$16M cancer center agreement extended
Proton therapy facility proposed near Austin Boulevard, I-75.
Township MIAMI TWP. — trustees are extending an agreement for the development of a $16 million cancer therapy research and development headquarters off the Austin Boulevard interchange along Interstate 75 in anticipation of finalizing the deal later this year.
The Miami Twp. trustees voted Wednesday to add one year to the 2009 agreement with a development company affiliated with Californiabased Optivus Proton Therapy for the facility on about 30 acres, just southwest of the interchange along the Montgomery-Warren county line.
The agreement, providing Clivus Development an option to buy the land for $100, calls for the company, operating as a nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation, to secure $10 million in financing for the project.
“They just said they needed a little more time to finalize their financing,” Miami Twp. Administrator Greg Hanahan said.
The township also agreed to reimburse Clivus up to $400,000 for market and feasibility studies.
In addition to Optivus, the Kettering Health Network is planning to offer proton beam therapy in the area. KHN is proposing a $74 million facility across from the network’s main health center in Kettering.
The KHN project is one of 66 seeking federal funding through the Dayton Development Coalition. According to the application, $35 million would come from a project partner, San Francisco-based American Shared Hospital Services, with another $10 million from undisclosed philanthropic sources.
“It’s still in development,” spokeswoman Elizabeth Long said Thursday. “We’re still looking at funding options.”
Optivus would have to reapply for more than $8 million state and local incentives committed before the company placed the project on hold last year, officials said.
The project qualified for $8.6 million in incentives, including about $6.7 million in state loans, a $587,000 state job creation tax credit, a $1 million state roadwork development grant and a $300,000 county Economic Development/Government Equity grant.
The center was expected to employ 78 workers at an average hourly wage of $35, with benefits. In July, the Ohio Department of Development indicated Optivus put the project on hold.
“The project’s no longer active,” Laura Jones, communications director for JobsOhio, said Thursday. “There are no discussions going on.”
Optivus did not respond to requests for comment.
The proposed site is part of about 40 acres just southwest of the interchange, where a retention pond already is located.
On Wednesday, the trustees discussed the extension during a work session and adjourned back into a regular meeting to approve a resolution extending the agreement through June 30, 2013.
Hanahan said he expected the company to present its business plan and proof of the required financing in coming months. Other than the time extension, Hanahan said the company sought no other changes in terms.
“They’ve indicated they’re very close,” he said.