Student interns work to activate first floor spaces

Abstract

Downtown Dayton, Ohio, has experienced significant growth over the past few years, particularly in residential projects and first-floor commercial business, despite being a "rustbelt" city, which typically have recovered more slowly from the recession of 2008-2010. Demand for first-floor space is very high; there has been a 10 percent increase in first-floor occupancy since 2010. But with its supply of move-in-ready first-floor spaces nearly gone, downtown Dayton needed a creative solution to match more vacant first-floor spaces with eager entrepreneurs. Many barriers inhibit revitalization efforts to activate first-floor storefronts, including lack of site readiness and insufficient architectural and engineering knowledge about what it will take to make a site move-in ready. The Downtown Dayton Partnership, along with its partners at Dayton Power & Light, The Architectural Group, Helmig Lienesch Engineers, and Sinclair Community College, undertook a pilot program targeting first-floor spaces and provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs and students to grow in downtown's creative community. Envisioned in two phases, the first phase employed interns in architectural and engineering fields at Sinclair Community College to assess the current condition of each space and develop designs to bring the vacant first-floor space back to productive use. Students worked with professional mentors at their respective firms to complete their work. The second phase will enlist student help to actually build-out one downtown vacant first-floor space into a move-in-ready, blank canvas for a new tenant. Using a $25, 000 Regional Economic Development Grant from Dayton Power & Light, this pilot program will produce several measurable outcomes: Provide real-world experience for student interns (part time employment) in architectural technology and mechanical engineering (HVAC R) at firms which have historically only employed university co ops (full time employment). Provide opportunities for students to present completed research and design work to a variety of downtown building owners. Help complete inventory of downtown's first-floor spaces so small businesses can make more informed decisions about which spaces will best suit their needs. Increase assistance to property owners to accomplish the technical work required before tackling any renovations. Lower pre-development costs for small businesses that want to open a business in a vacant, first-floor space. Help inform local companies regarding enrollment trends in community college programs aligning with their industry and the benefit of recruitment. In addition to the unique aspect of using public-private partnerships to increase small business occupancy for first-floor spaces, the program supports attraction and retention of college graduates through civic engagement and new internships with local professional services firms. Community college internship coordinator and faculty managed the student portion of the program, which provided students with real-world experience assessing conditions, creating asbuilt drawings, performing code analysis, developing estimates, and generating designs that incorporate LEED elements. The grant funded student wages, while the architecture and engineering firms provided mentorship pro bono. The Downtown Dayton Partnership serves as fiscal agent for the project and facilitates the interface between professional firms and building owners, as well as developing a priority list of targeted spaces. Assessment of the intern's work was completed using a process developed by Sinclair Community College's Internship Coordinator. Regular surveys of student performance were conducted and employers met with faculty and the Internship Coordinator on a regular basis. Two interns were employed during spring semester 2016, and both interns have been offered ongoing employment at their respective firms upon completion of their internships. As phase two of the project is developing, a large local contracting firm has agreed to engage a Sinclair Community College construction management intern to assist with the cost estimating and build out of one the first floor space activation projects. In all of these cases, the Sinclair intern is fulfilling a role typically reserved for a university intern. All three firms are hiring Sinclair interns for the first time in over ten years.