BDRUF

Great pics! i hope that this area starts to turn. I wold love my first home to be one of these abandoned row homes. Does anyone know the availability of these vacant buildings. Do developers own these that are just sitting back and waiting on the area to turn?

"And there's no guarantee the jazz club will remain downtown. The sale was for the name, liquor license, piano, sound equipment and fixtures. The building's lease has expired, and the partners are in negotiations with landlord North American Properties." I wouldn't mind seeing this move up to Main St. and start to get a real entertainment district solidified. It would be cool to have a Beal St. type vibe going on Main St. I was too young to see it when it was in its prime.

Yeah I'm really excited about this. These tunnels will hopefully be used for light rail some day. As said in the article they are worth $50 million, why throw them away? Also they said that the $50.5 million would be matched by the federal gov. that gives us $101 million which is not shy of the $114 million it would cost to get them ready for trains. A little investment on the part of the citizens could reap huge benefits for the entire area.

Theater at Fountain Sq.? BY KEITH T. REED | [email protected] Early talks over a potential new theater above the Fountain Place building, which houses Macy's and Tiffany's, could result in an additional downtown performing arts complex. Executives from Fifth Third Bancorp and the Playhouse in the Park confirmed that they have talked about building an arts facility over Fountain Place, where Fifth Third has owned the air fights since 1995. The building is at the northwest corner of Fifth and Race, just across from Fountain Square. The bank, which originally envisioned its own office tower there but has since built a processing center in Madisonville, broached the idea with the Playhouse last week, a bank spokeswoman said. With the Playhouse interested, other arts organizations are watching closely to see if the idea gains any traction. “If you had a multi-use venue with multiple organizations, it creates excitement,” said Susie Louiso, executive director of The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati. “I think it’s really important for the downtown to make it a much more vital place. Retail has moved out to the suburbs, which gives us the opportunity to use theater to help keep it vital and be an economic engine.” Several groups, including the playhouse, Children’s Theatre, Cincinnati Ballet and Cincinnati Opera, earlier this year had discussions with Western & Southern Financial Group about developing land at the corner of Fifth and Race streets, across from Macy’s. But that idea fizzled and left the door open for Fifth Third’s overture. In 2005, the Playhouse said it was interested in possibly moving to The Banks, although that idea also died. Playhouse officials said then it was possible they also could build a new theater at its current location in Mount Adams. Officials at the Playhouse are interested in a new home because the Mount Adams complex is now more than 40 years old. Some patrons think sight lines are not good and complain about comfort at the complex, especially the main stage, the 600-seat Marx Theater. The Marx is built as a thrust stage, where the platform the actors perform on juts out into the seating area and can be unwieldy for staging some productions. Some board members have privately that they're interested in building a more traditional prosecnium main stage, featuring a large archway through which the audience - which directly faces the stage - views the play. Downtown already has the Aronoff Center for the Arts, where the Cincinnati Ballet soon will perform "The Nutcracker." The Cincinnati Opera currently performs at Music Hall in Over-the-Rhine, where the opera and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra are considering possible alternations to alter the main auditorium.

This would be awesome to see the density raised directly around Fountain Square. The Macy's building lacks a wow factor and this would be a great opportunity and time to add that. I guess this is probably pretty far off in the future, but it is great to see the urban core headed in this direction.

Sorry i posted this in the wrong thread....

i may be wrong but when driving 71-N you can see the remains of a tunnel on the right side under the McMillan overpass. It is a large brick tunnel that is about thirty feet from what i can see.

Lawyer to oversee Banks www.enquirer.com BY JANE PRENDERGAST | [email protected] Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney announced this morning that he has hired a former Lexington city lawyer as his new assistant and charged him with overseeing The Banks development project. David Holmes starts work Monday with a salary of $128,000, according to a release from Dohoney’s office. Dohoney also has assigned Holmes responsibility for other priority economic development projects and to spur more investment in neighborhoods...

I would love to see a sports arena at broadway, but i don't know what the chances of us getting an NBA or NHL team are.... What about a large city park... all the large greenspaces are either on the riverfront or in the hills.. this would be a huge draw for otr and the entire east side of the city.... and rando about your idea about the transit hub is very similar to what Charlotte is trying to do with their Third Ward district. They are building their minor league stadium, a five acre park, and a new transit hub.

I agree with rando on Broadway Commons- I feel it is the largest eyesoar in the city (Not to say that the banks isn't a more important eyesoar. I also think reconnecting east and west (Broadway Commons and Union Terminal via Central Parkway and Ezerald Charles) is incredibly important. I think that by 'rebeautifying' Central Parkway will help spur development in OTR and reconnect it to DT

Christian Moerlein ale haus would defiantly be ideal. Something with great local flavor, but i think something like that would be best suited in OTR, possibly in the old Jackson Brewery

just think of all the positive things that have come from the renovations of fountain square.... that was only 42 million dollar investment and only directly impacts a small portion of the city. now think about $102 spread throughout a large portion of the city... and a streetcar is a much more functional and a larger development draw on top of that

As far as the banks hurting OTR I'm going to have to disagree. I feel like OTR is very unique and attracts a different person than the banks. The Banks also, in my eyes, is an attempt to steal empty nesters from the suburban areas. If anything i think the Banks will help both OTR and the CBD by changing the perception of downtown.

