Local officials were successful in demonstrating that the 23-story building has exceptional historic importance.
In December, the Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board officially and unanimously endorsed the tower’s nomination.
The tower is the first property in Dayton placed on the register before turning 50, a move that could assist a roughly $40 million proposal to convert the tower into rental units and modern offices.
“It’s going to be explosive for downtown Dayton,” said Aaron Smiles, the owner representative for the Matrix Group in New York.
At the end of March, the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office sent a letter to the owners of the Grant Deneau Tower and other local officials providing notice the building has been placed on the National Register. Notice of that decision was delivered to city officials on Wednesday.
The office tower was the tallest building in Dayton when it was constructed in 1968, and it played an integral role in the development of downtown, said Tony Kroeger, city of Dayton planner.
The building, which pioneered mid-century modern architecture in the center city, could again be a big part of the reinvention of downtown, Kroeger said. Today, the structure is about 90 percent vacant.
But the owners have proposed spending close to $40 million renovating the building to create market-rate housing on the upper floors and offices on the lower levels.
“Now it has a second chance to play that role a second time,” Kroeger said.
Dayton has about 70 properties on the national register, but the Grant Deneau Tower is the first to be added before reaching the half-century mark, Kroeger said.
Younger buildings can qualify if they are exceptionally important pieces of history.
The Deneau technically was eligible for state historic tax credits before placement on the register because it had local historic designation. But officials said properties with local historic designation exclusively have struggled to win state tax incentives.
Federal historic tax credits are not competitive.
The goal is to apply for tax credits in the fall, with awards expected by year’s end, and the hope is to break ground on the building’s renovation around spring of 2017, said Smiles, with the Matrix Group.
The first six floors will be office, and housing will be on the upper levels, he said. The plan is for retail space, a fitness center and a cafe with an outdoor patio.
A variety of properties in Dayton have won state historic tax credits, but none so far have been fully completed. Some projects remain underway.
However, so many aging buildings downtown have little to no chance of being redeveloped without tax credits, because adaptive reuse projects are expensive and tax incentives closes a financing gap, officials said.
The Grant Deneau Tower is across the street from the Dayton Arcade, which a development partnership has proposed rehabilitating in phases, starting with housing for artists and creative types.
The redevelopment of the arcade and Grant Deneau go hand-in-hand, and both projects are expected to pursue state historic tax credits around the same time, Smiles said.
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