This is a privatley funded planning effort with city input. Sort of a public/privte partnership to do strategic planning for downtown.  A particpant is Bill Pote, host of the Dayton Most Metro website & forum.  Here is a cut & paste from his remarks at DMM

 

As most of you know, a group of business and city leaders spearheaded by Dr. Mike Ervin got together late last year to organize a huge effort to bring together stakeholders from the business, government, organization and institution communities in order to develop a new master plan for the entire Downtown Dayton area.  Called the Greater Downtown Dayton Plan and based on a foundation of Guiding Principals, the first phase included gathering as much public input as possible using various townhall sessions as well as the DMM Forum (click here for links to all of those conversations) or here for a summary.

 

After that initial round of public input that consisted of ideas across the board from anybody and everybody that gave them, sub-committees were formed to take those ideas as well as whatever expertise each committee member brought with them and draft detailed plan recommendations.  These sub-committees were chaired by leaders in each respective topic field and included various staff from appropriate organizations as well as citizen volunteers.

 

These draft plans are now being released to the public (each plan has its own discussion thread here on this forum board) and four public studio sessions have been scheduled at "Plan Central" located at 8 N. Main Street (former CVS):

 

Saturday, Oct. 3 - 9 a.m to 1 p.m.

Monday, Oct 5 - 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. & 5 to 8:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct 6 - 7:30 to 11 a.m.

 

I highly recommend you attend one of these studio sessions as this will be your first chance to really see these exciting plans up close and talk to the people responsible for drafting them AS WELL AS implementing them.  The public will have a say in setting the priorities based on available resources, and the Funding Committee will begin working on identifying public AND private funding sources for the various plans.

 

I'll be posting the various draft plans here on this forum board for online discussion over the next several days, so please come back often to see new posted plans and get involved with the conversation.  This is a transformational effort unlike anything ever seen in Dayton, and while everything won't be feasible (at least right away), many of these things will definitely be implemented.  Be a part of the process by adding your input here on the DMM Forum!

 

....and links to intro posts to the draft component plans:

 

Arts, Entertainment, & Culture

 

Transportation

 

River Corridor & Active Lifestyles

 

Housing

 

Green & Sustainable

 

 

 

 

Good Stuff. Wish I could swing by, but I am booked solid (busy season for me)

I read some of the housing stuff and the "Midpark" plan by Citywide seems like updated 1960s-style urban renewal.  The plan is for the areas between South Park and Miami Valley and the US 35 freeway, say along Warren and Main Streets, but also the area between Burns and US 35.

 

They plan on demolishing the neighborhoods that are still there (the few streets left),  rearrange the street system and parcelization to make it more developable,  turn on part of the district into "mixed use" ( medical offices + some retail) and the other into suburban patio homes (though they mention considering saving Marvin Gardens and maybe some of the housing on Warren.).

 

They also recommend changing the name of Warren to Brown since the current setup is "confusing". 

 

I am thinking what they will end up with is something like what happened at Hills & Dales, a suburban office park with sidewalks. 

Over at Dayton's "Dayton MostMetro" forum there's a whole section for the plan and a lot of threads related to it.

 

A lot of Dayton info. is on the DMM forum probably to the detriment of Dayton's discussion on here but overall probably better for Dayton and therefore "urban Ohio" at large.

 

Many of the early draft recommendations, renderings, etc. are online at downtowndayton.org and have been uploaded onto Scribd [link here].

Dayton Most Metro & Esrati are probably the best places online right now for Dayton urban affairs discussion, though Esrati has that crappy "I talk/you comment" blog format.  Followed by City-Data Forum.

 

 

 

 

The Dayton Daily News had a good op-ed on the privately funded downtown planning effort. 

 

The editorial observes, in regard to office & business use, that they might have to demolish parts of downtown in order to save it:

 

“The empty buildings downtown are hard to miss. The economy is, of course, part of the explanation for the vacancies. But real-estate experts also say Dayton has too much space downtown, and that some of it is the wrong kind of space.

 

Companies have changed what they want in office space. As one real-estate leader puts it, “Some buildings have reached the end of their economic life” and aren’t even being marketed.

 

For downtown to thrive, it needs attractive office space that can compete with suburban locations on cost and parking.

