Creative Catalysts have a name and website: DaytonCREATE.org!

DaytonCREATE

Creating Regional Excitement, Action, Talent and Enthusiasm

A few weeks into the Creative Region Initiative and my fellow catalysts and I are busy getting organized and growing our teams (busy enough that I've been a bit quiet on this blog lately!).  Our communication team has really been impressive right out of the gate... They have recruited an online pro (hi Brooke!) who has been busy creating a new website for the group: www.DaytonCREATE.org

This new site is the place to keep up with each team's progress updates.  And don't worry, we'll continue to do stories about the initiative here on DMM from time to time and our new DMM Forum will continue to serve as the official communication forum for both catalysts and non-catalysts alike.  You are ALL welcome to sign up there and get involved with the conversations.  And if you are interested in getting involved with one of the team initiatives then contact the appropriate person (more info at the DaytonCreate.org site).

Btw - I am on the Dayton Creative Incubator team and we are currently researching arts incubators.  As many of you know, Dayton has one helluva arts scene.  An arts incubator would provide our independent artists with affordable (free?) space and services in a true community setting.  And with the exciting things happening in the newly formed Oregon Arts District, now is the time to  capitalize on our region's strong arts community by helping them grow.

The following is the first DaytonCREATE press release - check it out and then go check out the new website.  And of course your comments are welcome here on DMM.  What do you think?

Downtown's Latest Housing Project

It looks like the housing development at the corner of First & Patterson is steps away from becoming reality, and it will be different than anything done in the region so far...

The plan is to build 36 townhomes on what is now a big parking lot on the southwest corner of Patterson and First.  These will apparently be modular construction and will also be LEED certified (between Silver and Gold level).  LiteHouse Development Group (Rogero Buckman are the architects) are a couple weeks away from getting all of their ducks in a row with the city, financing, etc. and they plan to build a single townhome as a model on the corner of Ice Ave and Patterson - possibly in time for Urban Nights in May. 

They will be three-story townhomes similar in scale to the Cooper Place Townhomes.  One of the things I found interesting was that the streets that go through the development will be private property and they are planning to do them with brick paver-type surfaces as opposed to asphalt in order to give it a village feel.  All materials will be long-lasting, environmentally friendly and come from manufacturers that have strong recycling/environmental processes in place (like Shaw that recycle all used carpet into new).  Windows will be placed in a way to maximize light and roofs will include rain-capturing devices that will recycle rain water to irrigate all landscaping.  There was also talk of solar panels.

They must pre-sell at least 40% of a "row" (6-8 or so) in order to complete the whole row of townhomes - there were like 5 or 6 rows on the plan.  So as long as the market is there for these things, they're talking anywhere from 3-6 years for total completion.  Price points will be from $170k for the smallest units (1000sqft) to $230k for the biggest (1800sqft) - depending on how many options the buyer gets.  The buyer will also have the opportunity to upgrade the environmental aspects of the unit.

The other two parcels of land that were originally part of the overall development (adjacent to WorkflowOne garage and adjacent to Lincoln Storage on the other corners of First & Patterson) are not included in this plan but are not off the table - depending on how these sell those other parcels will be revisited.

See pics below (click each to enlarge) and let us know what you think...

More talk on Vacant Properties in Ohio

A few weeks ago the group Rebuild Ohio released their report $60 million and counting: The cost of vacant and abandoned properties to eight Ohio cities. They focused on cities of all sizes in Ohio; one city was Dayton. The numbers are not very surprising for those of us who have followed this issue and the effect it has had on Dayton and its budget: 3,821 vacant buildings, 1,996 vacant lots resulting in a loss of $12.4 million to the city of Dayton.
On Rebuild Ohio’s website is a 22 page report of Dayton specifically, the full report and the executive summary for the state of Ohio. In some areas, such as assessing the properties and their situation, Dayton is ahead of many of its counterparts. The study recognizes the limitations municipalities have dealing with this issue as sprawl increases and the foreclosure crisis decays our urban areas.
In addition to the study Rebuild Ohio has a three page Policy Action Memorandum calling for the Ohio legislature and administration to take more action on this crisis. Specifically, the memorandum calls for “expanded powers for city and county land banks t accept, hold and manage vacant and foreclosed homes, including providing tools to receive donated and tax delinquent property to hold for future reuse.” Te other policy recommendations are useful. The overarching theme of the report puts more light on this issue that is so important to Dayton and other cities in Ohio. Take a look.

What Kind of Retail for Ballpark Village?

Well, it appears planning for Ballpark Village continues. See this morning's DDN article. Another study is in the works, and the question now is what kind of retail should go into the two waterfront development sites: Ballpark Village and the former Parkside home sites?

A Level Playing Field

What if federal, state and county governments were to end the cycle of sprawl by coming up with a system that is more fair... one that charges appropriate impact fees to developers who choose to tear down trees and build new housing developments that require more roads and infrastructure.  Perhaps some of those fees could go to rewarding developers who choose to undertake the often more expensive and challenging task of rehabbing current building stock in older and more established urban (and closer-in suburb) neighborhoods and districts that already have existing infrastructure in place.  This might provide a more level playing field between struggling city neighborhoods and the endless sprawl that continues to suck life out of our urban core.

The following is an article from the Boston Globe that we found on Richard Florida's blog (who found it on The Economist's View blog).

What do you think?