BlackBengal

Is that the one on the West side of Vine with the scaffolding covering the front?

^ You guys mean 7th & Vine? There are no surface lots at 6th and Vine.

^ Lets not get silly. What building in Covington is "modern" other than the Ascent? (talk about a building that is "squatty") The rest of the newer buildings in Covington look exactly the same as, or are worse, than the Banks renderings. (I guess the revolving restaurant was "modern" 40 years ago.) Cincy has way more examples of modern architecture. The Freedom Center, the CAC, the Palisades of Mt. Adams and PBS are all big modern buildings built within the past 7 years in Cincy. And that is just downtown/Mt. Adams. If you go Uptown you cant throw a rock without hitting a new "modern" building.

I have to believe that once the SCPA is up and running and students begin arriving for classes that the party will be over for the guys that hang out at Washington Park. There is no way that the city will allow this to go on in SCPA's backyard. Lets hope so anyway. The SCPA may be the catalyst that finally forces the city to clean up the park.

I was reading through everone's comments thinking that you were all being over-critical of these renderings, and then I saw this comparison to University Park. And then I suddenly understood the criticism. This is a problem. HOWEVER, because I am an incurable optimist. I have to remind myself that this neighborhood will be surrounded by such great-to-above-average architecture that it doesnt need to be inspiring to make a great neighborhood. The Supension Bridge, PBS, the Freedom Center, GAP (which, is underrated in my opinion. I like the perpendicular warehouse style buildings on the outside of GAP), the Scripts building, and QCS will play off of this neighborhood in a fantastic way. Cross the Supension Bridge into Covington and you will see what I mean. That area has a lot of bad, new buildings if examined in isolation. However, they dont seem to be quite so bad because they are surrounded by the Suspension Bridge and the historic townhomes east of the Bridge. The neighborhood feels pretty organic (I hate to use such a lame cliche) like it was built over many decades. I have been to Atlantic Station in Atlanta. It kinda sucks, but it is still a successful neighborhood. I see a lot of similarities between these designs and AS. However, AS is isolated by a highway from downtown ATL, and even if it was in downtown it would still suck because it is just like everything else in downtown ATL. Brand new and without character. ATL doesnt have 10% of the historical charm as downtown Cincy. However, if you popped AS in downtown Cincy it would take on a completely different vibe than it does in its current location. Cincy has too much historical charm IMO. It looks like nothing has been built in Cincy in 30 years (and that isnt far from the truth), which gives downtown an outdated/ghost town feel. Sparkling, new, modern buildings (even if unispiring) will give downtown Cincy something that it doesnt currently have; an impression that we are a growing city.

This would really help to move the residential units.

Every time I think of this project I cant help but get pissed off about all of the federal money (billions upon billions) that was used in Boston's Big Dig. Boston gets billions to bury their highway under the city and we cant get 50-60 million from the feds to bury ours?

I didnt realize they were selling that well. Everytime I have looked at the listings linked from 3cdc's website it looks like there are a lot of unsold units. Is there a better website to look at to see what these units are like?

^ I have to disagree about the walk of fame idea. I hate this idea. St. Louis has this in the University City area, and it is pretty lame. In my opinion it highlights a negative. Like, "here are a list of people that have escaped Cincy for better things." Not to mention it is cheesy and a rip-off of another city.

This is great news. The section of Walnut between 6th and 7th is already a pretty good block with Nicholsons, Nada, the Aronoff, Roma (an underrated restaurant IMO), the CAC and the swanky townhouses that were recently gutted and rehabbed, but the empty Phoenix and old Uno's are an eyesore (although the Phoenix is actually less of an eyesore no that it is empty). The Ruby restaurant and the Phoenix rehab will complete that block.

WCPO has links to some pdfs that I havent seen before. This one has a very detailed rendering and some basic facts about the building: http://www.wcpo.com/media/news/a/d/1/ad158206-dfe5-4637-b7a5-0a5e230416a7/QCS_Fact_sheet_0623.pdf This one has a construction timeline: http://www.wcpo.com/media/news/f/0/5/f05c5964-9771-421e-959d-a2c57ab48a88/QCS_Timeline.pdf

^ I went back through the thread to find the old renderings that showed 4 towers, but all of the links to the enquirer articles are dead. Does anyone have the old renderings?

