buildingcincinnati

New medical office building for Norwood Building Cincinnati, 11/9/07 Rendering from Colliers Turley Martin Tucker A new medical office building is coming to the Montgomery Road corridor. Pre-leasing has begun on the project at 2064 Lawrence Avenue, between Montgomery Road and Walter Avenue. The new construction will be somewhere around 20,000 square feet with rents of $13.50-$14.75 per square foot. The land had previously been zoned for residential use. Construction is expected some time next year. WINDOWS LIVE BIRD'S EYE VIEW GOOGLE AERIAL MAP http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2007/11/new-medical-office-building-for-norwood.html

Here are 18 photos of Mount Washington and Anderson Township that I took on October 29. Mount Washington Beechmont Avenue 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Dead to the street. Thanks, Kroger. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Anderson Township 16. 17. Anderson Center, u/c 18. Too pretty.

Seneca Place kickoff in Austinburg today Building Cincinnati, 11/8/07 Sketch courtesy of CityKin Modular homes will meet foundations today as the Seneca Place project takes shape in Covington's Austinburg neighborhood. The Center for Great Neighborhoods of Covington will hold a special presentation at 9 AM as two new modular homes are built at 522 and 524 Thomas Street. Work will continue all day as sections of the homes are lifted by crane and attached to their foundations. Refreshments will be served at the Kentucky Livery, Thomas Street and Oakland Avenue. The homes are part of 12 planned for the development. All will have three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a full basement and off-street parking. Both of the models offered are Energy Star rated. This is the first new construction in Austinburg in decades and it is hoped that they will help boost the neighborhood's relatively low homeownership rate. Project partners include the City of Covington, LISC, Phoenix Building Solutions, Superior Walls and Huff Realty. Thanks to Mike at CityKin, who posted about this project last week. WINDOWS LIVE BIRD'S EYE VIEW GOOGLE AERIAL MAP http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2007/11/seneca-place-kickoff-in-austinburg.html

Because I'm far to lazy to post the whole thing (lots of images), here's the block-by-block breakdown that I posted on my blog: http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2007/11/banks-block-by-block.html The City has all of the agreements posted here: http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/pages/-17503-/

Reading to accept bids for Nivison-Weiskopf demolition Building Cincinnati, 11/7/07 The City of Reading will soon be accepting bids for the demolition and environmental remediation of the former Nivison-Weiskopf complex. In late October, Councilmember Robert Ashbrock said that the city planned to advertise for bids on October 31, with a bid opening on November 15. A public notice for the bids has not yet been posted. The 11.7-acre site contains 155,000 square feet of buildings, a third of which are structurally unsafe. Site assessment also revealed petroleum in the groundwater near the rail loading dock and in the area around the rail corridor. Petroleum contaminant and PC has also been detected in the soil. For remediation, the city recently applied for a $200,000 U.S. EPA Brownfields Petroleum Cleanup Grant. The rest of the estimated $262,000 in remediation costs will be supplemented with a Job Ready Sites Grant and local funds. Total cleanup and demolition costs for the entire site are estimated at just over $3.5 million. The land will likely be used for a much-needed expansion of the 59-acre Reading Life Sciences Complex, a research and technology park housing 1,000 jobs and comprised of the Genome Research Institute of the University of Cincinnati, Girindus America, and Patheon Pharmaceuticals. Girindus America has already said it would like to acquire 20,000 square feet of new lab space and to create 85 new jobs. The former director of UC's Genome Research Institute estimates that the Nivison-Weiskopf site could support 100,000 square feet of new lab and office space at a cost of about $50 million, with about 400 jobs created and $15 million-$20 million in increased payroll. Reading has lost 26 percent of its businesses in the last five years. To facilitate the business park expansion, a research and development zone was created for the site and for several adjacent properties on Fourth Street in September. The city would like to have demolition work completed by July 2008. Nivison-Weiskopf manufactured glass bottles in the facility between the early 1900s and the 1990s. The property has been vacant since the city purchased it in 2006. http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2007/11/reading-to-accept-bids-for-nivison.html

