ragerunner

While I don't know if ye has an 'agenda' this guy is clearly not clueless on development and retail. He might just know something most on UrbanOhio don't. http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2002/05/20/story2.html

I complete agree, they need to bring new blood to the downtown office market and not just move it around. If they can do that this project is a major winner for downtown, I really like the design. Has anyone seen the street level layout for this building? How does it work for the pedestrian and its ability to add to the street life?

Duke Realty: We’re not abandoning Cincinnati Wed. August 08 - 2007 IBJ Staff Indianapolis-based Duke Realty Corp. is pulling out of Cleveland, but says it is committed to the Cincinnati area despite plans to sell about 2.3 million square feet of existing office space and drop an office tower project there... http://www.ibj.com/html/detail_page.asp?content=03541

Duke is cashing out some of their holdings at the current peak of the office market.

Is it OK to get pastic bags if you reuse them to pick up the dogs crap? :lol:

Let hope we see a great hyper or Dive coaster by B&M in the near future. If Busch owned the park it would be a given.

Actually Italian Job has a pretty strong following with families. I don't have a problem with the ride (I have alot of problem with its location in the park). It should be interesting to see what CF has in store for 2008 at their parks. Will they finally get it and starting adding more themed attractions and spreading their spending more evenly throughout the chain or continue to use a significant part of their investing for CP. Maybe they can reduce the size of the pizza slices and increase the cost by another $2.00.

Actually the CEO of CF Kinzel did say in their conference call yesterday that the difficult economics of Detroit and Cleveland are hurting Cedar Point. It sounds like maybe they should focus on parks in markets that are not having significant economic issues. Maybe Kings Island should have got Maverick and Cedar Point got a used Firehawk? (This comment would send wildfire through some CP forums.)

now cincinnati is taking pot-shots at detroit? I am sure its ok since he said Michigan and not Detroit. :-D

Cedar Fair's profit halved over 2Q 2006 "Fewer patrons visited Cedar Fair Entertainment Co.'s attractions in the second quarter, but those who came spent more, the company said... Cedar Fair is a publicly traded partnership that owns and operates 12 amusement parks, five outdoor waterparks, one indoor waterpark and six hotels in eight states and Ontario." http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2007/07/30/daily18.html?f=et57&ana=e_du It looks like the integration strategy is not working quiet as planned. Income has been cut in half, loses grew by about $35 million over last year, and attendance was down by about 7% percent in July. Hopefully they will be able to turn this around soon, or at least sell KI to Busch. :lol:

I am sure huge foreclosure numbers (that are still climbing) will not end up impacting the local economy, future homes and condo sales, the RE industry or overall prices. :wink:

A lot of this discussion actually comes from the State of Downtown report by Downtown Cincinnnati Inc. which has the Greater Downtown Area as totaling 3.7 square miles and is the area they use to collect their downtown data. So when people use that data for office space, retail development, and residential, its for that entire area. Weather or not that really is the Greater Downtown Area or seperate neighborhoods probably has a million different people having different opinions on the boundary. But as far as official city stats given to the City for dowtown developments, 3.7 square miles is what is used.

Thanks for the info.

As I posted above, I have no problem with government helping subsidized projects (in urban areas), within reason. But, if government has to basically give away the 'bank' than maybe there should be some concern (I am not saying that is what is happening, we will have to wait and see). Look how bad a deal the people got with the Bengals stadium. There is only so much money to go around, just make sure were it is put really has strong financials and a good return on investment. If the private sector is not willing to pony up a good percentage of the money for a project then that might be a sign their spreadsheets are showing some 'concerns'.

With a barrel of Oil now at $77 dollars, I wonder why gas prices are dropping? Any thoughts.

Check my comment out again.

It will be interesting to finally see how much government money is going into this project to make it happen. I hope they build the Banks, but it concerns me that more and more taxpayer money seems to be going into this project. If this projects market study showed a strong demand for this project, then why does it seem that the government keeps having to add funding to get it off the ground. With that said, I would much prefer to see the state help fund a major urban project instead of more suburban infrastructure. If we are going to spend taxpayer money on developments and infrastructure, than do it in the urban areas of the state and stop subsidizing sprawl. I guess we will have to wait and see what finally happens.

Currently underconstruction in downtown Indianapolis is the new Indy Cultural Trail which is an "...urban bike and pedestrian path that connects neighborhoods, cultural districts and entertainment amenities, and serves as the downtown hub for the central Indiana greenway trail system." The system is being constructed within the current street grid and will have total of 7.5 mles, is completely funded by private foundations and will be 24 to 30' feet in width through the project. It will also include multi colored crossing system at all street intersections. http://www.indyculturaltrail.info/ Also downtown Indy has just opened three new Bike Port stations that include bike lockers, shelters and racks. http://inbikeport.org/index.cfm I know Portland has several of the Bike Ports as well.

"The United Way of the Greater Dayton Area exceeded its 2006 campaign goal, raising $11.8 million." "Last year the United Way of Greater Cincinnati raised $61.82 million in its annual campaign, slightly exceeding its goal." I could see how Dayton's United Way would want to join Cincy's United Way. With these types of numbers Cincy's is clearly doing better. Even when you take into account the population numbers. If I was Cincy UW I would have to look at this request long and hard.

Since the average American still desires 'suburban malls' I would much prefer one that has some character, pedestrian layout and outdoor space to a typical mall or strip center. I believe Easton Core is definitely better than what use to be built but, not as good as a real urban or suburban mixed use center that has residential, office and retail truly mixed together.

I am not trying to get into a debate about the values of Unions, etc... But do they understand that the automotive industry is in the crapper right now and GM is having major financial problems. There has even been hints they might file B.K. in the future.

Question on streetcar funding? Do we know were the funding for the streetcar system is going to come from? Federal dollars, city or state dollars, TIF (is so what TIF district and how will that affect current TIF districts in the area), or vote? Also has the environmental study been done or funded along, with the engineering study and plan? If federal dollars are going to be used, has the applications been submitted to the FEDs and have they given any response to the application yet? What year is the funding being requested for? If not what is the timeline for these studies and their funding?

Does anyone have the financial breakdown for phase one yet? How much is the development team putting into phase one cost verses government funds?

Glad to see the Cincy area potentially adding another 500,000 square feet of vacant space to its current 20% office vacancy. :wink2:

It would be interesting to see what the national stats show across the country to see how Ohio is fairing compared to the US averages.