The City of Middletown, the Warren County Port Authority, and Woodard Development are working together on a transformational development in Middletown’s East End, the Journal-News reports. The planned $200 million Renaissance Arena project “would attract full-service, high-end hotels, premium and fast-food restaurants, townhomes that would sell in the $325,000 to $425,000 range and a medical complex.” City Manager Paul Lolli “has called the development ‘a destination location’ that will draw visitors seeking entertainment, dining and shopping options off Interstate 75,” according to the article.
Middletown City Council recently approved an ordinance that will fund necessary infrastructure work for the Renaissance Arena project. The ordinance provides “for the issuance of bond anticipation notes with the maximum principal of $14 million” for engineering and infrastructure improvements including “water mains, sanitary sewers and storm sewers, public roads and streets, curbs and gutters,” and grading and landscaping. The city also created a tax increment financing (TIF) district for the project site, as well as a new community authority “to raise other supplemental revenues over time.” The port authority “has agreed to construct the Event Center and attached hotel that will act as the anchor for the development.” For more, read the full article.
