More than $250 million in retail, restaurants, apartments, hotels and offices are planned for a 110-acre plot of land just west of Interstate 75 in Liberty Township.
Liberty Township-based developer George Flynn, Bob Hutsenpiller of Hutsenpiller Contractors Inc. and Brian Brockhoff of Bailey Capital Partners have spent the last three years quietly acquiring 22 parcels along Hamilton-Mason Road. Earlier this year, they brought in Miller-Valentine Group to assist with development and land acquisition and Columbus-based Steiner & Associates as lead developer of the project. The team plans to build more than 2 million square feet of development there over time.
The first phase, which could begin as early as 2009, includes 250,000 square feet of office space, an upscale theater, two hotels, restaurants, three department stores, additional retail and about 200 apartments - 1.2 million square feet of total development costing about $200 million.
"We're essentially building a community gathering space," said Mike Duffey, a Steiner spokesman. "It will become a hub for the entire community."
Liberty Township, located almost halfway between Dayton and Cincinnati, has spent the last few years preparing itself to handle the rush of developers seeking land positions in its boundaries. As the West Chester corridor has become saturated with offices and retail, it became evident to Liberty officials that the rural bedroom community would be next.
"Development is going to happen. We thought, 'What can we do to control it?'" said Dina Minneci, township administrator.
To prepare for even more population growth, expected to top 60,000 over the next 20 years from 35,000 today, the township created a master plan and four overlay districts that focused on commercial development for 18 percent of Liberty's total land area.
"The criteria we have is it has to be a sustainable, long-term commitment with a 30-40 year life cycle," said Pat Hiltman, president of Liberty Township trustees. "If we're going to bring retail in, it needs to be the crown jewel of Butler County and Southwest Ohio."
Steiner & Associates Inc. is best known for its mixed-use development of Easton Town Center in Columbus, a 90-acre project. It recently built the 72-acre mixed-use development in Dayton, called The Greene, and is known locally for Newport on the Levee, a late 1990s project.
Miller-Valentine Group became a financial and development partner to help with land
acquisition and development. The firm's local expertise in health-care office, hotel and residential development would be an asset for parts of the project.
"We're out of land at University Pointe and it's been a big success. This will be the office location in the northern market," said Brian Copfer, Miller-Valentine's vice president of development services.
The developers submitted plans to Liberty Township Tuesday, requesting a zoning change to planned unit development. Pending approval, plans will go before the Butler County Planning Commission in June and to Liberty Township trustees in late July.
