Updated: 8:54 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010 | Posted: 1:41 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

No new stabilization funds for Middletown

But city still has $1.5M left from last round for home renovations.

By Jessica Heffner

Staff Writer

    MIDDLETOWN — While Middletown may not have been tapped for more federal funds to improve its neighborhoods, the city still has $1.5 million left from the last round it has designated for home renovations this year.

    In the third round of Neighborhood Stabilization Program funding, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development department awarded $1 billion nationwide, $1,327,123 of which is headed to Butler County.

    However, Middletown did not qualify to receive any funding due to the formula and minimum requirements used by HUD this round.

    State and local governments can use NSP grants to acquire land and property; to demolish or rehabilitate abandoned properties; and to offer down payment and closing cost assistance to low- to moderate-income homebuyers.

    The news that no new funds were coming to Middletown was disappointing, but not necessarily a surprise given the limited funds, said Doug Adkins, director of Community Revitalization.

    Middletown received more than $2.1 million for NSP in the first rounds of funding, most of which already has been used for the demolition of several vacant houses and to assist with razing the Barb’s Pub and the River of Power Ministry Building on Central Avenue. Adkins said the remaining balance — about $1.5 million — has been obligated for renovations on 10 foreclosed properties acquired by the city.

    The 10 properties, located in neighborhoods targeted by Middletown officials for upgrades, are owned by the city and will be sold to households in qualifying income brackets.

Money from the sales would then go back into the fund and be reused for other property acquisitions and renovations, Adkins said.

    “We plan to put them on the market and get them refilled with taxpaying citizens soon,” he said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.

City Hall purchased the River of Power Ministry Building for $125,000 or $135,000 and then demoed the building....Why did they purchase this building for this amount of money? Are you telling me that City Hall thinks this building was of equal value to the Bank One property that they were willing to sell for $135,000 last month. Yes sir ya just got to love their logic and math skills.

Middletown Journal
Updated: 9:44 p.m. Monday, March 15, 2010 | Posted: 9:41 p.m. Monday, March 15, 2010

Land swap could cost city $95K

By Ryan Gauthier

Staff Writer

    MIDDLETOWN — Another land swap will be up for consideration when Middletown City Council meets tonight, March 16.

    In the third instance of the city exchanging property with an area landowner in the past few months, council will be asked to authorize the exchange of a tract of land located at 1316 Vail Ave. with the former Middletown Antique Mall, 1607 Central Ave.

    The city does not presently own the Central Avenue property, but Economic Development Director Mike Robinette said it plans to purchase it for $90,000.

    “Midtown Custom Cabinets has been looking to expand their business and we have been eyeing the site for demolition as it is the only one remaining behind Barb’s Pub and the Studio Theater,” Robinette said. “They’ll get a building to grow their business, we’ll be able to finish clearing that area and will then be able to market it for redevelopment. It’s a win-win.”

The former Middletown Antique Mall property — presently valued at $125,000 — was sold on Feb. 19 for $50,000, according to the Butler County Auditor’s Office.

    Robinette said he has no qualms about paying the current owner $45,000 more than he purchased the property for less than one month ago. He said the property was recently appraised at $85,000.

    “This property was bought out of foreclosure,” he said. “But if you look at what it was carried at value wise, the market value for that is obviously much more than was paid.”

The ordinance also provides $5,000 to Midtown Custom Cabinet for what Robinette referred to as “moving costs” for the company. As the city has a lot of interest in acquiring the site, he said it has agreed to pay half of the estimated moving costs.

    “It’s not unusual to share moving costs when you have a business moving because they’re going to expand and it’s in our interest for them to move, to assist them in the cost of relocating their business,” Robinette said.

    The ordinance will be considered as emergency legislation, meaning it will circumvent the traditional process of first and second readings as well as the 30-day wait to take effect. That also means it needs at least six affirmative votes from the council to pass. With Councilman Jim Armbruster still hospitalized after undergoing open-heart surgery over the weekend, other council members will have to unanimously approve it.

