Liberty Center’s next wave of apartments is still stuck at the starting line, but the clock is no longer ticking down. On June 2, Liberty Township trustees voted to extend zoning approval for the second phase of a planned 264-unit, $76.2 million apartment expansion at the mixed-use complex, keeping the project alive while a long-discussed hotel partner remains unsigned.
The move preserves the developer’s Preliminary Planned Unit Development (PUD) approval without locking in a construction start date. For now, it simply buys more time as Liberty Center’s managers hunt for financing, design sign-offs, and, crucially, a hotel operator.
Trustees formalize extension
The Board adopted Resolution No. 2026-040, which sets a new expiration date of June 6, 2029, for the Preliminary PUD Plan for Case ZC23-009. According to the Liberty Township meeting agenda, trustees concluded the previously approved plan still lines up with the township’s comprehensive vision and that the developer had made a reasonable effort to move the project forward under the original deadline.
What the expansion would include
The second phase calls for about 264 luxury apartments on a nearly 4.7-acre site within Liberty Center, at an estimated cost of roughly $76.2 million, following the first phase of 238 units that opened in 2015. Those figures were reported by the Cincinnati Business Courier.
The project has already secured $7.6 million in state tax credits through Ohio’s Transformational Mixed-Use Development Program, according to the Dayton Daily News, positioning the Liberty Center expansion as one of the region’s more heavily supported mixed-use housing plays.
Hotel still unsigned
The 2023 approval tied the apartments to a companion 145-room hotel, a key piece meant to feed off and feed into Liberty Center’s retail and entertainment mix. So far, though, no hotel operator has been publicly announced…