From the January 6, 2006 print edition

John Wilfong
DBJ Staff Reporter

A Cincinnati-based developer is working with Dayton city officials on a housing project designed to add more than 130 units downtown.

Dayton economic development leaders are negotiating with Al Neyer Inc. (in a joint venture with Rogero Buckman Architects) to transform three vacant lots near the Relizon Co. headquarters and Cooper Place apartments into housing developments. Neyer’s preliminary proposal calls for a mixture of townhouses, condos and larger garden homes with amenities such as rooftop garden terraces, said Shelly Dickstein, a senior development specialist for the city of Dayton.

The parcels encompass three of the four corners at the intersection of First Street and Patterson Boulevard, including a vacant lot next to Lincoln Storage near Fifth Third Field.

Dickstein said there are no exact cost estimates associated with the project until negotiations are finalized, though the complete development could exceed $20 million. Housing prices for the development have not been determined.

“This is an opportunity for us to bring online a greater diversification of housing product that we think will be agreeable to the downtown Dayton market,” Dickstein said. “This would be the completion of the Cooper Place neighborhood.”

Dickstein said work could begin by the end of the year, depending on how negotiations proceed. She said the city expects the project to be completed in three to five years. City officials picked Neyer’s plans from two proposals submitted, she said.

LaKeisha Sabol, an agent with Dayton-based The Gem Real Estate Group Inc. who had handled sales for the Cooper Lofts, said interest in downtown housing remains strong, adding that more diverse options are needed to help keep pace. And diversity means different housing styles and prices, she said.

“There’s too much high-end product for the buyers who are looking,” she said, adding that the market is starting to see some interested younger buyers being priced out of downtown. “You have to keep it fresh and continue to educate people about what all is available downtown. You have to be cognizant of the price points.”

She said many of the pricier condos can fetch up to $300,000. More options in the $100,000 to $150,000 range are needed to accommodate many of the homebuyers looking to take advantage of downtown living.

Steve Nutt, director of strategic development for CityWide Development Corp., agreed that lower prices will help open downtown to a broader market. He said the rental market is handling a similar surge in interest, but that market also could benefit from more diversity.

The current housing crop, such as downtown’s two largest rental communities, the 156-unit Cannery and the 108-unit St. Clair Lofts, remain near capacity and several of the condo developments, such as Performance Place at Schuster Performing Arts Center and the Cooper Lofts, are nearly sold out.

Most of the nearly 600 market-rate housing units downtown are rentals, Nutt said.

E-mail jwilfong@bizjournals.com. Call 222-6900, ext. 120.