Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
If the city commission approves the contract, Dillin will be tasked with overseeing community engagement, a real estate market analysis and master planning for the property, city documents state.
Dillin will help the city identify additional financial resources and partnerships for project development, strategic demolition and community development activities, says a memo from Todd Kinskey, Dayton’s director of planning, neighborhoods and development.
“Dillin has an expertise in creating and designing projects that harmonize with their neighbors, inject investment to enliven communities and add to the character and alluring result of a master-planned effort,” Kinskey’s memo states.
Dillin helped create Dayton’s first food hall, West Social Tap & Table, which is about a mile and a half from the Wright factory site.
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
A fire that broke out at the factory site on March 26 resulted in major damage to four of the five hangars on the property, including the two historic Wright brothers factory buildings.
Three of the hangars are non-historic but were designed to resemble the airplane factory buildings.
The city so far has not released any reports that reveal the full extent of the fire damage or the cause of the blaze. But the roofs of multiple buildings collapsed and it’s clear they sustained substantial damage.
Mackensie Wittmer, executive director of the National Aviation Heritage Area, said the city did some visioning work for the Wright factory site about five years ago but it was not a detailed master plan.
Wittmer said a master plan should help create a unified redevelopment vision for the property.
She also said this will be an opportunity for local partners to reaffirm their commitments to revitalizing the site.
“While I do not know the details of the agreement, it has been a pleasure to watch Dillin Corp.’s investment in West Dayton and particularly the Wright-Dunbar neighborhood,” Wittmer said. “I am confident that an agreement with a private developer for a services agreement will allow the project to proceed with a faster timeline.”
Dillin is also leading multimillion-dollar redevelopment projects proposed in West Carrollton and at Xenia Towne Square.
Under the proposed professional services agreement, Dillin will create a “strategic direction” for the site and a comprehensive community development plan for the surrounding neighborhoods.
The company also will be asked to create a business plan that includes capital budgets and investment proforma.
Dillin also would be directed to participate in community meetings and events to try to get feedback from residents, businesses and other stakeholders about their vision for the property.
Kinskey told this newspaper that the city has been in talks with Dillin for a long time, well before the fire occurred.
He said the city has created a couple of development concepts for the Wright factory site over the years but none of them were based on market research and they were not completed using the expertise of a land developer.
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