Keystone Parke photo update, 11/3/07 Building Cincinnati, 11/6/07 Structural work continues on the first of three office buildings for Keystone Parke in Evanston. Pictured here is a four-story, 69,000-square-foot office building at the corner of Dana and Realistic avenues, adjacent to I-71. At buildout, Keystone Park will also include a 10-story, 240,000-square-foot office building with restaurant and retail space; a 7-story, 160,000-square-foot office building; and improvements to Evanston Playfield. http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2007/11/keystone-parke-photo-update-11307.html

CarMax could fill AutoNation site Building Cincinnati, 11/6/07 The vacant AutoNation lot in Forest Park could become the new site of a CarMax sales center. More than $10 million in acquisition and renovation costs would add an extra 36,000 square feet to the main showroom which would house a state-of-the-art service center. The 28-acre site near Cincinnati Mills currently has 60,000 square feet of building space and room for 1,000 cars. They plan on opening in early 2009 and could bring 100 full-time and 20 part-time jobs. The sales center would maintain an inventory of 500 cars. This site is one of two local AutoNation sites that CarMax plans to redevelop. The other site is on Waterstone Boulevard in Deerfield Township. A $60 million hotel, conference center and water park had been proposed for the site last August. While the water park idea has been dropped, the a business hotel is still on the table--likely for another site along the Winton Road corridor. Forest Park City Council could vote on the proposal November 19. The CarMax proposal has already been approved by city staff and the City Planning Commission. CarMax, which is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is the largest retailer of used vehicles in the United States with 85 superstores in 38 markets. WINDOWS LIVE BIRD'S EYE VIEW GOOGLE AERIAL MAP http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2007/11/carmax-could-fill-autonation-site.html