    Council meets at 5:30 p.m. in Council Chambers on the lower level of the Middletown City Building, One Donham Plaza.

Middletown Journal
Updated: 12:34 a.m. Monday, April 5, 2010 | Posted: 12:33 a.m. Monday, April 5, 2010

Land swap issue noticeably absent from council agenda

Cabinet company still hoping for deal

By Ryan Gauthier

Staff Writer

    MIDDLETOWN — A controversial land swap that would have seen the city pay $95,000 to secure the former Middletown Antique Mall is on hold for the time being.

The deal would have seen the city purchase the former mall, 1607 Central Ave., for $90,000 and then turn around to trade that land with Midd-Town Custom Cabinets for its property at 1316 Vail Ave. The city would have also provided Midd-Town Custom Cabinets with $5,000 to help cover their moving expenses.

    The city council was set to hold a second reading on an ordinance approving the land swap at its Tuesday, April 6 meeting, but the legislation did not make the final council agenda.

    Economic Development Director Mike Robinette said the land swap was pulled from the agenda while staff “works on some alternatives for the project.”

    “We’re trying to look at alternatives that would allow them to move forward with the project they’re wanting to do, but not have us involved in the land swap,” Robinette said.

The city became involved in the deal mainly over tax issues, Robinette said, as Midd-Town Custom Cabinets initiated swap conversations in an effort to avoid paying up to $15,000 in capital gains taxes.

    Midd-Town Custom Cabinets, co-owned by Jeff Brown and Don Kennedy, is responsible for carpentry inside of numerous local businesses, including the Middletown Public Library, Java Johnny’s and the now-closed 56 Degrees Wine Bistro.

    Kennedy said the deal has always been “designed to save the city money.”

    “Rather than paying $15,000 in taxes and passing that along to the city in our sale price, we figured we could just do an exchange,” Kennedy said. “It was an even deal as far as we were concerned.”

    Council raised questions about the swap when it came to light the current owner of the Central Avenue property had purchased it for $50,000 mere weeks before the deal was proposed. Kennedy dismissed claims the proposed swap was a “good old deal,” as he said his business is eating the $40,000 loss, not the city.

    “We were in talks with the bank to purchase the land, but (Daniel) Diver made a bid on it and had already been approved,” Kennedy said. “I was two weeks too late in planning this. I pretty much cried my heart out.”

    Their three-man operation has been able to survive for so long by picking from the corpses of larger carpentry operations that went under during the recession. A move to the larger building would allow them space to create a “drop-dead gorgeous showroom” and ideally hire on some additional staff.

Middletown Journal
Updated: 12:26 a.m. Saturday, June 5, 2010 | Posted: 12:25 a.m. Saturday, June 5, 2010

Downtown parking garage demolition work to start

Former Swallens building also coming down

By Jessica Heffner

Staff Writer

    MIDDLETOWN — The garage in downtown Middletown may not have been pretty, but for Samuel Davidson it was a place to park.

    “It’s convenient to get to any place downtown. But I can understand taking it down,” he said while pointing to a chunk of concrete in a parking spot inside the garage. “It’s not safe.”

    June 4 was the last day for residents to use the parking garage as the city plans to demolish the structure along with the former Swallens building beginning Monday, June 7.

    Davidson was the driver of one of about 50 cars parked inside of the garage during its last day. The vehicles inside were as varied as a Honda Civic with a missing fender and mismatched hood to a red Chevrolet Corvette. Any cars left inside the structure will be issued a notice to move. Those still in the building next week will be towed, said Rob Nicolls, senior engineer for Middletown.

    Work will begin with perimeter fencing being installed and some asbestos removal. The right lane of southbound Verity Parkway will be closed in front of the Swallens building for about a month while it is taken down. Debris will be pulled inward as it is torn down to prevent having to close more roadways, Nicolls said.

    “There’s no doubt it will be tight, but we don’t feel there will be any problems with that,” he said.

