Brutus_buckeye

^its very right and very fair. The question comes down to one simple thing which is how bad do you want a downtown supermarket? That has been the big complaint from downtown residents much of the last 20 years. It has been cited by numerous people that without a grocery store, we cannot sustain downtown development. Without a grocery store, the streetcar cannot thrive, without a grocery store xyz cannot occur. So if it is that important of a catalyst to the city, then you do everything you can to get it, including subsidizing free parking, because in the end, it leads to more downtown residents and more people who will use the store, which leads to more people who ride the streetcar and take advantage of other amenities.

^ If you want a vibrant urban market you have to cater to what the customers want and not force them to look for other options. Kroger wants to make it easy for their customers, and if free parking is what is required to do so right now, then more power to them. Kroger and 150 apartments are a better amenity to the neighborhood than the streetcar is right at this moment. If their customers prefer to drive 2 blocks with their groceries in their car instead of taking the streetcar, then more power to them.

^ Whole Foods was getting eaten alive by Kroger. Amazon did not buy Whole Foods because it was the pretty girl at the party, they were a wounded duck with a name. Kroger had their look at Whole Foods and passed as the value was not there. Amazon is interesting because they have a huge market cap, but they still have yet to turn consistent profits. It seems like they want to control household products and staples, but they almost are spreading themselves too thin in doing it. It almost seems less about groceries and more of a logistics play to me with their ever expanding air hubs and ground delivery, they are developing the critical mass to put UPS and FedEx out of business and develop monopoly power in that arena

I just don't see this Amazon thing as the end of the world for Kroger. Just because they bought Whole Foods does not mean they understand how to run a grocery business. They purchased a company that was struggling in the marketplace and being eaten alive by Kroger. Amazon is leaving the management team there intact. I don't see how that changes the course of Whole Foods. Now, Amazon does bring the cache of throwing tons of money into propping up the business but again, that assumes they know what they are doing in the grocery business. It is going to take them a while to get up to speed to even make a dent in the industry. Everyone assumes Amazon is the most amazing company, but they really do not make much of a profit. What amazes me is how they get their investors to hang with them for so long on this potential that may never come. I still think they are a house of cards

Rents typically doint go down in the winter, units take a bit longer to rent though

^ attendance is only one piece of the puzzle. Market size, corporate sponsorship, ownership group, etc. Cincy is a small market in an area where there is concentration of teams (CBUS, Chicago). Therefore, Cincy needs all the other factors to be perfect to get a team. Even with the top attendance and stadium deal in place, they could be passed over for a market like phoenix or tampa which are larger and have better demographics long term than Cincy. They may pick a shakier stadium plan group or a team with less attendance, or demand more from the Cincy group in terms of Stadium availability and other issues than they would the other markets. Point is Cincy has zero room for error where the other cities have some margin.

Not necessarily. If it is a chance for revenue for the team and ownership, even if the revenue is just ancillary such as concessions, parking, sponsorship dollars (more events mean more people see the ads) they will

You have to figure that they have 1-2 soccer games a week at the stadium primarily April - Sept. HS Soccer and football overlap for a month. They can certainly use it for HS playoff games easily, and probably regular season games because it is easy to schedule around FC games. In addition, they will likely have 5-6 nights of the week they can set it up for concerts and shows if they choose. My only question on that matter is do they prefer to go there or Riverbend in the summers, or even US Bank if the arena is cheaper to rent and accommodate them. I do not see too many concerts there, there are just too many venues (although, they could expand the Jazz festival to cover PBS and the soccer stadium too, imagine how great that would be)

I am coming around to Newport in the Ovation area. It would serve as a catalyst for that project and really help make that area more walkable. Although I prefer the West End. I am starting to think Newport may be the winner given the money involved to fund it. If Bill Butler is a key investor in the team/project, he will likely have enough influence to steer it to his project.

I think the public money going into the stadium is going to be mostly street improvements, sewer and lighting improvements in the area as opposed to the actual build. Also, I sense it will be Stargell site which would probably mean the school district would give the land to the team in exchange for another property somewhere else in the city and covenants by the team to allow HS time to play and use the field. All and all that could add up to the $100 million gap they are talking about

It sucks when they get rid of a good parking lot for a nice apartment tower

Lol that's insane! Anyone who fights to keep the OTR Kroger open is a loon and a moron

WHat is currently on that lot now? My favorite building down there is the Wyndum Hotel and how it fits into that corner space. I wish it were taller.

Josh Spring is a clown and I really don't know how he has credibility. His complaints are total BS, partially for the reasons you cited above, and secondly, he seems to forget that one of the largest natural food markets in the region is right in OTR in Findley Market. Getting rid of the blighted Kroger which is small and carries limited inventory does nothing to the poor residents in the area that want fresh food since that Kroger store is a whole 3-4 blocks from Findley market. Why cant people just ignore that idiot.

