$200M East End project moves forward with Middletown approval
Dec. 22—MIDDLETOWN — On the final City Council meeting for three outgoing members, City Manager Paul Lolli said he wanted to give them an opportunity to approve the last piece of legislation for what has been called "a transformational" development.
For more than one year, the city has been working on a planned development of the mixed-use project on 50.86 acres at Ohio 122 and Union Road in the city's East End.
The project will include a 3,000-seat, multi-purpose Event Center, Class A retail and office, hotels, restaurants and a variety of residential products, according to developer Todd Duplain from Woodard Development, a Dayton-based commercial real estate firm.
City Council unanimously approved legislation Tuesday night to allow Lolli to enter into a final development agreement with Woodard and the Warren County Port Authority concerning the planned $200 million project.
Council member Tal Moon, who decided not to run for re-election after serving for eight years, thanked the city staff for all their work on the project.
Vice Mayor Monica Thomas, who served four years on council, said the project has been "exciting to be part of for all of us."
Lolli said he wanted to get council's "stamp of approval" on the project before three members left office at the end of the year.
Assistant City Manager Nathan Cahall said the timeline of Renaissance Pointe calls for bids on infrastructure improvements to be awarded in mid-February 2024 with a ground-breaking ceremony set for early March. The infrastructure improvements could be complete sometime in 2025, he said.
Earlier this year, the city entered into a preliminary development agreement that provided for a framework within which a final development agreement would be constructed.
Since then, the city has created a new tax incrementing financing (TIF) district for the site and a new community authority to raise other supplemental revenues over time in support of the project, according to city documents.
The city, under the agreement, also agrees to transfer the project property to both Woodard Development and the Warren County Port Authority. The port authority has agreed to construct the Event Center and attached hotel that will act as the anchor for the development.
Woodard Development will be tasked with the development of the remainder of the site in accordance with the approved preliminary development plan.
The project would attract full-service, high-end hotels, premium and fast-food restaurants, townhomes that would sell in the $325,000 to $425,000 range and a medical complex that could complement the two East End hospitals, Atrium Medical Center and Kettering Health Middletown, according to Duplain.
Lolli has called the development "a destination location" that will draw visitors seeking entertainment, dining and shopping options off Interstate 75.
While the Event Center won't open for at least two years, Martin Russell, executive director of the Warren County Port Authority, has said it's 65% booked, according to pre-lease agreements and letters of intent.
The project could improve the quality of life for local residents and generate sales and property taxes, according to Duplain, who added the Event Center has the potential to draw 425,000 visitors a year.
He called it "a good, first-class front door on the East End."
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RENAISSANCE POINTE PROJECT TIMELINE
NOVEMBER 2022: City Council unanimously approves City Manager Paul Lolli cancelling the city's purchase agreement with George Ragheb, the California-based owner of the Towne Mall Galleria. Before that, council unanimously approved the city spending $1 million of the total $16 million price tag to purchase the Towne Mall, located just off I-75 near the Ohio 122 exit.
Dec. 6, 2022: City Council votes to purchase 29 acres of land for $6.2 million at the southeast corner of Union Road and Ohio 122 and adjacent to property the city already owns.
March 21, 2023: City Council hears first reading of legislation that will change the zoning classification for three parcels of land from business center to planned development district. The Planning Commission has recommended the request be approved.
April 4, 2023: City Council hears second reading of legislation that will change the zoning classification for three parcels of land from business center to planned development district.
July 18, 2023: Todd Duplain from Woodard Development and Martin Russell, executive director of the Warren County Port Authority, update City Council on the project. They say the 3,000-seat Event Center and other businesses could be open by the summer of 2025.
OCT. 3, 2023: City Council approves resolution to create the Renaissance Arena District New Community Authority (NCA) to aid in the financing of the planned multi-use development on 50.86 acres at Ohio 122 and Union Road in the city's East End.
Nov. 21, 2023: City Council approves legislation that authorizes the finance director to issue bond anticipation notes (BANs) in an amount no to exceed $14.8 million to finance the cost of constructing public improvements related to the Renaissance Pointe development project.
DEC. 19, 2023: City Council unanimously approves legislation to allow City Manager Paul Lolli to enter into a final development agreement with Woodard Development, LLC and the Warren County Port Authority.
SOURCE: Journal-News archives
