thebillshark

Thank you. Perhaps now is the time to go on offense and get the state historic tax credits programs expanded then. Every year there are many worthy projects that don't receive them. Maybe city councils from across the state can roughly simultaneously pass resolutions in favor of expanding the program. While I agree with the urgency of addressing historic buildings, it's worth noting a surprising amount of the catalytic development to take place in OTR to date has been new construction, starting with the Gateway garage and condos, to the new Mercer Commons buildings. The two new buildings on Vine with Quan Hapa and Elm and Iron in them have been critical to defining their respective street corners. In contrast, the largest "chunks" of historic renovation I can think of are Westfalen on Race and the Mercer Commons buildings along Walnut. Perhaps that just the nature of the beast though, renovations are going to be more onsey-twosy type projects.

Re: 12th& Vine lot, IMO there should be one structure built on half of that lot and while the half facing Vine should become a public square. I think a new public space is appropriate in this area since it's already a natural gathering point in the neighborhood business district, and will become even more so with the streetcar stop in operation. The structure could be shaped like an "L" to so it has frontage on both Jackson and 12th with the main facade facing the new square. It could be a mixed use condo development or even a hotel. Perhaps a new structure could connect with the upper stories of the Rookwood pottery building for additional square footage. More and more I like the idea of a hotel there, giving out of towners and suburbanites the option to stay right in the neighborhood after a meal and/or bar hopping. I realize the lot is a low-maintenance revenue generator for 3CDC currently, but it is keeping the Vine Street district from reaching its full potential and having an exclamation point for all the activity. If 3CDC is really that upset about the parking lost they could build a new garage on the lot on Walnut north of their headquarters.

Starting a new thread so general Cincinnati Parks levy items can be discussed in one place. There is an official website up and running: http://cincyparkslevy.com/

Folks are setting up parklets on Pleasant Street today and the street is mostly blocked off to vehicles. Seems like a follow up event to the one in June: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/06/08/this-otr-street-could-become-a-pleasant-walking.html I suggest swinging by there and checking it out if you're in the neighborhood!

I worry about the prospects of a county wide sales tax vote when Vancouver just had a transit tax rejected and they're starting with one of the best transit systems in the world. I also think we need to have a conversation about what we want out of the transit system. Is it cost efficient to try to provide coverage the job sprawl in the suburbs? Or can we increase ridership by providing better, more frequent service in the city? We should invite Jarrett Walker to town to moderate.

It must be difficult maintaining 35 year old electronics. I wonder if they can replace the guts with a generic standardized emulator and just keep the original cabinet and controls or if that's what is already being done.

I don't think it's ugly at all. I think it's neat how it's visible all the way into the distance down Elm and Race. Moreover I view it as a symbol of a bustling city. And there will be nothing ugly about the revitalization it brings to the corridor. To me busted out windows and trash strewn vacant lots are ugly. (Well some neglected buildings are strangely beautiful in their own way but not as beautiful as they are when restored to their former glory and form a walkable neighborhood inhabited with people.)

^Incidents like this are a major threat to our efforts to expand public transportation. Unfortunately lots of people view transit as a way for a crowd like Saturday night to gather. The 2001 riots had a lot to do with MetroMoves failing in 2002. Anything that happens at Government Square will be associated with the bus system in people's minds.

Jake your comparison of this to a fight at a GCL High School is patently absurd. There is video on social media starting to go viral and I wouldn't be surprised if this is national news this week.

Why is everyone hating on Bracket Village when there are so many abandoned structures and underused structures and parking lots and vacant lots and other odds and ends that could support future growth in OTR? I think Bracket Village strikes an almost perfect "Goldilocks" balance to provide low income housing woven into the market rate growth that is now occuring. Not so large and concentrated to scare away market rate growth but providing a good amount of affordable housing. EDIT: IMO not every structure has to be four stories with ground floor level retail either, as long as the surrounding blocks and neighborhood as a whole is mixed use.

You guys. I think we've had this conversation at least 3 times in the past 6 months.

I think the low-income buildings along Walnut are good, solid buildings fulfilling a very important purpose. The front stoops on them are cool. Considering the time and place they were built their design and urbanism could be a LOT worse. Or we could have been stuck with a parking crater there or something.

Personally I ride either in between the tracks or in the other lane. Travis is right, one momentary lapse in concentration and the person in that photo could wipe out.

Huh. I wonder if having a structure on that lot will make it harder to renovate the building to the north (1508 Race) when the time comes. 1508 is the one that had a hole in the back of the building that I complained to 3CDC about and has since been fixed. But otherwise good news! EDIT: I haven't heard anything to make me say this, but perhaps the two projects will be combined?

Jmicha It looks like the quote machine got screwed up and you've mis-attributed TroyEros's quote to me.. TroyEros: The issues you raise are not confined to Cincinnati and are really a separate discussion from OTR 3CDC News. Your're really asking about one of the main themes of American History over the last 60 years. Alot has been written in general but there's a large thread also here on UrbanOhio: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,7292.0.html

^ - I don't think a 30 story condo tower would be at all appropriate there. Would be totally out of scale with the historic district and stick out like a sore thumb. I'm with you that Cincy needs some condo towers, and the pace of their construction is frustratingly slow, but there's so many places to put them in the CBD before putting them right in the middle of Pendleton. I would be more than happy with a solid mixed use development that interacts with the street and hides the parking for those lots. Hit some singles and doubles and they add up. - as an urbanist I don't mean to be condescending to suburbanites and suburban life, it doesn't win any allies when things get political. Even metros with huge bustling downtowns have lots of conservative suburbs. I just think Cincinnati needs to be providing an equal amount of options for urban walkable places and repair the damage auto-centric designs have done to our city neighborhoods. - Downtiwn Cincinnati especially OTR is quite lively even on weeknights. And growing more lively. Any place is quiet on a Sunday or Monday evening and thank goodness! Us city folk like our peace and quiet too.

