Company leading $70 million in projects in Springboro

The three projects are within a mile of each other south of Austin Boulevard.

A construction company based in Beavercreek is planning more than $70 million in construction on three developments about a half-mile apart, in Springboro.

Synergy Building Systems is planning a $47.5 million expansion for Dayton Children's Hospital along Interstate 75, south of Austin Boulevard. The company is also planning to construct a 68,000 square foot, $14 million office building for its development arm, Mills Development, also near I-75. The third project is a 35,000 square foot, $9 million office building for the Kettering Health Network on Ohio 741, just south of the other two developments.

The location is attractive to companies in a rebounding economy clamoring to establish themselves along the I-75 corridor between Cincinnati and Dayton where close to 100,000 cars a day pass. Health care providers are moving to the area because it gets them closer to their customers.

Job numbers were unavailable, but Springboro leaders were excited by what the developments meant for future income tax revenues and additional services for residents.

“We are a municipality that relies on income tax. This is highly significant for us,” City Manager Christine Thompson said. “The services these providers are going to provide are also of benefit to our residents.”

The three developments are just south of all the development transforming the area around the Austin Boulevard interchange at I-75, including the Yaskawa Motoman headquarters on the northwest corner; offices, retail and residential development at and around Austin Landing.

“Things down there are pretty robust. I think that’s probably going to continue,” said Doug Harnish, principal with Market Metrics, an area consulting firm specializing in market analysis.

The location also brings employers closer to the “Cincinnati talent pool,” particularly companies looking for workers with high-tech skills, said Jerad Barnett, president and CEO of Synergy and Mills.

Health-care companies like Dayton Children’s and Kettering Health are opening facilities in Springboro, including the new developments, to get closer to all the action between the two cities and customers who have moved here.

“We believe in providing services to people where they live. This is just another example of that,” Kettering Health spokesperson Elizabeth Long said.

Next Tuesday, Kettering Health is to break ground on the two-story medical office building, to be built by Synergy across from Settlers Walk on Ohio 741. The building, also expected to offer outpatient services, is to open next summer, Long said.

Next summer, Dayton Children’s said it would open a 70,000-square-foot medical office building to be constructed by Synergy. The project is the first of three phases expected to cost about $47.5 million and include a 16-room emergency department in 2017, as well as an outpatient surgery center with four operating rooms on its 11-acre campus east of I-75 in Springboro.

Last week, Synergy unveiled the Mills’ building, but declined to identify the businesses expected to occupy it. Tenants should be announced within 30 to 90 days, said Todd Duplain, vice president of development for the Synergy and Mills.

The company hopes to win approval for the building from the Springboro Planning Commission on Aug. 26, with construction likely to begin this fall.

It would be the second in about a dozen buildings planned in the Ascent, a 42-acre office campus Mills is developing in partnership with the city. After three years without a tenant, Shiver Security Systems moved into the first building last month.

“We’ve got over 2,000 feet of frontage along I-75,” Barnett said. “There’s a lot of momentum in that area right now.”

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