A new grocery store and marketplace is under construction in southwest Dayton, while a new school and medical building are going up in the northeast section of the city.
Outdated housing units are being renovated, and work continues on new rental units in some of the city’s northwestern and southwestern neighborhoods.
Combined, these projects and others in the works are expected to add or update nearly 1,600 housing units and create more than 2,170 new jobs, plus other amenities, according to city estimates.
More than half of the $1.3 billion in investment —about 58% — is taking place either downtown or around the Dayton International Airport.
Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr. said it’s important to “connect the dots” and point out that new projects are rejuvenating areas of the city that experienced decades of disinvestment.
“Of course you know we went for a long time hearing people always say, ‘Ain’t nothing happening in Dayton — ain’t nobody care about our neighborhoods, ain’t nobody care about us,’” the mayor said. “So when we start showing the things that are happening, we can back those things up, and we can show where there are more things coming.”
The numbers
Dayton city staff recently provided an economic development update to the city commission where they said about $1.3 billion is being invested citywide mostly this year and next, though some projects will extend into 2025.
This estimate was based on 25 major projects that are underway, in development or already have been completed this year.
Roughly $559 million worth of projects are planned or are taking place in the southeast, northeast, southwest and northwest parts of Dayton, according to city estimates.
About $484 million in investment is going on near the Dayton International Airport, while downtown has about $292.8 million worth of projects underway or in the pipeline.
Southwest ($111.4M investment)
Projects in southwest Dayton that city staff highlighted included Homefull’s new healthy living campus on South Gettysburg Avenue and expansions by existing employers like Bonbright Distributors, Malt Products and DuPont.
About 46 rundown CJ McLin senior apartments on McArthur Avenue are being renovated, and Greater Dayton Premier Management is working to construct about 50 new apartments as part of its Germantown Crossing project.
Germantown Crossing will be built on the former Day-Mont Behavioral Health Care property at 1520 Germantown St. The former health care facility has been knocked down.
“This is an important project because this is phase 1 of the redevelopment of the DeSoto Bass housing community,” said Veronica Morris, Dayton’s economic development supervisor. “Germantown is a very critical corridor in Dayton.”
A new healthy family market also is expected to be built nearby.
Northwest ($151.5M investment)
Notable projects in northwest Dayton include the planned rehab and reuse of the Longfellow school campus and the renovation of the Grand Place senior apartments, both located along Salem Avenue.
Longfellow will offer 124 new apartments, geared toward older members of the LGBTQ community, plus a new theater and other amenities. Grand Place has 64 units.
The Hallmark Meridian apartment complex, along Central Avenue and Plymouth Avenue in the Grafton Hill neighborhood, has 75 rental units that are being upgraded.
About 144 rental units in Hoover Place, located on the 5400 block of Hoover Avenue near Ohio 49, are being redone and modernized.
The Longfellow and Hallmark Meridian projects are still in the planning stages, but the Grand Place project got underway earlier this year and probably is about halfway done, city staff said.
A developer also proposes bringing 260 new apartments to the former Julienne High School property in the Five Oaks neighborhood.
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Also, the former Good Samaritan Hospital site along Philadelphia Drive is being redeveloped into a 13-acre “health and wellness” campus.
The site will have a new YMCA branch, a new Premier Health urgent care facility and other medical offices. It will serve as the new home for a range of programming and services offered by community groups and institutions.
Conversations are ongoing about a potential mixed-income housing project at the former hospital property, city staff said.
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
The roadway of Salem Avenue, which is a highly traveled corridor, is being reconstructed over multiple phases.
Major projects help stabilize and increase surrounding property values and boost interest in market-rate housing, said Morris.
“When people see investment happen, they want to be a part of that growth of the community,” she said.
Northeast ($245.8M investment)
Dayton Children’s Hospital this year opened a 150,000-square-foot specialty care outpatient center in Old North Dayton, and the hospital continues construction on a new, nearby behavioral health center.
Ronald McDonald House, which is on Valley Street near the hospital, is expanding. And the Greater Dayton School, a new $35 million project located by Deeds Point MetroPark along the river, could open up this year.
Northeast Dayton doesn’t have any sizable housing projects under development; however, about 26 new kinship housing cottages are planned for vacant property near the hospital.
But the area is home to a significant number of large employers that are expanding, such as Norwood Medical, Miami Valley Packaging, Dayton-Phoenix Group and Hyland Screw Machine Products, city officials said.
Southeast (estimated $50.2M investment)
A new apartment building called The Flight was constructed near the University of Dayton campus, by Wyoming and Brown streets. The building was supposed to open in time for the start of the school year, but there were delays, resulting in some students having to scramble to find housing in the meantime.
UD also is constructing a state-of-the-art visual and performing arts facility called the Roger Glass Center for the Arts, which is named after the late president and CEO of Marion’s Piazza.
UD and Premier Health partnered together to open a new medical center on the 1700 block of Brown Street that has primary care and orthopedic physicians, lab, counseling and comprehensive physical rehabilitation services.
Downtown Dayton and Dayton airport ($776.8M investment)
Last month, Joby Aviation announced plans to spend around $477 million to build a new facility near the airport where it will build what often are described as flying cars or taxis. The project could result in as many as 2,000 new jobs.
Mims called this a very big deal for the community, saying these are very good jobs, and hopefully these career opportunities will help retain some of Dayton’s young talent.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
Sierra Nevada Corp., which opened a new hangar at the airport earlier this year, plans to build a second hangar, and the project will create dozens of new jobs and help retain many others.
Big projects going on in downtown include the rehab of the northern part of the Dayton Arcade, the renovation of the Dayton Convention Center and the opening of multiple new apartment buildings in the Water Street District and a new AC Hotel by Day Air Ballpark.
Construction continues on The Delco, the 503, the Flight and the Home Telephone building projects, which are expected to add about 770 new apartments in and near downtown.
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