West Carrollton project near river, I-75 to include hotel, office, restaurants, housing
May 23—Details are emerging about the housing, dining and other aspects of a proposed multimillion-dollar River District along the Great Miami River in West Carrollton.
The redevelopment plan for 25 acres of land the city has assembled is for Class A development involving hospitality, a medical office building and potentially some fast-casual restaurants that would be located on the former Roberds Carrollton Plaza site, City Manager Brad Townsend told this news outlet Monday.
Todd Duplain of Woodard Development and Larry Dillin of Dillin LLC will present a proposal to city council Tuesday evening for development of the site just west of the Exit 47 interchange on Interstate 75 — on East Dixie Drive, Marine Drive, Bowman Land, North Alex Road and Central Avenue, plus along the riverfront.
A second phase of development would include riverfront housing, including 26 high-end townhouse condominiums and several premium white-tablecloth restaurants, Townsend said.
"The unique thing about Marina Drive is, it's one of the few places on the Great Miami River where the property actually has direct access to the river and is not part of the floodplain," he said.
Adjacent to that would be a cluster of premium restaurants that would front along the river at Marina Drive, Townsend said. There's also a proposal for a small watercraft marina and then, further down on a 5-acre site that is closer to the low dam, there's a proposal for a 214-unit apartment complex that would be similar to what Duplain developed along I-675 in Centerville with Allure Apartments, a 312-unit project representing an investment of $30 million to $35 million.
The project would be developed in phases, with the first phase "more than likely" coming out of the ground by 2024, Townsend said. Further development along the river, including housing and upscale restaurants, would take place in later phases, he said. The entire project likely will take seven to 10 years to complete, he said.
Townsend said the development of the site was "a long time coming."
"The plan that they've put together is consistent with council's vision for the redevelopment (of the) community," he said. "It's going to provide us with a Class A development that's market-driven, that can be executed. I think that we've got the right development team in place ... to make this plan happen.."
City council is expected to vote Tuesday on a resolution that would, if approved, authorize the city manager to enter a development services agreement with Dillin LLC and Woodard Development to move forward with a conceptual plan and enact a final master plan.
The two firms would then work to create that plan and return to council within the next nine months for its approval, Townsend said.
The district also would include a new development, a whitewater park and housing on city-owned property near Interstate 75, according to a release from the developers.
