Improvements are planned for Dayton sidewalks and code enforcement this year as new developments are underway in the city.
Dayton Mayor Ben Baker delivered his second annual “state of the city” remarks during the city council meeting earlier this month.
Baker said the city is seeing growth with new people moving in and making Dayton their home. The city continues to see development this year to feed the swelling population.
“It’s always kind of been a sleepy little river town. That’s changing,” Baker said. “We’re getting cool restaurants, and we’re getting projects done. We’re building a walkable community again, and it’s just a very exciting time to be here in the city.”
Several new developments went under construction in the Manhattan Harbour area of the city last year.
Arlington Properties began working on the 265-unit apartment complex located at the east end of Manhattan Boulevard adjacent to the Manhattan Harbour Marina. Construction on that project is expected to be completed this year.
Other plans in the area are for a 12-family and two 14-family residential developments near Berry Street, which are expected to be completed this year. A new single-family residence is also currently under construction at 571 Manhattan Blvd., and another has been designed and is expected to be constructed at 439 and 449 Manhattan Blvd.
A five-family development and two two-family townhouses were completed in the area last year.
“Revitalizing every single neighborhood, not just a riverfront, is really important for us to make sure that we don’t focus on just one thing,” Baker said.
Other projects taking place in the city:
A new multi-family residential project known as “Riverwalk,” which will be built east of the Queen City Marina, is also expected to start construction this year. This project will consist of 54 two-bedroom, condo-grade apartments.
Also planned to start construction are “Boulevard Flats,” a 10-unit apartment building, and a 12-family condo development located in the “Lookout” section of the development area.
The rehabilitation of the historic Burton Building, also known as the Raymee Building, is expected to start this year. The 138-year-old brick building will undergo a $2 million construction project to fully renovate the building into commercial space on the first floor and 10 luxury, loft-style apartments on the upper floors.
“That’s a huge, huge piece of growth that we have here in the city,” Baker said. “It’s a very large brick building on the corner of Sixth and Berry. Through a collaboration between the city, Orleans Development out of Covington, and the Catalytic Fund, we’ve got that slated to be turned into new business and new resident space in the coming year.”
Over the last year, the city has made efforts to improve the city through its code enforcement department. Baker’s address said those efforts had been a central theme in the city’s progress.
This past year, the city established a database of all vacant structures and created its third “Top 10 List” of vacant and abandoned properties.
Many of these properties have been renovated, sold to third parties, or demolished by the city or third parties.
In addition, the city council also passed a “Residential Rental Property Inspection and Safety Program” ordinance last year, which became effective on Jan. 1, with inspections set to begin later this year.
This program allows the city to inspect all its residential rental properties to ensure that they are safe, sanitary and compliant with all local and state building and property maintenance regulations.
Public infrastructure improvements are also underway in Dayton. Notable projects include construction on phase two of the Riverfront Commons river’s-edge trail project and installation of pedestrian bump-outs on Sixth Avenue.
“These projects will reinvigorate our riverfront and commercial business districts,” Baker said in his address.
The “bump-outs” or curb extensions will occur on Sixth Avenue between McKinney and Berry Streets. In all, 13 curb extensions are planned throughout the year. The bump-outs extend the sidewalk into the parking lane to narrow the roadway and provide additional pedestrian space and safety.
Their benefits are:
• Increased pedestrian visibility at intersections through improved sightlines
• Decreased pedestrian exposure to vehicles by shortening the crossing distance
• Reduced vehicle-turn speeds by physically and visually narrowing the roadway
• Increased pedestrian waiting space
• Additional space for street furnishings, outdoor dining, plantings, and other amenities
• Reduced illegal parking at corners, crosswalks, and bus stops.
“We have pretty narrow sidewalks in Dayton,” Baker said. “So, to increase foot traffic as well as pedestrian safety, studies have shown that if you push a sidewalk out, ‘quote unquote bump outs,’ cars slow down, storefronts and places they could put a table where people can sit outside, there’s more room for people to walk down the street and hand-in- hand.”
In addition to the curb extensions, Baker hopes to complete phase two of the Manhattan Harbour Riverfront Commons project. The project was supposed to be completed last year when phase one was completed; however, Baker said the project came in at $1 million over budget.
“We have phase one done already, and that kind of terminates right now around Berry Street,” Baker said. “So, phase two is going to push down further toward Manhattan Harbour and continue that path. And due to the construction cost rising due to COVID-19, it came in a million dollars over what we budgeted.”
Baker said that rather than spend money frivolously; the city chose to reach out to the Department of Local Government to get a grant to help cover the project.
“We’re pretty hopeful that we’ll get that money, and we’ll get that project done in 2023,” Baker said.
