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LIBERTY TWP. — A plan submitted by a town center developer this week shows a proposed $200 million to $250 million project near Interstate 75.

The tentatively named "Liberty Town Square" mixed-use project would be constructed on 110 acres between Ohio 129 and Hamilton-Mason Road, just west of I-75, said Mike Duffey, spokesman for Columbus-based Steiner + Associates.

The plan includes a retail shops, "tablecloth" restaurants, bars, two hotels, a movie theater, offices, "pocket parks" and more than 250 luxury apartments, said Duffey.

That conceptual master plan submitted Tuesday, May 20, also includes a convention and conference center, a bowling alley, and a health club and fitness center. Steiner hopes the development will create "a gathering space" for residents in and near Liberty Twp., Duffey said.

"This township completely lacks something of a downtown, urban nature where you can live, work and play in one environment," he said. "We think it will be a regional draw for the area and a strong economic engine for Butler County."

Trustee Christine Matacic said resident input influenced the township's economic development vision for the area.

"We're taking some of the ideas our residents are saying they would like to see and, when we are (in) discussions with some of these developers, we'll bounce them off and sometimes they stick and this one stuck," she said.

Local developers Brian Brockhoff, George Flynn, Bob Hutsenpiller and Miller-Valentine Group already own a 10-acre portion of the site and 100 acres are under contract, said Brian Copfer, Miller-Valentine's vice president of development services.

The town center's first phase is expected to include 1.2 million square feet of development and would take about 18 months to complete if the plan clears all the necessary zoning hurdles, Duffey said. .

He said it was "too premature" to talk about possible tenants for the site.

A request to rezone the property to business planned unit development will be scheduled to go before the Butler County Planning Commission and the Liberty Twp. Zoning Commission next month, he said.

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