Huber Heights preps for $22M project

Fieldhouse/hotel prepares to break ground in April.

Construction is planned to start in April on a fieldhouse and hotel complex,

Huber Heights - GoodSports Enterprises has started planning events and accepting job applications as the company prepares to break ground on its $22 million fieldhouse/ hotel in Huber Heights.

Company officials said they hope to have events scheduled for as early as January, while the interview process for key positions could begin as soon as late spring.

GoodSports plans to start construction in April, with a 10-month build-out for the fieldhouse and 12 months for the hotel, said David Lindberg, vice president of marketing.

The GoodSports Village will be built along the south side of Executive Boulevard, west of Meijer near the Interstate 70 and Ohio 201 interchange. The city’s $18 million music center will be at the west end of the property, with the fieldhouse/ hotel between it and Meijer.

“This facility is why we’re doing the music center,” Huber Heights assistant city manager Scott Falkowski said. “It’s creating jobs. It’s creating an economic impact. It’s creating traffic in that area.”

Huber Heights City Council is expected to vote Monday night on an amendment to the GoodSports development agreement, extending deadlines by two months to allow more time for the architectural work and Montgomery County permitting process.

The land will be turned back over to the city if construction doesn’t start by June 1, 2014, or if the fieldhouse/hotel is not open by June 1, 2015. The original dates were April 1, 2014, and April 1, 2015, respectively.

The closing of the land transfer to GoodSports — a little more than six acres — is expected to be finalized in the next two weeks, Falkowski said.

Lindberg said GoodSports was expected to submit its foundation permits to the county last week, and the building permits will be submitted later this month.

“We’re on track with everything,” Lindberg said. “We’re making sure all our I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed.”

GoodSports representatives visited Dayton last month to meet with Huber Heights officials, Dayton/Montgomery County Convention & Visitors Bureau leaders, and local sports, health and marketing groups.

Dave Marcinko, GoodSports vice president of sports operations, said the company’s goal is to host events starting January 2015. Events could include basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, wrestling and cheerleading.

“We wanted to align ourselves with the community and try to establish relationships,” Marcinko said. “We want to get our operation up and running from day one.”

Jacquelyn Powell, president and CEO of the Dayton/Montgomery County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said her agency invited GoodSports to meet with local organizations.

Powell said the county primarily uses the Dayton Convention Center and Trent Arena in Kettering for court space. Having the GoodSports facility will allow existing events to expand and entice new events to the area, she said.

“We think it will have a positive impact on our community,” Powell said.

The fieldhouse and hotel will be stand-alone buildings. A courtyard area will be created between the fieldhouse and hotel.

The fieldhouse will feature 85,000 square feet, including 50,000 square feet of hardwood courts (six basketball or 12 volleyball) and an 8,000square-foot fitness center. The five-story hotel will have 124 rooms. Other onsite amenities will include a restaurant, bar, pool, meeting room, sports therapy and virtual golf.

Huber Heights and GoodSports have said 412 total jobs — 112 permanent and 300 temporary construction — will be created by the GoodSports complex.

The company has posted six job openings on its website: general manager (fieldhouse); assistant general manager (fieldhouse); executive director of physical therapy; director of physical therapy; director of basketball; and director of volleyball.

Salaries will range from $35,000 to $50,000-plus a year, depending on experience, and the company prefers to hire locally, Marcinko said.

The city projects the fieldhouse/hotel annually will generate $100,000 in hotel tax (3 percent tax, 60 percent occupancy rate), $454,741 in property tax and $1.9 million in county sales tax. Over a 30-year period, approximately $7.2 million will be generated in tax increment financing money.

Construction of the 4,500-seat covered music center is expected to be completed by late summer this year.