The City of Dayton passed an ordinance on May 3 to issue up to $50 million to assist Velo Riverside LLC with a multi-family development project in the Manhattan harbor development area adjacent to Manhattan Harbor Marina.
Arlington Properties is the developer of the 265-unit multi-family development, which they’re naming Below Riverside. The developer is also behind Tapestry on the River, a 263-unit apartment community in Dayton.
“We’re hoping to close on this project, with support of tonight, on the 17th of May, roughly, to then begin site work of our project immediately so that you will then see vertical construction as quickly as possible, in hopes to deliver to the community as quickly as we can,” Vice President of Development for Arlington Development William Morris said.
James Parsons, a partner with Keating Muething & Klekamp, explained that the industrial revenue bonds, which are private activity bonds, allow you to be the conduit issuer. The city has no responsibility for their debt. Meaning all of the financings, debt and liability are on the developer.
“You’re issuing up to $50 million in bonds, but these bonds are not your debt by statute, and otherwise, they’re the debt of the project,” Parsons said. “The city has absolutely no responsibility for their payment at all. You’re simply acting as a conduit bond issuer on this particular project to allow some incentive available for the project to move forward.”
According to the City Administrator Jay Fossett, Dayton’s public finance lawyer has approved all of the documents.
Councilmember Beseler was concerned with how much fill would be needed for this project.
“I think all the trucks full of dirt coming through our center of town has been an issue for the last eight years or something like that, and I’m just wondering how much more you guys need to build in for infrastructure to make it above the floodplain or what your plans are for that,” Beseler said.
The seller was required to raise the site out of the floodplain as part of the project. Parsons said 99% of that fill had been done. He said once those elevations are certified, they will then submit information to FEMA to get that area officially out of the floodplain so it can be developed.
Another concern brought up by Beseler was the state of Route 8, which has been closed for years and is near where the multi-family development would be.
“It seems like a big concern considering all these new people are going to be living down there, and we have existing families and businesses down there that I think it’s something that we definitely need to strongly try to figure out how to solve,” Beseler said.
The state has abandoned the road, which offered it to the county to take over who rejected that offer. The next step, according to Fossett, is to see whether the city of Fort Thomas and the city of Dayton are interested in taking that road over. What to do with Rout 8 has been in discussion for many years.
“Residents are going to be using either Manhattan Boulevard or Route 8. Not too many of them are going to go towards Fort Thomas,” Fossett said. “They’re going to go to work or shopping or whatever the other direction.”