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ANTIOCH COLLEGE
With plans to demolish the site, Columbus-based Windsor Companies purchased the Antioch
College Student Union for $500,000 last month. The developer plans to erect efficiency and one-
and two-bedroom apartments in its place. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
Apartments coming to Antioch
College
By Reilly Dixon
Published: August 1, 2024 No Comments
Property at Antioch College has changed hands — possibly with more on the way.
Earlier this month, Columbus-based real estate developer Windsor Companies
purchased the vacant Antioch Student Union for $500,000.
Across campus, two other prominent buildings — the Sontag-Fels Building, located
at 800 Livermore St., and the Charles F. Kettering Building, at 150 E. South College
St. — are under contract with Windsor.
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pee Tiara,
Windsor intends to turn the Kettering building into 55-and-older senior housing.
Owing to the union’s derelict conditions, Dorsey said the building will have to be
demolished; two or three residential buildings will take its place.
As for Sontag and Kettering, Dorsey said Windsor intends to preserve their “historic
charm” and to aesthetically blend their mid-century modern designs with that of the
surrounding college.
“This will be a major milestone for our company,” Dorsey said. “We own other
developments, but they don’t feel the same as this. It’s not just about building
homes for people, but improving the village and helping Antioch thrive.”
ce.
According to Windsor’s head designer, Jason Dorsey, who spoke with the News last
week, the plan is to install over 120 residential rental units between the three sites
— including efficiency and one- and two-bedroom living spaces. Upon purchase,
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Owning and managing over 1,000 residential units and more than 500,000 square
feet of commercial spaces throughout Ohio, Windsor has a significant footprint in
several neighboring cities. In Dayton, Springfield, Beavercreek and elsewhere, the
company has invested millions of dollars in the creation of apartments, lofts, high
rises, a library, an equestrian center and more — many of which, Dorsey said, were
previously abandoned historic commercial buildings that his company adapted for
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toward 128 more apartments
Because the joint sale of Sontag and Kettering has not been finalized — particularly
because Windsor is still determining the cost of the union’s demolition — Dorsey
was not able to provide the News with exact rental costs of the future apartments.
Based on the average rental rates of Windsor’s Dayton properties, Dorsey said
rental costs will likely range from $900 to $1,700 per month.
in Yellow Springs
Simpson
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Also because a sale has not yet occurred, Dorsey declined to state the asking cost
of the Sontag and Kettering buildings.
Presently, all the Antioch land — including Sontag, Kettering and student union
buildings — are zoned E-1, or educational. As such, Windsor may have to approach
the Village to rezone their newly acquired properties to allow for their high-density
residences.
While the union sits vacant, the others, Sontag and Kettering, are not entirely
empty.
Built in 1946, the Sontag-Fels building previously housed laboratories and administrative and
faculty offices, then later, a business incubator, cafe, schoo! dances and a student-run radical
literature library. Presently, this building is under contract with Windsor. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
Since 2021, early childhood education center Open Air Village has occupied some
space in and around Sontag. Built in 1946, the building previously housed
laboratories and administrative and faculty offices, then later, a business incubator,
cafe, school dances and a student-run radical literature library.
The Kettering building, across East South College Street from Sontag, was built in
1950 to house classrooms, administration and faculty offices, as well as scientific
research and development labs. Now, its sole occupant is Yellow Springs-based
NPR affiliate 91.3 WYSO. Before Windsor announced its plans to purchase
WYSO’s present location, the station had already arranged to relocate operations to
the Union Schoolhouse, which is presently under significant construction and
renovation.
“So, [Kettering] will be the last of the three buildings we work on — giving WYSO
enough time to move,” Dorsey explained.
He continued: “We want to keep and enter into a new lease with Open Air Village. In
fact, | want to help them expand and freshen up their space.”
The Charles F. Kettering Building, at 150 E. South College St., built in 1950, was home to
classrooms, administration and faculty offices, as well as scientific research laboratories. Now, it
houses 91.3 WYSO. Also under contract, Windsor plans to turn this building into 55-and-older
residential apartments. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
The Antioch College Union, which was built in 1957, closed its doors to students for
good in 2007. In its previous life, the union housed classrooms, offices, a cafeteria,
coffee shop and more. Now, it’s overrun by black mold, asbestos and nature; the
awning over the front stoop still reads “TRANSIENT MODE HOME.”
“We’ll tear it down safely,” Dorsey reassured. “This won’t be the first time we’ve had
to address something like this. But it’s a complete loss. So, let’s put down
something that’s usable.”
