Fast forward to today, and downtown is one of the region’s premier places to live, dine and recreate.
Some long vacant and underutilized properties and sections of the urban center have been brought back to life. Projects that were only dreamed about for years or decades have become a reality, like the rehab of the Dayton Arcade, the Grant-Deneau Tower and the former Mendelson’s building and the transformation of the area around the ballpark.
Gudorf was one of downtown’s most vocal cheerleaders and most effective advocates through some very tough times, and she never took “no” for an answer when she had some goal in mind for improving the urban center, according to friends, developers and community leaders.
“Sandy has ushered downtown Dayton through times of change, challenges and growth,” said Chris Kershner, president and CEO of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce. “Sandy’s legacy is in the success of downtown.”
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Hard times
Gudorf joined the Downtown Dayton Partnership in 1992 as the vice president of marketing and communications.
She was named the organization’s interim president in the fall of 2006 and she was chosen to be the permanent president in April 2007. She has held that position ever since until now. She is retiring, likely sometime next month.
Downtown had a series of successful and highly-touted projects in the early 2000s.
This included the openings of the Dayton Dragons minor league baseball stadium in 2000, RiverScape MetroPark in 2001 and the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center in 2003.
Some major multifamily housing projects also were finished around that time, including the 156-unit Cannery Loft Apartments and the 108-unit St. Clair Lofts apartments.
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
But downtown hit a rough patch in the mid- to late-2000s.
Some large employers moved out of the urban center, like Reynolds and Reynolds and MeadWestvaco.
Some businesses fled to newer office developments in the suburbs.
The entire Dayton region was rocked by General Motors Corp.’s decision to close its plant in Moraine, which resulted in the loss of 2,000 local jobs.
NCR moved its headquarters out of Dayton in 2009, and this relocation to Georgia cost the city about 1,250 jobs and its last remaining Fortune 500 company.
Downtown specifically suffered a net loss of about 2,200 jobs between the beginning of 2003 and the end of 2007, according to Dayton Daily News articles at the time. And the job losses didn’t end there.
Downtown struggled with office vacancies and many first-floor storefronts sat empty. Some of downtown’s skyscrapers and old office towers were completely vacated.
Many people across the region thought downtown was not safe and they rarely ventured there for fun and leisure.
A reversal
When she became president of the partnership, Gudorf said many people had little faith that downtown could turn things around.
“In 2008, 2009, like much of the country, we were in a significant recession and downtown was really struggling,” Gudorf said. “I quite often remember people saying, ‘Oh Sandy, just turn off the lights and call it a day.’”
But Gudorf said she firmly believed that downtown could and would bounce back. She said she worked hard to convince community members, leaders and stakeholders that downtown is important to whole region — not just Dayton.
She said one of her top priorities was re-instilling confidence that the urban center was worth investing in.
Credit: Chris Stewart
Credit: Chris Stewart
Under Gudorf’s leadership, the Downtown Dayton Partnership took a very active role in creating committees and stakeholder groups to study downtown’s challenges and come up with ideas for potential solutions.
The partnership over the years has helped convene committees and groups of volunteers to look at how to beautify streetscapes, enhance the pedestrian experience, fill empty storefronts, improve perceptions of safety and reactivate dead spaces.
With Gudorf at the helm, the partnership ramped up business retention efforts and launched new programs and events intended to bring more people to the center city.
She viewed the role of the partnership as the “keeper of the vision” for downtown that is in charge of bringing people together to address challenges and identify game-changing opportunities.
“Downtown is for everyone, and so it was always my goal to make sure there was a place at the table for anybody who wanted to be at the table,” she said.
In 2009, the Downtown Dayton Partnership played a major role in helping develop and draft the Greater Downtown Dayton Plan, which was a sweeping plan and vision for creating new jobs, housing and amenities in the center city.
More than 200 community volunteers helped put the document together, which was unveiled in 2010.
“Much of downtown’s significant growth is due in part to the Greater Downtown (Dayton) Plan,” said Dan Meixner, co-chair of the Downtown Dayton Partnership’s board of trustees. “Through the greater downtown plan, Sandy, the Downtown Dayton Partnership and its partners helped rally the community together to face ongoing challenges and seize the opportunities ahead for downtown Dayton.”
