West Chester looking to add another building to Trade Center property

Located on about 100 acres on the corner of Ohio 747 and Union Centre Boulevard in West Chester Twp., the $75 million West Chester Trade Center already includes four buildings.

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Tenants already at the site within four existing buildings include Hammacher Schlemmer, MSI, Pipeline Packaging, Amarr, Atlas, Gexpro, Suburban Selection Showplace, TSC Apparel, Aeroflex, Fameccanica and GE’s 3-D printing division.

“That’s a huge win,” said Matthew Gaston, development manager for NorthPoint Development. “That’s a very high-tech, amazing tenant for an industrial property.”

The 1.2 million-square-foot first phase is 68 percent leased, and has created 500 new jobs for the township, but “there’s still plenty of interest in the remaining space in this first phase, according to NorthPoint. The 641,568-square-foot second phase is 23 percent leased and has created 85 jobs so far.

When the third and final phase of the project is complete it will be the largest Butler County Port Authority project in the port’s 16-year history and one of its biggest job creators. The fifth building constructed on the site is almost fully leased and set to include gene-therapy company Expression Therapeutics and Image Solutions with room for another tenant, Gaston said.

“The West Chester Trade Center is an outstanding project for the region and is quickly becoming a hub for amazing innovation,” township Administrator Larry Burks told the Journal-News on Friday. “We can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future of this development.”

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Township trustees voted earlier this week to hold a second public hearing July 28 after NorthPoint Development requested a continuance due to arranging the zoning and its financing, township officials said.

West Chester Trade Center is the product of a collaboration between county officials, the Butler County Port Authority and West Chester Twp. Board of Trustees. It’s being constructed within West Chester’s Ohio 747 TIF (Tax Increment Financing) District, and West Chester partnered with Missouri-based NorthPoint Development to make public infrastructure improvements to support the project.

West Chester is investing $5.1 million in reimbursement to the developer to fund public infrastructure on the site. That includes pedestrian pathway connecting with nearby residential paths.