The Delco, a vibrant mixed-use development, is a nod to its industrial past
The Delco building today is an example of early 20th century industrial architecture with large windows, exposed ductwork and polished concrete floors. This new mixed-use development in Dayton houses 162 apartments, 100,000 square feet of commercial space, and a 463-space parking garage.
Built in 1915, the building played a historic role in Dayton industry. “Originally it was the Delco plant back in the days of Charles Kettering. So lots of inventions and things happened here during that time period. And then from there switched to GM for a little bit and kind of had its second life cycle after that. Went to Mendelssohn’s and was a giant warehouse full of items when we took over the property,” explained Erik Wood, Vice President of Property Management with Crawford Hoying.
Located in the center of the Water Street District, this seven-story building is right across from the Day Air Ballpark, home of the Dayton Dragons. Wood describes the distinctiveness of the rooftop pool-and-lounge amenity, “Just a great place for residents that live here in this building to be able to come in and hang out, especially in the evenings…. And then just views of downtown’s 360-degree view of downtown Dayton. So just no other space really like this in Dayton.”
And the Delco is a centerpiece of the multi-layered investment in the Water Street District by Crawford Hoying from Dublin and Dayton’s Woodward Development.
The developers saw this diamond in the rough when it was still the former Mendelson’s Liquidation Outlet. They shelled out $7.8 million in 2019 for it and went to work updating the building for modern use. Their vision, a vibrant mixed-use development of commercial space and much needed apartments in the city.
The art of repurposing existing and often outdated buildings into vibrant new spaces is called adaptive reuse and is an environmentally sustainable way to preserve architectural and historical heritage in a community.
Size Appeal
The size of the massive 500,000 square foot Delco building was part of the appeal for the developers. “To recreate this would be mind boggling if you actually rebuilt this brick by brick or yard by yard in concrete terms. It would be a dramatic undertaking. So I think the sheer size of the opportunity was attractive,” says Zachary Graham, Senior Vice President of Commercial Real Estate and Leasing with Crawford Hoying.
“It’s like stacking five Walmart’s on top of each other. That’s how big it is,” explained Erik Wood.
Adaptive Reuse of The Delco
Investing 100 million dollars, the developers embraced the character of the landmark building. “One of the things you’ll notice as we walk through here is this is all, there’s original floors through here. So these have been cut and polished… You’ll see some embedded remnants of prior use, like the steel plates and things like that, but adds to I think the industrial chic character of the project,” says Graham.
Developers are also quick to acknowledge the robust public private partnership that made it possible. “The city of Dayton and the Dayton Port Authority in particular were critical to being able to get this project done,” noted Graham. “We have a tax abatement here that’s critical to attract the right commercial users to the space. And then the garage itself is publicly owned and that’s where the port authority comes in.”
And while working to capitalize on existing materials they were able to keep the majority of the exterior of the building, and with a stroke of good luck found the spacing between the many support columns fit two cars exactly in the garage, saving millions.
“If you had to reconstruct to rebuild a parking garage, you can easily be 30 to $40,000 per space. And there’s 463 spaces here. So you can do that arithmetic. It would be an expensive garage,” says Graham.
But remediation and renovation of a massive 500,000 square foot building comes with sizeable challenges. While 15-inch concrete floors can provide better insulation and an excellent sound barrier between floors for the tenants, it can also be an obstacle during construction.
One such drawback was wiring for 250 bathrooms as Wood spells out, “I mean every single piece of plumbing, every single lighting fixture, every single outlet, all the electrical, we had to core through the floor of this thick concrete to get to the next floor because the bathroom didn’t line up with just where one bathroom was for that for floor the building.”
The economics of adaptive reuse can be challenging. “It’s not for the faint of heart. Adaptive reuse is challenging because it doesn’t follow any particular roadmap for development,” explains Graham.
Attracting Modern Renters
The developers added amenities highly desired by the modern renter including a fitness center, rooftop swimming pool with 360-degree views of downtown Dayton and a pet friendly area.
“We also have a really big dog park outside as well. A great place to take your pet. Usually in an urban environment, it’s tough to find a place to take your dog on a walk, but we have a great place that you can unleash your dog and let ’em run free and play which is a great amenity for the building.” says Wood.
The apartments range from micro apartments, which are less than 500 square feet, to up three bedrooms with 1,600 square feet and rents ranging from $980 to $3,500. Since opening three months ago, 60 percent of the apartments are already being leased to renters, who have a range of backgrounds, from young professionals to families to empty nesters.
“So we have some local Daytonians moving here from other areas of Dayton, maybe the suburbs, maybe other areas of Ohio,” says Wood. “But we see large market folks coming to Dayton, Ohio, so New York and California and Texas, Florida, coming here for jobs and really taking advantage of the cost of living in Dayton, Ohio compared to some of these bigger markets.”
New businesses are also moving into the Water Street District. Base Camp Outdoors Co. owners Claire and Brycen Cross are thrilled by their new location and recently had their ribbon cutting opening which was attended by Dayton Mayor Jeffery Mims, Jr. and Downtown Dayton Partnership President Katie Meyer.
According to Claire Cross, “This area now is very lively, very walkable. It’s family friendly. It’s truly here for everyone. There’s great places to eat, there’s great places to hang out, and there’s a great family way to watch ballgame.”
And her husband and co-owner Brycen Cross agreed, “We’re right across the street from the Dayton Dragon Stadium, really close to Riverscape Metro Park, the great Miami River Trail. So really a hub for activity in Dayton. And that’s what Base Camp is.”
Reflecting on the efforts to save this historic landmark building, Graham says, “If you think about the sustainability impact of a building like this…there’s a carbon footprint associated with reproducing all of that. And we not only didn’t send it to a landfill, but we embraced it and used it again. So, I think that’s a piece of it that makes it just rewarding to do for sure, is to just see something like this saved and embraced and maybe made better than it was in the first place.”
Thank you for taking the time to read this article on adaptive reuse. Please let us know what you think of adaptive reuse as a solution for creating more housing? Do you see many unused buildings in our area that could be adapted for a new use?
Emiko Moore – Multi-Media Journalist
Emiko Moore is a graduate of Ohio State University has been a freelance producer for NBC News for the last 20 years, covering stories in southwest Ohio and in the tri-state area. She also hosted The Lebanon City Show and was a print journalist for the Western Star, focusing on Warren County. Prior to moving back to her hometown of Lebanon, OH, she worked in NYC for NBC TODAY and NHK, Japan Broadcasting Corporation. As a volunteer with Building Bridges Community Conversations, Ishinomaki Playground Project, and Miller Ecological Park, she believes it takes continuous work to strengthen communities. She is excited about journalism that explores the issues while highlighting solutions to bring about positive change.
