Fort Wright, KY (December 17th, 2025) - The City of Fort Wright, KY and the Jeff Wyler Automotive Family are pleased to announce DWSB, LLC, has purchased property located on Dixie Highway in Fort Wright, Kentucky on behalf of the Jeff Wyler Automotive Family who has plans to redevelop the real estate.

“We are proud to invest in the Northern Kentucky market with a redevelopment project coordinated with the City of Fort Wright” David Wyler said. “Our focus is to build a strong partnership with the leadership and citizens of both Fort Wright and Kenton County to build a first-class facility serving the NKY market.”

In March, Kenton County tapped the Catalytic Fund and Planning & Development Services of Kenton County to serve as expert advisors on the deployment of Kenton County's Redevelopment Funds. As part of that agreement, the Catalytic Fund, which has a proven track record of successful real estate investing in Northern Kentucky, vets city funding proposals to determine which projects stand to generate the maximum impact for residents. Formal proposals for Redevelopment Fund dollars must be submitted by a City’s Mayor, in consultation with its Legislative Body, with the City demonstrating its ability to provide a 10% match for any funding awarded. Eligible projects should generally be focused on property development – such as acquisition, renovation, site preparation, etc. – or right-of-way improvements that enhance the quality of life by ensuring safety and accessibility to all residents. Proposals that do not fall under these parameters can be shared and vetted with Planning and Development Services of Kenton County’s Community Development Department for potential eligibility or access to other funding opportunities. Previous Fund recipients include the Cities of Independence, Erlanger and Taylor Mill.

The Wyler Automotive Family's acquisition is leveraging Kenton County’s Redevelopment Fund for this initiative. The City of Fort Wright has been approved to receive $1.35 million from the Kenton County Fiscal Court, and the City also will provide a $150,000 contribution from a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District Fund the City created years ago to support redevelopment efforts along the Dixie Highway Corridor. These funds combined are a powerful tool to help with renovation, site preparation, right-of-way improvements and more.

“We’ve now invested resources from the Kenton County Redevelopment Fund in four projects, and each one helps bring meaningful projects to life,” Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann said. “Fort Wright sits at the center of several major County Corridors, and with these dollars, city leaders can leverage connectivity to spark new economic activity.”



“As a family-owned and operated dealership, we take immense pride in our decades of serving Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana,” said David Wyler, CEO of Wyler Automotive. “We value and love each of our customers and the communities they live in, and we take great pride in giving back to the folks that help make us successful. It is an honor, and a responsibility we do not take lightly.”

Mayor Dave Hatter, on behalf of City Council and the Fort Wright Community, expressed his gratitude to the Wyler Automotive Family and the Kenton County Fiscal Court for their ongoing support and their substantial investment in Fort Wright. "We have been working for years to make improvements to the Dixie Highway corridor so we are very excited about this redevelopment opportunity and the positive changes it will bring which include safety, aesthetics, jobs and revenue generation. We are grateful to Jeff Wyler Automotive Family and Kenton County for choosing to make a significant investment in our community, and we look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with both Kenton County and the Wyler Automotive Family on this exciting project that moves the City of Fort Wright and our region forward,” he said.

The specific use of the property has not been finalized yet but will most likely be associated with the retail luxury automotive industry. More details will be forthcoming in the new year.

About Jeff Wyler Automotive Family

In business since 1973, the Jeff Wyler Automotive Family is respected as a leader in the nation with innovation, being the first to offer the ability to buy a car online in the Midwest, to include the first 8 new vehicles sold completely online, an industry first. Wyler was also the first to accept crypto currency vehicle transactions, and is currently innovating with leveraging their first party data to build customer loyalty. The Wyler Auto Family has 23 locations, to include 4 auto malls and over 40 franchises. The Jeff Wyler Automotive Family sold over 49,000 new and used cars in 2024. The Wyler Family Foundation contributes more than $1 million annually to the communities it serves.

About City of Fort Wright

The City of Fort Wright is conveniently located in Kenton County, minutes from downtown Cincinnati and just 15 miles from the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. It is served by — and has easy access to — three major regional and national traffic arteries: interstates 75, 71 and 275. The Community is also prominently situated in Northern Kentucky, a booming area of three core county economic locales that comprise the fastest growing region in all of Kentucky and currently accounts for 60% of the growth in the Greater Cincinnati Metropolitan Region. It's population of 6,000 is comprised of various residential neighborhoods that offer convenient access to urban amenities. Fort Wright is also known as one of the most business-friendly cities in the Greater Cincinnati region, led by a Mayor, and City Council with a professional City Administrator. Fort Wright has some of the lowest payroll and occupational licensing taxes in the region, as well as, some of the lowest property tax rates our region has seen in more than a decade.

For more information please contact:

Kevin Frye, eCommerce Director

Jeff Wyler Automotive Family

kevin.frye@jeffwyler.com

Jill Cain Bailey, CAO

City of Fort Wright

jcbailey@fortwrightky.gov