DAYTON CHILDREN’S PROPOSES MEDICAL OFFICE

Dayton Children’s Hospital is planning to expand with a new medical office where an old factory once stood.

The independent pediatrics hospital doesn’t have specific plans on the scope or timeline of the project, which a spokeswoman said is still in the early stages.

But the plans to build on the 1030 Valley St. site are part of the longterm growth plans for Dayton Children’s, which has been expanding in recent years with the addition of the Springboro campus and its new main campus patient tower.

The proposal to rezone the property for a new office, contracted to Beavercreek-based Synergy Building Systems, will be considered by Dayton Plan Board in October.

The Dayton Electroplate property, vacant for 20 years, was acquired by developer Garrett Day LLC to remediate the property, and then was acquired by Dayton-Montgomery Port Authority, which held it on behalf of Dayton Children’s.

The request to rezone the site follows Dayton Children’s buying a neighboring industrial property that is home to Progressive Printers, which is moving to Vandalia. The hospital said it is still deciding what to do with the property.

The growing hospital saw 339,131 patients last year, up 16 percent since 2012.

Dayton Children’s new $168 million patient tower at its main campus is wrapping up construction. The tower was unveiled to the public in June, though the last pieces of the project are still in the works and the seventh and eighth floor are still being set up for use.

The children’s hospital expansion raised the number of hospital beds from 155 to 171 and added about 260,000 square feet of space.

The hospital also employs about 400 more people since the tower construction started in August 2014, now up to around 2,500 employees.

Dayton Children’s expansion follows a recent boom in new hospital construction around the Miami Valley, as health systems with the $8 billion local industry renovate existing facilities and expand to meet demand.