Industrial Realty Group’s prior successes in redeveloping for new commercial uses — the former McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento, Calif., and a former B.F. Goodrich Co. rubber plant in Akron — gave Dayton confidence to sign the letter of intent, said Iftikhar Ahmad, Dayton’s director of aviation.
There is no guarantee Industrial Realty Group can negotiate a deal with UPS, which closed the building in 2006, eliminating 1,210 jobs.
Even if a deal is negotiated, Dayton must obtain approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to allow mixed uses of the building, rather than the current 100 percent aviation-related use.
The number of jobs that could result won’t be known until all agreements and approvals are reached and tenants are secured, Ahmad said.
Industrial Realty Group owns former Delphi Corp. property in Dayton and has a tenant, Medwork Occupational Health Care LLC, operating in former Delphi space along Interstate 75 at Dayton’s southern edge.
The city-owned Dayton International Airport owns the land under the UPS building, so UPS pays $645,000 a year in a ground lease. After Jan. 1, 2020, ownership of the building will revert back to Dayton.
In the March 12 letter of intent, Industrial Realty Group committed to developing plans to put multiple tenants into the 1.2 million-square-foot building and negotiating with UPS for the right to take over the ground lease.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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