Dayton has issued a notice of funding opportunity for a project called “The Point” at the northeast corner of Keowee and Valley streets.
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
The city is seeking a developer to turn the one-acre vacant site into attached single-family homes, condos or multifamily apartments.
Like most places, Dayton needs a range of housing types, but putting new market-rate units in local neighborhoods is a priority that will help stabilize neighborhoods while also increasing housing options, said Kroeger.
The notice of funding opportunity states the residential buildings should be three or four stories tall and should be designed and positioned to take advantage of a nearby park, the river and city views.
The project site is at the intersection of Valley Street and North Keowee Street, which a few years ago was reconstructed from a Y shape to a T configuration to try to calm traffic and improve the pedestrian experience.
The area southeast of the intersection, near the banks of the Mad River, has a couple of small parks and greenspaces that were connected when the roadway was reconfigured.
The vision is to create a “reinvigorated” park called “The Point,” offering new walking paths, landscaping, lighting and other amenities.
Dayton proposes using some of its $138 million in federal COVID relief funds to help finance the proposed new housing project.
City funds can be used to help close the gap between the project’s construction costs and the income generated by the sale of the units.
“Recognizing market realities and development costs, (federal American Rescue Plan Act) funds would be used to make a project feasible,” Kroeger said.
The city said this is a “prime redevelopment opportunity” given the property’s close proximity to downtown, some major institutions and recreational amenities like the regional trail system and the Mad River.
The city said it wants the new housing to be affordable to households that earn 80% to 120% of the area median income. In 2022, the area median income for a family of four was $84,100.
The targeted housing site previously mostly contained vacant and dilapidated buildings, said Karen DeMasi, senior vice president, of community development with CityWide.
The $1.2 million Valley Street realignment project created new street frontage for the housing site, while also creating a safer intersection for pedestrian and vehicular traffic, she said.
The site might be able to fit 22 to 24 new units, but there could be some flexibility, based on responses, DeMasi said.
CityWide commissioned a housing market study for the Old North Dayton neighborhood at the end of 2020 that found there’s a need for new housing products, especially in moderate to market-rate price ranges, she said.
Despite the devastation caused by 2019 Memorial Day tornadoes, the Old North Dayton neighborhood continues to thrive, DeMasi said.
Greater Old North Dayton and the surrounding area has benefited from more than $700 million in new investment since 2009, the city said.
This includes Dayton Children’s Hospital roughly $375 million investment in projects that included a new patient tower, child health pavilion and other campus improvements. The hospital is working to create a ambulatory care facility and behavioral health center
Northeast Dayton is home to several hundred businesses that employ many thousands of people, and more than $125 million is being invested in that section of the city, officials said.
Northeast Dayton is the city’s second largest job center, after downtown, said Todd Kinskey, Dayton’s director of planning, neighborhoods and development.
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