MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — A development plan to build an apartment complex that includes an assisted living center in Middletown has been preliminarily denied by city council, but the developer says he is not giving up.
Council denied the preliminary plan 3-2 in a straw vote for a 124-unit assisted living facility and 144-unit multi-family apartments on about 10 acres of undeveloped land in the city’s East End at South Breiel Boulevard and Hendrickson Road.
While planning commission recommended 6-0 the preliminary plan be approved by council, there were some conditions, including lighting, landscaping and signage plans; construction of a northern boundary road to Middletown standards; and building heights, according to City Planner Claire Fetters-Binegar.
Bill Morton of Leo Brown Group, the developer, was confused by council’s decision.
“Anytime anywhere if I get unanimous approval and support from local officials and from planning...we get through every time,” he said. “I’ve never been denied for an assisted living community ever anywhere.”
Leo Brown Group partners with Traditions, a senior living management company, to run the facility. Traditions has regional locations in Beavercreek, Lebanon and North Bend.
City staff recommended reconsideration of the multi-family apartment component of the development.
The city’s 2019 housing policy states with high percentages of rental property compared to the rest of the county, Middletown wanted to decrease rentals and increase homeownership. A plan was made to convert 2,627 rental units back to home ownership.
Part of the plan included adding new market rate multi-family units, which this development would not be.
The apartments were intended to be “workforce housing,” which would allow residents to earn up to 60% of the area median income — around $48,000.
A Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, or LIHTC, would be used for both the multi-family apartments and assisted living facility.
Council voiced concerns regarding East End calls for service from police and fire and the departments’ abilities.
Councilman Paul Lolli said he cannot support the development mainly based on the calls for service burden on the division of fire at its current staffing.
He added city staff should “start looking at” a moratorium on extended living facilities until an impact fee could be implemented.
There are about 11 extended living facilities in and around Middletown.
An existing nearby skilled nursing facility, Arlington Pointe at 4900 Hendrickson Road has 107 residents and generated 182 calls for service in 2023, 259 in 2024 and 124 so far in 2025.
Doubling the resident capacity in the area could push calls for service to over 500 annually, which could make it the highest-demand facility Middletown police and fire serve, according to staff reports.
Morton said Leo Brown Group’s existing assisted living facilities typically see about two emergency runs a month. Registered nurses, certified nursing assistants and additional medical personnel would work in the assisted living facility on a 24-hour basis.
“There’s going to be more runs if these folks live in their home on their own,” Morton said.
Based on a third-party market study Leo Brown Group commissioned, a majority of the 65-and-older population qualifying for the affordable assisted living facility live in Middletown, Four Bridges, Franklin, Hunter, Madison, Monroe and unincorporated areas of Butler and Warren counties.
“We have an aging population, we are going to need more places like this,” Mayor Elizabeth Slamka said. “I’m interested in seeing more, but...right now it’s a not a match for our criteria that we have.”
Council denied the preliminary plan 3-2 in a straw vote, with Lolli, Councilwoman Carter and Vice Mayor Steve West voting against the plan, and Slamka and Councilman Paul Horn voting for the plan.
Council will formally vote on the plan at an upcoming meeting.
In the May planning commission meeting, Horn, who has a seat on the commission, voiced support for the project.
“This is density that we need,” Horn said.
He also said the affordability of the housing was something he was “definitely for.”
Morton was open to considering additional uses for the multi-family apartments and the land they were planned on, and he said Leo Brown Group may reapproach the city with a revised plan.
“We remain committed to pursuing this much needed housing type in Middletown,” Morton wrote in an email to city staff.
The assisted living facility plans included dining options, a movie theater, fitness center, library, chapel, activities center and game center; the creation of approximately 40-50 jobs with an average wage of $44,000; and a $2.2 million payroll.
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