Mendelson Leaving Downtown

For those of you who cringe when you look at the giant Mendelson's Liquidation Outlet building on the edge of Downtown/Webster Station, and for the rest of us that have always thought "wow, that is a neat old building - too bad it isn't being used for something cool" - we may see a huge change in downtown's landscape as Sandy Mendelson just announced that he is moving out!  While news of yet another company announcing plans to leave downtown for the burbs would normally be another punch in the gut, this time the outcome could be a very positive thing...

There is certainly a question as to how this might effect plans to develop the riverfront on the other side of Fifth Third Field, of if those plans will make it less likely that the Mendelson building stands much chance at getting developed right away (how much development can Webster Station handle all at once?)  Also, I'm not sure what could possibly be done with this huge structure (over a million sq feet?). The possibilities are endless...  Here are some serious and not so serious suggestions:

• Grocery store with housing on upper floors?  (with an endless supply of snacks and booze it would be one helluva rooftop party!)
• Casino or Indoor Waterpark?  (we know - not likely)
• World's Largest Haunted House?  (I do often see random lights on in the middle of the night - the thing MUST be haunted!)
• World's largest single family home?  (come on Clay Mathile - you know you want to!)

What do you think would be a good use for the building(s)?  (perhaps we can persuade Sandy himself to offer some ideas...)  Hmm, maybe we should make this our first MostMetro contest - come up with the most original idea for the redevelopment of the Mendelson Liquidation Outlet building.  Give us your ideas as we think about it...

Dayton Business Journal
Link: Massive downtown store to relocate; namesake to retire - Dayton Business Journal:.

Downtown Dayton retailer Sandy Mendelson, a partner in Mendelson's Liquidation Outlet, said Thursday that he plans to retire from his family business and relocate his massive store to a smaller location.

While he did not provide specifics of the proposed move, he said his properties along First Street may become part of other downtown projects.

UPDATE:

This mornings DDN featured another article about this development in which Sandy Mendelson explains some of his plans in more detail...

Dayton Daily News
By Thomas Gnau
Link: What's Next for Mendelson's?.

The family's main building at 340 E. First St. offers 800,000 square feet. Another Mendelson-owned building — at 329 E. First St., between Patterson Boulevard and the ballfield — has about 200,000 square feet.

The latter building — which shares Don Crawford Plaza with the ballfield — has 30,000-square feet on each of six floors and 12-foot-high ceilings.

Mendelson talks of putting retail uses on that building's first floor, offices on the second and third floors, with condominiums above and penthouses on the sixth floor.

Mendelson has architects examining the building at 329 E. First St.

Mendelson said 329 E. First St. will get his first development push, although he sees possibilities for all the buildings he owns along First.

 

Comments

[Shannon]

Maybe the Holiday Inn would do a combination waterpark/hotel like they have North of Indy - substantially smaller in scale that Great Wolf Lodge... but a good venue for families downtown...

[Brad French]

I hate to tick-off all the preservation folks, but I say tear it down and build something fresh and new.

Try not to laugh, but maybe an arena to bring our hockey team and all the big music tours and events back in from the 'burbs (aka Nutter Center in Fairborn). UD arena (near downtown) is great, but isn't a good fit for major concerts and can't do hockey.

Actually, I'd really love to see them tear it down and build a gigantic new WalMart......

Not really, just wanted to see if I could get anyone to have a seizure.

[Bill Pote]

Brad - sorry, that is simply not as good an idea as my single family house idea. Geeeze!

[metromark]

We need a 365-day attraction downtown, like Indianapolis. We have a successful baseball team for the spring and summer, but we need another professional team (basketball and/or hockey?) to round out the year. Mandalay might have some input here along with Ballpark Village. Also, the director of 5-River Metropark Outdoors proposed using a building in the Webster Station area for an indoor waterpark. So, all of the proposals given in this blog are good ones and realistic. One other possibility could be a museum of innovation: honoring all the Daytonians who have shaped our world. Dayton has more patents per capita than any other city in the U.S. Why don't we market that?

