SWOH

Another update: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/liberty-twp-mega-retail-project-misses-another-dea/nd5nN/

Great news for downtown Hamilton. There is really a lot of positive momentum there. I can't wait to see it in 5-10 years.... http://www.journal-news.com/news/news/home-decor-shop-coming-to-downtown-hamilton/nd5h5/?ref=cbTopWidget ... with any luck, it will become the YP magnet community for people working in West Chester / Fairfield / Monroe, etc.

Thanks for the update SAF.

To the Apple discussion earlier - looks like the Greene will be getting an Apple store

They also don't own all of the land yet either... http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/02/24/steiner-still-needs-to-buy-land-for.html

Looks cool, hope it happens!

^ Ah, probably a xavier fan. :roll: UD Arena is the best college basketball facility in Ohio, and it's not even close. Apparently, the NCAA, ESPN and CBS agree. I would hate to see it go but there have been rumblings that a new facility closer to campus is an eventuality. As it is, it's a star in the college basketball world and the only place that I've ever heard get louder is Rupp Arena. And Dayton continues to get the First Four because the city embraces it and puts on a great show; it's more than just the arena. The games are sold out, despite most of the teams being from far-flung locations. Cincinnati can't sell out NFL playoff games, Reds games without thousands of visiting fans, UC football/basketball games, etc. The thought of Cincinnati selling out games featuring Boise State, Cal, Iona and Western Kentucky is laughable. Fifth Third Arena is a poorly designed shoebox ill-equipped for basketball and is incredibly annoying for casual fans to access. The Cintas Center is nothing more than the Nutter Center with blue seats - ugly as sin, dull and with a hideous cinderblock wall behind one of the baskets. Do they want to host basketball games or banquets? The Schott at OSU is a multipurpose monstrocity with no personality designed to accommodate hockey, which renders it as sterile and lifeless as most NBA arenas. Miami's Millett Hall is a cruel joke. BG, Cleveland State and Ohio have nice facilities. Ah, clearly a UD fan. ;) UD Arena is nice, but it is not the be-all end-all that some UD fans seems to think it is. Because of the construction you can't have certain must-haves in this day and age (like the video screen in the middle) and are stuck with the crappy video boards at the end. And there are some very nice seats, but the seats at the 400 level are WAAAAAY up there. And just based on the age, it's not going to have the modern stuff that you see elsewhere (practice courts, training facilities, etc.). I know from some recent discussions on UD message boards that the idea of a new arena is at least being bandied about for UD. Will be interesting to see if they do. They had better not be considering doing anything with UD Arena. It is the best basketball arena I know of at least. Give it a few more years, and I'm sure it could use a remodel, like any building, but it works great and looks great! Heck, it's even where Pres. Obama chose to take Prime Minister David Cameron when he came to America for a basketball game. The place has atmosphere..... lots of it. Now UD just needs to back it up with a quality team!

Beautiful shots and I like the thread name! Very creative

^hahahahaha Yep, I am a C-D person. I'd post more on UO (much more aligned with my perspective overall), but there isn't much discussion about Dayton here because the Dayton urban community as a whole is not very big (or vocal online, but there is an active community if you look hard enough in the city). I do occasionally post on Cincy topics here when I feel capable of adding to the discussion though, or whenever a Dayton topic comes up. As for the peasant, she has posted a reason on C-D why she doesn't post on here. Can't remember what it is at the time though.... And for Waynedale - from what I understand, it is how Huber Heights hides its Section 8 population. It is not connected to the rest of the original Huber development, and is rather isolated behind the Imperial Heights shopping center. Then again, Huber Heights is not a wealthy town, so any meth problem that exists likely spreads beyond that development itself. But meth is everywhere. I remember there was a meth lab directly across the street from my high school that was busted probably about 8 years ago... funniest part was that none of us even knew there was a meth lab across the street! (they kept to themselves and us high schoolers must not have been in their target market).

Sorry, just looking through this thread with today's update (Great news on the News-Sun building!) and saw this above. Some reasons why Austin Blvd. have been a failure so far are 1. It's very retail-heavy. It was supposed to be nearly 100% commercial and entertainment, now as far as land area goes it is about 40% retail 2. Few NEW jobs created. Most were just poached from somewhere else in the Miami valley. 3. Development is not progressing as quickly as expected (the benchmark in this case is Union Centre) 4. The entertainment aspect is gone (not that I'm complaining - Dayton has too many suburban entertainment venues already) 5. The exit is more of a local draw rather than a regional (Cin-Day) draw. Again the benchmark here is Union Centre.

Dayton has an Apple store at the Greene... it's called MacTown. Same basic feel as an Apple store. I didn't even know the difference until I Googled to provide a link to show the store existed and saw it was a MacTown instead. So probably an Apple store in Dayton is not likely to happen in the future so long as MacTown exists. http://www.thegreene.com/tenants/mactown.aspx (and honestly, I suspect the end result at Liberty will be a MacTown too). I could imagine the target tenants would have to place this center above Bridgewater, because Bridgewater's tenant portfolio already operates along Tylersville and Cox roads. And Union Centre has been going for more destination retailers, like IKEA, Bass Pro, etc. rather than being a strong traditional retail player itself. So I can see that this development will have to solidify the "nice" market (as in, not super-luxury, but luxury on par with Macy's and Dillard's). So basically The Greene - south is what I'm reading. SAF, I do wish you would answer this question: ... or at least consider it since I assume you do have a connection with the development larger than just a mere interest on UO. A pedestrian bridge linking the Liberty Center across OH 129 could really make this development a lot more accessible and walkable. Think about all of the Cincinnati Children's workers who may want to pop over the bridge quickly to pick up a few things before they went home or all of the Lakota teens with discretionary income to spend in the late afternoon. That's a decent market and from a design perspective could really set this development apart from other lifestyle centers.

