prolix

yeah, cole+russell are the architects, griewe is the developer on this. I meant that cole is the architect on a ton of stuff around town, not the ones funding stuff

scanned an article out of the town crier today http://www.prolix21.com/post/mariemont-condo10-07-2007.JPG the rendering is hard to make out, but you can get the idea. cole + russell are the architects, seems like they're slowly rebuilding the city with the # of projects they've headed.

yeah, I will try to get over there and snap some pic's this week/weekend. I live a couple blocks off the square, so its really close. I just wish I could find more info about the building and what it looks like, maybe there's some signage at the site that I missed. I can't even find a website for Greiwe. I know they did park place @ lytle, you'd think they'd have a website or more info about this somewhere

haven't seen an updates here on this, so i figured i'd post that work has already started on this project. the 7 apartment buildings are gone at this point and site prep has started. i recently moved to mariemont so i will try and keep an eye on this project, maybe grab some pics as it moves forward. there was apparently a lot of concern about the tenants in those apartments, a good portion were elderly and had been there for many many years. my neighbor (who is quite involved in the city affairs) said they got pretty much everyone re-located and settled. one thing the developer will have to contend with is the ancient infrastructure around here. they will have to do a lot of utilities work to get this project moving along. overall though, the project seems pretty welcomed by everyone here, and there's now some talk of a 2nd phase taking another series of apartments nearby. if anyone has any pic's of this project, could you post them? i've yet to see any renderings, although i was told my neighbor a couple doors down is the actual architect (just moved in though, haven't met them yet)

I'll be moving out in August. I think everyones experience probably varies, but the fact that I had to leave my apartment for a month while they gutted half of it kinda soured my experience. Overall the apartments are nice, but the quality of construction in the place is horrible. I have a feeling after a few years of wear and tear its going to start aging quickly. I think 3031 was built way too fast, and they cut corners. The main (clubhouse) building seems much better. They still haven't fixed the leaks in the garage. We're going on a year here. Every time it rains, water pours out of light fixtures and ceiling tiles fall. I'm not sure why this is so difficult to fix, but apparently its over their head. This is separate from the issue during the winter, where the pipes all explode and the garage ceiling floods. Only time will tell if they finally got a grip on that issue. Most other stuff is finally getting fixed, but the place is overpriced and I'm moving on to greener pastures. Everyone's experience is going to be different, but the feeling I've gotten from people and the reviews over at apartment ratings it that a lot of people are pretty fed up. * Edit - I will add, that while some of this stuff probably isn't a major issue. The part that magnifies it is the amount of money I pay to live here. I'm shelling out 1300 a month to live here, so yes, I am going to hold them to higher standards. If I were paying less maybe I'd be less annoyed by everything, but the fact that I have to pay that every month makes me think they should fix stuff a bit quicker, and this stuff shouldn't even happen in the first place. As far as those condos/whatever, on the corner of Eden & Rochelle, I found them on the MLS and they seem to range from high 200's to mid 300's. Considering the stuff that borders that property, it seems a little high, especially at 300k+. Not sure I'd sink that kind of money in a place next to run down student rental, or places that look like meth houses. Plus they seem really dull looking. There's a lot of stuff around that's much more interesting and probably less expensive. I've seen a sold sign in front of one of the units.

2001 specialized fsr-xc, more or less stock drivetrain wise, mostly shimano deore xt, brakes are all various avid bits and pieces. i've replaced with handlebars, seat/seatpost, etc with lighter components (raceface, easton,e tc). overall performs well. i used to do mostly pretty rough trail riding, but more and more i'm doing mostly city riding, to the extent i've put partial road slicks on it. currently debating selling it and getting something more rigid, full suspension around town is kinda overkill. either that or i may replace my rear shock with something i can lock out

I think most of Cincinnati is like that :) I'll definitely have to check out the tour of homes, thanks for the suggestion. I've been meaning to go on it before but I always forget and never remember the date until a week later.

I used to live down off 4th street at Kinsey, but moved to Corryville last fall. I find myself missing the entire loft living thing a lot. Browsing craigslist I see urban sites has a few openings at their various projects in OTR. Does anyone here live in any of urban sites properties or OTR? What's it like there (in reality, outside of everyones assumed stereotype of the area)? Is it as bad as most people assume? Rent there is so dirt cheap, and the places are freakin awesome looking. I drive through OTR a few times a week on the way home, and honestly it doesn't seem much worse than places around Corryville/Clifton/UC, but I also don't hang out there much, so all I have is a perspective from driving by. Thanks!

update on eden ave: currently the plans for the road repairs are being reviewed by the city, assuming the weather holds out they are hoping to have it complete by march 9th. didn't get any real details on what the new repair plan is, hopefully something more durable than what they had. maybe i should send them a link to geogrid :)

sounds like a good move to me. plus they sell their big yellow re-usable bags for a couple bux anyway. much more sturdy and hold more :) i'm sure more stores will follow this trend at some point. i've noticed more and more people bringing their own canvas bags to grocery markets in the past couple years. i try to save and re-use the plastic bags I get, but there are SO MANY and i end up tossing a lot of them.