    While the city had billed removing the garage and Swallens building as a cost-saving measure — about $90,000 is expended annually to keep the garage open — local Realtor Walter Leap said the entire measure would be unnecessary if officials had properly marketed the property.

    “They never put the (Swallens building) up for sale or put a price on it,” Leap said. “They could put it on the market with a legitimate broker and let it sell... but they are really concerned about not having ultimate control.”

    The demolition, which city officials estimate will cost about $950,000, should be finished by July 30, said City Manager Judy Gilleland.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.

Garage costs

Breakdown estimate of annual garage maintenance costs:

$77,000 for utilities

$13,000 for maintenance

$5,000 for property and liability insurance

$400 for taxes

Updated: 1:22 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010 | Posted: 1:21 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010

City has high hopes for revitalization projects

Art center and Cincinnati State branch campus take more feasible approach, says mayor.

By Jessica Heffner

Staff Writer

    MIDDLETOWN — Walking the main drag of Central Avenue through the center of downtown, counting the 37 vacant storefronts that line the street, it’s hard to imagine Middletown is on its way up.

    Many can still remember when you couldn’t drive down that main drag because city officials had spent $2.6 million to create a walkway and canopy for the City Centre Mall. Resident Hugh Kindwell, 70, while strolling the sidewalks in front of the now-defunct mall stores, said he doesn’t remember a lot of people being negative about the mall in 1973 when it broke ground.

    “I think people thought it would help bring people down here,” he said. “And it did bring some — just not enough.”

    So when Kindwell said he heard about plans for the city to open a new art center and possibly a new college branch campus, his interest was tainted with skepticism of the past.

    “I hope they can do it. I hope it’s not another City Centre Mall,” he said.

    Despite ongoing economic problems, downtown has seen its share of action in 2010 with the city spending roughly $1.9 million on various renovation and revitalization projects. Some of those projects include razing several old buildings in hopes of future development, the signing of the final contract for Pendleton Art Center to open a new studio on Broad Street and negotiations with Cincinnati State Technical and Community College to open a new branch campus.

    “I think the biggest difference this go-round is we have partners coming to the table,” Mayor Larry Mulligan said. “It was strictly the city’s idea for a mall. This time we aren’t the only party.”

    And while he said the city could have opened its own art or education center, it is instead partnering with institutions that have a track record of success and can operate the programs.

    “We are encouraging and doing some planning to shake things up,” Mulligan said.       
“That is the role the government should play. It is not a developer.”

    Local historian Sam Ashworth said he feels the new projects coming to downtown are not so much trying to change the city’s identity as actually creating one for its downtown.

“This is different than the past because we aren’t really turning it into anything else. For many years, it hasn’t been anything,” he said.

Is the city turning a corner?   
    City officials have plans in the works to turn things around downtown. But are the plans enough to revitalize an area that has struggled for more than 30 years? That’s the question on everybody’s minds.

    Ann Mort said she moved to Middletown 40 years ago because of its schools and the promise it held for her family. Since then, she has lived through some of its low points, such as Lake Middletown and the end of the City Centre Mall. All through that time she said she has never given up hope on the city she calls home, but she has also never felt so optimistic.

    “I am very encouraged by all the action. There are a lot of little things happening and a lot of big things,” she said. “Sometimes things don’t work out the way we intend, but you pick up and go in another direction.”

    Projects that have especially piqued her interest are the new $7.4 million Greentree Health Science Academy and preliminary plans by Cincinnati State Technical and Community College to move a new branch campus downtown. Mort said she thinks the city is finally taking advantage of its strategic position between Dayton and Cincinnati to bring in new business.

    “It’s a new world,” she said. “Lots of things are different and it’s a bigger world out there than we saw in the past,” Mort said.

Why save downtown?

    Since the 1970s, city officials have chased project after project in an attempt to revitalize downtown. Much focus and development recently has centered on Middletown’s East End near Interstate 75, but Economic Development Director Mike Robinette said downtown is also very marketable and worth saving.

