“I am extremely excited,” Councilman Paul Lolli said.
“From what I did see of it, wow. We’ve hit a grand slam by getting Midland Atlantic,” he said.
Midland Atlantic Properties has worked on multiple area developments, including Voice of America Centre, Waterstone Center, Eastgate Plaza, Troy Towne Center and Shoppes at Northwoods.
Through the agreement, Midland has until February 2026 to complete due diligence, market feasibilities and identify possible retail partners to decide whether to move forward with its proposal under the terms and conditions contained in the agreement.
“Whatever it is, it’s got to complement the Renaissance Pointe project. I hope to see some things that are entertainment…I want to see stuff where families can take kids,” he said. “A residential part of it will be important.”
Lolli said the Towne Mall redevelopment, in addition to the $200 million Renaissance Pointe project and possible hockey arena, will “make the Middletown exit different from all the other exits between Cincinnati and Dayton.”
The site will stay under the control of the city during this due-diligence time, according to Jacob Schulte, program manager for the community and economic development department.
At the end of the pre-development period, Midland will come to the city with its findings, and based on those, may enter into a development agreement with the city.
“That’s where we get into the nuances of what those acquisition prices might be, any additional entitlements that they would need to work through for the city to see that through and then basically following right behind that would be the purchase and sale agreement,” he said.
Schulte said certain specs and plans may be available to the public in winter 2025.
“We’re still on the high-level conceptual stage, they didn’t have a whole lot more...breadth to show, but as this pre-development agreement goes through and proceeds, (we’ll) hopefully have a lot more conceptual renderings to get the community and the region excited for how this can complement what we’re doing on the East End,” Schulte said.
If the development stalls or the developer does not complete specified guidelines, there are provisions in place to protect the “city’s interests,” according to the staff report.
Entering into the agreement did not require city funding, according to the staff report.
“The project will further enhance our economic vibrancy within the community, grow our retail footprint, and complement our growing landscape on the City’s East End,” the staff report stated.
Other recent Towne Mall site developments include a $2.5 million boost from the Ohio Department of Development in June for cleanup and remediation.
The grant was requested by the Warren County Port Authority on behalf of the city of Middletown.
“Ideally, with this pre-development agreement...we would become engaged with Midland Atlantic, we would work in tandem with them to go through that scope of work on the demolition (and) on the remediation,” Schulte said. “We want to ultimately work through those demolition funds to make sure that demolition work and remediation aligns with (Midland’s) ultimate goal for the property.”
The project will abate asbestos-containing materials and demolish multiple unsafe structures, according to ODOD.
Middletown hosted a Towne Mall liquidation auction in April, featuring items that were left in stores when the city bought the 380,000-square-foot site in July 2024 for $10 million.
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