Yellow Springs resident and comedian Dave Chappelle has purchased at least a portion of a 52-acre property on the south side of the village from Miamisburg-based Oberer Land Developers Ltd., which had planned to build a subdivision of houses on the land adjacent to Chappelle’s home.
Chappelle’s publicist, Carla Sims, verified in a phone call last week that Chappelle recently bought the Oberer land. Sims was unable to specify, however, if he had purchased the entirety of the property. Property information on the Greene County Auditor’s Geographic Information Systems website confirms that at least 19 acres of land previously part of Oberer’s development plans are now linked to Iron Table Holdings LLC, which is owned by Chappelle.
After multiple attempts to follow-up with Chappelle’s publicist for clarification and additional comment on the sale, Sims wrote in an email late Wednesday afternoon that she could provide no new information at that time.
Although every lot within the original 52-acre property is now owned by Spillan Rd LLC, as listed on the auditor’s website, the mailing addresses for the LLC vary.
The largest 33-acre parcel lists Spillan Rd LLC’s mailing address as 344 Newmark Drive, Miamisburg, Ohio — the same address as Oberer. Fifteen parcels, totaling 19 acres, show the mailing address of Spillan Rd LLC as PO Box 739, Yellow Springs — the same mailing address as Iron Table Holdings.
The auditor’s website shows the sale price of the 15 parcels as $1,715,000 — which is what Oberer paid for all 52 acres when the company purchased the land from Ken and Betheen Struewing in November 2020. However, it’s unclear what Chappelle has paid.
Oberer sought to develop the land to accommodate a residential neighborhood with at least 140 dwelling units. Last fall, in cooperation with Village staff, the company approached Village government to rezone the land from a mixed zoning status — largely featuring Residential-A zoning, which allows for only single-family units — to a planned unit development, or PUD. Under a PUD designation, a variety of dwelling units, such as townhomes, duplexes and single-family homes, are permitted. Additionally, an acre of land would have been donated to the Village to develop its own affordable housing.
