No.  This building will never go empty.  Its one of the most prestigous addresses downtown.  But it does have a 20% vacancy rate, or had that recently. 

Is 20% even that bad?  I was under the impression that many office buildings had vacancy rates that high.

Interesting story, TBideon. I think I'll paste a copy of this in the Dayton: News and Development section because it fits well there.

 

Anyways, I hope they start investing. We sure could use it :)

Over the last three weeks - I have noticed several positive news articles about companies relocating to Dayton and expanding.  I figure this is a GREAT indicator of the type of economy we will have after the Great Recession. 

 

Often times - good news goes unnoticed because we tend to mull on the bad news that has plagued us.  This is a good spot to post articles about companies that will Revive Dayton.

 

Discuss! :-D :-D

http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/union-investor-buy-former-iams-property-387184.html

 

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and a private investor will buy the former Iams headquarters for $1.95 million and bring 100 jobs to the city by the end of 2010, according to a news release.

 

http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/grant-sought-to-move-fuel-cell-manufacturing-to-dayton-area-387261.html

 

Grant sought to move fuel cell manufacturing to Dayton area

 

UltraCell is seeking $1 million from the Ohio Third Frontier program to make a new fuel cell system in Dayton.

The company seeks the money to move production of its XX55 fuel cell from California to UltraCell’s plant near Dayton International Airport.

If the company wins the grant and wins fuel cell orders from the Air Force, it could mean demand for 7,00 to 1,500 fuel cells systems in the next 24 months — and 50 jobs in Dayton, said Keith Scott, chief executive for the Livermore, Calif.-based company.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/records-management-firm-relocates-to-dayton-382231.html]

 

Records management firm relocates to Dayton

 

DAYTON — Integrated Solutions and Services Unlimited Inc., a provider of records management and other administrative support services to federal agencies and business, has relocated its headquarters to Dayton from suburban Cincinnati, the company’s owner said this week.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/company-to-stay-in-downtown-dayton-385128.html

 

DAYTON — Excellence in Motivation, which provides business performance incentive programs for companies and their employees, will stay in downtown Dayton for at least five more years, invest at least $6 million in an expansion and hire about 50 additional employees during that time, a city official said Wednesday, Nov. 4.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/state-considers-250000-grant-for-dayton-aerospace-hub-379343.html

 

DAYTON — Ohio is considering providing a $250,000 grant to help the Dayton region organize itself as a state-designated hub of aerospace innovation and technology.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/austin-pike-cancer-center-deal-surprises-officials-374889.html

 

MIAMI TWP., Montgomery County — The announcement by Miami Twp. officials that they had landed a cancer treatment center for the Austin Pike interchange caught top county officials by surprise.

It also raised questions about how the proposed $170 million project would be financed and whether public money would be involved.

Whew - I don't recall our papers printing out that much GOOD job and economic news in years!!!  That is in just a little over two weeks!!!  Let's keep it up Dayton/Miami Valley!!

 

BTW - I usually don't post on here often - but I had to with all of this good news.  I don't want it to go unnoticed.  I hope I'm not the only one.

http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2009/11/02/daily43.html

 

A Harrison Township industrial company plans to expand its facility and triple its workforce.

 

Alpine Products Manufacturing Co. Inc. recently spent nearly $400,000 to buy and refurbish an 11,650-square-foot building adjacent to its existing site on Drill Avenue. The anodizing and plating company will add several new processes and hire about 50 workers during the next 12 to 18 months, according to an Economic Development/Government Equity, or ED/GE, grant application filed by the township.

http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2009/11/02/daily42.html

 

Dayton companies to add 52 jobs

Dayton Business Journal

 

Print Email Reprints RSS Feeds LinkedIn Share Comments (1)

Two companies plan to expand in Dayton with help from the city.

 

Assembly & Test Worldwide Inc., a provider of custom equipment assembly and testing for a variety of industries, will invest about $16 million at its Mound Street facility in west Dayton, according to city officials. The company will complete interior and exterior renovations and add equipment to support the creation of a lithium ion battery production line.

 

Assembly & Test will add 45 jobs with an average annual salary of $55,000 over the next seven years. It currently employs 135.

http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2009/11/02/smallb1.html?b=1257138000^2358631

 

When traditional advertising took a nosedive, Russ Gottesman and Katie Hill saw an opportunity to carve out a profitable niche.

 

About 18 months ago, the married couple launched Commuter Advertising Inc. in Chicago. The company works for public bus systems, selling 10-second commercials that are played over the public address systems on buses. Then it splits the revenue from the ads with the bus systems.

