(soft music) (soft music continues) (soft music continues) - [Narrator] It's a gift.

(soft piano music) That has been delivered across time.

Across generations.

It took shape at the beginning of the American Century.

A time of optimism.

(crowd cheering) A time of unlimited possibilities.

Over the years, this place became a symbol, of who we were, and where we were going.

For many years, all was well.

And then, it wasn't.

One by one, the big companies, the ones that put Dayton on the map, left town.

The heart of the city became a quiet and empty space.

It was as if the people who came here for so many years simply disappeared.

Tough times in the Gem City.

Now, after 40 years of darkness, the Dayton Arcade is back.

And on its shoulders, it's carrying a mission.

Because this is not your father's or your grandfather's arcade.

This arcade is different.

Sure, it'll still be a place for food and friends, for getting out and meeting up.

But it's much more than that.

It's a place designed to drive innovation and commerce.

It's a place for dreamers, doers, and makers.

This arcade is about creating opportunities.

About building a future.

It's about taking the best of what was, and adding the best of ourselves.

(metal scraping) In 2019, the Arcade was a mess.

But in late summer of 2023, a day at the Arcade looked like this.

(upbeat music) It's 7:30am and many of the Arcade's 217 residents are up and preparing for the day.

Soon, the information workers start arriving at the Hub.

130 separate companies have a presence here.

The first wave of students from the University of Dayton arrive around 9:30.

Over 400 students will attend classes here today.

And in the area known as the Tank, aspiring entrepreneurs engage with seasoned business people, learning tips and techniques, and making connections.

Upstairs, in the Cross Street office, Dave Williams is on a Zoom call reviewing construction milestones for the North Arcade project.

That transformation is underway.

New retail and hospitality space is taking shape.

Office space in the Arcade filled quickly.

The demand for more space meant building out the third floor.

Today, this area, known as the Upper Deck, features a large classroom that overlooks the rotunda, and 40 new offices.

On the first floor, The Contemporary is hosting artist talks, like this one by Harvard professor and former photography critic of the New York Times Magazine, Teju Cole.

Visitors also take in a new installation by Dayton artist, Amy Lynn Powell.

So much is happening in the Arcade, but until recently, something's been missing.

And it's the one thing that everyone wants.

The opportunity to come in, any day of the week, get some food or drinks, and just enjoy the space.

But, of course, the reason for that delay is a familiar one.

- It was difficult for Cross Street to procure those hospitality tenants, because all of the restaurants were in probably the most challenging time that they have ever experienced.

- Between COVID and supply chain issues, and how much those are intertwined, it really puts a stress on the whole process.

- The lingering effects, hands down are still there.

And we're feeling them financially, still the supply chains.

I mean, I was told switch gear, electric switch gear, is still 50 weeks out.

That's a year.

Things get bottlenecked, and every day we delay, something's changing.

Interest rates are going up, or costs are going up.

I quit turning on the news.

It can crush projects.

- [Narrator] Crafted and Cured was slated to be the first hospitality tenet to open in the Arcade.

But the difficulties imposed by COVID meant a change of plans.

They pulled out of the project.

- I believe that Crafted and Cured made the decision that was best for their business, and you have to support that.

- [Narrator] It's not just the public who will welcome a vibrant first floor.

As normalcy returns and the Arcade fills out, increased foot traffic is the tide that will raise all boats.

No one knows that better than The Contemporary.

- We are the arts anchor.

We were the first organization that opened up to the public.

One of the selling points to our donors and to or members and to artists that we're excited about exhibiting in our space, was the energy of restaurant and retail.

But delays happen.

I'm a patient person.

- [Narrator] And then, the wait was over.

The Italian restaurant, Est!

Est!!

Est!!!

opened for business.

(all cheering) (funky upbeat music) (people chatting) Then, more good news.

A month later, the big, red scissors came out again.

At Gather by Ghostlight, business was brewing.

- Coffee was my second career.

I started out as a music teacher.

(gentle guitar music) I started our first location on Wayne Avenue in the fall of 2011.

And we quickly became the neighborhood coffee house for the historic South Park neighborhood, and Dayton in general.

We finally opened our second location in the fall of 2019, eight years to the day, actually.

- [Narrator] Shane had been carefully following the Arcade renovation.

