jdm00

^I can't see them turning 13th east bound east of Main because of the jog--if you were traveling east on 13th, you would still have to go north to Liberty and then south on Sycamore to get to the other part of east 13th street, because the part east of Main is south of the other part. (Essentially, you'd have a two-lane one-way street and both lanes would end up having to turn left on to Main anyway.) Because that section is south of the other section, wouldn't it make more sense to make 13th one-way Westbound, if we are doing anything one-way?

As someone rehabbing a house right now in OTR, I don't know that you can really peg something as "typical" cost-wise. As Jim Uber has said, you can do it (relatively) inexpensively. Or you can look at doing premium finishes, etc., which are really going to drive up the costs. A couple things I will say (that were probably said on the podcast): the "low-hanging fruit" is pretty much impossible to come by. By that I mean, it's not going to be feasible for an individual to come in, find a 2000 SF building a block off of Vine street, buy it inexpensively, and then rehab it. Buying property that remains to be rehabbed south of Liberty is going to be an expensive proposition at this point. North of Liberty there are still opportunities, but we're a few years away from the same sort of development taking off there that has already happened in OTR. I will say that, frankly, if someone wants to really get the absolute most bang-for-the-buck investing, at this point, it's probably a guessing game of trying to figure out which neighborhood has the potential to be the next OTR. Is it the West End? Walnut Hills? Price Hill? Mt. Auburn? Hard to say. But that is where you're going to be able to find older homes/buildings that can still be purchased very inexpensively.

I listened to the whole podcast (very interesting and informative) but I wish that the speakers had gone in to when they expect to start making a profit. The answer to that question might matter more than how much it will cost to rehab a building, though obviously they are tied together. Well, as one of the speakers on that panel, I can tell you I don't expect to make a profit--just live in the finished project.

Lots of progress being made right now--the back addition (previously put in place) has been rebuilt to be more structurally sound. Looks like framing is getting pretty close, windows are coming in, and all kinds of other activity. Hopefully we can post some pictures soon (or maybe jjakucyk can post some update...)

^^ Aren't you the same one who was complaining about crime in OTR? Now you're making fun of suburbanites for not being able to deal with being downtown? Downtown and OTR are anything but dead after the end of the workday. I don't know what to tell you if you really think that's how it is.

All of those are good, but it never ceases to amaze how the Devou Park angle (1) presents the most impressive view of downtown, and (2) seems to be immune to ever having a bad picture taken.

Thanks, Travis! The panel event was fun. Looking forward to listening to the podcast!

I wondered what was going on--I had to take 71S this morning and I saw at least ten police cars headed north on 71.

I don't know that, but I love CSC and am excited about them potentially moving to OTR!

$40M luxury hotel in the works for downtown Cincinnati A boutique and luxury hotel developer plans to transform a former Procter & Gamble Co. office building into a luxury hotel in the heart of downtown Cincinnati. Kessler Enterprise Inc., which is known for its boutique and luxury hotels, wants to turn the office building at 299 E. Sixth St. into a 125-room, independent hotel. Richard Kessler, president and CEO of the Orlando-based company, said this would the top hotel in the region. http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/06/16/40m-luxury-hotel-in-the-works-for-downtown.html?ana=e_cinci_bn_breakingnews&u=mdqxSjVwpbwLHTa+xb7xwQ0dc4b18a&t=1434468905

It's been an entertaining series. Kerr rediscovering David Lee has actually been a factor--he always has been a good offensive player, and giving him some of Bogut's minutes makes the Warriors much harder to defend. I think the next three games will be a slugfest.

It's funny you mention the increased activity on Walnut. I moved in at Vine and 14th in 2011. Back then, the activity was basically limited to Vine up to 13th street (Lackman was really the far end). I remember thinking how if we could just get activity to increase up to, say, 14th, things would be going great. Now there is activity all the way up to 15th on Vine and Race, the park is done, there is activity from Central up to Mercer on Walnut--which was always the quietest part--and Main keeps chugging along. The pace of things is really impressive.

Yes. Old buildings are a minefield of problems and the tax credits reduce the risk associated with fixing those problems. Eliminating this tax credit would be worse than not having a streetcar. I am pro-streetcar, but if I had to choose one item to keep, it would easily be the historic tax credit program. Remember, it only is used on older buildings. Great American Tower, Dunnhumby, condos on Riverside drive, etc. have all been developed without historic tax credits. So it's not a Cincinnati issue--it's a redeveloping old buildings issue.

It's not somehow limited to Cincinnati. Re-developing old buildings is very difficult no matter where you are--and that's why you see developers all over the state using it. It is *always* easier to build on some vacant lot in a generally undeveloped area.

This courthouse design included the clock tower / steeple from when it was built, around 1890. It has probably been refurbished and cleaned a few times though. A fun fact is that the tower was originally planned for the center of the structure, but poor foundations required that they move it slightly to the side. It looks quite strange when viewing it from directly in front. I think it's the different roof there (are those ceramic tiles?) as compared to the rest of the building, and the apparently white-painted wood as opposed to brick, that make it look like an add-on. Also, now that you point out how off-center it is, that is noticeable. Still looks pretty awesome though.

Nope, not no man's land. I run up Vine to Liberty and then over to Reading. I also walk up to the Moerlein Tap room, and Findlay Market. Each of these involve going north from where I live on Vine up past the Vine Street Kroger.

