The city finalized the $10 million purchase of the four-parcel, 32-acre plus mall in July to guide what goes on the land that is a gateway to Middletown in the middle of surging development along Interstate 75.
No specific plan for the land or the existing building has been announced in the past three months since the purchase, but Acting Middletown City Manager Nathan Cahall said council is trying to decide how best to move forward with the property.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Mayor Elizabeth Slamka said council and the staff wanted to hear from “residents and stakeholders” as they work on a plan for the site.
“We are asking what would you like to see there. And it can be anything. It can be outside the box, whatever you would like,” Slamka said.
She noted one of the questions on the survey as what takes people out of Middletown and what they leave the city to do.
Credit: MIDDLETOWN JOURNAL
Credit: MIDDLETOWN JOURNAL
“It helps us understand what our residents and stakeholders would like to see there and what would make a difference in their lives,” Slamka said. “I think it is just a great way to begin this question as a city of what do we want to be there. It is a very important gateway into the city.”
To take the survey go to: https://www.cityofmiddletown.org/forms.aspx?fid=65
Those who take the survey can also enter to win a drawing for a $25 gift card. The survey will close Dec. 13.
The survey announcement Friday via social media garnered more than 300 responses even before the survey went live
Middletown made an offer to purchase Towne Mall last year with the intent of placing Renaissance Pointe at the location, but withdrew the offer. Renaissance Pointe is a nearly 51-acre mixed-use $200 million development at Ohio 122 and Union Road that will include an event center, retail and offices, hotels, restaurants, and residential living.
Ground breaking for that project was in the summer.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Towne Mall, like many others across the nation, has suffered in recent years with loss of tenants and the shift in shopping trends. It now includes one large tenant, Planet Fitness.
When the city’s Towne Mall purchase was announced, two council members, one of which has left office, said they envisioned the project as a teardown of the mall, possibly using state brownfield remediation grant money to have the land shovel-ready for a developer.
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