BATAVIA, Ohio — Haskell Lane, trailing the East Fork Little Miami River, is set to get a major facelift. A $100 million development looking to clear its last hurdle this week could bring hundreds of apartments to the Village of Batavia's downtown.
Chip Stewart, assistant village administrator and zoning director for the Village of Batavia, said downtown needs something new to attract more people. Stewart said eight total apartment buildings will be added — six three-story buildings, one that is six stories and one five-story building with a rooftop deck.
"It'll be 518 units by the time they're done," he said.
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This multi-million dollar project is spearheaded by a New York-based developer with OK Management. Stewart said this has been in the works for years and the council is working to put the village back on the map.
"If you go downtown, usually when the county office is closed, it’s kind of a ghost town," he said. "There’s a lot of vacant buildings, so by bringing the kind of people that we think with the market plus rate apartments that it’s going to transform downtown and actually build it up."
Grammas Pizza has been just down the road from Haskle Lane since 1993. The owner, Lisa Furkas, said she hopes this project brings new life to downtown.
"I'm hoping that it brings more business for everyone and a lot more people will be able to walk down in the city of Batavia, sort of like downtown," she said.
While other community members are in favor of the project, not everyone supports it. On the Clermont County Ohio Neighbors Facebook page, dozens of residents said the community isn't prepared to handle additional traffic and demand on public services.
Stewart said the project will be four phases long. He said the last phase one development meeting to approve the project will be on Thursday.
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