Dayton Adds Another Hotel To The Former Mendelsons Site!

Crawford Hoying revisions Mendelsons property as a luxury hotel and bar. The Dayton knick-knack store will be converted to a Marriott hotel.

Dayton, Ohio's Water Street Entertainment District is a product of Columbus-based Crawford Hoying. It has developed around the corners of Patterson Boulevard, First Street, Monument Avenue and Webster Street. The area is still chugging along.

The district covers Day Air Ballpark, the baseball stadium where the Dayton Dragons play.

Crawford Hoying plans to build a new 134-room AC Hotel by Marriott on the former Mendelson property.

The new hotel will be six stories and will be almost 90,000 square feet, offering a longue, media library, fitness center and meeting spaces.

"AC Hotels by Marriott are very modern and hip and have a crisp design and feel," said Brent Crawford, principal of Crawford Hoying.

"The new hotel will have a rooftop bar and full-service restaurant that overlooks the baseball diamond, which undoubtedly will be a major regional destination," he added.

"I think people are going to be shocked by what this can do for that area and the experience it can create," he said.

Sandy Mendelson, who has owned the building for 40 years, said that’s one of the reasons he sold it to Crawford Hoying. He knew they would keep its historical value.

Mendelson is glad to see a hotel will take the place of one of his buildings.

"People want to come downtown, and they need to be able to stay downtown."

Work on the property will start in March and it will be planned for opening in mid-2021.

The other Mendelson's properties will demolished.

Crawford Hoying, in partnership with Woodard Development has invested about $120 million into the area around Day Air Ballpark. They have created new housing, offices, restaurants, hotel room and other amenities.

Last year, they opened a $15 million Fairfield Inn & Suites hotel next to the Water Street office building.

The other hotel in downtown Dayton is located a mile down the road. The Crowne Plaza hotel located on Fifth Street has walking distance to the central business district, the Dayton Convention Center and Oregon District.

The Dayton Grand Hotel (formerly The DoubleTree Hotel by Hilton and numerous other names) closed officially in 2017. The property sits across the street from Dayton city hall. The Arcade renovation is slated to take over the property in the coming year.

The Fire Blocks District is trying to redevelop the region around Third Street. With the newly rebuilt downtown library and restructuring around the Oregon District, Fire Blocks is trying to court new life for that part of downtown Dayton.

The Funk Music Hall of Fame museum and Club Masque had recently closed shop and it's going to be hard to find suitable replacements to an area seriously lacking entertainment venues.