thesenator

Heard rumors this week that the dual Hilton flag hotel at 4th & Walnut Center is on hold again. Not sure why? Does anyone else have any information on this?

Fountain Square Far West in the making? https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/columnists/politics-extra/2020/02/20/millennium-hotel-can-cincinnati-avoid-another-development-disaster/4787256002/

By definition, a "skyscaper" is between 150-300 meters high (roughly 40 stories to 80 stories). Above 300 meters is defined as a "super skyscaper". In the US, it's nearly impossible to build a 40+ story building in a year, even 2 years can be a challenge if you''re building an underground garage or have other site issues. Schiff is probably not thinking about building a true skyscaper, but building anything of scale in a crowded urban environment would likely take well more than a year, and this doesn't include demolition of the existing structure, which is minimum of 3 months. North American/Northpointe/Al.Neyer's multi-family property at 8th and Main will take more than 2 years to complete.

Yes the roof is a mess and the top 2 floors destroyed by water and mold. As you go further down it gets better, but still has been totally neglected for 20 plus years.

Costs of renovating these historic buildings are a challenge, but I think all 3 of the unstarted developments will happen as all are still being worked on. It’s just taking longer than many expect to get the projects started. Unfortunately the Terrace Plaza appears to have the least chance of success due the damages from many years of neglect.

I'm even more confident a new hotel won't open in less than 5 years on the Millennium site. Maybe the over/under should be 10 years. Maybe the bet should be: Which gets completed first: a hotel on this site or the Brent Spence Bridge replacement? https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2020/02/07/millennium-hotel-project-54-million-and-counting.html

There's a long way to go with the Terrace Hotel building. First, ownership rights have to be decided in court. I'm told JNY Capital has title currently, but that is being challenged by Anderson Birkla who had a contract on the property when JNY bought the Seller (brilliant move) and enforced provisions of the contract putting A-B in default and canceling their contract. A-B has sued for breach of contract and I believe that suit is to be heard in April, but who know how long it will take for a final legal decision. If ownership gets resolved there are still questions as to whether renovation is financially feasible and if what is feasible will be allowed by City, historic agencies and preservationists. The building has not been maintained for many years and the water damage has been extensive. It would be fantastic to bring this building back to life, but can anyone afford to do it?

Agree 100%. Planned pool deck on 18th floor roof will give residents an opportunity to appreciate at least some of this craftsmanship.

Photo from our exterior survey crew at Union Central Tower. This photo was taken hanging 22 stories up just below the 23rd floor cornice. The faces shown are approximately 6’ tall.

It's highly likely (if not a certainty) that less parking space will be needed in the future with autonomous vehicles. Forward looking developers are building garages with flat floors so they can be converted to a different use in the future. I expect that 84.51 didn't foresee a definite need the extra floors when the building was built and didn't want to build unnecessary floors. With the many office buildings downtown being converted into hotels and apartments with little to no new office construction, it appears there is not much demand for new office space, particularly this late in an economic cycle.

It is a done deal. Not sure why it is a tragedy as it helps capitalize the revitalization of the building.

Definitely at least 5 years before a new hotel opens on this site with no financial support. Had to happen, but wish City and County were better stewards of funds and leveraged them with other long term funding sources.

Be careful what you believe as stats tend to say whatever the presenter wants them to say. Passenger traffic at CVG actually peaked in the early 2000s, at more than double the current traffic counts.

Renovation would cost far more than $59 million and the basic shell and lack of historical significance is not conducive to an upscale hotel or apartments.

Fourth & Walnut Center has been in design and financing phase for more than 3 years and still hasn’t started. Finding a developer and generating a design will take far longer than 1 year. I’d bet closer to 5 years as parking than 3.

I believe PNC has 10 more years of signage rights.

Looking up from the 18th floor roof of Union Central Tower at the cornice and window details.

If we could land a NFL team in Cincinnati that would help our chances.

HGC Construction is preparing to hang swing stages on the Union Central (PNC) Tower to conduct a survey of the exterior facades. Great time of year to be hanging 28 stories up in the wind and cold.

Some great questions posted by Steve Dieters on FB. I'd like to hear your thoughts. Part 1. Random questions boiling beneath the surface to end the year and looking for answers in the coming year for the city of Cincinnati: What’s the status of the hillside rehabilitation along Columbia Parkway? Is it on budget or is a surprise(s) coming? What’s the abatement strategy for the city and the developers who seek them now that the agreement with board of education is expiring with no agreement in place? For 2020 can city council in the spirit of Murray Seasongood and good government break this reliance of “emergency” ordinances that the developer community has come to rely on to achieve their goals? Rightly and wrongly it appears to being used to “game” the system and circumvent the needs of the city as a whole for the benefit of a few. To what degree will the city and developers use The Port in the coming year to create new tax dodging entities for their benefit? Will 2020 be the year when an elected official asks the question, “If people can afford $400 to $600,000+ houses in the neighborhoods while seeking an abatement why can’t they afford to pay the real estate taxes for them?” The developers in OTR who bought abated property literally on the wrong side of the streetcar tracks find the costs to connect the water main $100,000+ since they have to horizontally drill under the tracks. The typical new connection by the water department charges $2300 and is still short of covering the costs. The question is to what extent will these developers who have typically already received an abatement and not to mention the inherent property enhancer of the streetcar as described in the studies leading up to its construction will ask the city taxpayers/water utility ratepayers to cover this enhanced cost? This is an issue where entrepreneurial risk and the principle of caveat emptor for the developer meet the road-literally and figuratively. What is the status of the pre-school promise with enrollment and performance? It has been on line for a couple of years now. When will the streetcar eventually be “free” and how will that revenue shortfall be covered? What is the projected increase in ridership?

Short term pain brings long term gain. Bringing 4th Street back to life with both new construction and historic renovations begins to reconnect the riverfront to Downtown. Hopefully this further justifies building over FWW.

Great to see privately funded community spaces.

$236 psf is awfully expensive for a renovation. You already have the garage and exterior shell, even if your are going to replace the curtain wall, that is very high. Maybe that number includes the vacancy losses until they can find tenants. LOL And I'm not sure this means 1,000 new jobs for downtown. It likely means 1,000 jobs moving from existing Class B & C buildings downtown.

Some interesting facts about Union Central Tower (aka PNC Tower) from Emporis: When completed this was the 5th-tallest building in the world, only behind buildings in New York City. Originally colored brown; was painted white circa the 1940s. Tallest building in Cincinnati from 1913 to 1931; surpassed by the Carew Tower. The building appears on the skyline mural over the staircase at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza, one block north. Connected by two skyways at the 1st and 5th floors over Ogden Place to the PNC Building (now City Club Apartments CBD) located just to the south. It was originally built as the headquarters of the Union Central Life Insurance Company, which was founded in Cincinnati in 1867. The firm left the tower in 1964, relocating to a new corporate complex in the northern suburb of Forest Park. The Mitchell Building, one of Cincinnati's earliest high-rise buildings, and H.H. Richardson's Chamber of Commerce Building, formerly stood on this site.

Former Verbarg's Furniture Store has been demolished to make way for a new Graeter's Ice Cream store on Montgomery Road just south of Galbraith.