New neighborhoods planned
Dayton could add 2100 homes
By Scott Wartman
DAYTON - That empty sea of mud in front of the flood wall on Dayton's riverfront could in a few years house a commercial and housing development akin to a small city.
DCI Properties submitted to Campbell County Planning and Zoning more detailed plans this week for its development known as Manhattan Harbour.
The plans show Manhattan Harbour could include up to 2,100 housing units and 230,000 square feet of commercial space on 140 acres.
It would have up to four mid-rise buildings that could range from eight to 15 stories and one high-rise that could be 16-20 stories, according to plans submitted to planning and zoning officials.
The plans also include a 150-room hotel, walking trails, 28 percent green space and an improved Watertown Marina.
Calls to DCI Properties on Thursday and Friday were not returned.
The development plan represents the maximum number of units and buildings the development could have, said Dayton City Administrator Dennis Redmond.
"What impresses me about it, the development is true to the quest we have been searching for - the building of an entire neighborhood," Redmond said.
The plans show Manhattan Harbour broken into six smaller communities. From west to east, they are: the Commons, the Lookout, the Bend, the Vistas Estate Homes, Harbour Pointe and Manhattan Flats.
In the Commons, drawings show a 12-story building near the western entrance of the development on O'Fallon Avenue, eight four-story townhome flats and 37,800 square feet of commercial space.
Each of the six neighborhoods has a mix of housing types, with some also including commercial space.
The developers have slated the hotel to overlook Watertown Marina in the neighborhood called Harbour Pointe.
DCI Properties bought the marina this year.
There are no plans to purchase any land south of the flood wall at this time, said Redmond.
The developer likely will have to acquire some property along Berry Street where the street will be widened to accommodate a ramp over the flood wall and into Manhattan Harbour, Redmond said.
"We do not anticipate the city having an active role in the purchase of additional land," Redmond said.
DCI Properties is finishing the installation of a new sewer line and should have that completed in a month, weather permitting, Redmond said.
The developer can then start trucking 1.2 million cubic yards of dirt to the work site to raise the ground 14-16 feet so Manhattan Harbour is out of the flood plain, the city administrator said.
That will take about nine months, Redmond said.
The hopes for Manhattan Harbour run high. Retailers, speculators and investors have already called Dayton city hall inquiring about the development, Redmond said. The city has several other upscale housing developments under construction or in the works on the hillside and in the basin.
"We need higher real estate and people," said Dayton Planning Commission Chairman Monte Rogers. "When the flood wall was put in 30 years ago, we lost 3,000 people. We never got them back."
The business community expects Manhattan Harbour to drive more traffic onto its main street, said Marvin Knobloch, Dayton's main street manager.
"I know from the businesses, they are excited about development coming to Dayton," Knobloch said. "It will generate more traffic. What we are going to see and experience are more people wanting to put businesses down there."