While not are all part of Settlers Walk, the developments, across 758 acres of northern Springboro, have one link in common. “The link is Ron Coffman,” said Dan Boron, planning consultant for Springboro.
Last week, builders employed by Simms were working on the first of 12 Parkside Row townhomes. The project will house 56 new residences in Village Park, a mixed-use development originally approved in 2004, across Ohio 741 from the Settlers Walk planned community.
“We’re framing our first building right now,” Simms said. “You’re going to see Village Park completed.”
Proposed office buildings have yet to be developed in Village Park. Several lots remain undeveloped along Ohio 741, including eight acres owned by the Kettering Adventist Health System.
There was a setback when Graeter’s recently announced the closing of an ice cream shop in the Village Park strip.
On the east side of Settlers Walk, St. Mary’s Catholic Church is expected to receive formal approval Wednesday from the Springboro Planning Commission for a plan to build a new $6.2 million sanctuary and parish center — replacing existing facilities in Franklin — on 17 acres off Yankee Road.
Fischer Homes is completing the Springs, a housing subdivision just southwest west of the St. Mary’s site, having torn down a clubhouse left behind when developer Coffman ceased operations in Springboro.
Coffman, who did not respond to multiple interview requests, was the main developer behind Settlers Walk and Village Park, although other businessmen collaborated with him on various phases of the development over two decades. The YMCA in Settlers Walk is named for him.
“Ron was an excellent developer,” Simms said. “When the real estate crash hit, there were a lot of good and great developers that couldn’t keep it together.”
Coffman is part of a group developing 64 acres into a planned senior living-golf community in Centerville.
But Simms and other developers are completing Settlers Walk, Village Park and the Springs area, after acquiring the undeveloped parcels.
Ultimately, the development area included 522 acres in Settlers Walk, 166 acres in the Springs off Yankee Road and 80 acres on the west side of Ohio 741, according to city records.
Some undeveloped home lots still remain in Settlers Walk, begun about 20 years ago. The Siebenthaler Company has yet to develop 16 acres next to the St. Mary’s site.
Last week, Kettering officials and the partnership formed to develop as much as 200,000 square feet of office space in Village Park said they had no firm plans.
Kettering purchased eight acres from a Coffman company for more than $1.2 million in 2006, according to property records.
“Right now we have no plans for the land,” Kettering spokeswoman Elizabeth Long said.
In 2008, Greg Martin and Dan Fishbaugh projected as many as 500 new jobs in their proposed office buildings, but the only sign of development last week was an 11,000 square foot shell of a building built on speculation.
“The timing of the market was wrong. The interest has not been there yet,” Martin said. “We’ve been very close two or three different times.”
Simms is confident the time is right for Parkside Row, just north of Gardner Park, developed by the city and featuring walking trails and a three-acre lake.
In 2006, Coffman was granted a zoning change, permitting townhomes, rather than single-family residences in what has become Parkside Row.
The nine-acre site is to become a walkable community with covered patios and park areas, a short walk from a Dorothy Lane Market, as well as restaurants and stores on both sides of Ohio 741.
“Another five-minute stroll and you are right there,” Simms said. “You’re in the suburbs, but you can still walk.”
Estimated construction cost for the first building: $945,000. Units are to be priced from $204,900 to $289,900. The model is to be open at the beginning of 2015, Simms said.
“It’s going to be almost a $10 million project in terms of retail sales,” he said.
But for the real estate crash, Coffman would have seen through the 758-acre Springboro development, Simms said.
“If the crash wouldn’t have happened, he would have been fine,” he said.
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