Cygnus

Carol Ann’s Carousel a showcase on Cincinnati’s front porch: ​SLIDESHOW Chris Wetterich - Staff reporter and columnist - Cincinnati Business Courier Carol Ann’s Carousel, funded largely by the Ralph V. and Carol Ann Haile/U.S. Bank Foundation, is set to open at Smale Riverfront Park on Carol Ann’s birthday – May 16. The 42 hand-carved animals on the carousel and artwork depicting local iconic places that adorns the building’s facade are finished and in place. Jonathan Queen, a Cincinnati artist, created the 16 scenes that are displayed. Click on the image to the right to see the animals and artwork close up. The Haile/U.S. Bank Foundation funded the carousel as a part of its signature gift honoring Carol Ann Haile, the foundation’s CEO, Tim Maloney, told me late last year. Cont

Downtown building for sale as condo plan fades A new owner may have the opportunity to redevelop the Ingalls Building in Downtown Cincinnati. The 6 E. Fourth St. building is up for sale after its current owner – New York-based real estate investment firm Claremont Group – decided to end a plan to convert the property's office space into condominiums. There is a call for offers posted on the 16-story, 112-year-old building and its owner is seeking replies by June 1, said Jennifer Donathan, an agent with KW Commercial Group. Donathan and Steve Penker of KW Commercial Group are listing the property and they say there's no minimum bid on the property. Cont

Main and Court intersection scheduled for this weekend. Walnut and Third scheduled the following weekend. Quick & dirty:

Streetcar comment investigation: No charges Councilman Christopher Smitherman, who alerted police to the comment, told The Enquirer he would not press charges.

East End Cafe's roof has partially collapsed per @CincyFireEMS:

Kroger buys big chunk of DunnhumbyUSA, changes name Kroger Co. has acquired the majority of Cincinnati-based DunnhumbyUSA, the data analysis firm that has provided it with valuable customer insight. Kroger is keeping the people and technology behind the “secret sauce” that analysts say gives Kroger an edge over competitors, Kroger spokesman Keith Dailey said. The new firm, to being operation on Monday, will change its name to 84.51°. That signifies the longitudinal coordinate of the new Dunnhumby building opening soon downtown at Sixth and Race streets. The building will change its name from Dunnhumby Centre to 84.51°. Cincinnati-based Kroger (NYSE: KR), the nation’s largest operator of traditional supermarkets, will retain 500 of 700 DunnhumbyUSA employees. Those people now work for 84.51° and will operate from the new downtown building. The companies didn’t disclose financial terms of the deal. Stuart Aitken, who ran DunnhumbyUSA, is now CEO of the new 84.51°. Cont

From this Cincinnati: State of Downtown post: "Now, two of Winegardner & Hammons' seven hotel projects under development are in Downtown Cincinnati – an Autograph Collection planned at the former Anna Louise Inn near Lytle Park and an AC Hotel at The Banks. A formal announcement of The Banks hotel is pending a final agreement with Hamilton County, which Conway said is in the final stages of negotiations."

How long can Downtown hotel boom continue? Downtown Cincinnati is seeing its biggest hotel development boom since the 1980s. Five new hotels have opened since 2011, ending a nearly 30-year drought since the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati started serving guests in 1984. Now, hoteliers are adding three more Downtown hotels as two new Northern Kentucky river city hotels are being developed. The aggressive addition of rooms without increasing room demand is forcing owners to consider changes – or face a fate similar to that of the now shuttered Terrace Plaza hotel. "Any time there's new competition coming into the neighborhood, it makes you sharpen your pencil and bring your A-game," said Mick Douthat, general manager and sales director for the Garfield Suites Hotel, where its owner is considering a multimillion dollar renovation. Cont

Cynical Cranley wanted to see this project die simply because the Martins supported the streetcar.

Speaking of retail along that stretch, Murray Brothers Candy Store closed sometime in February. :cry:

The Open Container "discussion" has been moved to the appropriate thread: Ohio Outdoor Refreshment Areas (Open Container Districts)

Disappointing... EXCLUSIVE: Why Eden Park's brewery project is likely kaput Chris Wetterich - Staff reporter and columnist - Cincinnati Business Courier Under its lease with the city, Brewery X, the $5.2 million microbrewery and taproom project set to be built in a dilapidated old pump station in Eden Park is supposed to be complete by Dec. 31. Construction hasn’t started and probably won’t ever begin for several reasons, including the city’s insistence that it maintain ownership over the pump station, said Jack Martin, co-proprietor of the project. A change in IRS rules and Brewery X’s inability to modify the terms of a state grant also played a role in the project’s likely demise, Martin said. Mayor John Cranley and Councilman Kevin Flynn, who led the charge to keep city ownership of the site, reject the notion that doing so helped lead to the deal’s death. They suggest Martin could restructure his deal or seek more deep-pocketed investors. Cont

Exclusive: CVG courts airlines in Japan Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport officials have been in Japan this week recruiting two of Asia's largest airlines, The Enquirer has learned. CVG's executives were scheduled to meet with Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways – potentially paving the way for new nonstop flights to a popular global business region for Greater Cincinnati companies. There are no guarantees either airline is coming to Cincinnati, and it's probably a long-shot for CVG to grow direct international flights. The airport's officials are working on a long-term plan in preparation for life after Delta Air Lines in the coming years. Cont

