Firm hones strategy for developing Austin land

Miami Twp. hopes to land aerospace, defense, IT companies.

Miami Twp. hopes to land aerospace, defense and IT companies for tract at the Austin Boulevard interchange.

An emphasis on MIAMI TWP. — the region’s aviation heritage will be part of the strategy in marketing a large tract of Miami Twp.-owned land at the Austin Boulevard interchange.

Industries that have been staples for decades in the Dayton area are among the businesses in the sights of a firm the township hired to evaluate its estimated 42 acres on the southwest quadrant of Austin’s intersection with Interstate 75.

“We’re going to be targeting aerospace and defense companies quite heavily, (and) logistics, IT — all of the firms and corporations that we believe will find it beneficial to relocate in Miami Twp.,” said Scott Pollock of Juniper CRE in Cleveland.

The land at the corner of Wood Road and Austin Boulevard is “a cornerstone of the Austin Center area” township Administrator Greg Rogers has said in reference to the development district shared by the township, Miamisburg and Springboro.

It sits on the only remaining corner yet to be developed — or committed to a plan — at the interchange that includes Austin Landing.

In 2009, Clivus Development LLC had an agreement to bring a proton therapy center projected to bring hundreds of jobs and be worth in excess of $100 million to the area.

That agreement expired in June 2015 without plans being submitted. Pollock has said targeting users may be a three- to five-year project, but may be completed sooner.

The land includes a retention basin, and officials said not all of it can be developed. At this point, 21 acres is penciled in for office use and 4 acres for retail, Pollock told township officials last week.

The township’s “local assets and regional assets in southwest Ohio” are among the selling points Pollock said his firm is promoting about the property. These include Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and its relative close proximity to major population centers.

Initial electronic marketing efforts will include hundreds of site selectors, developers and commercial real estate brokers.

“So we’re going to be doing a fairly aggressive marketing campaign to not only regional but national site selectors, corporations and also (the) real estate brokerage community to get this site on their radar,” Pollock said, “and to attract corporations, health care users onto the site as well.”