$21 million assisted living center proposed for Springboro

Retirement center construction would generate taxes for road extension

The construction of a $21 million assisted living center on Clearcreek-Franklin Road in Springboro is expected to fuel development of some of the last real estate still available along Interstate 75 and the Warren-Montgomery county line.

Last week, the Springboro Planning Commission voted to recommend the city council approve plans for construction of the Sanctuary at Springboro, a 118-unit assisted living center at the intersection of Clearcreek-Franklin and Whispering Pines Street.

“There would be some spin-off economic development,” said Joe Kramer, a vice president of the Schueler Group, which manages the partnership that owns the property.

Using about $800,000 of property tax from the development, Pioneer Boulevard is to be extended, encouraging companies to move into the Springboro Business Park, north of the Ohio 73 interchange and just east of I-75, also owned by a Schueler partnership.

“The city wanted that to happen in tandem,” Kramer said, adding Schueler had about five companies already interested in locating in the proposed business park, on land just west of the assisted living center tract.

If the Sanctuary project is approved, Kramer said the Pioneer road extension would be completed next year.

The business park sits just south of the Ascent business campus, Dayton's Children's Hospital expansion and the city's South Tech industrial park.

The city has also begun negotiating with the developer of the section of Austin Landing south of Austin Boulevard, which borders I-75, the other large piece of land north of Ohio 73 in Springboro yet undeveloped.

In addition to the council approval, developers of the Sanctuary still need to satisfy city staff that the three-story assisted living center will be constructed with adequate buffers, landscaping and parking to prevent problems predicted by residents on Whispering Pines.

The land is currently zoned for residential development.

On Wednesday, residents Malene Wehner and Julie Malone appealed to the city commission to press the developers on the parking, while questioning if such a development was appropriate next to their neighborhood.

“I think it’s an insult to us,” said Julie Malone, who has lived on Whispering Pines since 1979. “They don’t have to put it right there.”

The commission approved the requested rezoning unanimously and voted 8-1 to recommend the council approve the plan for the development, after Tim Trimble, director of business development for the LaSalle Group, assured them the parking and buffer issues would be solved.

Becky Iverson, vice mayor and commission member, said more housing for senior citizens was needed in Springboro.

“We do have a lot of seniors who need options for housing,” Iverson said after the votes.

With final approvals from the city, Trimble said the development with Florida-based SCA Properties would begin by the end of the year.

This would also enable the use of the funds from tax-incremental financing district set up in the area to be used to extend Pioneer into the 65-acre Schueler business park property, Kramer said. Negotiations were ongoing with the Franklin City Schools on funding in lieu of the lost property taxes, he added.

Last week, there was no discussion of this aspect of the plan as the commission heard the residents’ appeals and pressed LaSalle for answers.

The senior center, which could also include a 50-unit memory care unit in a later phase, is to be built on 13 acres.

In response to commission questions, LaSalle reduced its height from four stories to three. In coming weeks, Trimble said consultants would help satisfy lingering concerns about the landscaping and number of parking spaces needed.

Unlike the Landing at Springboro, a new assisted living center with a memory care unit, the Sanctuary would accept residents using a Medicaid waiver. Veterans are also the targeted market, Trimble said.

“There’s quite a few in the area,” he said before the meeting. “We’re working on a very affordable model.”

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