Austin Road Revisited....who are todays players?

Revisiting Austin Road. The first post had information from the mid 1990s. Things have changed.

Nowadays it seems that the big player at this site is RG Properties, Inc. (RG being the initials of the owner, Randall Gunlock).

RG is a big developer of retail property and is Wal-Marts regional partner. RG was responsible for two of the larger retail developments on 725 in Washington Township and RG also did most of the retail development on Wilmington between I-675 and Alex-Bell.

RG does have limited involvement with offices, really just two small properties near Newmark and on Yankee. Their mixed use Cornerstone development in Kettering is maybe the largest with some office use


So it was surprising to see them involved with Austin Road as this area was to be developed as offices, not retail. Press reports from May say they have an option to buy the property on the NW corner of the interchange from the Transportation District (the property the port authority purchased from Long Farm Investors) contingent on RG coming up with a development plan.

Press reports from 2005 also talk about RG in a legal tangle with Springboro over plans to develop a Wal-Mart and Kohl’s on Austin, between Austin and SouthTech industrial park. Apparently this was to be a repeat of Wilmington Pike, but totally contrary to the office/industrial land use plan for the area. An out of court settlement was reached, and RG has a sign on-site advertising “Springboro Landing” as a mixed use development.

RG’s website has nothing on this, though. They are advertising their Washington Ridge property as a retail possibility, at Austin and Yankee,: supporting graphics show “Austin Landing” in the background, but nary a word on this on their website other than the graphic

RG also has another retail site at Social Row and 48, “Washington Station.”
Putting it all together one can see this development company has some very strategic parcels (especially if they really do control the land at all four corners of the interchange) strung out along Austin/Social Row from the interchange to route 48. I think the one to watch is the “Washington Ridge” parcel, as this has potential for being a retail center, though some of this might be developed as residential. RG had tried to get this parcel annexed by Springboro but was rebuffed.


What's not shown are the Oberer holdings. Oberer controls substantial residential development along Social Row, but also holds the southeast corner of the Yankee/Austin interchange as a retail parcel, and land on 48, east of 48 somewhat across from the RG tract at 48 and Social Row.

Though this land has went through a lot of speculation, it’s a good bet RG ends up being the actual developer, given their good track record of execution.

In any case, one can start to see the outlines of the future look of the county line area, as the last open spaces become filled in.