They walked up seven flights of stairs, and once they caught their breath, were impressed by the roof-top view of downtown Middletown.
Coon said if the project gets the support of City Council and city staff and secures the necessary tax credits, the project could be completed by the end of 2023 at an estimated cost of $6 million.
But first, he told council members, an additional stairwell must be built.
“We are going to get there,” he said. “We must fight through those barriers. This building is screaming to say, ‘just get me done.’”
Efforts to renovate the 30,000-square-foot building began eight years ago, but progress has been slowed by numerous obstacles, including extensive damage caused by an interior water leak during freezing winter temperatures, Coon said. Most recently, the project was delayed due to COVID-19 and now the cost of building materials has jumped 20%.
In 2019, the estimated cost of the project was $3.5 million. That same year, the project was expected to be completed by the spring of 2020.
Then in 2020, Coon, who has redeveloped building throughout the state and is involved with the Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill project in Hamilton, said he hoped to complete the Goetz Tower project by Christmas 2021.
City officials have said they’d like for the seven-floor, 92-year-old Goetz Tower to offer first-floor commercial space and 16 market-rate apartments. Coon said Goetz Tower has the ability to transform downtown and lead to future development.
He called the development of the property “a model of what can be done in the city. Right now you don’t have a lot to brag about. We are going to give you a reason to come here. Sometimes you can’t just tell somebody, you have to show them. It can be the catalyst that brings everything else back to life.”
Some people have said the city would be better off demolishing its historic buildings and replacing them with new properties.
Coon is against that idea.
“These all tell a story,” he said of the city’s historic properties. “There is nothing like it in the whole city.”
Monica Nenni, Middletown’s vice mayor, has toured the Goetz Tower twice in the last several weeks, she said.
She’s “very excited, encouraged” that developers have interest in downtown Middletown properties. She once lived in Over-the-Rhine in downtown Cincinnati and sees the same potential for Middletown.
“I see people living downtown and being part of a neighborhood and a community and that’s a real positive vibe,” said Nenni, co-owner of two Middletown businesses.
Nenni said City Council will take the proper steps to assure the project moves forward.
“It has to,” she said.
First-year council member Rodney Muterspaw agreed. He said the project “brings vibrancy downtown and we need that.”
Once completed, Goetz Tower will be “phenomenal,” Muterspaw said. “This is going to happen.”
Council member Zack Ferrell, like Muterspaw, a Realtor, said those who live in the Goetz Tower will have the ability to work, live and play within walking distance downtown.
He was most impressed by the building’s architecture and the way it was constructed.
“One of a kind feeling” is how he described being in the tower. “That’s something you felt 100 years ago.”
Ferrell said the property can demonstrate the city embraces its history and looks forward to the future.
“It’s time to have pride in our city,” he said. “Under this leadership, we are going to build Middletown to be a city where young professionals, growing families and thriving, engaged citizens want to flock.”
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See a gallery of images from Goetz Tower. journal-news.com
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