And two rundown properties on the 2000 and 2100 block of East Fifth Street are being targeted for new apartments and storefront space.
“Plans are still tentative, but our plan is to focus on residential with one commercial storefront in each building,” said Evan Bambakidis, who closed on the properties with his wife in September. “There will be eight apartments between both buildings.”
This month, the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority approved up to $1.5 million in bond financing for the project at 141 Ringgold St.
Doliboa Construction Inc. purchased the property for $250,000 in November 2019, real estate records show.
Doliboa plans to renovate the 120-year-old building, which is an industrial warehouse offering about 31,000 square feet of space.
The facility will get new windows, LED lights, electric upgrades and rooftop solar system, the authority said.
The facility also will get a new HVAC system and energy efficient upgrades. About $1.35 million of the nearly $3 million investment will be for energy and renewable-energy improvements, officials said.
Todd Smith, president of EBEB Solutions Inc. in Springboro, will oversee the project’s energy efficient upgrades, including the installation of solar panels on the building’s roof.
Smith said this is a huge investment in a beautiful and historic building that was abandoned.
He said the new wedding and business event center will help with Dayton’s continued revitalization.
“It’s going to be a huge improvement to that area,” he said. “It’s phenomenal for Dayton.”
Smith said it is a large building in a good location and there’s definitely a shortage of wedding and event venues in the area.
The project is expected to be completed by spring of 2021, he said.
The former ice cream cone plant is less than 0.15 miles from Evan and Aspasia Bambakidis' properties at 2013-2027 and 2101 E. Fifth St.
2027 E. Fifth St. is a building constructed in 1900 as a single-family home with a storefront on the corner that was used as a a pharmacy, according to a city of Dayton staff analysis.
The 2101 E. Fifth St. property was once used as a clothing store and more recently sold used kitchen equipment, said Evan Bambakidis.
The couple want to significantly renovate the properties' residential spaces and reactivate the commercial areas.
The commercial spaces are about 1,100 and 2,000 square feet in size, Bambakidis said, and the first housing units should be available for move in by the end of the year.
He said they were drawn to the buildings because of their historical character and architecture.
The properties have “good bones” and the Huffman Historic Area has seen continued improvement and a growing business community, he said.
The Huffman and St. Anne’s Hill areas are full of residents committed to the long-term improvement of their neighborhoods, and local property values are rising, Bambakidis said.
"We live in a different historic district by downtown, and my mom was a retired historian at the Dayton public library, " he said. "These factors infused in us an appreciation for Dayton’s neighborhoods and their great history.”
The Dayton Plan Board recently approved rezoning the properties to support their redevelopment.
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