Agreed, but probably the reason is because most visitors are not very adventurous. For instance, imagine the traditional trip to Disney World... plenty of their visitors never even leave the park grounds itself! And the list goes on.... how many tourists go and check out Queens while they are in New York unless they know someone there? etc. What is important is to have these "showplace" locations to draw people into the area, and back it up with developments that truly enhance the quality of life for residents. The Banks, ideally, would make a great "showplace", a place for outsiders to come, visit, experience, and love so that they then decide to try out other areas of Cincinnati. Those suburbanites referenced earlier? I bet before the Banks existed they hopped in their car the second the game was over and went back to wherever they were from. Now they linger and spend money downtown. Maybe after a while they will decide to even adventure across FWW into downtown itself, then maybe even consider buying a place within city limits. And that's how it starts.... baby steps to get people outside of their comfort zones...

^We do.... Premier Health Partners is the Dayton area equivalent. In fact, they even purchased the former 5/3 tower in Dayton when 5/3 bought the Arcade Tower. Only downside was they vacated 40 W. Fourth in the process (although IMO 40 W. Fourth is the easiest and most logical residential conversion in the city). And in addition, Dayton has Caresource, one of the nation's largest medicaid insurance providers. They moved their corporate HQ to Dayton from Virginia, built a beautiful new building, and now are rumored to be requesting Project Elwood, which would add another new 250k sq. ft. to their existing office footprint. ___________ Back to Promedica... this is amazing! A great re-use strategy for this beautiful building. Toledo's downtown is absolutely beautiful, and I can't wait to see the added vibrancy with another 700 office workers downtown (not including the fact that hopefully at least 50-100 of them will decide to move downtown too!)

I like the aesthetics of this development a lot better with the new renderings. Thanks for the updates ColDayMan!

Looks like this might be back online: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/riverfront-condo-tower-reapproved-by-city/nc6P5/ And I don't think it was linked before, but here is the project website. If their financials they posted are correct, it looks like it is pretty solid http://thevisionatriversedge.com/

^Apparently Mike Brown does

They are increasing the amount of office space at the site by 133%. 700k sq. ft. of office now instead of 300k sq. ft of office. That's a big difference, and the difference has to be made up somewhere.

Maybe good news for making this into a more walkable development? Oakley Square to add 400,000 sq. ft. of office space http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/morning_call/2014/01/oakley-station-to-add-400000-square.html?page=all

Elder-Beerman to consolidate stores in Beavercreek http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2014/01/17/elder-beerman-to-consolidate-stores-in.html

And now the David building conversion is coming back online again, hoping it happens! http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/blog/morning_call/2014/01/renovations-to-begin-on-downtown.html

The bridge is not being replaced. A second (new) bridge is being built beside it. Ah. I have not been following this issue closely enough - I just thought they were going to build a new bridge next to the Brent Spence for the sole purpose of not interrupting the traffic flow once they would demolish the Brent Spence. In that case why do they need another bridge if the Daniel Carter Beard is under capacity right now? Seems like the easy solution is to just toll the Brent Spence and not build a new bridge - discourage people from taking the easy route, and make them take the difficult route instead.

For the sake of any logistics, transportation, or distribution industries in the entire tri-state region this needs to happen. And KY needs to foot at least 3/4 of the bill, somehow. I'm just as against sprawl as anyone, but the bridge is outdated and needs to be replaced. This area can't keep pleading poverty all the time. Either invest in infrastructure or die. End of story.

Has All Aboard Ohio announced a position on this yet? A collaboration between them and Ryan Messer to articulate a good alternative transit strategy to this could be really powerful.

Assuming that's true, which I think it is, we should really push hard for the Oasis Line, regardless of how uneconomical it might be. If they're going to force an interstate through there one way or another, then make them pay for the privilege by supplying a rail line for those that want it. Yep, that will be key. I'm willing to bet the Oasis line is a front so ODOT can claim they "considered alternatives". And they have the perfect opportunity to swoop in after the Streetcar dust settled. So... probably the best course of action is to fill out that survey in favor of responsible transit. And get others to do it too. Especially people in Madisonville, Mariemont, and Newtown. If the Oasis line gets enough popular support, then ODOT will have to eat their tactic and build the line. If not... they win.

^Makes sense, but if I remember correctly I-74 will utilize OH 32 from I-275 out through southern Ohio. If Red Bank Expy. is factored into the new I-74, that would mean the highway would somehow have to pass right along the Little Miami River south of Mariemont, and tie into 32 east of Newtown. I could see how it could be done, but it seems politically impossible from an environmental perspective (can't imagine the EIS that proposal would have) and a social perspective with Mariemont due north. Maybe the Eastern corridor rail is being pursued as an alternative to that.