City buys riverfront land for new ‘entertainment district’

Another piece in a long-planned “entertainment district” along the Great Miami River appears to have fallen in place.

Property records are showing that the city of West Carrollton has bought riverfront property along Marina Drive for the potential district.

The city picked up about a half-acre of former auto dealership property at 5649 Marina Drive for $330,000. Montgomery County recorded the sale Tuesday.

Records identify the seller as HNCM LLC.

This is in line with plans previously reported by the Dayton Daily News. The city has been looking at parcels at 5649 and 5449 Marina Drive to help buttress a new entertainment district.

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“What I want to do is start talking with developers, looking at the properties as a whole,” West Carrollton Economic Development Director Mike Lucking told this newspaper last month. “But they can also stand separately on their own as well.”

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City officials have been eyeing the parcels to give the city control of about about five contiguous acres near Interstate 75’s Exit 47 on the Great Miami River. The city also has nearly 14 more acres across the street, where it is demolishing the former Carrollton Plaza that it bought last year.

In 2012, a 600-acre, $110 million entertainment district was proposed in West Carrollton. In 2014, the city received state approval for a community entertainment district in the area of Dixie Drive and Central Avenue, and a market study evaluating the impact of a 5,200-seat event center was completed.

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