aweeks

The owners of the 4th and Race Tower purchased the Bartlett Garage (on Race) back in April. From my understanding, long time patrons of the Bartlett Garage were told that the tower's owner wanted to have the option of turning the building into condos (with parking) at some point down the road. Not sure how reliable the info is, but it's always nice to dream...

Correct. It's called Fabulous Frames...they we previously on Fountain Square before moving next to Bamkhardts

Just a point of order, Carew Tower and Central Trust Tower are Class B buildings, they would not compete directly with new Class A towers. Their floorplates are generally considered too small for todays modern, large office tenant. They are usually filled with smaller tenants, or tenants with whom large, open contiguous space is not a huge concern. Kendle is Carew's largest tenant. They are looking to move because they are running out of space. The floorplans in the Carew are quite small, especially as you get higher up. The firm I work for has been growing the past few years and we now occupy floors 22-27. It kind of becomes a pain in the butt being spread vertically that much. I know we explored the option of leaving Carew before most recently renewing our lease, but apparently the deal we got to stay was too tough to beat. That, and the fact that we are Carew's last original tenant.

I'm in my office on the 22 floor of the Carew Tower looking at Fountain Square right now. There is a free concert going on. Man, I haven't seen it this packed since Taste of Cincinnati. Cops have vine closed off. Wish I could post a pic. Also, the iCam seems to be in some utility room right now (http://www.timewarnercable.com/cincinnati/community/icams/fountain.html)...pretty funny.

That's a pretty good return on investment for Belmont and Howard!

Okay, let me get this straight. Eagle Realty has the development rights for the site until August. They are planning a condo tower. Now where does this proposed idea of moving the Playhouse to the site fit in? The way it has been reported, it seems as if Playhouse just said, "Hey, maybe we should move to Fifth and Race," assuming 1) Eagle would lose its development rights, or 2) they could work something out with Eagle. We have no indication that there has been discussions between Playhouse and Eagle at this point, do we? And, does anybody know where Eagle stands on resolving the city manager's "preconditions"? The deadline is quickly approaching for Eagle.

But unfortunately the old Bella space still sits empty. They need to get something in there NOW!

I miss Bella. They better get something there soon and keep up Rockin' on Walnut! On an unrelated note, here is an email sent out by the Downtown Residents Council. ------------------------------------ Downtowners: (DRC Special Announcement for April 19, 2007) Below is a letter to the Downtown Residents Council from Sgt. William Halusek of the District One Violent Crimes Squad. The letter is news re: the Phoenix Cafe on Walnut Street. The DRC would like to take this moment to thank the scores of Downtown Residents, Downtown businesses and Downtown employees who participated in the outcome noted in Sgt. Halusek's letter. You are too numerous to list here, as more than a hundred of our neighbors wrote letters and attended hearings on the matter. Please know that each and every one of you is appreciated. Together, we took a stand for the public safety and quality of life in our community! And, we made a difference! A special thank you to the CPD and City Solicitor's office for their guidance and support over the course of the past two years. Thank you for your time, and we look forward to seeing you this Saturday (April 21) at the Downtown HopAround and next Saturday (April 28) at the Great American Clean Up. This Special E-Bulletin brought to you by the Downtown Residents Council www.ILiveDowntown.com ~ [email protected] ============================================================ OPEN LETTER TO THE DOWNTOWN RESIDENTS COUNCIL: On behalf of the Cincinnati Police Department, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank all the members of the DRC and the downtown business community that supported the Police Department in our endeavor to revoke the liquor license of the Phoenix Cafe. During the last year, the District One, Central Vice Control Section, the Building and Inspections Department, Health Department, Fire Department, and the Ohio Investigative Unit intensified their efforts on curbing the crime and disorder associated with this permit premise. As a result of those efforts, a monumental case was developed for an objection to the annual renewal of the Phoenix Cafe’s liquor license. Over the course of the last month I have had a lot of discussions with the attorney (Mr. Greg Nolan) representing the owners of the Phoenix Cafe. I’ve known for awhile now that they intended to close by June 1, 2007. I did not want to make a public statement about their intent until the owner made a statement as such. On Tuesday of this week at the Vibrant Neighborhood Committee meeting, Mr. Nolan announced that the Phoenix Cafe was closing effective June 1, 2007. Mr. Nolan advised me that they would probably close about a week ahead of time in order to vacate the premise. We have verified that a letter giving 60 days notice to the building owner was submitted. The catch here is that the City of Cincinnati will not object to the transfer of the license into safe keeping, however, the owner must sell the license and it must be sold to a different location. I guess the bottom line is that although the license will not be revoked, the Phoenix Cafe is leaving downtown and your neighborhood, and the current owner will not have this license. Thank you to all of those that came to council to testify and those that took the time to send emails and letters. The anecdotal evidence that you provide is overwhelming at a hearing such as this. Sgt. Bill Halusek Cincinnati Police Department District One Violent Crimes Squad 310 Ezzard Charles Drive Cincinnati, Ohio 45214 ============================================================ PLEASE VISIT THE DRC CALENDAR located at: http://www.ilivedowntown.com/events.lasso