Is it just me, or does the steeple on top of the courthouse look like an add-on or replacement of some sort?

^Yes they were good, but you said they were "going to win the world series" as a factual statement. Obviously anything can happen in the playoffs, but that Expos team was the best in MLB that year. To say that the Reds were somehow destined to win it all makes no sense. And those bats like Kevin Mitchell, and Ron Gant, and Greg Vaughn were all actually cast-offs from other teams that the Reds took on as reclamation projects. Yes, those projects paid off, but it got the Reds into a mode of thinking that they could take cast-offs and turn them into solid major leaguers, which led to Reds fans (including me) suffering through way too many starts by pitchers like Jimmy Haynes. 1995 is really, in my mind, the beginning of the end (until the mid-2000s). They went with the Jim Bowden route of all offense, no defense; they really struggled to develop players (especially pitchers) in the farm system; they made some incorrect choices in personnel decisions (I love Sean Casey especially as a personality and he had some solid years, but the Reds kept Casey and traded Paul Konerko when they had them both, which in the long run clearly was not the right call); and while they caught lightning in a bottle in 1999, that was not a young team built to win for years. It's not a surprise that their period of sustained contention (which seems to have closed as of last year) coincided with homegrown products like Votto, Bruce, Cueto, Leake, Frazier, etc. making it to the majors.

I don't want to know what people are going to say about some of the architecture we see right now (not necessarily infill in OTR, but other places). Stuff built in OTR was clearly built to last. I don't know that post-war tract housing (or suburbs built in the 70s and 80s) was built to last.

The Reds were not even the best team in the league in 1994. The strike hurt in Cincinnati, no doubt, just as it did everywhere--but no fan base should be more upset than the Montreal Expos fans. Best record in the major leagues at the time of the strike (74-40; the Reds were 66-48, which also trailed the Braves in the NL) with a roster loaded with young, great talent that would all eventually leave the Expos (including Pedro Martinez, Larry Walker, Moises Alou, Marquis Grissom, Ken Hill, John Wetteland, and Cliff Floyd). That team was really, really good. The strike ending that season and the Expos trading away players because of their salary limitations was the beginning of the end for baseball in Montreal, sadly.

Not the middle of the night--around 9:30 or 10:00 on Friday night. We saw it as we were walking back from dinner with friends who live on Pleasant Avenue. Whole street was shut down, as was 14th street.

http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/police/crime-statistics/ 30 homicides as of May 30. More than anyone would like (obviously even one is too many), but still down 9% from last year at this time despite recent spike in violence. I found this really surprising for some reason (perhaps because you tend to think of crime local). Baltimore had 43 homicides in May, and has 115 for the year already. According to the story, Baltimore reached a low of 197 homicides in 2011, down from a high of 353 in 1993. There are about 620,000 people in Baltimore--just more than 2x Cincinnati's population. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/05/31/baltimore-homicides-worst-in-40-years/28284839/

Predictions? This series seems like a hard one to call. Cavs defense has been great in the playoffs (after not being great in the regular season). The Warriors get all kinds of pub for their offense, but people forget they were the best defensive team in the league. Lots of pieces that match up in a pretty interesting way--Bogut and Mozgov, Draymond Green on anyone, whoever has to guard LeBron, whoever has to guard Steph Curry. I assume that the strategy of the Warriors will be (or should be) to turn LeBron into a jump shooter. He has not shot well on long 2's or 3's in the playoffs so far, but is obviously deadly when he gets in the lane (and can kick to shooters). I think it will be really interesting to see how often the Cavs sit Mozgov and play Thompson at center, because he has been an absolute beast on the boards (of course the Thompson/Mozgov combo has absolutely killed everyone on the offensive glass in the playoffs). If Thompson plays the 5, you conceivably have 4 guys who can switch up fairly well to handle Curry and Klay Thompson. The Warriors could respond by sitting Bogut more and playing Green and Barnes down low. If there are long stretches with small lineups like that, it could be some beautiful basketball by both teams, with great spacing and lots of up-and-down play. Really interested to see what the Cavs do defensively on Curry. Irving is not a great defender even when healthy, but if he is slowed by injury it's hard to see him staying with Curry. I don't know that JR Smith is the answer; Shumpert, maybe? This could be a great Finals. Let's hope!

A nice write-up on the event planned for this Saturday from Urban Cincy. Looking forward to it. http://www.urbancincy.com/2015/06/otr-foundation-hosting-workshop-for-those-interested-in-rehabbing-historic-buildings/

There are two 3BR 2BA homes above tandem garages on 14th Street currently listed at $700K. I can only guess what the row houses/town homes being done on Mercer Street will go for when they are done, but it will be expensive. $650K is really not out of line for the product they are proposing. I realize that you keep coming back to the crime in OTR--you've mentioned it repeatedly in your responses--but I would suggest you should keep in mind that people are well aware of the neighborhood's challenges, and how far it has come, and those challenges are already priced into projects like this. When you think back to the reality that condos sold in 2010 for, say, $150K to $200K that will today go for double that, it's not hard to envision getting these kind of prices for properties of this size and with these amenities. In five years, when the neighborhood is much more built out, we may look back on these and wonder how they *only* went for $650K.