The Dayton Arcade redevelopment initiative moved another step forward Wednesday with the announcement of $5 million in historic tax credits for the project. State development officials awarded the tax incentives to the Arcade along with a dozen other projects around the state.
The long-vacant Arcade includes five main buildings more than 400,000 square feet of space. Plans call for renovating the complex into a mix of housing, commercial, office and event space. The Arcade and historic Rotunda space form the core of the complex and once served as a public market space, state officials say.
David Goodman, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency, says reopening the Arcade is an important milestone in the economic recovery of downtown.
“This is a big deal for Dayton," he says. "The Arcade is iconic in the community and I think its revitalization will symbolize the revitalization of downtown Dayton and be a catalyst for a really positive future.”
Goodman says the state tax credits are the last major "piece of the funding puzzle" for the main Arcade developers, Miller-Valentine Group and Cross Street Partners.
The University of Dayton and the Entrepreneur’s Center have already announced they will become the anchor tenants of the Arcade, which is estimated to cost more than $70 million. It could be completed as early as December of 2018.
Here's some of what developers are promising at the new Arcade when it reopens:
- Collaborative office space
- Affordable and market-rate apartments
- Classrooms, art studios, a kitchen-business incubator and retail market
- Retail space and restaurants
- Public event space
- A theater
