Local commercial realtor Allison Moody will take the reins on the eventual sale of the Village-owned Center for Business and Education. Shown here is Moody in 2021, when she purchased the Millworks industrial park. (Submitted photo)
Local realtor Allison Moody to list Center for Business and Education
- Published: December 28, 2023
The 35-acre parcel of land on the village’s western edge, known as the Center for Business and Education, or CBE, was again discussed at Village Council’s most recent regular meeting on Monday, Dec. 18 — this time, though, with some optimism.
Council announced the ongoing sale of the Village-owned land will now be spearheaded by village resident and commercial realtor Allison Moody.
Approximately 20 acres on the CBE — which adjoin marijuana producer Cresco Labs and Antioch University Midwest, and which have been for sale for over 10 years — will be listed for $75,000-$125,000 per acre beginning mid-January, with Moody as the listing agent.
As Interim Village Manager Johnnie Burns said at Monday’s Council meeting, Moody is taking the reins from the Village in marketing the land to find suitable businesses to occupy the property.
“She lives in town and knows the village,” Burns said of Moody’s credentials. “I think it’s a great thing to tap into her resources to be able to better market the CBE — which is something that’s not happened since I’ve been with the Village.”
Council member Carmen Brown agreed: “Allison is a marketing phenom. She is incredibly capable of getting more businesses on the CBE.”
According to Moody, who works through real estate company Coldwell Banker Heritage Commercial, she’s angling to appeal to small- to medium-sized manufacturing facilities to eventually locate operations on the CBE.
“Right now, in the Dayton market, we’re at a 2% vacancy rate for light manufacturing companies who need 50,000 square feet and under,” Moody said. “That means that for small companies who are growing or mid-sized companies who need supplemental spaces — like the nearby Honda, Intel and Joby Aviation plants — there are virtually no existing buildings for them. So they’re going to have to build, and really, there aren’t a lot of spaces in the greater Miami Valley area that have industrial land for sale.”
The CBE, which is zoned as a Planned Unit Development, or PUD, has been subject to a number of restrictive covenants since 2006, and as such, may prohibit some potential buyers. According to the covenants, lots may be used solely for office, commercial, medical, educational, assembly, research, servicing, light industrial, warehousing or distribution purposes. As previously reported in the News, residential uses other than hotels are expressly prohibited for the land — that is, unless the covenants are amended by the three present land occupants: the Village, Cresco and Antioch Midwest.
“So those covenants are what I’ll be abiding by,” Moody said.
In the end, any potential sale brokered by Moody will have to be vetted and approved by Village Council members and Village Manager Burns.
Although Council has yet to formally approve a contract with Moody to advance with her plans to market and list the land on the Village’s behalf, the wheels are already in motion: Moody said she has begun the work of gathering information, putting together promotional materials and assembling resources.
She said a formal listing website will be ready to launch by Friday, Jan. 12, 2024. Also, a new sign — one easily seen from Dayton-Yellow Springs Road — will be placed at the front of the CBE property, advertising the ongoing sale.
“Why we haven’t been doing this until now, God only knows,” Council President Kevin Stokes said at Monday’s Council meeting. “This is the right time. There’s hopefully going to be a windfall of various businesses and industries getting started because of all the other tech growth in the state.”
Moody said she sees the opportunities for potential growth in Yellow Springs in a similar light.
“We’re in a really nice place in Yellow Springs,” she said. “We’re close enough to all these companies, but far away enough that if they were to build an additional site here, there wouldn’t be any workforce competition.”
She added: “With the new [Spring Meadows] residential neighborhood and getting 90 new single-family homes, and with the recent levy improving our schools, we are not only attractive to businesses, but also new residents.”
Moody, who will tentatively receive 6% commission from any property sale on the CBE, also owns the Millworks business center and is the listing agent for commercial spaces at 888 Dayton St. Most recently, she signed on a new tenant for a large, 7,000-square-foot production space at 888 Dayton St.: Bennett & Bennett, a Miami Valley-based company that manufactures equipment for “clean rooms” for technology and medical companies. According to Moody, Bennett & Bennett’s arrival in Yellow Springs will create 16–20 new full-time jobs in the village.
Additional tenants at Millworks are on their way, Moody said. With them, the industrial park on Walnut Street will be fully occupied.
The News will continue to cover Moody’s sale of the CBE land as updates are made available, and in future issues will profile the new businesses landing at 888 Dayton St. and the Millworks industrial park.
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