Hundreds of jobs moving to downtown

Taylor shifting part of operation to Dayton’s ‘111’ building by the fall.

Taylor Communications, the former operations of Standard Register, plans to move hundreds of its 700 workers to an underutilized downtown office tower, bringing more jobs into the region’s largest employment center.

The print and digital communications company says it will relocate some of its workforce from Albany Street near Interstate 75 and U.S. 35 into the 11-story building at 111 W. First St., which is well-known for the large “111” lettering on its west wall.

The city of Dayton says Taylor will retain offices at the Albany location for research and development, technology support, operations and production.

Tayl o r’s curren t spac e on Albany will be remodeled, but its administrative departments will move downtown.

“Although Taylor Communications’ history at the Albany and Campbell location is long and storied, there are many positive reasons for change,” said Mark O’Leary, president of Taylor Communications, in a statement. “Dayton’s downtown area is growing, professional and vibrant, similar to our own culture.”

Taylor will lease eight floors at 111 W. First St., with plans to move in by this fall. The company will occupy floors two through eight and the 10th floor. More than 700 people will be employed at the Albany and

West First Street sites. At the downtown office tower, Taylor could have 75 or more employees on each floor.

The move will add to the 21,000 jobs already in the Central Business District and Webster Station while also returning a notable down- town office tower to productive use.

“We are excited that Taylor continues to make a commitment to Dayton and the region,” said Mayor Nan Whaley in a statement. “This is a company with deep roots in our community, and we look forward to having them in Dayton for decades to come.”

Minnesota-based Taylor Corp., of which Taylor Communications is a subsidiary, acquired the assets of Standard Register in 2015 and last year announced it would keep those opera

tions in Dayton. Dayton officials and local economic leaders last year pledged to work with Taylor Communications and provide incentives to keep

the company and its hundreds of employees inside the city limits. Incentives included com- mitments from the city to spend $2.1 million in streets- cape improvements around Taylor’s Albany Street facili- ties and remove blight in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Standard Register, which became Taylor Communi- cations two years ago, has been in Dayton for more than a century.

Taylor last week signed a long-term lease for more than 130,000 square feet of space the 111 W. First St. building, officials said. The company had been in talks

with the building’s owner, Olymbec, since last year.

Olymbec, a Canadian real estate rental agency, purchased the office tower and adjacent parking lot in Janu- ary 2016 for $645,750.

Taylor will receive a $500,000 grant from Montgomery County and a $500,000 grant from the city’s development fund, the city’s release states.

Last May, the roughly 161,165-square-foot build

ing was only about a quar- ter occupied, and others tenants have since moved out, including Agnes All Natural Grill.

But the building has about a half-dozen tenants and it will be more than 90 percent occupied after Taylor’s work- force moves in, said Michael Matthews, vice president of leasing with Olymbec.

Olymbec plans to make some renovations to the exterior and lower portion of the building and expand and improve the lobby and elevators, Matthews said. Taylor’s presence will

change the landscape of that part of downtown and should attract other new investments, such as housing, Matthews said.

“We’re considering look- ing at other assets in the downtown Dayton area,” Matthews said.

Matthews said Dayton’s office real estate market is challenging, because of the abundant supply of vacant product and the fact that some companies are choos- ing to build new instead of reuse existing spaces.

But, he said, downtown has promise and is slowly growing.

“We invested into the product, we invested into

the tenant build-out and, in essence, we are investing in Dayton,” Matthews said.

Ford Weber, city of Dayton development director, said Taylor will leave some 90 services and production workers at the company’s historic Albany Street location.

Both 111 W. First St., Taylor’s new downtown address, and 600 Albany St. are within Dayton city limits. “Which we are very pleased to see,” Weber said with a laugh.

“I think they (leaders of Taylor) see the momentum in the revitalization of downtown,” he said. “I think increasingly it’s becoming the place to do business.”

The move downtown will make it easier for Taylor to attract younger workers, he said. He does not expect Taylor to have much of a food operation at its new offices, which may bode well for downtown restaurants and small businesses, he also said.

“It will stimulate downtown businesses,” Weber said. “It’s going to be a real

boost for that part of downtown.”