City wants ‘signature redevelopment’ at former DDN site

The city of Dayton wants to find a firm experienced in mixed-use developments to help transform the bulk of the former Dayton Daily News site on West Fourth Street, a property the city just acquired after it sat in limbo for years.

The city hopes to form a public-private partnership with an experienced company to create a “signature redevelopment” project at the 1.9-acre site, located between Ludlow and Wilkinson streets.

The site is important because it is located just across the street from the Dayton Arcade, which when redeveloped will be a powerfully catalytic project downtown, officials said.

RELATED: City now owns, plans to redevelop most of former Dayton Daily News site

The city has issued a request for qualifications to search for a developer to reinvent the empty lots on Fourth Street that were once the Dayton Daily News buildings. The city spent $450,000 to buy the property from a previous developer, Student Suites Inc of Missouri, which it took ownership of last week.

The city indicated it wants active ground level spaces, especially along Ludlow Street, which could include retail, restaurant and other commercial uses.

The city said it wants a high-density site. A primarily residential development should have at least 75 housing units per acre and be at least four-stories tall, according to the request for qualifications.

The city said it wants at least 65 percent of the site to contain buildings.

The city also wants new buildings constructed on the site to take design cues from adjacent and nearby structures that consider architectural expression lines, the size and shape of the buildings and streetwalks.

RELATED: City looks to buy part of former DDN site

At the southeast corner of the site is the historic 1908 Dayton Daily News building, which is still standing but is not owned by the city. The owner, Steve Rauch, Inc., has listed it for sale online.

The city says developers should integrate and reuse the building.

“Its removal is not an option and leaving it in its current condition without foreseeable reactivation would be problematic when it comes to the design and development planning for the block,” the RFQ states.

The city hopes to select a firm, or whittle down the list of best candidates, by the end of July.

RELATED: City to clean up former DDN site

The newer portions of the Dayton Daily News building were torn down to clear the way for new housing that was supposed to be geared toward students. But the plans fell apart and the site for years sat empty and debris strewn.

The would-be developers blamed the city for the failure, saying city staff could not, as promised, lift a deed restriction that jeopardized the company’s ability to get financing.

City staff later said the design of the housing was reworked and the deed issues were not holding the project back.

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