- It's such an iconic feature of downtown Dayton, and I felt like it was somewhere that I would like to take Ghostlight.

But yeah, we are very close to both of our other locations, just minutes drive, and so we have to take a little bit different approach for this new shop.

Food and wine that pairs well together.

- [Narrator] Defining that approach began months earlier.

- Aiming more toward European styles of beer, which I think are a little more food friendly than the bigger American styles- - Definitely, definitely yeah.

We can make sure that we have small plates that can be paired with a different- - We looked into the aperitivo culture of Europe, and that meeting place after work, but before going home, and kind of a happy hour, but not your typical happy hour.

This is going to be light fare, light cocktails, some beer, some wine, and of course the coffee culture mixed right in with it.

(bright music) - [Narrator] And there's a twist.

- We're excited to share the space with the Dana Wiley Gallery featuring local artist Mike Elsass.

- There's going to be music, and we'll have a lot of artist talks, events, maybe a rodeo, charity, possibly tie into weddings.

I'm excited about that opportunity.

Good energy, and the energy of the past is heading us into the future.

- Mike Elsass, if you know his background, he was an insurance agent that is now one of the hottest artists across the US.

I mean, he sells stuff everywhere.

He's like in Sedona, he's out in LA.

- Mike is a very unique character, and so much fun to work around.

I'm truly looking forward to spending lots of time with Mike in the coming years sharing that space.

- [Narrator] At Moda4, the Arcade design team has been busy.

In addition to Shane's space, they've been working on numerous other designs.

One of those projects is for a well-known, well respected local restaurateur.

- Charlie Carroll, Table 33 is going to take the corner of 4th and Main.

What's interesting about Charlie, he's been one of the few that have been able to survive over in that part of downtown where he is right now.

- Charlie Carroll is an avid entrepreneur, and he's really passionate about his brand, and I think this is a great new location for them to have a more connected presence in downtown Dayton.

- When we were asked to be a part of the Arcade, we felt like it matched our DNA, in doing something that is locally focused, because when you focus locally, everyone wins.

- [Narrator] Charlie knows that restaurants will be a vital part of the Arcade's success.

- I think if you study revitalization, whether it's Indianapolis, New York, Cleveland, Austin, other cities that have revitalized, which is such an important thing on our local and regional level, you understand that restaurants usually lead to residential, which then leads to retail, and so restaurants play a very important part in any inner city's revitalization.

- There'll be a minimum of three other restaurants.

And they'll all be opening within six, seven months of each other.

That's exciting for the whole development.

- [Narrator] Another new tenant offers a slightly different fare.

They deliver food for thought.

Over the airwaves.

- Support for WYSO comes from our sustaining members.

- WYSO is the NPR affiliate for greater Dayton, which means that we carry national and international programs coming to us from NPR.

But we also have a really robust local news operation, we have a local music operation, and we do community trainings where we teach people to make radio.

I've always wanted to have a physical storefront presence in Dayton where most of our listeners reside.

The Arcade is the perfect place to be.

It's highly visible.

When people walk by, they'll be able to see us recording interviews or recording performances.

And it'll be networked to communicate with our headquarters in Yellow Springs, so file transfers and everything will be really easy.

It's been a great experience, because they're tenacious, and driven, but also very collaborative.

It took us a while to raise the money.

They waited for us.

- We started talking to Luke Dennis three years ago.

- From the very first meeting, they said, "Oh my gosh, WYSO is a great fit "for this project."

- The time is 10:36.

You're listening to 91.3 WYSO.

- [Narrator] But WYSO isn't the only media company in the Arcade.

- We have iHeart media.

So what's been interesting are these two entities, right, that are really sort of very different in a lot of ways in what they offer in content.

I don't think I could have ever imagined that kind of mix, but I think it's fantastic to have both of these media content elements there.

[Narrator] Ghostlight, Table 33, WYSO.

All well regarded, well known local brands.

But this version of the Arcade is also about creating opportunities for new faces.

One such job creating opportunity is the 6888 kitchen.

- The 6888 Kitchen is an incubator.

So we are going to service local food entrepreneurs and give them a place to grow and scale their business.

- [Narrator] Jamaica White and her partners, Charlynda Scales and Dabriah Rice, have been planning, presenting, and pitching this project for four years.

