The total investment for the hotel and restaurant is estimated to be $28.8 million, and would create 35 full-time and 9 part-time jobs, according to the city.
On Monday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced more than $55 million in support for brownfield remediation and building demolition projects through the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program and Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program, respectively. This site in downtown Hamilton had been a former industrial site, but used as a parking lot since the 1960s. The project has included soil and groundwater remediation, vapor mitigation and environmental covenants. The site is also adjacent to an active rail line.
Testing started in 2023, and the application for the remediation grant was submitted in December 2023, said Lauren Nelson, planning director for the city of Hamilton. They wanted to start the project before any potential grant award because “the work needed to be done either way. We didn’t want to hold things up waiting on the state’s announcement.”
Nelson said testing started earlier this year and it’s expected to continue into 2025. The hotel project was announced in September 2023.
The city of Hamilton and Hamilton Hospitality Inc. entered into a development agreement this past August, where the city would get the 3-acre site remediated and sell the property for $50,000. Once the site’s been given clearance, construction can begin, city officials said it should take about 18 months to complete.
This project would be the fifth hotel property in Hamilton. Before the Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill opened in 2022, Hamilton was a one-hotel town. The Well House Hotel is expected to come online in December, and the Municipal Hotel at the former city building is expected to start construction in 2025.
A sixth hotel is planned at the Crawford Hoying site (the former Cohen Recycling site) by the end of 2026, according to a development agreement with the city of Hamilton.
Once construction begins, it would take about 18 months to complete, Gunderson said, but when that begins is not just dependent upon City Council approving the sale and development agreement. Though the site has been a parking lot for about 60 years, it did have some industrial uses prior. The city has contracted a company for soil testing, and this environmental work will show areas that need remediation before it’s transferred to the buyer.
Interim Butler County Land Reutilization Director David Fehr said getting a $1 million grant “does go a long way as far as making an economically viable project.”
“When we have these urban sites, they have issues that greenfield sites don’t, such as prior contamination,” he said, adding it also takes away a lot of risks from the developer.
Monday’s announcement marks the seventh round of funding this biennium for both the Brownfield Remediation Program and Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program. The two programs are part of Gov. Mike DeWine’s Ohio BUILDS Initiative focusing on supporting targeted solutions that impact quality of life, such as water infrastructure improvements, broadband expansion, brownfield redevelopment, and the demolition of blighted buildings.
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