And no, Scott does not have red eyes, and the camera should know that.

 

 

Member Chuck King introduced Scott. He said Scott grew up in Columbus but came to Dayton to go to UD. He was an engineer at WPAFB and became Vice President for Economic Development, involved in strategic planning. He is board president of Bike Miami Valley, which links bike sharing. He is a graduate of Leadership Dayton .

 

Scott said the Downtown Dayton Partnership has a much broader scope than just downtown Dayton. 

There are team members and private partners from the Greater Dayton area, he said. The University of Dayton and the historical neighborhoods are also involved.  He said they are talking about 30,000 residents and 45,000 workers, 21,000 in the core center.  There are 40,000 students at the University of Dayton and Sinclair Community College and more than 7,000 annual visitors.

With the recession eight to ten years ago, it was decided they needed to have a Greater Downtown Dayton plan to have a strong region and build a stronger core. Some $600 million has been invested in helping do that, not including I-75 construction, he said.

Of the 800 employers in the central city, 500 answered surveys and said they feel progress is being made. Urban revitalization in such cities as Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus and Pittsburgh have had an impact, he said. Connectivity breed entrepreneurial culture. The Dayton Arcade is starting to see some new interest and the Air Force Resource Lab has relocated downtown, he said. 

He said there is a lot of pent up demand for urban real estate. In the past four years there's been only a two-and-a-half percent vacancy in the tight apartment market, he said. He said there are 1,350 market rate units.

Scott said the Water Street/5/3rd area has two developers, with new office headquarters and there are 133 apartments in the old Delco building.They have 54 apartments among new construction and a new Marriott Hotel. The new library downtown is scheduled to open Aug. 5. He said the $66 million building is spectacular. The Wheel House, an 1890s building has 40 market rate apartments, he said. The Levitt Pavilion (Building Community Thru Music) at the Dave Hall Plaza, should also help connect the community, he said. It should be ready in September. All concerts will be free there. 

The list goes on: Centre City has 140 apartments. It is a $46 million project with construction next year. The Arcade has two developers working on a $13 million project, with Miller-Valentine partnering with another developer.

He said UD is moving one of its programs downtown and that Care Source has four downtown buildings, with 270,000 square feet on the old Patterson High School lot, a six-story building, providing for 600 jobs.

Scott said they are working on the first phase of adding 90 apartments and retail to the Century Bar building, and that they have lots of space for retail.

They've added 100 new businesses downtown since 2015, he said, and are tracking 28 so far this year. New businesses are starting here, such as an ice cream-like treat made out of bananas, now in 40 some grocery stores. 

Taylor Communications is bringing 640 employees to the 111 Building, which has 132,000 square feet.

Scott said there are 50 restaurants within a ten-minute walk, six new brew pubs, a bike share program and River Run projects. Downtown festivals and the Dayton Art Institute, the Dayton Dragons games, are all downtown amenities, he said. 

A major grocery store has not yet come to the area, but "we try to be an asset to the region, to be an amenity, a vibrant downtown," Scott said. 

Member Jeff Senney asked about the flood level problems that plague the bikeway along the river. Scott said they are working on that.

Since 40-50 percent of residents are coming with dogs, they're hoping to have dog-friendly patios and dog-friendly businesses, he said.

 

The meeting was closed with the reciting of the Rotary Four-Way Test.