I wonder what the financials on WP garage are. On one hand it costs tens of millions to build and is staffed 24/7. On the other hand it is nearly always packed, with most people paying hourly rates if not the heightened special event rates. If it is a revenue generator for 3cdc I say good for them. That just allows them to have more cash flow to support more building rehabs and event programming. (BTW for what it's worth, I spoke with an employee and they think the broken glass I posted about recently may be caused by structural settling, due to lack of impact points, not vandalism.) My impression from what I've read is that the garage under discussion is for underneath Ziegler and the parking lot to the north, Cutter is not involved, and the SCPA parking deck is a done deal. 3cdc does seem to be behind the schedule they laid out in their most recent annual report in terms of presenting Ziegler plans to the public however. Maybe Cutter could be part of it or something. If the SCPA developers handed Cutter over to be part of the park they wouldn't have to pay for maintenance. A garage under Ziegler is a good idea. One, it's needed to support the Main Street nightlife. Two, it helps 3cdc make money on the Main Street nightlife (assuming the financials work out as I described above.) Three, there are buildings on Main that are not fully utilized with residential yet and it could support new apartments there (New York Dry Cleaners building comes to mind.) Fourth, there are huge lots available for infill along Sycamore as has been mentioned that it could help support. Those parking lots south of the SCPA might be the ugliest parking crater in the city. Fifth, it could support rehabs further east in Pendleton which seems to have more intact stretches of historic buildings than other parts of OTR even.

I was going to ask a question along these lines (and maybe put it a bit more softly)- do skywalks really detract that much from the urban fabric and subtract that many pedestrians from the street, or is it just that the decades after they were completed unluckily coincided with urban decline and doughnut hole downtowns caused by other factors?

When are they hiring for Concierge and Lobby Boy?

You guys make some good points. I'm certainly not in the neighborhood during weekday business hours so I have no idea how much foot traffic there is. There is certainly enough space to fit in some office so it should be done, but I still would like to see the nieghborhood skew strongly residential because demand for that is off the charts and that's the original purpose of a lot of the buildings. One more thought on a hotel, it would have to be located in a part of the neighborhood that is almost completely redeveloped because a lot of tourists would get weirded out easily by abandoned buildings next to the place they're staying. So in that respect a new building on the parking lot at 12th and Vine makes the most sense. It's across from a garage too for valet parking. Also a streetcar stop right out front. (My dream was always for at least half of that lot to be a public square however...)

^ and ^^ : I'm not a huge fan of office space in OTR. I feel like there's plenty of room for that in the CBD (which will be a short streetcar ride away) and OTR should be primarily residential. Seems like offices would require more parking too. I'm in favor of offices taking up some of the store front retail spaces like has already been occurring, because I don't see how OTR could ever have the population to support as much street level retail space like it did in its heyday. Other than that I could see maybe some medium sized spaces for some creative-oriented companies or trophy tech companies that wouldn’t consider Cincinnati otherwise, but nothing to large scale. Although recently I said on this board OTR doesn’t really need hotel space either, one place I could see a hotel is in the two large buildings on the NE and SE corners of Vine and 15th. Maybe one boutique hotel operator could operate a hotel with a north and a south building.

Could city councils across the state pass resolutions in support of the historic tax credit program?

Here's what I would do if I was a developer: I'd buy the single story warehouse shown below at 130 W McMicken Ave. next to St. Phillipus Church and build a 7-10 story residential apartment building complete with underground parking. • It's tucked into the side of the hill so I think you could get away with the additional height without offending anybody. • It's a large site • It would provide a few hundred residents in the Findlay Market area to support new businesses and keep others open on weekdays and until 9PM • It would do this all in one motion without having to wait for the slow pace of historic renovations to add residents • It's near Streetcar Stops • It would have the size to be a self-contained development with parking and security systems, which is important until McMicken St. can develop further • The existing structure is the kind of one story structure that, even if it is considered "contributing" it's not contributing much and taking up a large area so it is the kind of thing we should consider sacrificing to rebuild a functioning neighborhood

^Cincinnati is smart, it's full of smart people, there are hundreds of people working on this everyday and have been for years. Check out the Over the Rhine Brewery District on Facebook for more information, there is a brewing heritage trail in the works. As for hotels there is already the Symphony Hotel and I could see maybe another boutique hotel opening (also don't forget airb2b's) but hotel space in OTR proper is really not an issue. The streetcar is more than adequate to get tourists into OTR from the downtown hotels which have the capacity to lodge them at the scale that's required.

It still is an f'ing terrible idea to eliminate these tax credits, and is still Ohio shooting itself in the foot. Other states that aren't swing states can persue policies that grow the economy with impunity (think rail in red-state Utah,) but Ohio is forever held back by politicians willing to kill progress for political playground games.