Agreed. I'm not sure what their plan is, they finished removing all the bricks Friday on that section of Eden and its just sat there ever since. They have the bricks on palates, but its pretty unclear what their next step is. Personally I wonder if putting the pavers back is a mistake. If they want the paver look, wouldn't the pressed concrete stuff be more durable? They did some impressive stuff with that over at the Newport Levee, I'd think that would hold up to the traffic on Eden a little better. It would be one thing if this were a side street, but Eden takes a lot of traffic during the day

This weekend my girlfriend and I were looking at townhouses and came across these. I've seen them being built for a while, but no topic here about them. We stopped in and took a look and they seem extremely nice. Prices start in the high 200's. 2 bedroom, 2 and half bath, with options to add a possible 3rd bedroom and 3rd full bath if you wanted. Quality seems nice and the standard materials are pretty high end, granite, hardwood floors, upgraded carpet, etc are all the default. Good location too, close to downtown, but also far enough away to be affordable. Plus they still qualify for the City of Cincinnati tax abatement (which saves roughly 3700$ a year on these units) http://www.mvresidential.com/reserve/reserveatspindlehill.php Does anyone know much about the builder? This is their first residential project. Previous projects include the rental communities Trellises and The Columns on Wetherington in Northern Kentucky. Both seem like top notch projects, I've not lived in either but I've toured both and they were quite nice (and pretty reasonably priced for the area). The developer lives in Hyde Park and his wife was at the model when we stopped in Saturday. Very friendly and gave us tours of both completed and units mid-construction so we could check out build quality, etc. I'm currently considering joining the ranks of homeowners and leaving the world of renters and this place has me pretty interested. Nice small development as well, total of 24 units, 50% sold right now (about 30-40% of the units are complete).

i agree the 3031 building seemed to go up pretty quickly compared to the rest of the project. i think its pretty obvious it was rushed. unfortunately most of the units are in that building, so its going to cast a bad light on the entire rental side of it due to the # of tenants over there sharing my experience. from what i've seen i think the main (clubhouse building) seems fine. its also shown more so they keep it clean, i think most of the model apts are there. i know at least 1 model is in 3031 (because i lived in it for 3 weeks because of other water issues that required them to gut one of our bathroom and relocate us). so, if you manage to say in the main building, you'll probably be ok. 3031 is plagued though and i'd avoid it, unless you enjoy the fire alarms and drama. you're right though, the rest of the project may be fine, i just know 3031 is a nightmare to live in, especially at 1300$ a month. i'd be suspect of the build quality though and go over everything closely on those townhouses and city homes they are building.

make that 7 times. and now because of road issue i have to wait another 2 weeks for my sofa to get delivered. they wouldn't deliver it because the road is closed and they can't park anywhere. initially i was just assuming the alarms were going off due to the feed lines for the sprinklers exploding (you should have seen the waterfall coming off the side of the building that day). usually if the pressure drops the alarms go off, but honestly i have idea what the issue is now. stuff is still leaking, but i would have thought that they would have put them into bypass or something, and to have the alarms going off this often seems like something else is up. they had the same issue when we first moved in, but after a week it seemed liked they got it under control. this current wave of alarms has been going on for 3 weeks now and they aren't even telling tenants what is going on. in the past they were always good about at least communicating to us about what the issues were, but now we get nothing and questions just get generic responses with no real story about what is really up. i think the issues are all @ the 3031 building (the bigger of the two). the clubhouse building seems fine (lots of units there as well). they had a fire there a while back, but i think it was tenant caused and not related to anything else. those people are the lucky ones

touring the place and living here are two totally separate things. they are VERY good at showing you around places that don't have issues. the staff are pretty clueless about what goes on, and maybe the main clubhouse building is ok. its always looked fine when i was over, there, but building 3031 is a disaster. they change management here almost monthly, so maybe once this new guy gets settled he'll fix this stuff, but so far it just seems to be getting worse. for example today: the fire alarm has gone off 6 times this am. on average the fire alarm goes off at least 1 or 2 times a day the road out front is destroyed because of the fire dept parking their vehicles outside every single day for the past 2 weeks. they were here 12 hours one night because we had so many problems. i'm sure part of it is to due with weather, however having huge fire trucks parked out there did its share of the damage, being the parts of the road that were popping up were where they have been parked. the garage is still full of water leaks, ceiling tiles falling out of the ceiling (which they so far haven't cleaned up). as some leaks are fixed, new ones show up. they've been shuffling parking assignments around because of this, leaks opening up on top of cars, ceilings falling onto cars, etc. the problems were not that present a few months ago, its just really gone to hell int he past 2 or 3 months and management seems totally inept at fixing the issues. most tenants i run into share the same opinion, most elevator discussions are about what a nightmare this place is. if you can put up with terrible construction, drafty apartments (the windows don't even seal properly), poor trash services, and never ending fire alarms and water leaks, this is the perfect place. otherwise, keep looking. in a year this place will have even more vacancies because everyone is going to be moving out once their lease is up. maybe you can work a deal out, i'm sure they will be running specials very soon. for 1300$ a month i find all of this crap completely unacceptable and you can do much much better. if this place for 500$ less, maybe i'd be less bitchy, but there is no way this place is worth the current pricing.

