Caseyc

What? This is a joke right? Also, looks like the core just hit the 40th level. Next week should be the end of the road for the core!!! from my perspective, I would say the core is at around 37 right now.

City BBQ is setting up right now to cater a very large lunch in the middle of the new section of Freedom Way. dedication perhaps?

When our offices moved from the Scripps building to Atrium II it was a crapshoot as far as parking. The demolition of that garage for QCSII put a further crimp on supply. A lot of the garages available had waiting lists and were overpriced as well. I park at GABP, which is decent enough. I'm not averse to walking, but the eggleston lots are not as close a walk as you might surmise.

$250 million is not a lot for a casino without hotel. MGM in Detroit spent $220 million on converting a former IRS office into their "temporary" casino in 1999. Note that casino also included a 3,000+ space parking structure.

I will predict that the "acts", if any, that this casino books will be pretty low level trivial stuff. These guys aren't looking to build a Vegas casino. It's a regional draw and will oeprate like one. Even the Detroit casinos, which are considerably larger than what will go in Broadway Commons, never really ventured into the "big entertainment" realm, opting instead for DJ's and cheesey bar bands playing in lounges. Windsor has an auditorium but the acts were always lame. I believe Motor City has a club which books stuff like Brian Setzer Orchestra and dreck like the Goo Goo Dolls et al. That is as big as it gets. MGM Grand has overpriced nightclubs...Greektown is the same. In order to integrate the casino in the community, the draw will be for people to go elsewhere to see bands and entertainment. That is at it should be. You don't want a casino sucking up all of the entertainment draw downtown, even if they wanted to (which they don't). In Vegas, it's a totally different equation.

I've stayed out of this, and will continue to do so, but the one factor that remains a constant here is the rapidly deteriorating state of the building. It is a mess, it will get worse, and the prior owner was never going to do anything about it. Expecting 3CDC to buy it and maintain it, fix it, and continue with the current use is contrary to 3CDC's raison d'etre. Not going to happen. And did you see anyone else knocking down the doors to buy that dump for 6.25 million?? There were not a lot of options here. It would continue to deteriorate until condemned or worse. All squatting in the midst of a glittering example of urban renewal. I don't argue that there isn't a place downtown for SRO's, but this was not the best for either side, and it would only get worse for the tenants as the owner skated by with the bare minimum necessary to keep the doors open and the rent checks coming in. And I will leave you with this anecdote--doesn't anyone recall a few years back how someone fell through the floor/ceiling of an apartment onto a table at Roma? Nice.

Right....I just dusted off the plans. Ted Berry Way will basically only exist between Vine and Walnut, providing access to/from the bridge.

rest assured, that casino will have a mammoth, sprawling parking structure attached to it.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091109/NEWS0108/911100315/1055/NEWS/County+approves+Banks+stimulus+deal So they're demolishing Ted Berry Way in part and improving it in part? I guess I need to go back to the drawings.

podcast: http://www.700wlw.com/cc-common/podcast/single_podcast.html?podcast=scott_sloan.xml

the penguin thing is their shtick...and the segway rider even looks like Shawn. Props for authenticity there. In walking by the building today, I noticed those uglay 4 and 1/2 windows on the mezzanine level, right side of the photo (north end of east facing facade). Those certainly don't look to be historical. I wonder if they can get rid of them.

South Shuttlesworth or North? The south circle is not so hot the closer you get to Reading. I had a cousin who lived in a big old Addams Family like one on the south circle, along with their 14 or so kids (many adopted). As noted above, the North end has the tennis courts and playfields (currently a mess as a staging area for construction of the new Montessori school). There was also a large house or two that XU students rented. That area is really more of a transition zone between North Avondale and Avondale proper.

Just rode up the elevator in Atrium II with Trent Germano. He said things are going to start humming in the next few weeks. If you look at the platform now, it is tidied up and pretty much ready to build, other than some final activity on the SW corner.

Smitherman was sitting at the "Chesley Table" at the Palace today having lunch. Stan seemed to be doing all the talking. That must have been an interesting conversation.

Leeper showed up at Arnold's last night and was in a good mood. Must have just inked this deal.

it is the northwest corner.

Isn't Avondale and North Avondale Smitherman Territory? actually........a lot of North Avondale residents felt hoodwinked by Smitherman after he joined council. What we thought was an intelligent progressive candidate turned into a divisive attention-seeking firebrand. Avondale proper is also not as straight-Smitherman as you might expect (Smitherman, by the way, lives in North A). I'm working the polls at North Av rec center tonight. Hopefully will see some neighbors.

It's safe to say this has been one of the most unproductive work days I've had in a long time Plus One.

agree. I love the re-use of the old post office (which was essentially little more than a facade) and the Italianate building south of it with the blue trim.

wow. That was quite the comprehensive exit poll....."Early Voters Nix Transit..." Right.

How about we launch a ballot initiative to raise the amount of signatures required from, what, 6,500 (?), to 25,000?

wow.....they covered a lot of territory in that piece.

just awesome

Oh! You are the guy from Soapbox? yup

I was deemed "obstreperous" by former Congressman Luken