- A restaurant called Gracie's, which owner Ami Vitori describes as a high-quality independent eatery that will serve "refined rustic" food — comfort food with higher-level ingredients, presented beautifully — that can draw diners from places like Mason, Miamisburg and Springboro. "We're really trying to elevate the level of dining to kick things up a notch up around here and become a great independent restaurant for the area," she said. It should open early next year.
- ID Training Academy already is making use of TV Middletown's former 7,000 feet of studio space, which Vitori hopes can attract some of the filmmakers gravitating to the region, and which is working with students at Miami University Middletown's English Language Center, teaching international students about video storytelling. "We've been trying to court production companies and movies that are coming to the area because we've got a great setup, because of the parking lots in the back (that can accommodate filmmakers' trailers)," Vitori said. "It's such a wonderful, productive space, and I'm so glad I bought it and kept it, as opposed to someone else, who might have ripped it out and made it offices."
- A gym called Haven Joy + Wellness, which will provide yoga and physical fitness for adults, with a preschool-like child care center that can have fun with the kids while the parents take a break, or enjoy the restaurant in peace. There will be two sides — a wellness studio with areas for yoga, massage, acupuncture and cupping; plus a 1,000-square-foot children's play place similar to an indoor preschool overseen by a teacher/director.
- MC Hair Salon, which will open in coming weeks. The 890-square-foot storefront will have spaces for five stylists, one of whom will be Mary Catherine Venturella, a Middletown native and resident.
- The only area not being created for tenants is the other office space, with a 3,000-square-foot suite of eight finished offices, two bathrooms and a kitchen area.
City Manager Doug Adkins said he did not know how much money the 100 percent property-tax abatements over 12 years would save Torchlight Pass.
“We won’t have that (figure) until the property is reappraised by the (county) auditor’s office after completion,” Adkins said via email.
According to city documents, the company spent $145,000 acquiring the building at 1131 Central Ave. It plans to spend $150,000 on additions and new construction, with $165,000 in improvements to the existing building. Another $60,000 will be spent on machinery and equipment, with another $60,000 for furniture and fixtures, plus $25,000 for inventory, for a total project investment of $605,000, the documents state.
Torchlight Pass and the city estimate the project, when it is up to full employment, will create $815,000 in new payroll plus $65,000 of temporary construction payroll.
“Middletown will gain approximately $14,000 in additional income tax because of this project,” Assistant Economic Development Director Alexis Fitzsimmons wrote in a Sept. 7 report. Of that, the city will have to pay Middletown city schools 25 percent “of what they would have received from property taxes if this agreement was not in place” under an agreement approved in December, Fitzsimmons added.
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