 

To have a renewed downtown office environment, some buildings might have to be torn down. That won’t be easy in a town that prides itself on respect for its history.

 

It’s possible that some office buildings can be converted to residences, but not all of them.”

 

I had a laugh at this one:

 

That won’t be easy in a town that prides itself on respect for its history.

 

 

The neglect, devaluing. & ongoing erosion of Dayton’s architectural and urbanistic patrimony is one of the damning things about this place, the whole “who cares” attitude.  But that’s old news and nothing can be done about that.  The place is gone. Beyond the point of no return.  “He’s dead, Jim.”

 

But enough of that, back to office space.  To put this in perspective, comparing Dayton office market to Louisville:

 

In 2009 downtown Louisville had an office vacancy rate of 12% and a class A office vacancy rate of 5%.  This is for a somewhat blah downtown compared to, say, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.  And the suburban vacancy rate in Louisville is actually higher than in the downtown, indicating downtown remains a preferred location for office use.

 

In contrast, Dayton had a downtown office vacancy rate of 30%-40% and the most high-visibility class A building, the Kettering Tower was reportedly around 20%-30% vacant.

 

Just an illustration on how office use has departed the central business district.

 

I figure this recommendation to demolish parts of downtowns office inventory is the companion concept to the planned culling of residential structures out in the neighborhoods.

 

Both are part of a necessary downsizing of Dayton, the latest chapter in a long story that started in the 1960s. 

 

Anyway, maybe they can have a Downtown Dayton Demolition Day, like they used to have those Downtown Dayton Day sales, back when there was enough retail downtown to actually have sales.  They can implode multiple buildings on one day as a festival of destruction.  Devils Night on steroids. 

 

It could even be a national media event.  ‘Rustbelt City Implodes It’s Downtown”.

 

Or at least we can have a death watch to see what buildings may come down as part of this downtown right-sizing plan (or are recommended to come down, if it comes to that).

 

 

 

 

I think Jeffery is talking about the Greater Downtown Dayton Plan. It's not exactly a "tear the whole place down" sort of plan.

 

The Dayton Arcade, for example, is being renovated by two very experienced and professional preservationsists.

 

The downtown plan has some realistic things, like doing things with the river for recreation, but I'm skeptical about the housing aspect of it, mainly due to the petering-out of adaptive re-use & infill efforts beyond a handful of projects.

 

Im just curious what office buildings they have in mind as likely candidates for demolition.

 

 

Im just curious what office buildings they have in mind as likely candidates for demolition.

 

I would like to know as well. Althought I hate to be demolishing anything, I would admit that losing 25 S. Main/Lindsay would not have a significant impact on the cityscape; the other historic towers are more prominent (Commerical, Fidelity, Centre City, Former Key) and should be preserved as residential.

 

Unfortunately it is not easy to consolidate offices and selectively demolish. If you could shift all the office space out of Miami Valley/40 W. 4th and 130 W. 2nd to Kettering/Fifth-Third/One Dayton Centre/New Key, few would miss those buildings. I would actually love to get rid of 130 W. 2nd, which overshadows the Liberty Building.

I've always had a thing against 40 W 4th.

 

But I know what you mean about 130 W. 2nd (Liberty Tower at left)

 

While I'm at it, I don't like the "Wilkinson tower"

 

or Courthouse Plaza Southwest

 

Talbott Tower is hardly any better (but it is better)

 

and that dreadful I.M. Pei thing at 3rd and Main.

 

Hey, ink, what is "Miami Valley"?

^40 W. Fouth used to be called the Miami Valley Tower; many people still use that name.

 

 

I still dream of Montgomery County relocating to the City Centre building (across from their Riebold complex) and turning the current county administration building into housing for Sinclair.

^40 W. Fouth used to be called the Miami Valley Tower; many people still use that name.

 

 

I still dream of Montgomery County relocating to the City Centre building (across from their Riebold complex) and turning the current county administration building into housing for Sinclair.

Interesting idea.  I always called 40 W 4th the Grant building.

^

you're right...it was called the Grant-Deneau Tower when it was first built.  I don't know who Grant was but Deneau was an architect-developer who designed it.  He designed his own house too, in the Mount Vernon area.

