The land was originally slated to be the site of a high-end apartment development that would have built single-story apartment homes. The monthly rent for those units was expected to be in the range of $1,500 to $1,900.
The Ohio-based builder Redwood, that specializes in single-story townhouses, selected Springfield as the site for one of its developments in 2020. The key demographic for the project would have been young professionals or older residents, classified as “empty nesters.”
However, the project was cancelled this year, Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck recently confirmed. The land for the project is still owned by Kingsgate Commons and will go back to the market for future development.
Tom Loftis, a part of Kingsgate Commons, said that his understanding is that Redwood cancelled the project due to their financing falling through. Loftis said that Redwood had a clause in its contract stating that they could pull out of the project due to financing issues.
However, Loftis said that he did not have more details regarding Redwood’s financing situation. He had initially thought that construction for the project would move forward before Redwood made the decision to pull out of the project.
Loftis said that Redwood has also cancelled several other projects it was working on elsewhere. Redwood had initially stated in 2020 that their apartment project in Springfield would constitute a $13 million to $14 million investment for them.
Gregory Thurman, with Redwood, declined to comment regarding why the Springfield project was cancelled. The builder has a number of developments in the Dayton area, including in cities such as Huber Heights and Fairborn.
Thurman previously told this news organization that it had selected Springfield as a site for development due to its location within the county and the belief that the project would be successful in the area.
“We have a very desirable growth pattern and when you have strong county seats, which Springfield definitely falls into the category of a strong county seat in Ohio, we have success,” he stated.
The news of the cancellation comes at a time when Springfield is seeing townhomes and apartment units being constructed in the downtown as well as three housing developments either being constructed or slated to come to the eastside of the city.
Loftis said that his group still plans to construct roadway access to the property on Middle Urbana Road and is continuing to look to attract future development on that land.
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