Church turning former Sears at Dayton Mall into first permanent Dayton area location
Credit: Lynch, Gregory
Credit: Lynch, Gregory
MIAMI TWP. — Crossroads Dayton has launched construction on its new location at the former Sears at Dayton Mall.
The site in Miami Twp., which will be the first permanent Crossroads location in the Dayton area, will include a 1,560-seat auditorium, a smaller youth auditorium, meeting rooms, space for children and students, and more, spokeswoman Erin Caproni told this news outlet. Crossroads’ buildings are designed to serve the community with atriums that have free coffee, Wi-Fi and coworking space during the week and community gathering spaces, Caproni said.
The completion date is “in flux” based on materials, weather and other factors, she said. “We’re likely looking at the end of 2024 or early 2025,” Caproni said.
Dayton Italian restaurant to close in March: ‘Our customers are what made Franco’s’
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
Franco’s Ristorante Italiano in Dayton’s Oregon District is closing its doors after business on March 16.
General manager Nick Germano said “It’s time for us to move on.”
“I just want to thank everyone that has walked through our doors. We are definitely going to miss you like our family,” he said.
Buc-ee’s continues ‘due diligence’ on Huber Heights store site; timeline unclear
HUBER HEIGHTS — Nearly six months after news broke that Ohio’s first Buc-ee’s store and fueling center was in the works for Huber Heights, the company is still doing preliminary due diligence, and city officials say a timeline for construction is not available.
Huber Heights Mayor Jeff Gore first shared the news in an August 2023 Facebook post that amassed nearly 2,000 comments and over 6,000 shares. Last week, Gore gave a brief update to the newspaper about the status of the project.
According to Gore, the developer has been working with the Ohio Department of Transportation to determine necessary design changes to the Interstate 70/Ohio 235 interchange. These alterations will accommodate the anticipated traffic to and from the massive store. The 74,000-square-foot building is planned for a 52-acre site near the northeast corner of the interchange.
Amusement, shopping, warehousing part of new plan for Piqua mall
Piqua Center to open amusement park, boxing training center, new restaurant, warehousing space.
Owners of the former Miami Valley Centre Mall in Piqua are reimagining use of the 500,000-square-foot building that once was a destination location with local and national retail stores.
Piqua Investment Partners LLC―which is a partnership between the locally-based Bruns Construction and the Minnesota-based Caspian Group―has rebranded the mall as the Piqua Center, located at 987 E. Ash St. in Piqua, after taking over ownership of it from the Kohan Group last year.
The Piqua Center will have mixed use going forwards, with approximately 86,000 square feet of space dedicated entertainment and dining and 192,000 square feet for retail and boutique space, with the remainder being space for warehousing and e-commerce.
Developer to build million dollar homes on land purchased from Lebanon
Lebanon recently agreed to sell 98.6 acres of city-owned land for the future construction of a new high-end subdivision.
Lebanon sold the land to High Pointe Construction and Development of Mason for $2.16 million. The company plans to build homes that will sell for $1 million to $2 million. The proposed subdivision will have up to 42 homes and will be located at the far southwest edge of the city near Mason-Morrow-Millgrove and Columbia roads.
The property also includes 10 to 15 acres for neighborhood commercial development, according to the development agreement.
The single-family homes will be built on large lots and will be owner-occupied, according to the agreement.
Intel announces delay in completion of $20 billion Ohio computer chip plant
Credit: Adam Cairns
Credit: Adam Cairns
The completion of Intel’s $20 billion chip manufacturing plant in New Albany has been pushed back due to demands and the business climate, according to the company and media reports.
Following a Wall Street Journal report that production would start at the facility in 2026 instead of 2025 as previously announced, Intel gave a more expansive estimate of three to five years from the launch of construction in late 2022 .
Intel said that while the company had not met the production goal it anticipated when the project was first announced in January 2022, “construction has been underway since breaking ground in late 2022 and we have not made any recent changes to our pace of construction or anticipated timelines,” according to a statement provided by William Moss, Intel’s senior director of corporate communications.
Area florist shutting its doors after six decades in south suburbs
After 64 years in business, a Dayton-area florist has shut its doors.
Michael Trudeau, who purchased Kettering Hills & Dales Florist at 3030 Kettering Blvd. in Moraine nine months ago and rebranded it Hills & Dales Florist, said three coolers and a delivery van have broken since he became owner.
Trudeau said he is baffled that his monthly revenues haven’t matched that of the previous owners, who operated the business for 43 years.
“I was hoping that I was buying a viable business that would take me several years into the future and continue on what she had established, but that’s unfortunately not the case,” he said.
3 new tenants join Mall at Fairfield Commons
Credit: Natalie Jones
Credit: Natalie Jones
The Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek is welcoming three new tenants, including IMME & More, Tokyo Grill & Sushi Buffet and Game Over.
IMME & More, located near JCPenney on the upper level, is an “international shopping experience, specializing in gradian waist beads and handmade recycled glass jewelry from Africa and India,” a press release from the mall said.
Tokyo Grill & Sushi Buffet, located in the former space of Bravo, features Japanese-style dishes including Hibachi Grill bowls, an all you can eat Sushi bar and a wide variety of seafood options at their hot bar.
Game Over Pop Culture Edition, located on the lower level near LensCrafters, “features products for gaming enthusiasts, carrying everything from sweet to scary and console to desktop,” the release said.
Southwest Dayton food desert finally to get nearby full-service grocery store
Southwest Dayton has places to eat and buy food, but some residents live four to six miles away or farther from a sizable, full-service grocery store.
For residents with transportation challenges, those stores might as well be 50 miles away, in places like Cincinnati, said John Patterson, chief business development officer for Homefull.
“There are so many hurdles they have to get over just to shop for groceries,” he said. “There’s really nothing in this immediate area of West Dayton.”
But Homefull is investing about $20 million into creating the Homefull Grocery & Marketplace, which will feature a grocery store, regional food hub and medical and pharmacy services.
3 new Mexican restaurants now open in Dayton area
Credit: Facebook Photo
Credit: Facebook Photo
Three new Mexican restaurants have recently opened in the Dayton area.
They are Vallarta, Chiapas Mexican Grill and El Taco Veloz Mexican Street Tacos.
Here’s a roundup of what you can expect at each restaurant: