A look back at 20 or so years of trying to bring housing downtown.

 

Starting with what was there already. The count starts at the bottom. In 1980 the last tenants were evicted from the Arcade, leaving three market-rate rental buildings downtown. The old Newcom Manor, Mattis Towers (4 efficieny units per floor, with 2 1 bedrooms on the first floor), and Eva Felman, the last of the old bachelor flat style of downtown housing (mostly one bedroom or efficiency units).

 

 

There were also two penthouses, atop the old Elks Building and the Center City Offices. Since these were private residences of a sort they are not counted.

 

And a graph of how market rate housing grew, by building and year of opening, showing the 93 unit baseline, with additional units during various periods, ending up with around 700 market rate units downtown.

 

 

Early Attempts at Housing: Cooper Place and The Landing

 

Planning for new downtown housing started back in the 1960s and then really accelerated in the 1970s for the site now called the Landing. The original developer, in 1980, was supposed to be Oxford Properties, which was experienced in urban projects. Instead the first development to market was Cooper Place.

 

Cooper Place planning probably started in the early 1980s and was sort of an experiment to see if there really was a market for downtown housing. The development was subsidized by the city with $300,000 in Federal funds + infrastructure improvements. The developer was from Columbus (Wallick Development), and the project cost (in 1980s dollars) $2.9M.

 

Units in Cooper Place didn’t sell that well, with the developer having to rent them. It turns out the larger and more expensive units sold the best, which sort of sent a market signal that there was a demand for more deluxe units.

 

 

After Cooper Place came the heavily subsidized Landing (of the $17.9 development cost $11.3 came from the private sector), built in two phases by a St Louis developer. Nearly all rental it was the first market-rate downtown housing adaptive re-use project, converting the YMCA tower into rental apartments.

 

 

CityShape/CityScape & the 1988 AIA Charette

 

Lofts and downtown housing got their start in various ways. One was the CityShape/CityScape urban design lecture series co-sponsored by the Miami Valley Arts Council and the local branch of the American Institute of Architects (or AIA) starting in the mid/late 1980s.

 

These lectures led to a charette by architecture students from the four Ohio architecture schools during the 1988 Ohio AIA convention in Dayton. The important thing was not the charette (which produced some interesting designs), but the visioning exercise that preceded it.

 

Participants were members of the community who had attended the CityShape/CityScape lectures. It was during this exercise that the Webster Station area surfaced as an area of high interest, so it was chosen as the study area for the student teams. Yer humble host was there, and recall the participants were quite interested in the potential for loft housing and other kinds of housing in this area, particularly the stretch of 3rd that would become the site of the Cannery and The Merc. So this was perhaps the "start" of Webster Station as an area of interest.

 

 

The Living City Project

 

This was, I think, sponsored by the City, but brought in others. The Living City overlapped with CityScape/CityShape for a few years. Living City was an ongoing urban design project + storefront studio + meeting place, seeding the idea of reviving downtown. The materials from the project can bee seen at this online binder, which won the project an International Downtown Association award. And its worth surfing into, too. One of the events sponsored by Living City was a series of Loft Walks in 1992 and I think into 1993, to try to generate interest in loft housing conversions.

 

 

 

The combination of the mutually reinforcing CityScape/CityShape and Living City efforts, combined with the success of the Landing apparently did drive some interest in very early loft development, and might have been the starting point for the push to convert the old Beaver Power Building, as a local official mentioned this effort began five years before 1998, which would put the start around the time of the loft walks.  After the housing pool was set up loft renovations took-off in the early 2000s.

 

 

The Downtown Housing Loan Pool and Ramping Up Production

 

Also shown on the above graph is the two-year period in which the $33M Downtown Housing Loan Pool was established by local banks, but faciliated by the Downtown Dayton Partnership. This pool assisted in the financing of the first two large scale loft projects, The Cannery and old Beaver Power Building, now known as St Clair Lofts. Both of these projects had long lead times before construction was underway, probably due to the difficulty of setting up financing (on the above bar chart the tick mark on the St Clair II and Cannery bars show construction start).

 

The loan pool would be responsible for some subsequent projects as well (including 90% of the financing for the Ice Avenue Lofts). Then the fund disappeared from press reports. Today it is questionable if this pool still exists.

 

It should be noted of the larger loft projects attempted the first to market, St Clair Lofts, went bankrupt, as did the conversion of the Ludlow Manor (AKA Schwind Building) subsidized efficiency apartments. Nearly all of the new construction and conversions after the Cannery were for relatively high priced condominiums, not rentals. The only rental to open after the Cannery was the 10 unit Park Place across from 5th/3rd Field.

 

Three loft projects predated the big early 2000s wave. These are the pioneer loft conversions downtown.

 

Loft Pioneers I: Bill Collett's Loft.

 

This was the very first loft conversion downtown, and perhaps should not be here since this was sort of private project, akin to a penthouse. But for history, this was it. And I've met the owner. First time in the old Changes gay bar, as Collett was gay, having recently relocated back to Dayton from either NYC or Chicago. Very fun guy, unpretentious, but why at the bar on the other end of downtown from his loft?

 

Anyway, Bill brought the loft concept with him from the big city and worked with building owner Ginger Blosser to try to convert the top floor of this building to a loft apartment, which took about three years due to city inflexibility (building permits, codes, etc)

 

 

The loft was open to the public on the 1990 Mothers Day house tour and was probably the first time the average Daytonian saw a loft, but I've been in it for two private gay events (a benefit for HRCF, a gay/lesbian political group and the Natalie Barney Dinner). The views of downtown are fabulous!

 

Loft Pioneers II: The Wise Building

 

The Dayton Daily News reported in 1992 that plumbing contractor Tom Razauskas was working on converting the upper floor of this little west 5th building into two loft apartments. The lower floor is probably well-know to old Dayton comix fans as the former Dragons Lair comic store. Razauskas was predicting completion in 1993, but the finished loft wasn't open until 2005 for an open house, which was well-attended. Another event developing the buzz around downtown housing.

 

 

Today the storefronts are vacant, but the loft is still occupied. A nice feature of this building are the multiple roof decks and the rear garage.

 

Loft Pioneers III: Lofts on St Clair

 

Probably the most important of the early lofts because of its impact on future things. This was a larger conversion (6 units) and it was a condominium, foreshadowing most of the future development. And the developers, Rain & Williams, went on to develop other lofts. It's unclear how long the development period was, when it started, but the project was underway and compelet in 2005 or 2006, when it won a preservation award.

 

 

The ground floor is some sort of office.

 

 

The Downtown Housing Boom and Market

 

The press reported more than once on a 500 unit number as the market for downtown housing. This would be on top of what was already available at The Landing, Cooper Place, and the three older buildings.

 

One can see how the two big early projects moved the numbers up fast. Then a series of smaller projects built inventory incrementally.

 

 

The projects are a mix of new construction and conversion. The last two projects in the works, The Merc (adaptive re-use) and Litehouse ("green" new construction) should move the inventory pretty close to the 500 unit market projections of over 10 years ago. 

 

The lofts & new developments that are open pretty much opened between 2000 and 2005, here they are in rough chronological order of opening.

 

Saint Clair

 

The first big building to open (2001) this was one of two big rental complexes.  The rents here where pretty high at first (for the Dayton market) but were backed down to make the building rent better.  As an example, two bedrooms were going for $1,100/mo but they backed down to $900/mo  The rent for the Dayton area for two bedroom rentals at the time was more in the $500/mo to $750/mo range, so the lowered rent was still at the upper end of the market.

 

 

 

Cannery

 

The largest project, these are rental lofts.  This complex is really multiple buildings joined together into one big rental complex.  Ground floor rentals sort of petered out, and the last ground floor space is used as an art & events space on occasion.  At opening studios were going for $450/mo and one bedrooms for $550/mo, topping out at two bedroom units for $1,200 month.

 

 

Firefly

 

Four condo units.  About half or maybe more than half is commercial use, including offices of one of the developers.  This is the “business end” of the building.  The residential lofts are to the rear, facing the skyline.

 

 

Ice Avenue

 

Continuing the condo trend.  90% financed by the Downtown Housing Loan Pool, this building was originally supposed to be 20 units but a few units where combined as custom deluxe units.  This was a good example of how loft housing in Dayton was about upscale empty nester (and older) yuppies buying condos as much as it was about hipster digs for younger folks. 

 

As a way to generate interest a loft here was the Decorators Show House, an annual event in Dayton where a landmark local house or mansion is fixed up and open for tours (to benefit the Opera or Symphony, forget which).  On of the Rehabarama events was also 100% lofts.  Two examples of how there was an attempt to create a buzz on loft living.

 

As it was becoming evident that things were pitched to the upper end of the market it seemed to me that the intent was to skip the “urban bohemia” stage and go right to the gentry part of gentrification.  So I sort of lost interest in this around this time and stopped following downtown housing news. 

 

 

Cooper & Coop Take II

 

Another upscale condo development.  The Cooper was the older building and “Coop Take II” was the new infill bit on the corner.  They were developed by different groups but are managed together by the same condo association.    The little house is not a residential conversion.

 

 

Brooks House

 

One of the oldest houses in the city this was developed into a three unit condo. One unit in the house and two smaller units in the rear appendages.

 

 

Performance Place

 

Part of the Shuster Performing Arts Center complex.  Originally intended as a hotel (and taller) it was discovered there was no market for another downtown hotel, so the concept switched to high-end custom condos (and offices on the lower floors). The tower was shortened, too.  So this building wasn’t really part of the infill/loft plan or market at first.  After these didn’t sell the price was dropped, which put the building in direct competition to the Ice Avenue and Cooper lofts.  I don’t know if they ever sold more than a few in here.  But a nice pix here in a hazy shade of winter:

 

 

The last two:

 

First Place

 

Developed by a subsidiary of the R&L trucking company in Wilmington.  This was an old hotel and was originally going to go condo but the condo’s wouldn’t sell, so the place was rented as apartments.    This was the first downtown hotel to have a pool and the second modern high rise downtown, opening in the early 1960s.  LiveSearch birdseye since you cant see the pool and pool level from the ground.

 

 

Park Place

 

The building was bought by the cities development quango, CityWide, as part of the purchases associated with the construction of 5/3 Field minor league ball park..  CityWide still owns it but has it as a long term lease to a partnership, which developed it as a mix of offices and 10 loft rental units.  It is directly across the street from the ball park.  This was the last loft conversion to open in downtown/Webster Station.

 

 

The Developers

 

One of the issues with downtown housing is that conventional developers shy away from these projects. The city was originally going to start with small non-traditional developers and smaller projects and the strategy did work for a bit.

 

An example is Bill Rain, who was a partner on the pioneer Lofts on St Clair. Rain moved to larger projects as he gained experience until meeting his match with the Schwind building, which illustrates the risk factor, on how a difficult project or miscalculation can sink even a somewhat experienced developer.

 

One can see some other examples, like the partners in the Litehouse being the partners at the Firefly Building, or a partner in the Cooper Lofts being a partner in The Merc.

 

For non-traditional developers there is R&L Trucking out of Wilmington, who was behind converting the old Ramada Inn high-rise into condos (West First), now renting as apartments. A project that in itself is sort of unexpected.

 

 

 

The Others:  Social Welfare Housing

 

The above charts makes it seem that these are the only housing units downtown. Actually there is a lot more. Three big high rises (two converted old prewar hotels and a modern apartment tower) provide 526 subsidized social welfare units for the elderly and perhaps the disabled and poorer people. There was more until Ludlow Manor, AKA Moraine Apartments (Schwind building) went out of the inventory due to the failed renovation (which was to include about 40 subsidized units).

 

Perhaps the unacknowledged neighbors of downtowns' new lofty people? This graph should demonstrate that without a doubt that downtown is really a shared mixed-income place.

 

 

Adding the social-welfare population to the lofty people means there might start to be a market for necessities like a drug store and grocery.  In fact there is a small grocery downtown –-has been for years—and it might be this social welfare base population that supports it.

 

Some pix of the social welfare inventory, built or converted in the 1970s, I think:

 

Two buildings on the same intersection.  The modern Wilkinson Plaza, purpose-built as social welfare housing for the elderly, I think, and the Holden Hotel, an old railroad hotel converted into subsidized housing. 

 

 

 

And finally the Biltmore.

 

 

Recapping what we’ve seen on an aeriel of downtown and Webster Station, on can see that not much was built or converted in Webster Station and there is a certain clustering north of Third, particularly the block north of Cooper Park, which is turning into a little neighborhood of infill and loft housing.

 

 

If you’ve been paying attention to the graphs and narrative there are projects that failed and projects proposed but not underway yet.  We’ll look at those tomorrow evening, and a conclusion.

 

Fantastic...I didn't realize some of these buildings were actually housing.

 

I kind of wish the old Days Inn/First Place went the same way as the Admiral Benbow, aesthetically speaking.

^

They did tear down a high rise hotel across the street from it...a former Holiday Inn....  It was going to be housing too.  It proved too expensive to renovate (the devlopers needed a few more mill) and the city ended up demolishing it.

 

 

Yeah, I remember that Holiday Inn.  Glad they did tear it down...

Im thinking that Holiday Inn was closer to the freeway, and was called the Belton Inn?  Or was that yet another hotel?

 

That is sort of a wierd area to have a high rise housing thing since its sort of "away" from the rest of downtown.

This was a fun and sort of nostalgic thread to put togehter, especially that stuff on CityShape/CityScape and Living City.  That link to the Living City binder has a bunch of stuff I think I might have kept and filed somewhere.  Lots of neat ideas.

 

I used to go to these events back in those days...20 years ago by now.  Time flies. 

 

 

Great post and very informative!

Im thinking that Holiday Inn was closer to the freeway, and was called the Belton Inn? Or was that yet another hotel?

 

That is sort of a wierd area to have a high rise housing thing since its sort of "away" from the rest of downtown.

 

Actually, didn't they turn it into a Knights Inn before they tore it down.  And yes, it was next to the on-ramp from I-75 to Salem.