They are all highly experienced and successful food entrepreneurs.

Charlynda is also a Major in the United States Air Force Active Reserve.

- [Jamaica] It's a 10,000 square foot kitchen.

It will service individuals looking to cater, individuals who are going to do co-packing and they want to sell their product on shelves.

There's also a retail space where the public can come in, buy the new sauce that's just come out of the kitchen, so it's going to be a great ecosystem there.

- They are trying to put together a pretty amazing place.

But the cost in a marketplace, like we're in right now, just continues to grow daily.

- [Jamaica] We developed our business plan, went to different entities to let them know how this kitchen is going to impact the community.

- [Narrator] The women's efforts got the attention of Fifth Third Bank.

- The more we learned about what they were doing, why they were doing it, it really checked a lot of boxes for us.

And the more we talked to these women, the more impressed I was.

- [Narrator] Food entrepreneurs who use the kitchen will pay for that service.

The kitchen must charge enough to be self-sustaining, but they can't price out under-resourced entrepreneurs.

- We just want to make sure that this is affordable for the entrepreneurs.

So just making sure that we can raise the funds that we need to get this place open and operating.

We want it to be state of the art, which it will be, but we also want to make sure that the entrepreneurs that are coming here, since we're serving under-resourced entrepreneurs, that they're able to come in, and they can afford to rent the space.

- [Narrator] The 6888 Kitchen also includes an educational component.

Most incubator kitchens do not.

- As a food business owner, I was feeling called to help mentor others.

And my peers would come to me saying, "How do I scale my food business?"

And I'm not a gatekeeper.

I will tell you exactly what I've learned.

- I think it's going to be a great project, and it doesn't just help them, it helps the community.

(gentle music) We feel really good about that.

We gave the 6888 Kitchen a grant of $1 million to get started in The Arcade.

They are going to get it done.

- [Narrator] And that would have made Major Charity Adams proud.

World War Two.

February 1945.

As the Allies raced toward Germany, letters and packages from home couldn't keep up.

Front line morale suffered.

In Birmingham, England, warehouses were filled with undelivered parcels.

One general estimated it would take six months to process.

Working under difficult conditions, the African-American women of the 6888 postal battalion completed their mission in three months.

The 6888 was commanded by Dayton native Major Charity Adams.

- We definitely want to make sure that anyone who steps into the doors, that they know about her and the women of the 6888.

We emulate their grace, we emulate their strive for excellence and service before self.

- [Narrator] And what better way to honor the 6888 than to help build a better community?

- We can build jobs here.

There's going to be several workforce development programs in this space.

We're going to have a lot of community partnerships in this space.

So it's going to be representative of the collaboration that Dayton is so good at.

- [Narrator] For Dayton's future, job creation is vital, but so is affordable housing.

- Part of what the bank saw early on in this project was that affordable housing is an issue in downtown Dayton.

The residential housing in Dayton has grown substantially over the years, but from an affordable housing standpoint, it really hasn't.

And the Arcade presented an opportunity to bring some affordable housing downtown.

Fifth Third gave $8 million to this project for affordable housing, and I've been in the units.

They're beautiful units.

- [Narrator] Of the 110 units, 103 are income restricted, reserved for residents with an income averaging no more than 60 percent of the area median income.

- Being able to be able to offer a product in a really unique setting, good product, equal to everything that's happening sort of on the other side, over in the Webster Station area, it's a great deal.

- [Narrator] Not surprisingly, the Arcade residential units, called Art Lofts, filled quickly.

As the Arcade continues to evolve, the biggest remaining transformation is the North Arcade.

The North Arcade will house 15 to 20 small retail shops and utilize the iconic Third Street entrance.

- [David] And so now we have this great reconnect of 3rd street to 4th street, which will add hopefully a great retail dynamic.

(soft music) - [Narrator] The big story in the North Arcade is a project led by two friends, Sagar Patel and Danny Nagar.

Danny and Sagar share a similar background.

- My family immigrated from India in the early 80s, and back when they immigrated, a lot of family members from the region had settled in America and were operating motels at the time.

And we lived in a 34 unit motel in Clearfield, Pennsylvania.

- [Narrator] His parents did more than just manage the motel.

