Port Authority boosts 360 new Centerville apartments

The Dayton-Montgomery County Port Authority agreed Tuesday to help speed the building of 360 new apartments in Centerville.

The Port Authority’s board of trustees unanimously voted Tuesday to approve a capital leasing structure for the developers of the planned Gateway Lofts apartment complex, shielding the project from state and local taxes on construction materials — saving the builders more than $1.2 million.

Located on about 30 acres off Chardonnay Drive and East Alex Bell Road, Gateway Lofts will consist of 256 one-bedroom apartments and 104 two-bedroom units in what is reported to be a total $35 million project, according to Port Authority documents.

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Jerry Brunswick, the Port Authority’s executive director, said the city of Centerville approves of the project. Will Kirk, a project manager with Hallmark Campus Communities, the project’s developer, said his company has worked with nearby condominium association members to assuage their concerns about the apartments.

Kirk said the developer will also make some $315,000 in roadway improvements to the area, a boon to Centerville.

“We have tried our best to make a community feeling both for Centerville and the condo association,” Kirk told Port Authority trustees before their vote Tuesday.

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Brunswick said Gateway is the first multi-family project outside of downtown Dayton the Port Authority has ever considered.

Kirk and a consultant for Hallmark, Nate Green, said the capital lease financing structure will allow Gateway to offer more affordable rents.

Without the authority’s help, the apartments would be “at higher rates and a lower product,” Green said.

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Centerville City Council approved plans for the community in August 2017. 

The site today is heavily wooded and is visible to motorists on Interstate 675.

An expected 22 months of construction work could start this summer, with the first units available for rent at the end of 2019, Kirk said.

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