From the February 17, 2006 print edition

Officials ready business village for overhaul
Plans include recruiting new businesses to historic area

John Wilfong
DBJ Staff Reporter

Wright Dunbar Inc. is on the verge of launching a development effort to change the face of the historic business district.

Group officials are preparing to unveil the framework of their plan to usher in a new era for the Wright Dunbar Business Village set to include restaurants, shops and other businesses along their stretch of West Third Street in Dayton. Since starting its work in the late 1990s, the nonprofit group has focused on buying and stabilizing historic buildings between Shannon and Broadway streets.

Idotha “Bootsie” Neal, Wright Dunbar executive director, said the organization is planning the specifics of the project and will roll out the full details by early next month. She said the plan should include various new businesses and potential recruitment strategies, as well as identifying potential financial resources, such as available grants and loan programs to fund further development.

She said Wright Dunbar is at the right spot to transition from stabilization to development.

“We own a critical mass of the buildings in the neighborhood,” she said. “We will have a clear strategy to move ahead.”

Tony Sculimbrene, executive director of Aviation Heritage Foundation Inc., who also heads Wright Dunbar’s economic development committee, said the storied neighborhood that was home to the Wright brothers and poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar could grow into a major financial contributor to downtown, the city and the entire region.

Part of that vision includes clusters of smaller government contractors working with Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Sculimbrene said contractors requiring 3,000 square feet to 4,000 square feet could find a welcome home in relatively close proximity to the base. He said other small businesses not requiring immensely large spaces could also feel at home in Wright Dunbar.

But he said that type of development will require a delicate balance with other growth, anchored by the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park.

“This is a balancing act for the development of support facilities to rise equally with the number of visitors we’ll be bringing into the area,” he said.

Those visitors are already coming for the national aviation heritage area, which is centered on Wright Dunbar. He said the neighborhood must attract restaurants and shops that service the tourists and visitors. That development also must include business-to-business companies to help create the necessary demand.

Sculimbrene said the same businesses that initially will service visitors and tourists also will help attract businesses to move into the area and spur further private investment.

Steve Nutt, director of strategic development for CityWide Development Corp., said all neighborhoods surrounding downtown will play pivotal roles in strengthening the inner core and boosting development of the central business district.

“Wright Dunbar and other similar neighborhoods are vital to our downtown,” Nutt said. “They contribute to the critical mass necessary to support other downtown venues, such as retail, restaurants, banks and other entertainment establishments.”

Wright Dunbar now owns nine rehabilitated buildings in the district. Last year, Pri Med Physicians, the Dayton region’s fourth largest physician group, opened a new clinic in the district and the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission opened its Center for Regional Cooperation there last year. The district is also home to businesses including WDAO-AM radio, Subway, a Christian bookstore and gift shop and Bank One.

“We’re still getting feedback from our major stakeholders and are defining a direction on how to complete this development,” Neal said. “This must become a community priority.”