Some of the developments will change (or recently have changed) the landscape of downtown Dayton and other locales.
Among the many construction projects happening now across the Miami Valley, these are notable:
1. Amazon fulfillment Center in Union: First announced last year, Amazon employees will pick, pack and ship customer items, such as books, electronics and consumer goods, in a more than 630,000-square-foot facility the company said would open in 2022.
A spokeswoman for Amazon said last week she had no updates on the project, but the online giant has said the site — off Union Airpark Boulevard, just east of the Procter & Gamble distribution center — will be home to about 1,500 workers.
Honorable mention: For multiple companies, all roads seem to lead to Union and the area northwest of the Dayton International Airport. The area has been a magnet for distribution operations for Chewy, Energizer, Crocs, Innovative Plastic Molders Inc., Frito-Lay and others. More recently, some government entities have taken actions to support a yet-to-be-officially announced Dayton Freight Lines maintenance facility planned in the same area.
2. $156 million National Air and Space Intelligence Center headquarters at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base: NASIC is a major mission at Ohio’s largest single-site employer. The complex will be headquarters to a global workforce of more than 4,000 employees.
Credit: 88th Air Base Wing
Credit: 88th Air Base Wing
The five-story Intelligence Production Complex III will add 255,000 square feet, divided into more than 980 workstations, mission-specific functions, meeting areas, 3D visualization capabilities, conference rooms and more. The addition is scheduled for occupation in early 2025.
More than 100 construction workers are onsite daily, a NASIC spokeswoman said last week.
“To date, the concrete foundation is complete, including more than 1,100 concrete/steel foundation piles covering nearly 45,000 linear feet, and the structural framework of the new facility stands proud and is visible from off-base,” NASIC said last week.
Honorable mention: While construction may be several years away, President Joe Biden in late December signed the final National Defense Authorization Act into law, a bill that included $24 million for a new Child Development Center at Wright-Patterson. The new center will likely replace a current off-base child care facility in Riverside.
3. A pair of new Sierra Nevada Corp. hangars at Dayton International Airport: This project puts a private company in Dayton in the business of maintaining and updating large military aircraft, an increasingly crucial job in an era when the Air Force operates eight fleets of planes that are more than 50 years old and 13 fleets more than 40 years old.
Credit: Marshall Gorby
Credit: Marshall Gorby
Honorable mention: The modernization of the Dayton International Airport terminal. A $29 million first phase was completed in 2019, giving the airport a new look. Work now is also planned on Transportation Security Administration checkpoints and concourses.
4. Dayton Children’s Hospital. It seems Dayton Children’s is often building something. In February, the hospital announced plans for a five-story specialty care outpatient center projected to open in 2023 at the hospital’s main campus.
The $78 million project includes four floors for outpatient clinic space and fifth-floor shell space for a total of 152,000 square feet. The building will be where the Cox building (on Valley Street) was previously located.
Honorable mention: Meijer Inc. is Tipp City’s largest employer, and the company’s presence has been beefed up by its Distribution South Campus — a 373,000-square-foot, automated supply chain facility near Meijer’s 1.7 million-square-foot distribution center in Tipp City.
5. Premier Health: The health care network has plans for the former Good Samaritan Hospital site.
The YMCA of Greater Dayton and other nonprofits are planning to be part of a new 50,000-square-foot center to be built where Good Sam once stood, at the corner of Philadelphia Drive and Salem Avenue.
Premier Health had earlier announced plans for an urgent care, physician office space, lab and imaging services there.
Honorable mention: White Castle broke ground last July on a project doubling the size of its Vandalia plant, a $27 million expansion that will add some 75 more workers, the company said.
6. Gabriel Brothers Inc.: The West Virginia-based department store chain, is investing $77.5 million into the construction of a state-of-the-art distribution facility that will be home to more than 800 jobs at Prime Ohio II Industrial Park near Springfield.
Also known as Gabe’s, the company expects the site to be operating by 2023.
Honorable mention: Kettering Health is building a $20 million Springfield medical facility, which will include a 24/7 emergency room, set to open this year.
The facility will be one-story and 42,000 square feet. It is at 2300 N. Limestone St., in a former Kroger store.
7. Dayton Arcade renewal: As far as this has come, the Arcade remains a work in progress. The ongoing redevelopment of the historic arcade has arguably done more than any other long-term project to instill confidence in downtown Dayton’s prospects.
Cross Street Partners and its partners continue to work on first-floor commercial space, and work on the north portion of the Arcade is still planned. This is a substantial undertaking that affects nearly everyone downtown.
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Honorable mention: A new University of Dayton Arts facility, a $45 million, 51,000-square-foot facility to be called the Roger Glass Center for the Arts. It will be built at the southeast corner of Main and Stewart streets.
8. Former Mendelson’s building downtown: Columbus developer Crawford-Hoying is the force behind The Delco, a mixed-use development in downtown Dayton’s Water Street District, on the site of the former Mendelson building (itself a former Delco plant), near the new AC Hotel. Portions of the lower levels of the building will be used for public parking with an estimated 480 spaces. The upper levels will include a mix of offices and apartments.
Honorable mention: Construction on Winsupply’s Richard W. Schwartz Center for Innovation in Moraine is “moving along quite well” after supply chain problems created some slowdowns, Bill Tolliver, Winsupply vice president for real estate services and in-house counsel, said recently. The company expects to complete the project toward the end of April.
9. The Unison Industries/GE Aviation: The consolidation in Beavercreek led to the construction of a 280,000-square-feet building off Research Boulevard just west of I-675, including 240,000 square feet of manufacturing space. The remaining 40,000 square feet will be office space.
GE spokeswoman Jennifer Villarreal previously told this newspaper the Beavercreek Unison facilities employ about 400 hourly and salaried employees, and employment is expected to stay at that level.
Honorable mention: Radiance Technologies. Defense contractor Radiance Technologies will create 100 full-time-equivalent positions and invest more than $900,000 as part of an expansion project at its Beavercreek site “to accommodate its numerous new Department of Defense contracts,” according to state documents.
10. Connor Group: The real estate investment company Connor Group is expanding its offices and adding jobs in Miami Twp. The expansion builds on a headquarters already recognized for its unique appearance.
Honorable mention: Aeroseal in Miamisburg is performing an $4.4 million expansion (of space and jobs), and the ductwork-sealing technology the company brings to market could turn it into a Fortune 100-sized firm, said Miami Twp. Trustee John Morris.
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