“The staff is kind of excited to see the building is going to be taken over and something to benefit the residents going in there,” said City Manager Tim Eggleston.
“If their business does well, it helps the other businesses do well. We will help in any way we can,” said Kim Bulgin, executive director of the Downtown Tipp City Partnership, a nonpartisan advocacy organization.
The group’s goal, she said, is “to make Tipp City a dining destination. Right now, by having this restaurant, we are one step closer.”
“That I what typically draws the crowd … We all love food. We gather for food, the fellowship” Bulgin said.
The proposed Nate’s — A Neighborhood Pizzeria along with arcade style entertainment would add something for youth downtown, Bulgin said.
It would add another dining option in a two-block stretch that already includes breakfast-lunch spot Sam and Ethel’s, longtime staple Harrison’s, and the upscale Coldwater Cafe, which OpenTable called one of the “100 Best Neighborhood Gems in America” last year.
Businessman Steve Staub’s family owned the Benkin Building for around 30 years.
“It is exciting for us to see the opportunity of this going in there,” Staub said. The family decided to sell the building around three years ago and had lookers interested in uses such as a clothing store and antiques mall.
“We looked at the needs of this town and we realized that would not be best for the town,” Staub said. He looked at some buildings Woodard has renovated in Dayton, he said, adding, “They are just phenomenal.”
“This is a company that will come in, do the right thing that will really help the community,” Staub said.
Bulgin said the downtown businesses employ approximately 170 full time and 260 part time.
The Woodard project listed an anticipated 17 new jobs over the first five years.
Among incentives approved by the Tipp City Council were the city paying to install a four-inch water line for up to $8,000 and waving the $6,870 water line connection fee. Council also approved a 50 percent, 10-year abatement of taxes on the increased value of the project. This will mean an estimated $1,649 in fewer taxes per year during the abatement.
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