Greater Ohio Policy Center

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The Dayton Arcade

Lindsey Elam

Image Source: Dayton Business Journal, 2019

Key Facts

Location: Dayton, Ohio

Partners: City of Dayton and partners

Summary: The Dayton Arcade is a historic rehabilitation project that has served as a vehicle for leveraging alignment in the city’s social programming, making it a notable example of how real estate development can spur equitable outcomes.

About

The historic Dayton Arcade is a collection of nine buildings in downtown Dayton, Ohio’s central business district. It is currently being redeveloped to return the site to its first use—a mix of retail, offices, public space, and housing. The project has also become a vehicle for leveraging alignment in the city’s social programming in one location, making it a notable example of how real estate development can spur equitable outcomes strategically.

Built in 1902, the Arcade is considered by many as the most spectacular piece of architectural history in the region. It made the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. In the late 1970s, investors began a major restoration of the site; and the newly refurbished Arcade reopened in the 1980s as a retail shopping and food center. As a result of the general decline of retail in the central business district, the Arcade’s success did not last long. It was closed in 1990 and sat vacant and unmaintained for 25 years. Dayton’s downtown, as a whole, was also “in a state of disrepair, with numerous vacant buildings, and an overabundance of half-empty parking garages and surface lots.” (The Arcade, 2019).

When complete, the redevelopment project will consist of an innovation hub, with the University of Dayton (UD) and The Entrepreneurs Center (TEC) as partners; 102-affordable units for artists and creative entrepreneurs; an additional 24 market-rate units available to anyone, including artists; a culinary and kitchen incubator program with retail and restaurant space for incubator participants; and creative co-working space (The Arcade, 2019). In addition to the significant mission-driven anchors, the Arcade will also house private commercial space tenants. Anchor tenants, UD and TEC, will bring “hundreds of UD faculty, staff, and students; comprehensive entrepreneurial support services; and thousands of square feet of working space for local startups.” (University of Dayton, 2019).

Funding sources for the rehab are involved, including many millions of dollars in tax credits. Dayton city commissioners have approved several pieces of legislation and resolutions related to the Arcade—an $11 million loan agreement, a community reinvestment area tax abatement agreement, a community benefits agreement, a bond ordinance, energy improvement district resolution, and a new community authority petition (Dayton Daily News, 2019). The Community Benefits Agreement, secured by the city for this project, extends benefits from the Arcade’s innovation hub into Dayton's neighborhoods—ensuring the Arcade investment has benefits for the entire city and the neighborhood programming is culturally-specific and appropriately tailored to residents.

UD’s L. William Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership will also be part of the innovation hub, as well as the University's GEMnasium—where faculty, students, and residents will work together to address critical challenges in the city (ex. the opioid crisis and food insecurity). The hub will become TEC’s central location and site for its Small Business Development Center. At the hub, TEC will provide business and commercialization services to entrepreneurs, startups, and early-stage companies. UD and TEC “plan to invest more than $10 million over ten years to cover rents, operating expenses, upfront costs for furnishing and equipping the space, and other equity support for the project at closing.” (University of Dayton, 2019).

Today, the Arcade is part of the City of Dayton’s broader plan to bring residents, jobs, and visitors back to downtown. Restoration of the Arcade is the city’s highest priority. There is a Facebook page that provides updates on the renovation and maintains a “Humans of the Arcade” series; the social media presence and the photo-heavy content is generating attention and stoking pride in place among residents. The Dayton Arcade is an excellent example of how a real estate project can become a motivating force and partner for workforce and economic development in a city’s downtown.

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