    “I think the perception is it is dead and that some people even question why we are trying to save it, but if you look objectively at the assets of our downtown and compare those to (other) downtowns, I would say the opposite is true,” Robinette said.

    The historic significance tied to downtown coupled by the nearby South Main Street Historic District is a draw for many residents. It has buildings that can be renovated — which Robinette said can equate to cost-savings when compared to constructing new in the East End. Those businesses that are drawn to downtown are not as dependent on highway access, either, and would not have as much franchise, big box competition.

    “I don’t see (downtown and the East End) competing against each other... and we’re lucky to be able to supply such two distinct opportunities for business.”

Money vs. risk

    Kris Allen, 28, said she was born in Middletown and can only remember its downtown with the City Centre Mall and watching the roof come down in the new millennium. It’s a place she only comes to now to pay the occasional late water bill.

    “I don’t care what they do, really, but I think the city should stop spending money,” Allen said. “If people want to come here, great. But they should use their own money at least for projects, not taxpayers’ money.”

    For its two major downtown projects announced in 2010, the city has promised up to $450,000 in loans and grants to the Pendleton Art Center and up to $500,000 to buy five buildings for the Cincinnati State campus.

    Robinette said both of these projects hold some form of risk to the city, but the benefits outweigh it. Having partners with knowledge and experience to make the projects happen will help downtown’s success as well.

    “In my experience finding key partners to work with to move these different initiatives forward is what makes this progress happen,” he said.

Learning and losing

    While Robinette said he believes the city is not repeating its mistakes of the past, he hopes Middletown learns from those mistakes.

    “I think you work on the issues of your project and pay attention to the criticisms, but don’t lose focus on what you have accomplished,” he said. “It would be a mistake to ignore the criticism completely because the critics may raise issues you haven’t thought of.”

    One project Middletown may lose in 2011 is a stop on the 3C Corridor passenger rail line. Preliminary plans had the city listed as a possible stop; however, Gov.-elect John Kasich said he plans to kill the project.

    City officials recently exchanged property with Duncan Oil Company to obtain the former Shamrock fuel station and Office Outfitters sites for possible development for the 3C rail stop. Duncan Oil is developing land on the other side of Central Avenue previously owned by the city for a new service station and convenience center.

    Robinette said that deal was never dependent on the train project and is still viable for other uses.

    “We’re not holding the bag on the 3C project,” he said. “It was a bigger win with the 3C, but (the Duncan Oil project) will generate jobs and other investment we wouldn’t have gotten with the way it was before.”

No singular savior

    City officials said they recognize none of the city’s current projects — including those outside the downtown — will singularly “save” a city that has struggled with various economic issues, some of which date back long before the national recession.

    Robinette said every project the city has scored this year has helped. Marketing those successes and what Middletown still has to offer is what Robinette said is needed to keep the momentum going in the coming years.

   “There isn’t a ‘most important thing’ because I have never believed that you make progress in communities ... that have had struggles in the recent past on one item alone,” he said. “But I think there are a number of reasons to be optimistic.”

    Cincinnati State is still arranging a financial agreement with the city to renovate several downtown buildings and the Manchester Inn before it will commit to opening a new campus.

    At a recent board of trustees meeting, school President O’dell Owens said the project could help transform both the college and the city, but made it clear Cincinnati State would not be the sole bearer of Middletown’s fortunes.

    “I think every opportunity has possible downsides, obviously,” said Trustee Cathy Crain after Owens’ remarks at the trustees meeting Nov. 23. “As long as we are going into this because it is the best thing for the school. ... I think that would be a better process than to think we are turning Middletown around. We are not, but we will be one of the pegs that is doing that.”

    Mayor Larry Mulligan said efforts to revitalize downtown also don’t center on economic development alone. Much time has been spent enforcing building and sign codes, repairing roads, fixing up and removing dilapidated structures and partnering with area schools to improve educational opportunities. It’s all connected to the city’s success.

    “We’ve always said it never happens overnight. We have many years to go yet, but we are preparing to turn a corner, and hopefully, we see this development take hold,” he said.