“Join us for a virtual discussion on the redevelopment of the South Limestone Street corridor,” a post on the city’s Facebook page says. “Join us as we collect public input on development opportunities along the South Limestone corridor.”
The meeting comes after the city agreed in early July to begin working with Dillin LLC to design a plan for the Kroger building at 1822 S. Limestone St. and possibly the whole south side.
Dillin is a longtime property developer. He took over the development of the Austin Landing project in Miamisburg in 2016 until it’s sale in late 2019. He was also behind the Levis Commons development in the Toledo region.
In Dillin’s presentation to the city in July, he laid out a plan for the southside which he called, “Springfield 4 Corners.” The plan featured a rendering of the Kroger building redesigned as a “food mart,” complete with a garden and spaces in the front of the building for food trucks to park as well as stone signage on the corner of Limestone reading, “Historic South Springfield.”
“Our goal is to create environments that strengthen a community,” Dillin said at the time. “So when we look at a challenge like that Kroger site, it doesn’t work for us to just look at the Kroger building we need to look at the area around it and how we can improve it.”
After the presentation, Tom Franzen, director of economic development for the city, cautioned that the city had a long way to go before finalizing any of Dillin’s plans. Franzen said the city planned to hold a series of forums to allow for public input on what the community would like to see at the former Kroger site, which closed in March and led to the southside being labeled a food desert.
A link to the virtual meeting can be found the city’s website and Facebook page. Those interested in submitting questions ahead of time can do so by emailing Logan Cobbs at lcobbs@springfieldohio.gov.
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