By Jennifer Edwards
The Cincinnati Enquirer

WEST CHESTER TWP. - Two luxury car dealerships, another hotel and more restaurants and retail shops are pouring into Union Centre Boulevard as a commercial building boom shows no signs of letting up.

Construction begins this week on a Volvo dealership at Union Centre and Muhlhauser Road, and work is expected to start soon on a Mercedes-Benz dealership nearby.

But all the growth comes at a hefty cost: roads and water lines will need millions of dollars in improvements over the next several years, county officials warned township trustees this week.

The money most likely will come out of tax revenues generated by the new development for many years to come.

"The car dealerships represent another brick in our growing foundation of industries here in West Chester," Trustee Catherine Stoker said. "These are the kinds of problems most communities wish they had.

"We will set priorities and ensure that we have revenue flow to accomplish these important improvements," she said. "These are improvements we have to make to accommodate the dramatic increase in commercial development in this area."

A 30,000-square-foot Mercedes dealership and a 25,000-square-foot Volvo store are expected to open by March or April south of the Union Centre Boulevard/Muhlhauser Road intersection. Both dealerships are expected to generate millions each year in vehicle sales.

Other high-end car dealerships are expected to emerge south of the intersection soon.

"The demographics and population growth in West Chester are the strongest in town for particularly high-line products," said Bill Woeste, owner of Volvo of Cincinnati and other dealerships on Beechmont Avenue in Hamilton County.

Meanwhile, another large hotel will rise near Uno's restaurant just south of Union Centre and Muhlhauser. Though developers are mum on the tenant, township officials say they have been told it likely will be a Hyatt.

Another new sit-down restaurant - the latest in a long line to open in the past year - will be announced in September. And plans are being made for two new retail centers along Union Centre Boulevard just west of Muhlhauser. Dana Hackney, president and general manager of Mercedes-Benz of Cincinnati in Sycamore Township, received West Chester trustees' approval late Tuesday for a tax incentive.

He will be permitted to use about $500,000 from tax increment financing, or a TIF, set up in the area to pay for a traffic signal at Union Centre and Floer Drive and to extend the existing Schulze Drive for the dealership and development of future projects.

Tax increment financing uses property taxes generated by developments to pay for infrastructure improvements.

Also at Tuesday's trustees meeting, Butler County Engineer Greg Wilkens cautioned leaders that $7.8 million is needed over the next several years for new turn lanes and additional driving lanes on Union Centre and Muhlhauser to improve traffic flow. The area has grown congested more quickly than officials anticipated.

The busiest stretch, Union Centre between Muhlhauser and Interstate-75, saw nearly 43,000 vehicles a day during the last traffic count, in March, according to the engineer's office. Capacity in that area is 40,000 vehicles per day.

"If something isn't done, it's going to be a Tylersville," said Matt Loeffler, a county traffic engineer, referring to West Chester's Tylersville Road, one of the most congested arteries in Greater Cincinnati.

Tony Parrott, director of Butler County Department of Environmental Services,asked trustees Tuesday for $1.3 million as soon as possible to replace several old, failing water mains in the Union Centre area.

E-mail jedwards@enquirer.com