March 29, 20169 yr Well that's unexpected. I'm glad to see this is still moving forward and has had a dramatic scope increase.
March 29, 20169 yr The pedestrian bridge portion is an interesting idea, but it doesn't really cut off any of the walk time from this development to downtown/otr than just walking over Elsmere bridge. And still a ways off from anything other than the back of the casino.
March 29, 20169 yr It might not cut off a ton of time but it'll be a lot more comfortable than walking over the existing bridge. That whole area is very anti-pedestrian so any little bit will help.
March 29, 20169 yr When I was a kid in first or second grade, we ate packed lunches in what they call "Baldwin Park" across from the old Natural History Museum. I remember a group of homeless guys were hanging out on the bridge and had a little camp there. I wanted to go hang out with them instead of the teacher.
March 29, 20169 yr The ped bridge looks like its on an old rail viaduct. Seems like a good idea though its a touch far from OTR/Liberty hill.
March 29, 20169 yr It is the old CL&N overpass, which was built in 1966 to accommodate I-71 construction and only operated for 2 years before it was abandoned. The tunnel in Walnut Hills is still there as well as the double-track bridge over Victory Parkway which was planned to carry a double-track light rail line between MLK and Xavier University. Unfortunately, Cranley has conspired to turn it into a bike trail and block its use.
May 2, 20169 yr Luxury in-fill development planned for East Walnut Hills D-HAS Architecture Planning & Design and Traditions Building Group are moving forward with their plan to build nine new homes in East Walnut Hills. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/05/02/luxury-in-fill-development-planned-for-east-walnut.html#i2 "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 2, 20169 yr Can't say that I'm too impressed by those renderings. “To an Ohio resident - wherever he lives - some other part of his state seems unreal.”
May 2, 20169 yr Luxury in-fill development planned for East Walnut Hills D-HAS Architecture Planning & Design and Traditions Building Group are moving forward with their plan to build nine new homes in East Walnut Hills. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/05/02/luxury-in-fill-development-planned-for-east-walnut.html#i2 Looks like if they redeveloped the Loveland Castle.
May 2, 20169 yr The tower is awesome in real life and it looks silly in the rendering. So I bet the whole project looks better in real life than the rendering.
May 2, 20169 yr Is that supposed to be this old church tower? It doesn't look the same. https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1274405,-84.4893993,3a,84.3y,339.33h,106.93t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sRzG8EkUhDd764omy5BgkXQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
May 2, 20169 yr no. this one: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1297685,-84.4739486,3a,75y,133.67h,87.08t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sncntmzqjncNl373LN2wcWA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
May 2, 20169 yr Nope, it's this one. https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1297685,-84.4739486,3a,75y,114.09h,94.7t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sncntmzqjncNl373LN2wcWA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DncntmzqjncNl373LN2wcWA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D21.219175%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656
May 2, 20169 yr Why cross off "East"? It IS East Walnut Hills. I thought it was the steeple across from the Wendy's on Taft. Whoops! Yes, you're correct. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
May 2, 20169 yr Ok yeah. It's actually kind of a similar situation in that the tower is the only part left that's old. The original church burned down in the 1960s or 70s (wasn't it a pastor with a history of arson or other misdeeds who was being constantly shuffled around to different congregations?). Anyway, the tower was spared and kept, as was the front wall along Madison Road, but otherwise there's not much left that's original.
May 2, 20169 yr I actually think this is about as good as we can get with modern infill... I'm actually pretty pleased with this. Other than the stone facade the basic brick veneer buildings look a lot like much of the infill in Chicago. I would kind of prefer something that opened out to the street a bit more, though there are advantages to having a courtyard and it looks like the main drag will preserve the stone facade of the old church (or what's left of it).
May 3, 20169 yr Would be great to see this old YMCA at 1228 E McMillan brought back to life as apartments: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2016/05/02/new-apartments-shuttered-east-walnut-hills-ymca/83846676/ I wouldn't expect anything to happen right away because first they're applying for historic designation, then they're going to apply for historic tax credits. So it'll probably be a few years until any construction would be able to begin (assuming all goes as planned for the developer). I'm just glad to see that the developer wants to restore it according to historic standards. Should make for a great addition of density to that part of Walnut Hills.
May 3, 20169 yr Love that he owns the building now though! That area is about to blow up. Two way conversion probably going to happen in 2018, the Anthem site will likely have a lot of work going on at the time then too, allegedly adding several hundred residential units.
May 9, 20169 yr Glad to see more activity coming to this part of Walnut Hills: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/05/09/exclusive-craft-beer-coffee-lounge-coming-to.html
May 17, 20169 yr This project is a SIGNIFICANT improvement from their last one in EWH. These properties are adjacent to each other. One at Woodburn & Chapel and the new one at Woodburn & