, and get them instead looking toward its future, according to Ekey. “People remember Middletown the way it used to be, and it’s never going to be the way it was in the ’30s or the ’40s or the ’50s or the ’60s, but that’s OK,” Ekey said. “We’re here to create something new.” Triple Moon Coffee Company owner Heather Gibson, who opened her downtown business about two years ago, agreed. (Hasn’t this ploy been used multiple times? The wool has been pulled threadbare. There seems to be a lack of any other positive examples. Yes, that’s irritating to people to be told that we don’t understand. Why, Mr. Adkins, do you continue? It is you who doesn’t understand that your “strategy of spend millions of tax payers $ downtown, give away millions worth of property and amenities (golf course, parks, etc.), tear down millions in real estate (with resulting loss of tax base)” isn’t and likely never will be in any way positive. I site the present economic condition of our city which has shown no improvement for years on end.) “I think the more that we do down here and the more people that come down here, it’s going to happen, it’s just going to take time to get that old mentality out,” Gibson said. Officials hope to have the Goetz Tower renovation done in a year with 16 units. From there, the city hopes the future holds as many as 180 more units as part of the continued rebirth of downtown Journal-News media partner WCPO contributed to this report. Contact this reporter at 513-483-5233 or Mike.Rutledge@coxinc.com. |