First residents close on April 12. I am trying to schedule our closing for April 13 or 17, but I am awaiting confirmation (which I should have tomorrow). They are only allowing 2 closings and 2 move-ins a day, I am told.

I believe that the SportsPlus (if it's still called that) in Evendale was some sort of grocery store or Sam's Club before they converted it to two ice rinks and an indoor soccer field about 10-12 years ago. I am not sure how the complex is doing now, but at the time it was an excellent conversion.

Damn...I wish I had HBO. I moved to Cincinnati from Canada right before that movie came out. I was one of the few kids playing hockey in Cincinnati at that time, so I thought it was hilarious for Cincinnati to be portrayed as a hockey town. Regardless, I wish the movie were out on DVD.

Well, I took John Schneider's advice and wrote my 100 word letter to the Enquirer. To my surpise, it was published today. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070121/EDIT0202/701210303/1022/EDIT01 Make Cincinnati a real 'destination' location I commend Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Bortz for promoting the development of streetcars in the city ("City studies streetcar system," Jan. 17). Modern streetcar systems have spurred incredible amounts of development in cities such as Portland, and I have no doubt that they would do same here. The public needs to understand that this is a feasible project (financially and otherwise) that can increase the vibrancy of our urban core, link together vital areas in our region (downtown, uptown, NKY), and turn Cincinnati into more of a destination location. Adam Weeks Downtown Instead of streetcar 'study,' modify buses Not only is the idea of a streetcar to Over-the-Rhine, etc., overly optimistic, the way the city is investigating this idea shows quite clearly what is wrong with this city. They spend $160,000 on a study. Instead, take a bus, modify it for step on/step off, no-seat, streetcar-type layout and just drive the streetcar back and forth for six months, then evaluate. Even make it free to encourage its use if you want. This way there is no need to give up street space, no need to spend massive sums, no need to wait years. This kind of test might cost $200,000 but it would get much better results as to whether this concept is even warranted in some way. Check out Denver for an example of what I'm talking about. No track required. If it turns out we need this type of thing, fine, I'm wrong. This wouldn't be the first time. However, if I'm right we only spent a little money finding out. In my opinion the downtown streets are far too narrow to give up precious space to streetcars that will run around mostly empty anyway. John Whitling Northside

Since I moved into my apartment in May, they gutted the building next to mine. They have slowly, but steadily been working on renovating it. Now they have a big banner posted that says: www.witproperties.com. New Condos!!! :clap: Check these out. Click on the image of the building. http://www.witproperties.com/condos.htm

Cincy-Rise, you need to tell your boy Tommy Flynn to get his act together.

Here are a couple of routes I've been doing lately (from Court Street, Cincinnati): http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=623020 http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=623048 I swear there is a thread on this somewhere... I've have jogged extensively throughout Hyde Park (I lived in Oakley for 3 years) and it is by far the jogging capital of Cincinnati. That being said, I did find that many streets were poorly lit in Hyde Park. One of the nice things about running downtown is that at 5:30 in the morning, you have the streets all to yourself and it is exteremly well-light.