New downtown project to have retail, restaurant space by Dragons stadium

The mixed-use building — called “Madison on First” — will include 11,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and 3,900 square feet of patio/plaza space, developer Crawford Hoying said in a release.

Madison on First will be a short walk from RiverScape MetroPark and across from the Day Air Ballpark, home of the Dayton Dragons, in a former Mendelson’s Liquadation building, Crawford Hoying noted.

Brackett Builders has had a role in the development of the Water Street Apartments, as well as other projects across Ohio. It also was involved in the building of the Aileron business education campus outside Tipp City and Fort Hamilton Hospital in Hamilton.

“Over the past few years while working on construction projects in the area, we’ve really come to love downtown Dayton,” Tom Hoying, president of Brackett Builders, said in the announcement. “When we decided to expand our corporate office, we quickly determined that there was no better place than Water Street for our new headquarters.”

The news comes less than two weeks after Crawford Hoying, in partnership with Woodard Development, said it planned to knock down the vacant Wright State University Kettering Center at 140 E. Monument Ave. to make way for a new, six-story apartment building called The Monument.

Tom and Bob Hoying, a Crawford Hoying principal, are brothers and former Ohio State University football players.

On the First Street project, Brackett will restore much of the original structure of the 120-year-old building which was home to City Forge & Iron Works, once owned by Andrew Plocher. Crawford Hoying said work will include soda and walnut blasting of the original brick and wood on the building to restore both to previous conditions.

New windows and lighting are planned, and some of the existing mechanical gears on site will be preserved in the project, on which M+A Architects will serve as architect.

All of these companies have been busy in Dayton. Brackett, with developers Crawford Hoying and Woodard Development, recently opened Centerfield Flats, renovated and restored Delco Lofts and unveiled plans to build AC Hotel, all in downtown Dayton.

Additional projects include the first new hotel built in downtown Dayton in decades, the Fairfield Inn & Suites, the 312 Patterson Office Building as well as “The Delco” — the upcoming redevelopment and rebranding of the huge 550,000-square-foot Mendelson Liquidation building.

“Brackett serves as the premier builder on all of our development projects, and we couldn’t be prouder that they’ll soon call Water Street District home,” said Brent Crawford, principal at Crawford Hoying and developer of Madison on First and Water Street District.

Construction is underway now on Madison and First, with an estimated spring 2021 completion for the office portion of the project. Additional tenants within the development will be announced shortly.