Kettering Health plans medical building at former Kroger in Centerville

Credit: STAFF

Credit: STAFF

Kettering Health declined to provide more details, including how many jobs are planned there and the cost of the project.

The site is where developer Larry Dillin proposed a $130 million plus investment before withdrawing it in January 2020, Dayton Daily News records show.

Before pulling out, Dillin had been working with investors and proposing redeveloping Centerville Place into a mix of office, retail, and restaurant space as well as about 350 housing units.

The Kettering Health project — targeted for completion in about a year — would be about 66,000 square feet used for “primarily clinical” operations, said Jerad Barnett, president and CEO of Synergy Building Systems, a Beavercreek firm representing the landowner.

The project’s cost is being fine-tuned, Barnett said, but declined to provide any estimate.

“It is a little fluid. We are finalizing numbers, of course,” he said.

The 15.2-acre property is owned by Queen City Lease Management LLC, Montgomery County records show. Queen City bought the land in 2017 for $9.2 million, documents state.

Centerville officials said site has been vacant since 2011 and the redevelopment will help the area in several ways.

“We are very excited about Kettering Health Network’s plans to revitalize Centerville Place, which will bring more jobs, development and health care options,” Centerville Mayor Brooks Compton said in a statement.

Kroger operated on the site from 1979 to 2011, when it opened a new Kroger Marketplace just south of the building, city Planner Mark Yandrick said.

Kettering Health’s plan includes improvements to the façade, lighting, landscaping and parking lot, according to city documents. The proposal also calls for demolishing “a minimal amount” of the structure, Barnett said.

Centerville records show that “as an adaptive reuse of a vacant 60,000 square foot retail center, this proposal aligns” with the city’s strategic plan.

An application for a major site plan was reviewed by the Centerville Planning Commission Tuesday night in a work session. A formal hearing before the commission is set for Aug. 31, Yandrick said.

Kettering Health’s “redevelopment will include modifications to the building façade…As part of this project Kettering is not proposing any change to the flow of traffic by the general public but they are adding a drop off lane to allow for patient drop off under a covered structure,” according to records.