 

Though that building is out-of-the way it has good occupancy as I've been told one of the medical companies..Premier Health?  One of those holding companies...they are in much of it.  The main tenant.

 

 

 

 

 

I still dream of Montgomery County relocating to the City Centre building (across from their Riebold complex) and turning the current county administration building into housing for Sinclair.

 

Good idea! 

 

Centre City Offices would be on my candidate for demolition or closure.  I think about the only thing left in there above the first two floors is the state parole board.  Presumably the building is still being leased but next to nothing is in there. 

 

Realistically it would be cheaper to tear down smaller and lower buildings, like the one at 3rd & St Clair that has Bingers in it, and that one thats for sale at 3rd & Jefferson.  It would take millions to demo these taller ones and all you'd get from it are more vacant lots.  I think it would make more sense to just take these off the market and pickle them.  The ones I'd close are Centre City, Fidelity, and the 111 buildings.  It would be possible to keep these empty indefinetly.  Example is the Lindsey Building, which has been closed for offices since the early 1970s (35 years or so) and devoid of ground floor retail since the later 1980s.  So maybe a half-measure of keeping the ground floor active and closing the upper floors.

 

Office buildings along 2nd Street, say the blocks on  2nd heading east of Wilkinson probably are the best bet to keep as office use as they are close to the courts, thus are a good site for law offices.  The banks are in this general area, too.  So you could see downtown (private sector) office use contracting to a smaller area around 2nd and Main north of 3rd (but including the buildings at 3rd & Main) or so.

 

and that dreadful I.M. Pei thing at 3rd and Main.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks it's dreadful.

 

 

I can't think of anyone that actually doesn't think it's dreadful LOL!

^

you're right...it was called the Grant-Deneau Tower when it was first built. I don't know who Grant was but Deneau was an architect-developer who designed it. He designed his own house too, in the Mount Vernon area.

 

Though that building is out-of-the way it has good occupancy as I've been told one of the medical companies..Premier Health? One of those holding companies...they are in much of it. The main tenant.

Thanks! I never knew who Deneau was.

 

We're getting off topic but...check out Normandy Farms: The Land and Legacy of Richard H. Grant, Sr.. He, and then his children, had an estate in Oakwood next door to my childhood home. The Grant Nature Preserve in Washington Twp. is the location of the family's old dairy farm and home (which is now Normandy Church) on Alex-Bell.

 

MVCC.net's description:

Normandy Farms, the Land and Legacy of Richard H. Grant, Sr., 2002

Grant, 1878-1957, obtained his wealth in sales and management with National Cash Register Co., Delco Light Co., and General Motors Corp. He lived in his Washington Township mansion, Normandy Farms, which was a dairy farm, and commuted to Detroit.

^

ah, yes, Thanx, I know the place.

From the op-ed:

 

For downtown to thrive, it needs attractive office space that can compete with suburban locations on cost and parking.

 

which would imply the parking is free since suburban locations all have free parking (or the parking costs are incorporated into the rents and the parking itself appears as "free").

 

 

I actaully like the 40 W. Fourth building after the facadde re-do. It was horrendous before, but now is a nice compliment to the rest of the skyline and fits in well.

Editorial: Free bus rides not the city’s best strategy

 

By the Dayton Daily News | Sunday, March 21, 2010, 06:09 AM

...

The Greater Downtown Dayton plan does not recommend free busing countywide, but proposes a smart mix of strategies that include improving parking, easing pedestrian and bicycle travel and building connections among destination spots like the Brown Street Marketplace, the Oregon District, Fifth Third Field, the central business district, Sinclair Community College and the planned passenger train station.

 

Among the intriguing ideas in the Greater Downtown Dayton plan are establishing small stations around the city where bicycles can be borrowed and returned for free and building a small urban streetcar system.

 

The streetcar, modeled after systems in other cities that are attracting strong ridership, would connect those destination spots in a five-mile rail loop. Start-up costs are high, an estimated $55 million. Operating the system would cost about $2 million annually, though fares would be low. That’s still significantly cheaper than the cost of “free” busing.