Streetcar plan gets council push BY JANE PRENDERGAST | [email protected] Efforts to bring streetcars to Cincinnati pushed forward Wednesday, but not without some questions about the $100 million cost, and whether it should be a priority for the financially strapped city. City Council members voted 8-1 to tell the administration to keep moving on its financial research. A report on the costs and possible funding sources is due to council’s finance committee in a month. But the chairman of that committee, John Cranley, voted against the resolution. He said he was concerned about casting a positive vote because he felt doing so would indicate he agreed with the financing proposal outlined last week. That proposal calls for, among other things, using $25 million from city capital funds, which he said could also be used to pave streets, and using $11 million from the sale of the Blue Ash Airport. He said that money already has been promised to neighborhoods. “I like streetcars,” Cranley said. “I’d like to see them in Cincinnati. But the issue is $100 million and balancing the needs of the entire city.” He also thinks that the first phase of the streetcar plan should connect downtown with Uptown, the area around the University of Cincinnati and the hospitals.

As it turns out this is going to be my senior Capstone. I want to create a large green space (at Broadway Commons) to Central Parkway and linking Central Parkway to Union Terminal through linking green space (Based on Olmsted's Emerald Necklace concept in Boston and using some of John Kessler's ideas from his 1907 plan for Cincinnati. Obviously some there will be a lot more than just green space to make a project like this work. The reason i am posting this is because i need to find a bunch of case studies like the Boston Public Gardens and Common Wealth Ave. and i just wanted to know if anyone knew of any really effective urban parkways. Thanks for the help

http://www.humannature.cc/index.asp?page=open_central_parkway

Winery debuts in Hyde Park BY STEPFANIE ROMINE | [email protected] Tino Vino Vintners, a do-it-yourself and boutique winery, will open Monday at 3665 Erie Ave. in Hyde Park. NO link available.

Speaking of the wires; will they be attached to buildings or will their that they are attached to. I know when i was in Milan they were attached to post, but all the old photos of the street car show them attached to buildings, and i think they are like that in portland. I think i am more partial to the post look especially do it correctly.

I wonder if this could spark anything for the QCS II? It seems as though the Bartlett has a considerable amount of tennants. Bartlett tenants may move Developer has plans to bring in hotel BY LISA BERNARD-KUHN | [email protected] Changes potentially in store for the Bartlett Building at 4th and Walnut streets could leave more than two dozen downtown tenants, including American Airlines, looking for new homes. Sterling Phoenix Development VI LLC, a Chicago-based real estate investment firm, said Wednesday it was in discussions with "global hotel operators" and is exploring possible "best uses" for the downtown building, which was the city's first skyscraper. Sterling Phoenix purchased the 18-story tower in March 2006 for $8.2 million. At the time the firm said it planned to invest up to $4 million in renovations, which included upgrades to the building's ornate lobby and its grand ballroom. Construction on the building began in 1901 and was finished in 1913.

Developers call for ouster of Banks joint venture Business Courier of Cincinnati - by Dan Monk Senior staff reporter A coalition of downtown office developers are asking Cincinnati City Council to fire an Atlanta-based joint venture that's trying to finalize development agreements for the Banks riverfront project. The demand comes as developers Carter & Associates Commercial Developer Services LLC and Harold A. Dawson Co., are lobbying local elected leaders to support the higher-density project. Among their weapons is a new three-dimensional model that shows how the project will look next to downtown. The model shows three buildings of 14, 16 and 20 stories in three separate blocks - with most of the remaining structures standing fewer than 6 stories tall... www.cincybizjournals.com

Businesses: Re-bid The Banks BY JESSICA BROWN | [email protected] A group of influential business leaders want the proposed Banks riverfront development project to be re-bid. The letter, directed to City Council members, also urges them to vote against the Banks plans. They said the project is bigger and taller than originally expected and will now compete with downtown. The city’s planning commission approved the changes last month but the city must still sign off on those plans... www.enquirer.com

Does anyone know the price tag on the entire construction of the Riverfront Park?

Bovis to manage riverfront condo project Business Courier of Cincinnati - 9:44 AM EDT Friday, August 10, 2007 A global construction management firm will be in charge of the $140 million condominium project planned for Cincinnati's western riverfront. Bovis Lend Lease, which has its U.S. headquarters in New York and an office in Cincinnati, was chosen by developer Miller-Valentine Group to handle the project, dubbed One River Plaza. Bovis is one of the largest construction management/general contractor firms in the United States and has been involved with more than 400 residential or mixed-use developments. It's a division of Sydney, Australia-based Lend Lease Corp. One River Plaza will include 150 condominiums, two high-end restaurants and a promenade overlooking the Ohio River. Condo prices will range from $400,000 to several million and are being marketed by Huff Realty. The former Montgomery Inn Banquet Center, owned by co-developers the Gregory and Andrews families, was razed in July to make way for the project.

I know it's in OTR, but what street?

Where is Grammer's?