Streetcar supporters want more frequent stops Cincinnati's streetcar should make more frequent stops at each Downtown and Over-the-Rhine station than is currently proposed. That's what some of the streetcar's most loyal supporters said Monday night during a meeting to allow the public to weigh in on the proposed ticket prices and service plan. Longtime supporters John Schneider and Margo Warminski told SORTA officials that they want to see the streetcar make station stops every 10 minutes – two to five minutes more often than Metro's current proposal. Cont

In the Business Courier article Friday Chris Wetterich wrote "The city has yet to reach a final agreement with Norfolk Southern to buy the rights to the Wasson Way line. The Cincinnati City Council would have to approve its purchase." Evidently a deal was reached Thursday but is not ready to be announced per a person connected with the Madisonville contengent of the Wasson Way Project.

I blame jmecklenborg[/member] for my opening of the IHeartRadio app on my phone for the first time this year... Stumbled upon this interesting discussion from the April 1st episode of the Brian Thomas Morning Show (63:50 - 66:30). Caller Richard explained that he is an outside utility contractor who worked last Spring on Duke's move of their West End substation for the Brent Spence replacement project. Included in this was the move of a 1900 foot 138 kV transmission line that is immersed in oil. He broke it down further stating that this 1900 foot line was actually 3 individual cables that were pulled into a 9 inch pipe and then filled with oil. All at the cost of $1.5m. Now what I didn't find clear was if this was an actual move or a retirement of the old and installation of a new. Duke's Phase 1b estimate includes nearly $8m for "retirement of existing Pipe Type equipment" in Vine St. Richard was trying to make the point, and Brian was buying it, that 1900 feet at $1.5m is a drop in the bucket compared to the 1.2 miles needed for the streetcar extension. Wonder if either knows how many feet are in a mile...

I've had my Left Hand stainless steel growler filled all around Cincinnati (Rhinegeist, Moerlein Lager House, 50W, MadTree, Blank Slate, Ei8ht Ball). Brewers tend to respect each other. Also, selling a customer one growler at ≈$10 vs. losing that customer altogether for not filling a 3rd parties growler is asinine.

News flash: We’re building a streetcar David Mann, vice mayor, Cincinnati Supporters and opponents of the streetcar have debated this issue at length across multiple election cycles, in many City Council meetings, and in daily conversation in person and online. In December 2013, City Council finally put that debate to bed. We paused, we reviewed, and we chose to move forward. The consequences, monetary and otherwise, of terminating the project at that point were absolutely unacceptable. By most accounts, preparation for the streetcar opening in September 2016 is going well. Our project leaders are working around the clock to deliver this project on time and under budget. Citizens who spend time in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine have seen the rails put into the ground, new stations erected, and development sprouting up all over the line. Later this year, the city will receive its first streetcar vehicles, and soon after, those vehicles will begin running on our streets. Cont

Can't believe they survived the winter. Not surprised they waited until after opening week to close.

A friend visited Russian River a few weeks back and snapped the pic below. This is the first time I've seen a brewery stipulate that they only fill their own growlers (lower right of pic). Anyone else every hear of this? Of the probably 35 breweries in OH, CA, CO, and KY that I've visited, none were so pompous. Although based on word of mouth, it is not surprising Russian River would do this.

And wasn't Garfield Suites going to be converted to a DoubleTree by Hilton?

Wild. I've always thought they were one in the same. Thanks.

AC lands at the Anna Louise Inn Redevelopment

Streetcar team details more complete cost estimate for 2013 pause Chris Wetterich - Staff reporter and columnist - Cincinnati Business Courier The cost of pausing the Cincinnati streetcar project for nearly three weeks in December 2013 could exceed $2 million, depending on what kind of deal the city can strike with its consultant on the manufacturing of streetcar vehicles. Under questioning from council’s transportation committee, the city’s streetcar team said it is negotiating an overrun payment to its consultant in Elmira, N.Y., where the vehicles are being made. The vehicles will be delayed six months from the original schedule. The streetcar team’s conservative estimate is that the consultant could have to be paid $1 million, but it is continuing to negotiate that amount, and it could be less. That payment would bring the cost of the three-week pause to more than $2 million, which would come out of the project’s $9.7 million contingency fund. The city already has spent $1 million because of the City Council’s decision to delay the project. Cont

Marriott’s Autograph Collection hotel coming to downtown Tom Demeropolis - Senior Staff Reporter - Cincinnati Business Courier A new-to-Cincinnati upscale hotel brand is planned to open in the former Anna Louise Inn in downtown Cincinnati. Mario San Marco, president of Eagle Realty Group, said the former Anna Louise Inn building will be transformed into an Autograph Collection hotel. He declined to discuss additional details about the project at this point, as Eagle Realty, the real estate arm of Western & Southern Financial Group, is working on the redevelopment of the building. As the Business Courier has previously reported, Western & Southern CEO John Barrett has said the plan was to bring a high-end Marriott hotel to the site. Officials with Marriott were not immediately available for comment. Cont