Over the past few months, new townhomes have been rising near downtown Dayton. But there are several factors that make this project particularly noteworthy.
One is the area where the new buildings are being constructed. On West Third Street in the Wright-Dunbar neighborhood, the 26 townhome project by Simms Development is an important investment for an area that suffered through decades of disinvestment and neglect.
The business owner next door to the development, Amos Jeffries of State Farm Insurance, told News Center 7 how “seeing the city invest in the area, where many people felt like race issues slowed down both private and public investment, restores some faith for people living and working there.”
“They did feel like they were being neglected and had a lot of doubts because they saw things happening in other communities,” he said. “Now they finally see it going on here.”
City Commissioner Matt Joseph said that “It’s been a rough 50, 55 years for this part of town. New businesses are starting. An essential piece to have market rate housing going in. Thank you to people still willing to take a chance in building this awesome neighborhood.”
Those newer businesses include the W. Social Tap and Table food hall, Morgan’s restaurant, the Wright Dunbar Cigar Shoppe and Lounge, and several more in the works, which join a variety of existing neighborhood service businesses including Jeffries’s State Farm office, Chase Bank and Wright-Patt Credit Union, Zik’s Pharmacy, and a PriMed Physicians family practice.
Another notable factor about the residential development is the impressive design of the 3-story brick townhome buildings, which fit in seamlessly with their 19th century neighbors.
Because the site is located is in a historic district, the developer needed a major certificate of appropriateness from the Landmarks Commission, Dayton’s historic zoning board. Members of the commission praised the project but pushed back on the original look of the first-floor windows and front doors, and Simms agreed to an amended application which was approved in November 2022.
In an era where many decry the generic and cheap-looking character of many new housing developments, both in Dayton and nationwide, this project helps demonstrate that more context-sensitive, place-based design is still possible and economically feasible.
The buildings also pay homage to the history of the site, which includes includes the location where the Gem City Ice Cream Building stood until it was demolished in 2022.
An important industrial building in its own right, it was also on the same spot as the Wright Brothers’ first bike shop (although there was often confusion as to whether any of the building Wilbur and Orville occupied remained; watch my Wright Brothers video for more on that).
The first townhouse building was built to pay homage to the demolished structure, and features Gem City Ice Cream Co signs on the facade.
The two buildings that will front Third Street “are ‘sister buildings’ that are very similar but not exactly the same (with) different brick colors and parapets.” There will also be “awnings and a metal arch between the structures above a walkway.”
The development will include 4 total buildings and 26 townhomes, each about 1,300 square feet with two bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. They also include a rear loaded attached 2-car garage. The development is known as the Townes at Wright Dunbar and was designed by Springhouse Architects.
The model home opened on May 31 and will be open regular hours each week as the project continues. Several units are already sold with the first residents moving in at the end of June.
Take a look at the construction progress of the first building below, including a photo from the 2022 demolition.
And as a plus to this development, it is right across the street (literally) from the Dayton Aviation Heritage Nation Historic Park. The National Park that always seems to get neglected in any local news.
And you know what started all the Wright Dunbar re-investment? It was Aviation Trail, Inc. which also is left out of the “news” mix.
I wonder why that is.
Hi Randy, thanks for the comment. You’re certainly right about the NHP as a major anchor of the neighborhood and the reason for the initial reinvestment push. I can’t speak to other news coverage but in this piece I was mainly trying to highlight the new small businesses, restaurants, etc. that are really starting to pick up.
I’m a huge fan of the park and actually volunteered at the WDIC for a few years. I have written quite a bit about it in my other articles about the neighborhood https://daytonvistas.com/hoover-block-wright-brothers-print-shop/
https://daytonvistas.com/aviation-museum-in-wright-dunbar/
but you’re right that it would have been worth at least a quick mention here too. I know all NHP sites are going through some challenging times now as well. I’ll make sure to highlight it again when I next write about the neighborhood. I am planning to write about some of the other commercial buildings closer to Broadway that are being redeveloped.