XENIA — Downtown apartments are coming to Xenia.
The building at 10 W. Main St. was recently sold and new owner Reda Habeeb Aldahan plans to renovate the upper floors and turn them into residential units.
Exactly how many units is unknown, according to Xenia Development Director Steve Brodsky, but any new residential offerings will be a boon to the city as it continues to revitalize downtown.
“It fits in very well,” he said. “We’ve had several different studies done dating back as many as 10 years, all which points to bringing residential downtown as a means to help create activity in in the downtown area. We look at what’s going on for example in Dayton, where there’s been an explosion in housing in downtown Dayton.”
The time frame is to be determined. According to James Crawford, the Realtor who represents the new owner, initial sketches have been completed and testing of the building’s interior has started. But there’s a lot more work to be done.
Crawford said it will be at least a year before the second floor development is completed. That concept will then be replicated for the third floor, he added.
The building is in the downtown historic district so it is eligible for state and federal tax credits.
“It takes time to get those as well,” Brodsky said. “It’s not going to be short term.”
It will be well worth the wait as the new living space could spawn even more activity — retail and residential.
“If that is successful and we look at some of the other buildings where we can do two and three units, then you start establishing the market and it becomes attractive,” Brodsky said.