Hopefully more companies realize what a gem Dayton and the Midwest is with it's low cost of living.

I love this thread.

 

Maybe it's just an odd spurt of good luck, or maybe it's a trend. Only time will tell :)

This is proof that the 'credit crunch' the national economy is experiencing is phoney. 

 

Good ideas and sound business expansion seem to have no problem getting financing.

 

Good steady growth, not boom and bust, is good for a community.

A agree CincyDad.  There seems to be a trend that businesses that have proven themselves and Entrepreneurs that have good ideas are able to get what they need to be successful. 

Downtown office tower going dark

 

 

The eighth-largest office building in downtown Dayton is closing its doors. The former KeyBank Building, located at 32 N. Main Street, will cease operation as an office building, keeping only its retail tenants open. All of the building’s office tenants must move out by the end of the first quarter.

^Bummer, that's a nice old building.

CSC expands local presence, to hire 40

 

A defense contractor is fortifying its Dayton foothold by expanding into a second building. Computer Sciences Corp. has signed a five-year lease for 41,000 square feet of space in the Mills-Morgan Pentagon Corridor in Beavercreek.

 

http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2009/12/21/story2.html

Dayton to save $1.7M from refinancing Fifth Third Field debt

 

Dayton officials say the city will save $1.7 million from refinancing debt on Fifth Third Field. The city sold 10-year bonds on Thursday with an interest rate of 3.1 percent, according to a news release.

 

http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2009/12/14/daily44.html

Dayton manufacturer picks up work

 

A local manufacturing company is gearing up for a boom in business. Dayton-based Alliance Torque Converters Inc. ­is ramping up production for a new contract and looks to double it employee count and add more equipment by next summer.

 

http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2009/12/21/story1.html

Developer eyes Dayton market

 

One of the largest real estate developers in the nation has set its sights on Dayton. Industrial Realty Group LLC has purchased two Dayton-area properties in the past year and is on the hunt for more acquisitions in southwest Ohio.

 

http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2009/12/21/story3.html

Thanks for the posts, ColDayMan!!!!!

Downtown Dayton retailer closing

 

A downtown Dayton retailer is scheduled to close by the end of January. Mitchell Bennett, owner of Mitchell’s Floral Gallery, said a combination of fewer businesses downtown and the overall sour economy have wilted the store’s sales. Mitchell’s Floral Gallery, located on the ground floor of the 110 North Main Street Building, formerly Fifth Third Center, saw a decrease in sales as companies left the office tower.

 

http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2009/12/21/daily25.html

Hopefully more companies realize what a gem Dayton and the Midwest is with it's low cost of living.

I agree and have always wondered why with Dayton's location and low cost of living why it is in such decline. Being near cincy, indy and columbus creates competition but the dayton area should at least being seeing some positive growth IMO.

Good news for Dayton. Im thinking they will pick Austin pike.

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100331/BIZ01/4010307/GE+Aviation+picks+Dayton+for+R&D+center

The article says its a joint venture or partnership with UD, so it could go on the old NCR site, which is right next to their new campus (old NCR HQ bldg).

It will most likely be located at Vandalia.

 

"GE has an existing electrical power systems unit in the Dayton suburb of Vandalia which employs 276. That site and the Evendale headquarters for GE's aviation business were considered the leading candidates for the new center which will focus on advanced technology for military and civilian hybrid electric vehicles and aircraft applications."

They have a lot of open land on their Vandalia site, so it might fit up there (not sure what kind of footprint this means).  If not and they want to be close, they can located at other Vandalia locations (lots of available land up there).

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100331/BIZ01/4010307/GE+Aviation+picks+Dayton+for+R&D+center

 

That URL is dead already and I can't find it in their archives. *grumble*

 

Here are some others:

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2010/03/29/daily37.html

http://www.udayton.edu/news/articles/2010/04/GE_Aviation_research_development_center.php

http://genewscenter.com/Press-Releases/GE-Aviation-to-Create-Electric-Power-Research-Development-Center-in-Ohio-270a.aspx

 

Not sure if there's a more specific thread for this:

 

Former GM plant to be sold soon, Moraine city manager says

By Thomas Gnau, Staff Writer 

Updated 2:39 AM Wednesday, August 4, 2010

 

MORAINE — The former General Motors assembly site may soon have a new owner, city leaders believe.

 

David Hicks, Moraine city manager, said Tuesday, Aug. 3, he believes the former SUV assembly plant may be sold within two months. That’s based on conversations Hicks said he has had with one of the potential buyers and other sources.

