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MIDDLE MARKET HIGHLIGHT, OCTOBER 2005
DAYTON
Karen Stone, CCIM
Dayton is diversifying its economy from a primarily industrial base to one that includes a strong, dynamic information and technology component. The city is aggressively pursuing the development of a high-tech campus known as Tech Town. To be located on a 38-acre parcel in downtown Dayton, Tech Town will include 500,000 square feet of office space and will focus on attracting technology and R&D-based businesses. Although most of the existing buildings will be demolished to make way for the new development, an existing 152,000-square-foot office building will be restored and redeveloped into new office space. Formerly utilized by GM Harrison Delphi as a manufacturing plant, the city is working in partnership with GM to clean up the brownfield site. Part of the funding necessary to demolish the existing obsolete buildings has been received, and clean up has begun.
Tech Town is being built across the street from Dayton's Technological Business Incubator, a submarket-rent office complex built several years ago to provide affordable office space for start-up businesses. “We envision Tech Town will be the perfect place for these start-ups to move to when they are ready to graduate to market-rate office environments after 3 to 5 years,” says Shelley Dickstein, senior development specialist with the city of Dayton's Office of Economic Development.
In the industrial sector, Dayton has seen a resurgence of reinvestment that has been deferred during the past couple of years as the economy teetered back and forth. Local companies are now beginning to spend money on new equipment and expansions. “Behr-Dayton Thermal Products, for example, is making a $44 million reinvestment in their current facility located on Webster Street in the northwest sector of downtown,” Dickstein says.
Suburban areas are seeing some significant new retail development. Steiner + Associates has broken ground on an 800,000-square-foot regional shopping, dining and residential district at the southwest corner of Interstate 675 and Indian Ripple Road. Known as The Greene, and situated in the middle of three of Dayton's higher income suburbs, the project will feature 400,000 square feet of retail space, several restaurants and 150 residential condominiums in an open-air, town center format. As of yet, only a few tenants have been confirmed, including a 14-screen National Amusements movie theater and a two-story Books & Co. bookstore. The complex is projected to open in August 2006.
To update its 1 million-square-foot Dayton Mall, which is located on the south side of Dayton, Glimcher Realty Trust is adding a 90,000-square-foot lifestyle component. The outward-facing retail space will house eight to 12 in-line tenants and several restaurants. “Dayton has been very good to us,” says Carolee Oertel, director of investor relations for Glimcher. “We appreciate our strong presence in Dayton and wanted to bring our customers more than we are bringing them now.” Baltimore-based Whiting-Turner broke ground on the center in July, and opening is scheduled for the first quarter of 2006. Tenants have not yet been announced.
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