Confidence in downtown skyrocketed after the creation and launch of the Greater Downtown Dayton Plan, Meixner said.
Downtown housing boom
Within a few years of the plan’s adoption, homebuilder Charles Simms Development constructed new townhomes in downtown near the ballpark.
The housing was a hit, and Simms Development would go on to build more than 115 new townhomes in downtown over the next decade.
New housing was one of the leading drivers of downtown’s rejuvenation.
Since 2006, downtown has added more than 1,000 new market-rate housing units — more than doubling the supply, which took decades to build up, according to partnership data.
Downtown Dayton currently has a 98% housing occupancy rate, said Kershner, with the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce.
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Combined, more than $2.1 billion has been invested in the greater downtown area since the launch of the Greater Downtown Dayton Plan, and there’s still more than $845 million worth of projects in the pipeline, the partnership said.
Notable projects included the addition of a $5 million free music venue called the Levitt Pavilion Dayton and the $4 million “River Run” project at RiverScape MetroPark that helped remake the riverfront.
Many new breweries, brew pubs and restaurants have opened in downtown in the last 10 or so years. This includes Toxic Brew Co., Warped Wing, Dayton Beer Co., Lucky’s Taproom & Eatery, Troll Pub at the Wheelhouse, Mudlick Tap House, Lily’s Bistro and other establishments.
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Credit: Tom Gilliam
The area around the Dayton Dragons stadium also has been a huge success story.
Developers Crawford Hoying and Woodard Development have transformed Webster Station into a thriving area called the Water Street District.
The developers have opened more than 700 new apartments along the river and by the ballpark in the northeast section of downtown. They also have constructed new office and hotel product and rehabbed old commercial buildings into offices, first-floor restaurant spaces and new housing.
The duo’s combined investments in Water Street are expected to exceed $250 million by the end of next year.
The first Water Street project was completed in the summer of 2015, and back then it was challenging to prove there was a market for downtown investment, said Jason Woodard, principal of Woodard Development.
But the Downtown Dayton Partnership helped promote downtown through efforts like the site-seeker program and the annual housing tour, Woodard said.
“Sandy has been the cheerleader for downtown Dayton and provided energy to help fuel the private sector investments we are experiencing today,” Woodard said.
Addressing safety
The partnership also took a leading role in trying to combat perceptions that downtown was unsafe, developers said.
The partnership regularly met with police to talk through and try to address public safety concerns and its staff worked hard to try to convince the community that serious crime seldom occurred downtown.
“Your ability to hold the police department accountable was legendary,” Dayton police Major Jason Hall said at a retirement party for Gudorf that was held earlier this summer. “I value your partnership and I value what you’ve taught me.”
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Credit: Tom Gilliam
A 2022 citywide survey found that 41% of residents said they feel safe or very safe in downtown.
That compared to 28% of residents who said they feel unsafe or very unsafe; nearly a third of respondents said they felt neutral on the subject.
Citywide surveys between 2016 and 2019 showed that a growing number of residents believed downtown was safe. The 2022 data is not exactly comparable to past surveys because the wording of the questions changed.
Changing times
Back in 2006, when she first became interim president, Gudorf said that she believed downtown was transitioning from a retail destination into an entertainment and housing hotspot.
She was right about the entertainment and housing parts, but retail also is returning to downtown.
The Fire Blocks District, along East Third Street, recently welcomed new clothing and sneaker stores, and nearby are a pet supply store, a do-it-yourself terrarium shop, a record store and juice retailer.
“Downtown is in a really good place ... because of the community and we’ve really been able to diversify our investment,” Gudorf said. “It’s been very rewarding and very exciting to be part of this renaissance.”
Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr., who is co-chair of the partnership’s board of trustees, said Gudorf has spent 30 years finding new and creative ways to make Dayton a better place.
Eva Buttacavoli, executive director of the Contemporary Dayton, said “Sandy Gudorf has been a huge part of the arts in our community and a huge part of my life.”
They both said they expect her to continue to strongly advocate for downtown and be a community leader, even in retirement.
Even Santa Claus, the jolly old elf who stars in the Downtown Dayton Partnership’s holiday events, stopped by Gudorf’s retirement celebration this summer to let her know she’s permanently on his “nice list.”
“Thank you for 30 years of making this beautiful city understand the holidays,” Santa said. “Wonderful job.”
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