The road is now closed, and honestly this is just another day of the life of a stetson square resident. The past 2 weeks have been hell here. I've never seen so many water leaks, they've had a carpet cleaning crew basically living here sucking up water that is pouring out of various spots of the building. Fire alarms are going off constantly b/c new leaks are springing and dumping water all over. It's insane living here, total nightmare. I'd advise everyone to avoid this place like the plague. They make MED look like real pro's....

well, its definitely an issue. i came home today to see that various sprinkler heads in the garage were leaking (due to the cold i'm sure). another thing is that they have the drains from the courtyard emptying into the garage, which then flows across the floor to another drain (and being cold, its formed a nice sheet of ice). its just a lot of stupid crap like this that goes on here. the people who designed this place obviously didn't really think out what they were designing. not a lot of attention to detail, and i think they ran into a lot of issues and had to kinda fix stuff on the fly, which would account for a lot of the odd stuff around here (like no decent garbage facilities) i'd say occupancy at the main building is probably near 100% (where the clubhouse is). the larger building (where i am), i'd guess maybe 50% or so. they just recently opened the 2nd half of the building and I think they are still in the process of finishing it. i think they had a lot of problems with the contractors during construction, and i'm not sure they really finished the entire job. i haven't seen the workers here for quite a while, but there are still piles of construction materials around and stuff that remains unfinished. i'm not sure what the entire story is, but whatever the deal is, this place has got some issues to address. they are already getting a lot of bad reviews on the apartment ratings website. i think we have another new property manager, so we'll see ...

the quality at stetson is pretty hit and miss. public and exterior spaces are pretty nice both upkeep and build quality wise, but there have been a ton of issues inside the buildings. elevators are constantly broken, the entrance gate at the 3031 building is always broke, lots of water leaks and various other issues. upkeep on the tenant spaces has also slipped severely since I moved on. garbage everywhere (mainly due to a lack of dumpsters or even garbage disposal areas), non functional gutters on the building (which create a nice waterfall effect), exterior drainage pipes that are clogged causing a nice lake to form by the gate at the 3031 building, etc. it seems like there's a high turnover in management as well, they've changed managers more times than i can remember (and I've only been there since august). they had a good maintenance team for a while, but i think the main guy quit and now nothing really gets done, besides more polishing on the areas they show prospective tenants. they definitely need to get their act together, i think a fairly large # of people living there are getting fed up with it. the garbage situation is really the biggest issue. paying 1300 a month and having to wade through garbage piles by the garage elevators is ridiculous and unacceptable, and while they insist they are working on the issue, I've not seen any progress for 6 months, in fact they've reduced the # of garbage cans/etc b/c the city got on them about health codes,etc. overall its a good project for the area, but i think they need to focus a bit on retaining the tenants they have and giving us some cleanliness to go along with the huge rent checks we hand over to them.

if work has resumed, i am assuming the whole wage/union dispute is cleared up? i think this was the project that was held up b/c of some union/prevailing wage argument? either way, its good its back on track. i'm still kinda suspect of MED though, hopefully their involvement is mostly in name and the buyers at Parker get what they paid for. hopefully it adds some life to the empty retail space on 4th as well..

that really sucks.

I just moved into Stetson, and it is pretty nice. Staff is great, good ammenities, nice apartments. Living with the construction is another story, but that's temporarly. Construction workers keep blocking the garage exit and filling up the street with equipment. Waiting on a resolution for that from management, but otherwise its a great place to live and the complaints I have are about a temporary situation anyway.

it pretty much looks like construction is already stopped anyway. i swung over to drop my keys off at kinsey the other night and not much has changed at the site. some re-enforcing is going into the eastern basement walls of kinsey, but most equipment has been removed from the site. i don't think things are going well over at MED at the moment

They can come and make all the offers they want. The point of all of this is that if you decide to decline the offer, the city can't come along and force you to sell via eminent domain. I don't see the problem with that.

Sunday they had the left lane of 4th blocked while they were installing a lot of the larger windows. Looking good!

I think if anyone decides to stay in those houses, they will kick themselves later down the road. Either when the development continues, around their home (perhaps with concrete walls or a parking lot), or when they try to move later down the road. Nobody would ever buy a house in the middle of a parking lot, and the developer could refuse to buy it later out of spite. The should sell now while they have the upper hand, could backfire on them if they hold out.