WARREN, Ohio – Contracts likely will be let later this year on the public works projects associated with the initial phase of the redevelopment of the Peninsula property near downtown, the project’s developer said.
Larry Dillin, CEO of Dillin Corp., Springboro, shared additional details Friday morning about the project that Warren officials announced in a news release the day before.
He said the project will require $160 million to $180 million in private investment, matched by public investment of roughly 10% to support the project. His company has developed a business plan that incorporates both the beginnings of a public finance model to help fund the needed public investments but also private-side investment.
“We’ve already done a financial analysis of the entire master plan area, building by building, that then serves as a roadmap for us in decision-making going forward,” he said.
Dillin said he had been approached about 18 years ago by the president of Hiram College at the time, Thomas Chema, about looking at the Peninsula property. He came to Warren and did “a little bit of secret shopping” as he normally does when scoping out a potential project. What he found from driving around town, speaking with people here and looking at the local real estate market discouraged him at the time.
“I saw a lot of disinvestment and very little, if any, new investment,” he recalled.
He subsequently was contacted by Chema, who was now running a consulting business that was working with Warren, and returned to the city three years later for another secret shopping trip.
This time around, what he heard from elected officials, business leaders and other community leaders and what he saw in terms of organic growth of retail shops and restaurants in the central business district and Downtown Development Group’s efforts to renovate downtown buildings for housing and to renovate and reopen the Robins Theatre left him with greater confidence.
“Then I learned more about the job creation opportunities that were coming with Altium, Foxconn and other companies,” he continued. “And you put all that together. And I said to myself, ‘Now this community is ready for something.’ In fact, it really needs something to jump-start it and change the way people think about Warren, and not just outside of Warren, but Warren residents and how they feel about themselves and their community.”
Warren is “a completely different city” from what it was 12 or 13 years ago, said Ken Haidaris, owner of the Sunrise Inn, downtown. Haidaris also is president of Sunrise Entertainment, which books acts for the Robins Theatre and the River Rock at the Amp series at the Warren Community Amphitheatre.
“It’s a very dynamic and electric downtown compared to what it used to be,” he continued. This weekend, the Robins will bring more than 2,000 people downtown, he said.
The first step of the project will be improvements to public utilities and a road diet for a section of West Market Street, which will represent “the first dirt to turn,” he said. He said he hopes the design work will be completed by the end of the third quarter or early fourth quarter of 2025 so the work can be bid.
“I don’t know if we actually break ground before the end of the year. I know that we’ll be robustly in it in 2026, and that project will probably wrap up midyear 2026,” he said. “At that point, we should be actively engaged in the vertical components of that first phase.”
Those first-phase elements he mentioned will include a planned hotel, public parking structure, a collection of retail and restaurant food hall and possibly additional commercial space, he said. He met Thursday with one of the national flag hotels that is being considered and spoke Friday with an architect for the food hall. Townhomes also might be part of the first phase, as his company is not as far along on proposed market-rate apartments as had been expected.
“At the same time, we’re working on the execution of the public design. We also are engaged in negotiations on the private side currently for that first phase project,” he said. That first-phase project is a critical mass component. We can’t do this kind of a project one building at a time. We have to do it one section at a time.”
He estimated that the first phase probably will take three to five years, though he later acknowledged four to five probably was more likely.
In addition, having local private investment is “critical” to the project, he emphasized.
“We have folks that have invested with us elsewhere, but they need to know the people in the community believe in it as well,” he said. “So there will be both local and non-local equity sources coming to the table.”
Melissa Phillips, executive director of Warren Redevelopment and Planning Corp., described the project as “an excellent example for the community to see that organizations are doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work for them, and have been for many years.” WRAP purchased much of the Peninsula land on the city’s behalf when Martin Chevrolet closed there, and the Trumbull County Land Bank owns the rest of the vacant parcels.
“This positions the project for Mr. Dillin to work with our area’s larger economic development agencies to bring a new vision of Warren to life,” Phillips said. “Collaboration is key for us to build a brighter future for our residents.”
Haidaris and Adam Keck, who operates Modern Methods Brewing Co. and the adjacent Darlene Lounge in David Grohl Alley, both were optimistic about what the project means for downtown.
“It can only benefit us,” Haidaris said. It looks like the proposed housing will attract a younger demographic, which will have disposable income and want to go out.
“It’s such a win-win,” he added.
“It’s exciting,” Keck said. “If you had told me when we first moved here that we would need more market rate apartments and housing in downtown Warren, I would have said you’re crazy.”
Keck said he’s confident that the developer has done the analysis showing there’s a market, but anecdotally he’s aware that many people want to live downtown, but the housing doesn’t exist now.
“Certainly, more foot traffic down here, more people, more density would be amazing,” he said.
Pictured at top: This photo taken with a drone shows part of the Peninsula area in Warren.