 

more: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/former-gm-plant-to-be-sold-soon-moraine-city-manager-says-842449.html

GE sizing up Dayton for $51M research facility

By Christopher Magan, Staff Writer 

Updated 1:31 AM Saturday, July 24, 2010

 

University of Dayton officials will soon get their chance to convince General Electric that the school’s growing research arm is reason to locate GE’s new $51 million facility in the city’s aerospace hub. “There is nobody like us that has a dedicated research staff of 415 people. That is a powerful organization to collaborate with,” said Mickey McCabe, head of research for UD.

...

Daniel J. Curran, university president, said school officials are pitching two sites to GE — one in Tech Town and another at the corner of Stewart Street and Patterson Boulevard, which the university acquired from NCR in 2005. Both sites are near university research facilities, including the former NCR headquarters that the school bought in 2009.

 

more: http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/ge-sizing-up-dayton-for-51m-research-facility-827353.html

WPAFB-related jobs boosted Dayton metro ’09 incomes

By Tim Tresslar, Staff Writer  Updated 1:22 AM Wednesday, August 11, 2010

 

The four-county Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area saw the smallest drop in personal income last year among Ohio’s major metros, according to federal data.

 

Total income in Greene, Miami, Montgomery and Preble counties fell to $29.5 billion last year, versus $29.7 billion a year earlier, a 0.7 percent decline, according to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. This includes all net earnings received by everyone in a geographic area.

 

more: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/wpafb-related-jobs-boosted-dayton-metro-09-incomes-854374.html

Still more good news for the Dayton/Montgomery County region:

 

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/caterpillar-begins-hiring-for-up-to-600-jobs-at-distribution-center-1033096.html

Kettering Tower sale a sign of downtowns troubles

 

DAYTON — The Kettering Tower, Dayton’s tallest and most prominent office building, is on the verge of being sold at sheriff’s auction, making it the latest landmark building to face a far less certain future.

 

Built in 1972, the Class A office tower was owned by Virginia Kettering, daughter-in-law of famed inventor Charles F. Kettering. Virginia Kettering died in 2003. The Kettering Tower Trust sold the building in 2005 to Kettering Tower Partners for $21.5 million....

 

The article goes on to say how the trend during the 2000s was that office users leaving downtown...

 

.... The trend has led to the foreclosure or steeply discounted sale of some of the city’s most prestigious buildings. They include KeyBank Tower, 10 W. Second St.; 110 N. Main St., once the regional headquarters for Fifth Third Bank; and 32 N. Main St., which a self-proclaimed Hindu guru bought for $525,000 cash last year.

 

The artcile quotes competing claims to overall vacancy...20% or 30%.....with downtown the highest vacant-space submarket in the region.

 

A related artcile discusses how the owners want the Sheriff sale stopped because the appraised price is too high

 

Kettering Tower owner wants Sheriffs sale stopped

 

DAYTON — Owners of the Kettering Tower, downtown Dayton’s tallest building, are trying to stop an April 1 sheriff’s sale, stating that the $16.2 million appraisal is too high.

 

The appraiser’s estimate, which is $33.30 per square foot, “is so overvalued that it is likely to chill bidding at the scheduled sale,” according to a motion filed Friday by attorneys for Kettering Tower Partners, LLC.

 

The artcile goes on to note the old Mead Tower, now home to Keybank, was sold for only $1M (wow, a skyscraper for only a cool mil!), @ $3.52/SF, and "another building" will also soon sell at a low amount, $3.8M or $12.33/SF.

 

Sort of symbolic of the new era Dayton has entered.  Can it get any worse for downtown? 

 

 

 

  Oh dear. 

...and yet, Austin Pike is...booming...oy!

At least it is walkable?

Bank of America buys Dayton's Kettering Tower at sheriff's sale

 

http://assets.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2010/12/09/WEB-kettering%20tower%20deal-RGB.jpg?v=1

 

Full article here:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2011/04/01/bank-of-america-buys-daytons.html#

Sheriff's sale?!

 

Auto supplier plans $20M facility

Dayton Business Journal - by Ginger Christ, DBJ

Date: Friday, May 20, 2011, 3:58pm EDT - Last Modified: Saturday, May 21, 2011, 8:57pm EDT

 

A Kettering business is looking to consolidate its operations in the Dayton and Michigan area at a new site at the Miami Valley Research Park.

 

BWIGroup, the joint venture that acquired Delphi’s brake and suspension units in November 2009, has taken steps to build a $20.2 million facility on College Drive in Kettering for BWI North America Inc.

