BY SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
UNION TOWNSHIP -- The Union Centre Boulevard interchange has reeled in another major project for West Chester.
Duke Realty Investments Inc. wants to build an office park on 30 acres at Allen Road and Union Centre Drive, according to documents filed Tuesday with township planners.
The project would lease space to up to 22 tenants and bring between 200 to 400 jobs to West Chester, said Bob Fessler, vice president and general manager of Duke's Cincinnati division.
The venture -- to be called World Park at Union Centre -- would offer a large warehouse and two smaller buildings for warehouse and office operations for light industry or distribution companies.
"It's going to run the gamut," Mr. Fessler added.
Construction could begin in June. The project sits less than a mile from the Union Centre Boulevard interchange that opened December 1997.
Duke envisions a 321,200-square-foot warehouse and two smaller buildings for warehouse and office space.
The total size of the complex -- 445,400 square feet -- rivals the new Totes-Isotoner Corp. development. That project, approved last year, is about 12,000 square feet smaller, said Spencer Traub, Union Township's code enforcement officer.
Announcement of Duke's project comes on the heels of last week's announcement by International Cornerstone that it plans to build a nearby 860,000-square-foot distribution center -- the size of 15 football fields. Cornerstone's center, developed by Schumacher Dugan Construction Inc., will sit on Union Centre Boulevard and bring 1,110 new jobs.
Duke Realty also developed the Totes-Isotoner industrial subdivision, which will sit southwest of the new site.
Along with the complex, Duke will build a road that runs from Allen Road west and then curve north to connect with West Chester Road.
Butler County's planning commission must sign off on the plan before construction can begin.
The architect on the project is ATA Architects of Cincinnati. In another development coup for West Chester, Home Depot received a zoning certificate Tuesday from the township. The company now must obtain a building permit from the county.
The home-improvement retailer has plans for a 124,000-square-foot complex on Dudley Drive just north of Tylersville Road and east of Interstate 75, Mr. Traub said.
It includes a 103,060-square-foot retail store and an 18,000-square-foot garden center. The additional space will be used for offices.