With plans to demolish the site, Columbus-based Windsor Companies purchased the Antioch
College Student Union for $500,000 last month. The developer plans to erect efficiency and one-
and two-bedroom apartments in its place. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
As Dorsey said, he envisions Windsor’s future apartments as cross-generational
living spaces — with the children at Open Air, seniors at Kettering and college
students walking and learning nearby — leading to what he called a “village within a
village,” or a micro-community within the heart of Yellow Springs.
“| really want to cultivate a nurturing relationship between the college and the
community as a whole,” Dorsey said. “Yellow Springs must survive, and Antioch has
to be a part of its survival. [These apartments] have the potential to breathe more
college life into Yellow Springs, and life into the college.”
Astatement sent to the News from Antioch College administration shared this
enthusiasm.
“| am eager to see what Windsor Development LLC has in store for the former
student union space,” wrote Dean of Admission Shane Creepingbear, with no
mention of the Sontag and Kettering buildings.
“In our continued search for new Antioch College students, | look forward to the
revitalization of the property and all that it will mean for the beautification of campus
as we welcome young minds to Yellow Springs,” wrote Creepingbear. “Our
leadership team is excited for the bright future ahead at Antioch College. It is
through partnerships like these that we hope to continue improving the campus for
our students and Yellow Springs community members.”
Coldwell Banker Heritage Realtor Sam Eckenrode echoed that optimism.
“The village has had a perennial housing shortage since its founding,” she told the
News earlier this week. “There are always many people who feel connected to
Yellow Springs, but are excluded from the village because we don’t have enough
space for them.”
Eckenrode — a 1983 alumna of Antioch and a former staff and faculty member, and
who served briefly on the Alumni Board — has led the effort to sell the properties
with Coldwell Banker Commercial Realtor Patrick Williams.
“Having more studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments — contemporary and
livable spaces — will be a great asset to Yellow Springs,” she said.
While Dorsey imagines individuals and couples, young and old alike, getting a fresh
chance to live — or perhaps stay — in Yellow Springs, he said not all will be
welcome in the future apartments.
“You must have zero criminal record,” Dorsey said. “We do extensive background
checks to make sure we get the right people in our properties.”
To ensure that, Dorsey noted that all operations by Windsor Companies — which is
headed by his brother, Alex, and was started several decades ago by their mother
— are completely in-house.
“We manage our own product,” he said. “We construct it, design it, build it and
manage it. There are no third-party property management companies. We have our
own brokerage, our own procurement company, media department and more. We
do it all.”
However, Dorsey said that the creation of these new apartments could yield local
jobs — jobs including building maintenance, custodial work and others that Dorsey
hopes will be filled by Yellow Springs residents.
“And | also hope that Antioch art students will be willing to make sculptures and art
installations around the properties,” he added.
Additional sales
The sale of the student union and ongoing discussions to part ways with the Sontag
and Kettering buildings have been a long time coming — it all follows a plan Antioch
unveiled last August to begin listing some of its land and buildings for lease or sale.
The effort, as previously reported in the News, was a part of Antioch’s Social
Enterprise and Enrollment Plan to support the college’s “ongoing success and
sustainability.”
Around the time of last summer’s formal announcement to begin selling property,
Antioch sold a 0.3-acre gravel lot parking lot adjacent to the Yellow Springs
Community Children’s Center to Iron Table Holdings LLC, owned by local resident
and comedian Dave Chappelle. Though under different ownership, the lot remains
mostly the same today.
Also after that summer’s announcement, Antioch sold a parcel of land at the corner
of Livermore and East North College streets to the YS Senior Center for $300,000.
As the News wrote last December, the center aims to build and open a new facility
on the half-acre lot.
Then, in January, the college sold West Hall to the locally based Emerge Recovery
& Trade Initiative for $760,000. The organization, headquartered in the former
Greene County Career Center just outside of Yellow Springs, offers addiction
recovery programs and housing. The newly renovated West Hall now functions as a
men’s dormitory, with approximately 40 beds available for those in recovery.
The News plans to check in with Emerge in a forthcoming issue.
Last week, two tracts of land at the southernmost portion of Antioch College’s
campus — at the intersection of Allen and Corry streets — were listed for sale
online. One nine-acre tract was listed for $809,400 and the other, at four acres, was
listed for $481,000. Both are also zoned educational.
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surrounds The Antioch School, a portion of which is often used by the young
students, is no longer for sale. The News will follow up with local realtors in the
coming weeks about the status of the land.
As Creepingbear wrote in the college’s statement to the News this week, the sale of
the student union — as well as these other college-owned properties — is an effort
from Antioch to “right-size” the physical campus and “mirror the size of the current
student body while ensuring long-term financial stability.”
In a separate correspondence, Creepingbear said there are “about 130” students
currently enrolled at Antioch, noting that an exact headcount is difficult until the
college conducts its census in the fall.
Topics: Antioch College, Windsor Companies, apartments, housing
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