[Shannon]

MetroMark - I love the idea of a museum of innovation. It would really tie the theme together in Webster Station - with all the innovation structures in Canal Walk (i.e. ice cube tray and register) and Riverscape (pop top)... that would be fantastic.

[Christine Miller]

Shannon, I agree with your idea for an arena! I have been dreaming of that for some time. A place to tie into the energy of the ball field, with the benefit of all-season use. Hockey is a sport growing in popularity and it is - in my opinion - unfortunate that our arena football team did not stick. The Dayton Warbirds morphed into the Dayton Bulldogs in 2006 and then..died I think?

Eventually shared marketing efforts with the Dragons for all things sports could work.

Not to mention Shannon's note on a concert venue...

[David Esrati]

It would have held CareSource quite easily.
Tearing it down would be a huge mistake- they couldn't build something like that ever again.
I've been through both the Mendelson buildings extensively- and mixed use- with retail/entertainment on the bottom floors, offices above- and then loft condos on top is the way to go.
Mendelson is working with Lorenz & Williams on the plans- and it makes much more sense than "Ballpark Village."
As to a hockey rink- there is plenty of room for one right behind the Merc- or South of TechTown.
We have to get out of the tear it down thinking- and look at enhancing and meshing.

[Bill Pote]

David - I don't think developing the Mendelson building "makes more sense" than Ballpark Village because it isn't along the river. The developers for Ballpark Village seem to know the value in the riverfront and it is likely they will use it in ways similar to other riverfront cities. I've often wondered why Dayton doesn't utilize its riverfront more; as small as our river is, it still offers a riverfront ambience that you don't get just a couple blocks away (and no "brand new" downtown like the Greene can ever duplicate). That said, why not incorporate the Mendelson buildings into the development - as in Ballpark Village South? (btw - for those that don't know, "Ballpark Village" is simply a working name until they come up with a permanent one)

As for CareSource, I doubt they could have acquired and rehabbed the Mendelson building to meet their needs for even close to what their new building is costing them. If they were tearing down a perfectly good building to build the CareSource building then I'd be upset, but they are removing a huge eyesore (abandoned parking garage) on a prominent corner of downtown - so I am all for it. Especially since they could have easily moved to the burbs for less money.

There are plenty of good ideas for the Mendelson buildings, but it all boils down to three things - market feasibility, structural feasibility and ultimately cost feasibility. You must have all three for something to make sense.

[Nathan]

Shannon, you did give me a seizure! lol

I don't have any "great" ideas, but I don't want to lose the building. Its mass is just amazing. I'd like to see the street restored instead of parking as well.

[Robert M. Shaw]

Dear Sirs,
Mr. Mendleson has the best location in town and best building around and it would not sale.
That to me means that nobody serious wants to move to Dayton.
The price tag was only $7,000,000 any large Company would see the advantage in buying this location for a small price as that.
Any sensible Company would put their corperation on the top two floors, make apartments, resturats and shop on the rest.
I have spoke with Mr. Mendleson and the problem is Dayton's image.
Think about it?
Everytime a city mayor runs a racial campaign as our mayor did, the city becomes known as a racist city and harms all people.
Mayor Dinkins New York?
Mayor Young Atlanta?
All failures of racist political image.
R. Shaw

[Bill Pote]

Robert - thanks for your comment, but at a price tag of $7 million (if that is in fact the asking price), I would guess it would take 5 times as much to rehab the building into the uses you just described. Not to mention the need for another parking garage.

Dayton may be struggling with its image, but bottom line is that it is always going to be cheaper to build a new building in the middle of a corn field than it is to rehab a historic structure. Until the state or feds develop policies that even the playing field by charging more impact fees for developing empty land and giving incentives for rehab development - new development is always going to be more attractive to the bottom line.

And btw - I don't seem to remember the mayor running a racial campaign. David Bohardt even admitted to his mistake of not doing a better job of reaching out to the minority population as a reason he lost. Dayton's extreme segregation issues are not the fault of one person.