New luxury housing option expands Hamilton’s downtown development

Hamilton’s Marcum Apartments to break ground Monday.

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Long before the city dreamed of having Marcum Park along the Great Miami River, Hamilton leaders hoped to add luxury housing to its downtown area.

The hope for upscale downtown housing will begin to take form at noon Monday, when state and local officials join developers from Blue Ash-based CMC Properties to break ground on a new apartment and retail complex just east of the Courtyard by Marriott and south of the expansive new Marcum Park.

“This is really a balanced strategy for economic development,” said Dan Bates, president and CEO of the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, who added that Hamilton is working to have the best of two worlds — “preserving the old and also going after the new.”

A project like this “hasn’t been done in Hamilton for a long time,” he said.

“It expands the economic development into a broader section of Hamilton,” beyond the High and Main corridor, Bates said, noting the Marriott just underwent a renovation and the RiversEdge concert venue is about to launch another summer of outdoor concerts.

“These luxury apartment homes are across the street from Marcum Park, next to the YMCA, overlooking the Great Miami River, and one block from historic High and Main Streets,” notes the developer’s website that touts the luxury units.

“It’s a big project for the city,” said Bates, who noted, “This empty lot is going to become luxury apartments.”

The groundbreaking will happen at the site, which will have the address of 50 Riverfront Plaza.

Developers hope to move in residents a year from now.

In August, City Manager Joshua Smith told the Journal-News that the city had been working for more than a decade to create this type of development.

”… In the mid-2000’s, Towne Properties had the property under contract. When the financial crisis of 2008 hit, they went away,” Smith previously said.

It isn’t the only apartment development coming to Hamilton. City officials late last year announced plans for a facility of more than 200 apartments coming to the area of Miami University and Vora Technology Park, with its groundbreaking either later this year or in 2018.

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