I've been thinking that Cincinnati's solution to land area they don't know what to do with is: build a park. Frankly, I'm getting a little tired of it. We have plenty of riverfront parks (with another in the pipeline), and now it's being suggested (although I'm aware that it's no new proposal) to have several more blocks of park space across an entire row? Come on. I disagree. There isnt that much greenspace in the CBD and the little that there is fits in well. There is Garfield Park, Lytle Park and P&G's gardens (which I believe is owned by P&G) and that's about it. Sawyer Point isnt really in the CBD and neither will be the new Riverfront Park. It would be great if a Furtune 500 company wanted to build its new HQ on the caps or if demand for housing was so high that developers couldnt wait to get a hold of that property, but we all know that isnt the case. After the Banks gets going, One River Plaza is built, the Edge is built and QCS goes up etc., we are going to have a vast surplus of housing and offices. More greenspace is a nice alternative and it may be the only practical alternative. A talented designer could make greenspace over the caps fit in well with the area.

you are talking about areas where the demand for housing is extremely high. Places where all of the ideal sites are already developed so people looking for a bargain live in less-than-ideal sites. That's not Cincinnati.

Housing on the caps seems like an odd choice and unlikely. I think the idea of living above the highway on a cap would be unappealing to people. I bet it will be mostly greenspace, similar to Lytle Park. Anyway, does anyone have any details on how or why it is "back on the table?"

I wish I could be more optimisitic about Washington Park, but the main problem doesnt seem to be solved. Walk by that park any day of the week and you will see several dozen street people sitting in the park drinking from beverages wrapped in brown paper bags. What is being done to move those people?

I was at Sawyer Point today and noticed that there is nothing going on at this site. I am really excited about this project. It will really finish off the look of the riverfront East of GAPB and help to make the incredibly ugly One Lyle Place less prominent. It will also be awesome at street level and make Sawyer Point feel a little more upscale. When they tore down the MR building to make room for this I thought that construction wouldnt be far behind. Silly me. Any idea what the hold up is? When can we expect construction to start?

Here is the blurb on the project from Sasaki's website: http://www.sasaki.com/what/works.cgi?fid=262&page=2 Includes two pics that I dont think I have seen before. I love the pic that highlights the Suspension Bridge in the background. The Bridge is what is going to make the riverfront park and the Banks special. Even if the Banks and the park are poorly designed (I dont believe that they will be), the fact that the Bridge is right in the center of both developments will make it standout from other run-of-the-mill planned neighborhoods. The Bridge is going to cut right through the park. That will look really cool. The other thing that I like is that they are apparently going to build a wall between the river and the park similar to the serpentine wall. The fact that no wall is in place on that part of the river currently really makes the area look shabby. Right now it is just a muddy riverbank with scruffy trees and bushes. If you go to just about any other urban area that has a riverfront (the Chicago River, westside of Manhatten, downtown Pittsburgh etc.) there is a wall, rather than a natural shoreline along the river. It makes a huge difference in the appearance and usefullness of the riverfront.

^^ You are probably sick of these questions Nicker, but I'll ask anyway. Do you know when the garage comes down? How long after the garage comes down before the real construction starts?

Most of the streets downtown are 4 lanes wide (although the two outside lanes typically double as parking), the renderings of the Banks also show 4 lanes.

Why is the Banks the target of every social or charitable organization in Cincinnati? The strategy seems to be to create enough waves that scare investors so you get a pay off or special concession. They see the Banks as a big money grab for their cause. Next we are going to hear from the Greater Cincinnati Golden Retriever Rescue Association; that 5% of the Banks should be set aside for a publicly funded animal shelter.

Cinergy Field soon to be erased BY THE ENQUIRER DOWNTOWN -- Heavy machinery will be moving in for the Banks project in a matter of days. The 2.8 million-square-foot riverfront development got started April 2. By Monday - maybe earlier - crews will be demolishing the old Cinergy Field foundations. The $698,900 demolition contract was awarded to Evans Landscaping Inc. and is about $572,000 less than expected because the company is recycling the concrete. Site preparation will be finished by June. In early July, construction begins on a 1,478-space parking garage. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080415/NEWS01/804150402/1056/COL02

dglenn- Is this the building?

^ Exactly what I was thinking. Atlanta's Underground makes Tower Place look high-end.

The Feds can pitch in billions of dollars for Boston's Big Dig, but cant pony up the 30 million or so to cover Ft. Washington Way? (30 million is just a guess btw, anyone know how about how much this would cost?)