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Developer outlines plans for $300M retail project

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By Denise Wilson, Staff Writer 10:06 PM Tuesday, January 17, 2012

WEST CHESTER TWP. - When a $300 million retail development set to open in 2014 at the Liberty Way Interchange is complete, it will greatly improve not only the surrounding communities, but Southwest Ohio, according to its developer.

“We improve the quality of life,” said Yaromir Steiner, founder and chief executive officer of Columbus-based Steiner + Associates. “The project becomes the heart and soul of the community by improving the desirability of surrounding areas and the ability to attract and retain businesses.”

Yaromir presented a project overview of the Liberty Town Square planned for Liberty Twp. to more than 60 local business owners, residents, state representatives and Liberty and West Chester twps. officials Tuesday night at the Ronald Reagan Lodge in Voice of America Park.

Yaromir said he plans to begin construction on the retail development in about a year. The project will include departments stores, movie theaters, public space and gathering areas, office space and housing. It is expected to include 3,000 construction jobs and about 4,500 permanent jobs.

The development will be modeled after The Greene near Dayton and Steiner’s Easton Town Center in Columbus. The first phase of the open-air complex is planned to include 1 million square feet, according to Steiner.

Pat Hiltman, a Liberty Twp. trustee, said the development that the township has been working on with Steiner for more than five years is a “game changer.”

“The most unique thing about this is we’ve broken barriers down,” Hiltman said. “We’ve got a ton of politicians in here — some of us are career politicians and some of us aren’t, but we’ve broken the barriers down and we’re no longer West Chester and Liberty Twp. This is Butler County. In reality, this is southwest, Ohio. This thing is a major game changer.”

“When this came to us, we recognized that and that became part of our vision in Liberty Twp.,” he said. “Hence the name Liberty Way. Liberty Interchange. We tried to create an identity that makes it easier for project like this to take off and be identified.”

State Rep. Courtney Combs said the county is going to be “the destination.”

“This is not another shopping center,” he said. “This a destination and this is a totally new concept. Hopefully, everyone in this room will get behind this project and encourage the powers to be to make sure that this happens in Butler County.”

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