 

While specifics on the building are not yet available, the proposed project would create 130 new full-time positions paying an average of $40 per hour and retain 225 full-time jobs, according to an application filed with the State Controlling Board.

 

 

Read more: http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2011/05/20/auto-supplier-plans-20m-facility.html

$69M Caterpillar center to hire hundreds

By Thomas Gnau, Staff Writer

Updated 8:57 AM Monday, June 6, 2011

 

CLAYTON — Caterpillar Logistics’ new distribution center here is so big that construction crews took into account the curvature of the Earth when building the 1.6 million-square-foot center.

 

But as big as the physical structure is, its economic promise stands larger.

 

About 115 people have been hired so far, and up to 500 more jobs could be added in the next year or so depending on economic conditions, said Jason Murphy, the center’s human resources manager. For a region battered by disappearing jobs, lost wages and economic turmoil, those are reassuring numbers.

 

Last week, the center started its second shift. By May 2012, the center will be a 24/7 operation, depending on business conditions, Murphy said.

 

Read more at: http://www.daytondailynews.com/business/-69-69m-caterpillar-center-to-hire-hundreds-1177201.html

Cox Newspapers is doing some musical chair type consolidating. Some copy desk & design going to Dayton (& Fla.). Some stuff moving to Atlanta.

http://tinyurl.com/42lssvd

An excerpt from a November 2, 2011 article about Wright-Patterson Air Force Base from Dayton Business Journal.

 

Wright-Patt to net 350 jobs after restructuring

Dayton Business Journal by Joe Cogliano, Senior Reporter

Date: Wednesday, November 2, 2011, 7:34pm EDT

 

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base appears to have fared well during the latest streamlining efforts.  Officials said the base will post a net gain of more than 350 positions when the dust settles on a restructuring effort announced Wednesday (Nov. 2).

 

Air Force Materiel Command will consolidate its 12 centers into five, two of which will be based at Wright-Patt in Dayton.  Wright-Patt will house a Life Cycle Management Center focusing on acquisition and will continue to be headquarters for Air Force Research Laboratory.

(. . .)

Over the next two fiscal years, Wright-Patt is losing nearly 390 positions - in areas such as installation support - but adding more than 700 jobs related to improving processes such as acquisition and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance capabilities.

 

In total, Wright-Patt employs roughly 27,000 people, including about 12,000 civilian workers.  There are tens of thousands more defense contractor employees in the Dayton region because of the base.  Wright-Patt has an annual economic impact on the Dayton region of more than $5 billion.

 

MORE: http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2011/11/02/wright-patt-to-net-350-jobs-after.html

 

Yay!

Rock-bottom prices lure firms to buy vacant sites

Developers cautious during fragile recovery

By Randy Tucker, Staff Writer

Updated 9:16 AM Monday, December 19, 2011

 

DAYTON — Industry insiders remain cautious, but the Dayton-area commercial real estate market is showing signs of life as buyers take advantage of rock-bottom prices in a market replete with vacant office and industrial buildings.

 

Falling prices and favorable interest rates are luring companies that want to expand or relocate at the lowest possible cost, said Dave Dickerson of Gem Real Estate, which conducts annual surveys of key segments of the commercial market.

 

“Most of the buyers we’re seeing now intend to occupy the space themselves,” Dickerson said. “They’re saying let’s look at
 existing buildings if there’s a good buy there because we can still make major renovations to the property and be well below replacement or new construction costs.”

 

Read more at: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/rock-bottom-prices-lure-firms-to-buy-vacant-sites-1301102.html

Obama defense budget leaves Wright-Patterson relatively unscathed

 

"President Obama’s 2013 defense budget, released on Monday, appears to leave Wright-Patterson Air Force Base relatively unscathed as the administration gets started on $487 billion in defense spending cuts over the next 10 years."

 

http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/springfield-news/obama-defense-budget-leaves-wright-patterson-relatively-unscathed-1327913.html

CSX certifies Wapakoneta's job ready site

March 02, 2012 11:19 AM

 

WAPAKONETA — One of the nation's largest transportation companies on Friday certified a Wapakoneta industrial park as being ready for industrial development.

 

CSX Corp. certified the West Central Ohio Industrial Center, near the intersection of U.S. 33 and Interstate 75, as one of the first CSX Select sites. With the designation, the site will be added to the company's portfolio of sites available and ready to develop for industrial end-users....

 

Read more at: http://www.limaohio.com/news/csx-80196-site-wapakoneta.html