MIDDLETOWN, OHIO — Main Street Community Capital has unveiled plans for Hollywoodland, a 50-acre mixed-use development along the Great Miami River in Middletown. The city, which boasted a population of about 50,000 residents as of the 2020 census, is located 25 miles southwest of Dayton and 30 miles northeast of Cincinnati. Development costs for the project are estimated at $1.3 billion.
The Middletown City Council met for over six hours this week to discuss the project with the public. The official vote on approving or denying the development is scheduled for Oct. 21. If approved, Hollywoodland would be a public-private partnership between the city and Main Street Community Capital.
If approved, the development would include:
- A luxury hotel with an attached, publicly owned convention center, rooftop bar and themed restaurants;
- a family-oriented hotel with a water park;
- the adaptive redevelopment of an existing First National Bank building into a boutique hotel;
- an indoor entertainment and concert venue;
- an indoor amusement park;
- 3,000 deck-based parking spaces;
- luxury, mid-rise multifamily units and condominiums;
- a pre- and post-production motion picture studio with sound stages and support offices;
- restaurants, bars, brew-pubs and cafes;
- a comedy club; and
- lifestyle, convenience and recreational retail space.
Hollywoodland is set to include an indoor amusement park.
The project is expected to create thousands of new jobs and bring an estimated 3.5 million yearly visitors to the Middletown community.
If approved, the city will utilize $7.5 million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds toward pre-construction design, engineering, financial structuring and other pre-closing due diligence efforts. A proposed timeline for the development was not disclosed. DLR Group was the architect.
“This will be a transformational redevelopment opportunity for Middletown that came out of a redevelopment study for our riverfront property,” says City Manager Jim Palenick. “It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take full advantage of a myriad of local, city, state and federal incentives we have found a way to access, and in turn, change the future of our city.”
Dubuque, Iowa-based Main Street Community Capital works to revitalize cities and towns outside of major metropolitan areas through public-private partnership development. The company’s portfolio of work includes the development of the Mason City Hyatt Place in Mason City, Iowa; the Marriott Racine Harbour and Convention Center in Racine, Wis.; and Novelty Iron Works in the company’s hometown of Dubuque.
—Katie Sloan and Jeff Shaw