The building will include a restaurant or coffee shop, bank and marketing offices, as well as corporate offices for the retirement community, in the development’s town center.
Mail boxes for residents, a bank and Union Village marketing offices are expected to share the rest of the first floor.
“We’re getting close to finally seeing things come vertical. This building is a key component,” said Bob Turner, the South Carolina-based developer brought in by Otterbein for the project, expected to take shape over the next 20 or 30 years.
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Over 30 to 40 years, in addition to commercial development, 4,500 homes and multi-family residences are to be built at Union Village, attracting more than $1.5 billion in private investment.
The first residential phase of the development is under construction across Ohio 741 from Otterbein’s main retirement campus.
Ultimately more than 12,000 people are expected to live in new homes around the town center and other features including the county-owned Warren County Sports Park at Union Village, near completion just north of the town center.
Otterbein is paying for the first building, seen as the anchor for the town center and initial stages of the development, and 0ccupy the top two floors.
No cost projection was available.
There were no plans yet for the current administrative offices, known as the Dilgard Building.
Otterbein has also invested millions in the 200-acre retirement campus, the center of its retirement-community business, most recently updating nursing facilities. The project cost $14 million, according to Otterbein.
“Overall the investment (in Union Village) is modest compared to the investments we’ve already made and will continue to make in the renovation and growth in each of our senior-care communities and neighborhoods,” said Gary Horning, vice president for marketing and communications for Otterbein, in response to questions.”We have land development programs designed for long-term expansion at nearly every Otterbein location.”
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Warren County commissioners are expected to sign off on the office building after review at a Sept. 10 meeting.
Work has also begun on the park in middle the of the town center.
“A large stage and children’s play area will be highlights of a town green, lined with trees, at the entrance to the community,” according to a press release issued in July.
“The vision is to create a sense of place, with a venue for entertainment and possibly even festivals in the future,” Matt Obringer, project manager for Union Village, said in the release. “There will be multiple green spaces and places for people to gather throughout the community.”
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Construction on the first commercial building is to begin before the holiday season, about the time the developer expects to have interior roads in place as builders pick out home sites on the first residential street.
“We’re shooting for November, just before Thanksgiving,” Obringer said during an interview this week.
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