DAYTON, Ohio — The Charles F. Kettering Foundation is coming back downtown. The foundation announced it has purchased the historic Waitman Building at 401 E. Fifth Street in Dayton’s Oregon District, where it plans to establish its new headquarters by fall 2028, according to the foundation’s announcement.
The move brings the organization back to downtown, where it began, as it approaches its second century of work, the foundation said. The new headquarters will sit closer to the civic, cultural, nonprofit, community and academic partners whose knowledge and experience inform its work, and will create a more accessible setting for collaboration and convening with partners from Dayton and beyond, according to the foundation.
The foundation was founded in 1927 by inventor and civic leader Charles F. Kettering, and has deep roots in Dayton’s legacy of innovation, experimentation and civic leadership, the foundation said. Today it works to advance inclusive democracy by fostering civic engagement, promoting government accountability and countering authoritarianism in the United States and around the world, according to its announcement.
“Dayton has always been central to the foundation’s identity, even as the reach of our work has grown nationally and globally,” Sharon L. Davies, the foundation’s president and CEO, said in the foundation’s announcement. “Moving downtown gives us an opportunity to be more present and accessible in our home city, deepen relationships with local partners, and create a place where ideas and experiences from Dayton can connect with conversations about democracy happening across the country and around the world.”
The Waitman Building will be renovated to support the foundation’s evolving work, with space for staff as well as convenings, programs and collaboration with partners, the foundation said. The move takes the foundation from its current campus on Commons Road, where it experienced substantial growth, to a four-story historic building in the Oregon District — Dayton’s best-known historic entertainment and residential neighborhood.
“The foundation board strongly supports this move downtown as Kettering prepares for its second century,” board chair Sherry Magill said in the foundation’s announcement. “It’s an investment in the future of the foundation, in our relationships with partners, and in Dayton’s continuing importance to Kettering’s work.”
What happens next: the Waitman Building will be renovated, and the foundation plans to establish its headquarters there by fall 2028, according to the foundation. The purchase price was not disclosed in the announcement.