“We do have the building under contract and are intending senior residential re-use for that structure,” Oberer developer Greg Smith told city council last month.
Preliminary drawings are in the works, but the company is “not quite ready to release those yet,” he added.
Kettering Planning and Development Director Tom Robillard said he expects development plans to be submitted by the Miami Twp.-based business should city council vote in favor of the change.
The case approved by the planning commission in July is set to be voted on by council Tuesday night, he said.
The former AT&T building is the focus of a plan to reclassify about 7.5 acres due in part to its location and the lack of available sites for such development, city records show.
“Basically, it’s a pretty straight-forward request in that the building itself has already been used as an office use,” City Planner Ron Hundt said.
“The master plan for the city….calls for this area to be office uses,” he added.
Residential development “is a permitted use in the office zoning district,” according to Hundt. “And so by accommodating this rezoning it could be either used for offices….or be redeveloped for housing.”
Kettering’s estimated 54,800 population includes nearly as many people 65 or older (18.5%) as it does under 18 (21.1%), according to 2019 figures from the U.S. Census.
The Oberer proposal comes at a time when sites for new housing in Kettering are at a premium, according to the city.
“The location of the subject site, near other multi-family properties and close to retail centers, makes the property well-suited to the proposed senior housing development,” city records state. “This standard can therefore be met by the proposed rezoning.”
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