 

The bike system would run about $2 million in start-up costs and it, too, would require ongoing operating money. In short, the money required to allow for free or cheap bus fares could be better spent in other ways.

...

more: http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/opinion/entries/2010/03/21/editorial_free_bus_rides_not_t.html?cxtype=feedbot

Interesting discussion of Brown Street's renaissance in the current DaytonB2B (starts on page 18):

http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/DaytonB2B/

Here's the city's Rubicon Park Improvement Plan which will be part of the GDDP:

http://www.scribd.com/full/31053363?access_key=key-7p27abw7rewhh8bc7ww

 

And the plan to change the low dams downtown into whitewater/passable waterways:

http://www.scribd.com/full/31055163?access_key=key-f7jaif846vb0iv3wlya

 

And a video about the Great Miami River Recommendations described by John Gower of the city's planning and comm dev dept. at the city commission meeting of 4/28/10.  Here's a sharp guy that Dayton is fortunate to have:

http://24.123.76.219/html/CityCommission042810_Rubicon_New.html

There is a lot of info at these links:

 

http://www.downtowndayton.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=167

 

http://www.downtowndayton.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=151

Downtown makeover plans target housing, entertainment

 

The Greater Downtown Dayton Plan was unveiled Tuesday, May 18, after 18 months of work. The plan includes making the Great Miami River more accessible for recreation use by possibly removing the low dam and installing rapids. Those changes would cost an estimated $4.25 million.

 

Other recommendations of the plan did not indicate a price tag.

 

The plan is divided into three major categories, each with underlying strategies that will try to form a new downtown by 2020. Those categories include:

 

• Economic development

 

• Vibrancy

 

• Public spaces and infrastructure: 

 

...but wait, theres more!

 

WPAFB, the river are vital to downtown’s face-lift

 

DAYTON — Details of the Greater Dayton Downtown Plan rely heavily on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the Great Miami River to revitalize a city whose face-lift is overdue.

 

Private and public sector officials who developed the “road map to the future” with exhaustive input from the community want to attract bicyclists, water sports enthusiasts and, by default, young people to the area in hope that they come downtown or even move into the city.

 

..good luck with that.  Longtime readers will recall an in-depth post by yers truely on river-oriented development, chronicaling attempts going back to the late 1960s. 

 

 

 

More at the link.

 

  I want to be a renderer.  :-)

Great aerials!!!

...and I love how they ended it with the bikers.

It's a top notch video.  The HD version is really nice. It's also on vimeo: The Downtown Dayton Plan

 

Dayton is changing.

Is the guy with the glasses ColDayMan? lol

Definately not.  I don't do videos unless I get paid!

...and I love how they ended it with the bikers

 

I think that active/outdoor aspect of the pitch is a real selling point since you really can cycle out of the downtown area and be in open country pretty quick (or kayak in that wild river type environment they show, which is probably the Mad River not too far east of downtown).

 

The boxing segement was probably at Drakes Gym, which is in the old Gentile Produce buidling (before that it was the C&LE interurban freight house and then a bus barn for an early regional affliiate of Greyhound) . 

 

Drakes took over St Clair street the weekend before last and put up an outdoor ring, staging some amatuer bouts in support of a fight poster exhibit in a gallery @ the Oregon Districl.

 

Fight Night a Big Hit Downtown

 

“Fight Night” in downtown Dayton was a huge success. Police estimated a crowd of 1,600-plus — as diverse as it was party-minded — surrounded the boxing ring set up in the middle of Fourth Street outside Drake’s Downtown Gym on Saturday night, July 17, to see eight amateur bouts, hear a rousing rendition of the national anthem by Yolunda Byrd, and watch as three area artists painted and sketched at ringside, and several notable boxers from Dayton’s past were called into the ring for recognition

 

..stuff like this is cool since its sort of counter-intuitive.  The video was sort of like that to, pushing right back at concepts like the city isn't OK for couples with kids, etc. 

 

Of course the execution of this plan depends on money and a market.  They claim there's a market, but I am not convinced it's as big as they say it is.  There might be, though.  As for the money I've commented on that before, the "champagne taste on a beer budget" aspect of local planning and wishes, questioning if there is the kind of capacity out there to set up 3CDC-type equity funds to help out on infill & adapative re-use development.