OTR Foundation: Why it is the wrong time for the Banks Building Cincinnati, 11/6/07 Although the agreements for the Banks have been signed, there is always room for discussion. On October 29, the Cincinnati Enquirer featured a story about a letter it received from Over-the-Rhine Foundation Executive Director Michael Morgan, in which Morgan argued that the Banks project would hurt redevelopment efforts in his neighborhood. While the article was generally fair, Morgan believes that it failed to address the positive visions of development that were offered in the letter. Morgan sent a copy of the letter to Building Cincinnati and notes that it addresses sustainable development and lessons learned from other cities. In the interest of presenting many different perspectives, the synopsis will be posted here. A link to the full letter can be found at the end of this post. WHY IT IS THE WRONG TIME AND PROJECT FOR THE BANKS: Synopsis 1. Cities across America are facing huge lawsuits by developers because construction projects have been halted or delayed due to funding glitches. The current Banks proposal calls for moving forward with a project that could cost $1-billion without secure funding. This leaves the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County open to potentially catastrophic liabilities. 2. The City of Cincinnati currently lacks sufficient revenue to maintain its infrastructure and existing programs. Any “new” tax revenue sources are already needed to run and maintain the city. We do not have an “extra” $27-million. We need to properly fund our infrastructure, parks, schools, and encourage sustainable investment in our existing neighborhoods. 3. What is the projected, net economic benefit of the Banks? There is no reason to believe that this proposed project will have ANY positive economic impact. The Central Business District, Over-the-Rhine, and dozens of other business districts throughout the city have vacant retail space. There is no reason to believe that additional retail space will benefit rather than harm the business community and the regional economy. 4. This project will impede existing efforts to revitalize Downtown, Over-the-Rhine, Uptown, the West End, Northside, and Price Hill. These areas already vie for scarce resources and are full of vacant buildings that could be turned into marketable apartments and residential units if they could only acquire the political will and financial support. Funneling $1-billion of public and private resources to build a new neighborhood will starve the existing ones – especially those in the urban core struggling to rebuild. 5. The money would be better invested in restoration of existing buildings. Historic preservation and restoration creates more jobs, more revenue, and more wealth than new construction. (See page 5) In addition, the existence and demolition of vacant buildings is costing the city millions of dollars a year, plus the indirect costs of crime and blight. 6. It is unwise to create financial priorities that will divert more investment away from the things that stimulate economic growth and draw people to the city. Arts organizations, cultural events, and festivals are crucial economic stimuli. They’re also what most people in the region value most about Cincinnati. However, they are currently struggling from serious budget cuts. The Banks will exacerbate the loss of jobs and business that will result from more arts funding cuts. (See page 4.) 7. Hamilton County would have a more dramatic impact and produce a greater return by investing in a holistic system for social service delivery and de-concentrating poverty. A recent Harvard study shows that modest policy changes can produce 200% increases in property values in struggling areas. Such an investment would benefit the entire region and produce hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars of increased tax revenues without raising taxes. (See page 6.) 8. Targeted investments in key neighborhoods would also improve the quality of life in the city, decrease our expenses, and increase tax revenue without raising taxes. Proper investment in Over-the-Rhine, for example, could realistically produce over $8,000,000 a year in additional real estate taxes, plus tens-of-millions more in sales tax, businesses taxes, and increased tourism. (See page 8.) 9. The Banks will do nothing to make us “a destination.” Nobody travels to a city because it has an Applebee’s in a new storefront. Tourism is driven by the things that make cities culturally, architecturally, and historically unique. Tourism is driven by what sets you apart, not what makes you like every suburb in America. 10. We are failing to learn lessons from other cities and our own past. As a recent Brookings Institute study notes: “Too often, cities’ economic development policies are more about chasing after the latest fads than strategically developing and implementing plans that capitalize on their unique assets…The proliferation of stadium and convention center building over the past 15 years illustrates this trend. Even with hard evidence that such projects rarely pay the expected dividends, city leaders continue to pursue them.” Cities fall into an “any development is better than nothing” trap. “Whether due to a genuine hope that they will beat the odds, a desire for short-term (e.g. political-cycle) returns, or simply a lack of imagination, these types of practices allow local governments to avoid the real challenges associated with fueling economic growth that is robust, sustainable, and inclusive – challenges that they must overcome.” (See page 4.) For more information, contact the Over-the-Rhine Foundation at: [email protected], (513) 721-1317, or at 1317 Main St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. The OTR Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to protecting Over-the-Rhine’s historic architecture, preserving and promoting its rich history and cultural heritage, and encouraging policies that support responsible development and growth. Read the entire letter on Scribd http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2007/11/otr-foundation-why-it-is-wrong-time-for.html

I actually misspelled it...it was SupeRx. Kroger did own them for a short time in the 1980s. Kroger also owned the Sav-on chain--many of their stores were a combination of both. I remember the Kroger Sav-on at Pleasant and Nilles in Fairfield, for example. Athens has a SupeRx up into the early 1990s. I remember shopping there when I started college in 1992.

Beautiful. I just love those pedestrian streets.

Eh....

They can't replace Rupp fast enough for me! I'm digging those condo projects.

Most beautiful. Not. But it is quite pretty.

LOL...

Interesting. I've never been to Waverly before.

What the hell is this garbage? Corner killers! :(

I remember eating at Woolworth's. Good times. Here are a couple more: Rink's Drug Emporium SuperX

I join everyone else on here in saying that I'm glad to hear that everything went according to plan. And I hope this forum helps quell some of the boredom that comes with long periods of recovery!

It's amazing that they expect people to decipher that while driving.

^ Nope. Condos only.

Welcome, Greenville!

Just a reminder...please remember to put the city name in the thread title.

Columbus ass. Great set, Rando!

Great buildings shots!

^ Those are supposed to be two upscale restaurant spaces with outdoor dining, flanking a large are of public greenspace. This was put on this block to address Freedom Center concerns about what kind of business might locate adjacent to the center.