- They would do all the different functions, front desk, laundry, housekeeping.

My brother and I, we were expected to do laundry and help maybe take trash out in the guest rooms, watch front desk as we got older.

- [Narrator] Sagar's parents also immigrated from India in the 1980s.

Their success was fueled with a relentless work ethic.

- My mom gave birth to me in '87, and three days later, she went back to cleaning rooms and doing laundry.

And so just the willpower of that generation, and what they did to create the foundation for what we have today is incredible.

As they grew their skillset, they started developing hotels in the '90s and building them from the ground up.

- [Narrator] Both Danny and Sagar were strongly encouraged to enter the legal or medical profession.

They studied hard, did well, and they returned to the hotel industry.

- I felt that my family needed me to come back, that it was just time to step into the shoes and try to take it to the next level.

They weren't thrilled, but they allowed me to do it.

- I think that if you ask him now, my dad, he's very excited that I joined, and it's been good synergy between the two of us.

- [Narrator] Witness Investment and Century Hotel management are teaming with Cross Street Partners to open a hotel in the North Arcade.

- The hotel will be branded with Hilton Worldwide.

94 rooms total.

- [Narrator] This is a boutique hotel.

Not a cookie cutter.

It's more costly to build, and the financing is complex.

- My parents think I'm nuts for going through with this project.

The cost is so high.

And it's outside of the scope of what we normally do.

- So my dad's initial reaction to this project was, "Are you sure?"

The internal demand for hotel right there is significant.

- Within the Arcade itself, they have 100 plus businesses.

And then you have this beautiful event space.

Between the tank and the rotunda, they are, I hear they're booked out for at least a year in advance.

- [Sagar] And UD graduation, March Madness, convention business.

- All that should generate business for the hotel.

- [Narrator] There's so much energy here, it's hard to believe that not long ago, it looked like the Arcade would end up as a gravel lot.

- Once UD said that we're onboard, then it became real.

And I think people really started to believe that, hey, this thing has a future, and more and more people, I think, started raising their hands saying, "We want to be involved in that."

- [Narrator] The University of Dayton, working closely with the Entrepreneur's Center, is developing students with business-building skills.

(bright music) But support for entrepreneurs isn't limited to UD students.

On a Saturday morning in October, a diverse group of dreamers and doers converge on The Tank in the lower level of the Arcade.

They're here for the annual Flyer Pitch.

This competition rewards aspiring entrepreneurs with the support needed to put their ideas into action.

The goal for today?

Concisely communicate your winning business idea to a panel of expert judges.

(all applauding) - Over the course of the six months of the competition, we'll give away about $150,000 in cash.

- [Narrator] The Flyer Pitch is open to all students and residents of the Greater Dayton community.

(all applauding) - Those things are bringing more people into the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

- [Narrator] It's an ecosystem designed to produce catalytic interactions.

In 17 years, over 80 new ventures have been launched as a result of the Flyer Pitch.

- Proximity all of a sudden creates these connections.

And you just have this kind of organic thing that starts to go on.

- [Narrator] Creating more entrepreneurs, and in turn, more jobs, is vital to a community that still bears the scars of disinvestment.

- There's been a real focus on trying to grow the small and middle market companies in Dayton, Ohio, instead of depending on two or three large corporations.

For the future of Dayton, I think it's better.

- [Narrator] Creativity is the common thread that connects so many aspects of the Arcade.

In this place, art is elemental.

Sierra Leone is the Arcade Hub's first Artist in Residence.

- For me, writing started very young.

I loved to journal.

I loved to express myself.

Walls, holding a cornucopia of heritage.

I live solely by what my grandmother would say, "We are definitely better together."

And in that, there's always room for another perspective.

Ancestors in search of freedom.

Another layer of creativity.

To be the inaugural Community Artist in Residence here at the Hub has been nothing but an honor.

You know, to be, for me, I'm an entrepreneur as well as an artist, because I manage my own arts organization.

And being in a position where I could have a seat at the table, and bring the voice of community, was priceless for me.

We can use the power of art, the power of words.

(bright inspiring music) - [Narrator] As the Dayton Arcade continues its remarkable transformation, we remember where we've been, we celebrate what we've achieved, and we savor what is to come.

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