Louisville’s Weyland Ventures Adding to $120M out-of-state Project

A Louisville developer is expanding a massive project that exceeds $100 million in Ohio.

Weyland Ventures LLC, a local real estate development firm, plans to buy two vacant buildings at 101 Bainbridge St. in downtown Dayton’s Oregon District, according to a report from the Dayton Business Journal, a sister publication of Louisville Business First.

Weyland Ventures will acquire the properties for $10 from the city after the Dayton City Commission approved the deal at a recent meeting, according to the report. Weyland Ventures has not yet disclosed plans for the site.

The city of Dayton created a public-private partnership with Weyland Ventures in 2013 that has produced nearly $30 million of private investment in Oregon East.

Weyland Ventures has redeveloped a nearby building into Dayton into the Wheelhouse Lofts — a mixed-use complex with residential and commercial uses, such as Troll Pub, Speakeasy Yoga and 40 loft apartments, according to the Dayton Business Journal report.

Work also has commenced on the nearby Motor Car Building to transform it into an office, light industrial and technology complex that will house Gosiger, a Dayton machine shop, as a major tenant.

These projects were among the first phase of a multiphase project Weyland is executing in Oregon East. Phase two of the project includes a 110-room hotel, entertainment venue, apartments and a centrally located parking garage. Oregon East has been project as a $120 million effort that will feature more than 730,000 square feet of new development, according to the report.

Weyland Ventures has been highly active in the NuLu neighborhood in Louisville over the years, particularly when it comes to mixed-income housing. Its residential developments there have included Quad Apartments, Park Edge, City Homes on Hancock Green and 310 at NuLu. The firm also opened the five-story, 100-room Home2 Suites by Hilton Louisville in the NuLu/medical district area.

Likewise, the company has experience with mixed-use developments that include hospitality and food and beverage components. It recently opened Hancock House, a 16-unit micro-boutique hotel in the former Louisville Chemical building at 601 E. Jefferson St.

Weyland Ventures also has partnered with former nightclub owner and Louisville native Scott Smith to create ChurchKey, a themed restaurant, sports bar and event venue concept in NuLu that will be spread across more than 20,000 square feet and a roughly 4,000-square-foot outdoor courtyard in a former NuLu Church at 600 E. Market St. That project should open later this year.

And the firm recently partnered with Illinois-based hospitality and hotel management firm First Hospitality to bring the Tempo by Hilton brand to a site at 314 S. Shelby Street near East Jefferson Street in NuLu. The six-story hotel will have 130 rooms, a large lounge with a bar and a rooftop bar, said Mariah Gratz, CEO of Weyland Ventures, during a recent interview with Louisville Business First.

Hilton officials have confirmed that it will be the first Tempo hotel to open in the world. The project also will include a large parking garage, a 190-unit apartment complex and a 70,000-square-foot commercial complex housing a food hall on the first floor, a large fitness center and 30,000 square feet of co-working space. Construction costs have not been disclosed by Weyland Ventures.

Elsewhere, Weyland Ventures plans to revitalize three Highlands properties that went to auction last year into a hotel and restaurant. The firm has proposed rehabbing the three buildings at 900-912 Baxter Avenue into a 69-room hotel with a roughly 4,700-square-foot restaurant.

Read Louisville Business First’s article here.