Dayton considers pitching in for downtown Fire Blocks project

Fifteen days after Montgomery County approved contributing $750,000 to the Fire Blocks redevelopment project, the city of Dayton will decide whether to loan $250,000 to its developer.

Dayton commissioners today will decide whether to approve a development agreement with Columbus-based Windsor Companies for a proposed $20 million rehab of two buildings on East Third Street: The Elks and Huffman Block buildings.

The city’s loan would be forgiven if the development agreement is approved and its terms are met.

RELATED: County to kick in $750K today for downtown Dayton project

Windsor Companies plans to adaptively reuse the Elks building (100 E. Third St.) and the Huffman building (111-129 E. Third St.) to create at least 90 new apartments and 30,000 square feet of new retail and commercial space, according to the agreement.

The agreement says the developer needs to complete the project by the end of 2020. The forgivable loan would pay for hard construction costs like exterior improvements, city documents show.

The city also plans to help the project by authorizing a special assessment to help finance energy efficient upgrades.

Windsor Companies took over the redevelopment of the Fire Blocks District from the Ellway Group, which announced big plans to transform multiple buildings in the district that failed to gain traction.

Windsor Companies already has acquired a handful of buildings in the district, which is centered around the 100 block of East Third Street, and may pursue others. The developer has acquired the Price Stores building (52 S. Jefferson St.) and the Dayton Power & Light building (18 S. Jefferson St.).

Windsor also is working to overhaul the office building at 124 E. Third St.

RELATED: Fire Blocks: Downtown Dayton project gets bigger, sneak peek coming

RELATED: Promise keeping: New Fire Blocks developer starts work on $35M project

About the Author