^ you don't want to get rid of the Court Street Parking. It is good for the smaller businesses in the area for quick visits. I imagine Kroger would want to keep it too for some quick stops where people don't want to go to the garage. Plus, as someone who uses the courthouse frequently, it is a nice amenity for quick trips down there.

^ maybe Scots, but don't see Huntington breaking into the list anytime soon

I feel like this news was broken a few weeks ago on this forum. Who needs the enquirer or business courier when you find out the news ahead of time on UO

Can we just move this thread to the Fantasy Project board, since it is clearly just that, a fantasy?

They're right by one of the proposed MLS soccer stadium sites in Cincinnati so if that comes to pass I can park cars on them. I'll probably just sell though to get out while I'm ahead. In theory you can make a lot more money selling spec houses in a hot city neighborhood rather then unimproved land, but I have zero construction experience and doubt I could qualify for a pair of $350k construction loans to build the $500k+ houses you need to build in order to double what you'd get selling the unimproved land. The big problem with real estate speculation is that you need to time the market perfectly twice in order to maximize gains. There's no way you actually nail it both times (if you do you're more lucky than good) and so while you might walk away with a lot of money in your pocket, you will always regret that you could have made a lot more. I personally know a couple who bought about ten vacant lots and vacant buildings in Over-the-Rhine back in 2011-2012 when everything was dirt cheap. They sold two of the lots for $30k apiece around 2014 but now they're worth $100k+. Jake, if you are looking to develop those properties, I may know of a few developers who may be able to help you, depending on the type of product they build.

Personally, I think Jeffersonville is a bad location. It needs to be more in Wilmington and closer to Cincy/Dayton area. I don't think this is really a starter anyhow but if the idea morphs into something to get more international flights back to the area then it is a good thing

I enjoyed looking at photos of cities and urban landscapes and learning about new projects coming to the area.

^ Do they have an impact like the Reds, Bengals, Browns, Indians, or Cavs? No they don't. However, they do provide a noticeable impact to the community as an amenity for companies like Nationwide to attract talent to the area. It also provides visibility to the city and allows them to better hold themselves out to peer cities. People in Chicago and NY will notice Columbus more because of the exposure the Crew provide. It is what allows Columbus to separate itself from say places like Des Moines Iowa No, it is not one of the Big 3 sports but soccer is also growing now and it is a good value for getting a team now. Imagine in 30 years if MLS becomes as big as the NBA, people would not be having this discussion. That is part of

hope its a practice facility. Cant see it as a great site for a stadium. Not very walkable area. pretty industrial, not easy transportation access, not sufficient parking. If you are going to build a stadium out that direction, just build it where the Gardens sits. There is already the parking infrastructure in place there and the roads are more capable of handling the traffic. Caldwell and North Bend are only 2 lane streets in that area.

In the late 90s I heard of two people maxing out their credit cards to buy early internet stocks. At that time credit card limits were much lower ($2,000 at most for most college students) so nobody ended up $50k in debt, but the two people I knew who did it definitely learned a tough lesson. Since so many first-time "investors" (they were speculating, of course) a lot money 1999-2001, they and people who heard their stories shied away from the stock market and especially tech stocks for the next decade. Benjamin Graham's Book The Intelligent Investor taught me a ton [https://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Investor-Definitive-Investing-Essentials/dp/0060555661/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495822937&sr=8-1&keywords=the+intelligent+investor]. I own the edition from around 1972 and he discusses at length the difference between investing and speculating. He also sticks completely to stocks and makes no recommendations with regards to real estate, but pretty much everything discussed in the book does apply to real estate. Choosing individual stocks without researching and following the company for years is basically just speculation. For Graham, Buffet, and Munger, value investing has always come very easy because they have the discipline to simply not buy anything at retail. They buy low and sell high, every time. With real estate, it is almost impossible to get a deal on a single-family house that is brokered through a realtor. They're not going to let it sell for much less than what it's worth. You're only going to get deals at sheriff's auctions or on less-popular real estate types. One of the big reasons why unimproved land can be a great investment is because nobody pays attention to it. The parcels often stay on the market for a year or more. Also, you can contact the owners of land that isn't for sale and make an offer to purchase. This year I bought two vacant city lots from different entities who didn't even know they owned the lots and had never laid eyes on them. One was a commercial electrician who acquired his lot when he bought out another company. The other lot was owned by an outfit that owns and rents over 100 single-family homes...they got this lot as part of a package they bought from another investor. I'm working on a third lot right now owned by a church that according to public record is not properly registered anymore, so I'm going to get another deal. Jake - What are your plans for these lots once you acquire them? Do you plan to develop them or sell them? As a caveat, you can find good investment grade property through a broker. You may not get a single family home because the market is priced differently, but investment property which is valued by income vs comps can be found through a broker.

^ even managing himself, it is not too hard to hire cleaners and the like to clean and do minor maint repairs on the move out. All it takes is knowing how to dial a phone.