Developer Miller Valentine has released plans for the redevelopment of the 38-acre Montgomery County fairgrounds. The current site of the Montgomery County Fair could become a mixed-use development that resembles The Greene in Beavercreek.
Dayton's new "Midtown District" would be 60% residential and 40% commercial, including at least one hotel, several restaurants and other retailers, and a 35,000-sq.-ft. grocery store.
Vice President of Development Eric Joo says the plan is meant to appeal to young professionals. But businesses interested in locating there want a development with regional appeal.
"They are looking at this location where they can attract consumers from the north market, east west and south market as well," he says.
Joo says the project will start with retail and office space along Stewart Street, across from the University of Dayton. Most of the residential development on the north end of the fairgrounds, across from Miami Valley Hospital, would come later.
Joo believes the "Midtown District" could serve as a positive catalyst for surrounding areas along Patterson Blvd and West Apple. "I can easily see how other investors and speculators will begin buying up property around the fairgrounds in order to redevelop it," he says.
"It's an area that probably long needed to be developed [but] we want to be respectful to the agricultural society that runs the fairgrounds and the fair," says Dayton City Manager, Tim Riordan. "So, it's not necessarily an easy item to work through."
The South Main Street location has been home to the fairgrounds for more than a hundred years, and just recently it was announced that the Montgomery Agricultural Society was interested in relocating and expanding in more rural Brookville. Zoning changes have been approved to make way for the move.
Until the fairground's expected move is complete, the 2014 and 2015 fairs will take place on South Main in Dayton.
Additionally, funding for the proposed "Midtown District," to the tune of $153 million, still needs to be secured.
Miller Valentine says the soonest the Midtown development would start is fall of 2015.
