Join ULI Cincinnati and others from throughout southwest Ohio on August 13 at the iconic Dayton Arcade as we recognize one of this year’s ULI Americas Awards for Excellence winners. Ten developments from across the Americas have been selected as winners of the 2025 ULI Americas Awards for Excellence. Come hear from the project leaders, explore the restored space, and celebrate this remarkable achievement with peers from across the region.

ULI began the Awards for Excellence program in 1979 to recognize superior development efforts in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. Winning projects represent the highest standards of achievement in the land use profession and encompass a wide range of land uses, sizes, investments, and geographic locations. The awards are open to projects and programs in the ULI Americas region that are substantially complete, financially viable, and in stable operation. The program evaluates submissions on overall excellence, including achievements in marketplace acceptance, design, planning, technology, amenities, economic impact, management, community engagement, innovation, and sustainability, among others.

This landmark development has been nationally honored for its extraordinary impact on community revitalization, adaptive reuse, and public-private partnership. The Dayton Arcade stands as a powerful example of how historic preservation and visionary leadership can transform a city’s future.

Shuttered after almost 30 years, the Dayton Arcade’s redevelopment brings new life and investment into downtown Dayton. This large-scale project, coined as “the most transformational project in America” by leading urbanist Bruce Katz, with over 500,000 SF over nine buildings and encompassing almost a full city block, reclaims its original identity as a mixed-use complex.

Following several failed attempts to revitalize the Arcade, by 2014 the City of Dayton was prepared to condemn and demolish the complex. However, they first created a task force to study options and costs for demolition as well as its potential redevelopment, which determined that redevelopment was feasible, and demolition would cost roughly $10 million. The City decided that the public would be better served by investing in redevelopment over demolition and pivoted to become a key political and financial supporter of the Arcade complex.

Local leaders recruited a team to execute the development, which secured over 25 sources of funds totaling $100 million, including a combination of tax credits, grants, and support from the University of Dayton, which also signed on as an anchor tenant.

The rejuvenation of the Dayton Arcade is endowed with an urban building configuration that had historically functioned as the heart of the city. The reinstatement of the grand rotunda space as the central hub of the development was facilitated with the cross-connection of the mid-block interior street (concourse) of the North Arcade. The traditional urban configuration of housing and offices over storefronts has been reinstated to bring new life to the street. The juxtaposition of the Arcade Innovation Hub east of the rotunda creates synergies between the two project components, as the Hub often utilizes the rotunda space for events, and the rotunda space is animated by the Hub activities on the second and third floors.

AGENDA

3:30 PM - Check-In and Networking
3:45 PM - Program
4:45 PM - Tour
5:45 PM - Networking with Table 33
6:30 PM - Conclusion

Visit the Dayton Arcade virtually -

Dayton Arcade on the Web
Dayton Arcade on Facebook
Dayton Arcade on Instagram