The project site is between the 2nd Street Market to the south and Little Fish Brewing Co. to the north.
“Clearly, it will completely transform the area around the market,” said Susan Vincent, a planner with the city of Dayton.
The Dayton Board of Zoning Appeals approved a variance last week that will permit Windsor to have a four-foot rear setback when the code usually requires a 10-foot setback for this project.
Windsor plans to convert existing vacant land and multiple blighted commercial structures along Webster and East Second streets into a five-story building, says a Board of Zoning Appeals report.
The new apartment building will have a large ground floor retail space at the northeast corner of the intersection of those streets.
This project will redevelop basically an entire blight block in the neighborhood, Vincent said. In addition to the tearing down the Midwest Tool building, Windsor plans to knock down several warehouses and industrial properties, including the Muth Brothers Inc. building.
The area has a lot of pedestrian and cycling traffic because of its amenities, and the project should improve the walkability of Pond Street, which borders the project site on the north side, city staff said.
City staff said the development will be “an exciting addition to downtown.”
Apartments on the upper floors will have balconies, while units on the ground floor will have patios, Vincent said.
“They are providing some great interaction with the street, making sure that the building is not closed off to the community,” she said.
Some neighbors said they’d like to see a grocery store move into the ground floor space because they say it is badly needed in downtown.
The property is a short walk from some office buildings and housing developments in Webster Station and the Water Street District including the Brownstones at 2nd, the Centerfield Flats, Delco Lofts, the Cannery Lofts and the Sutton.
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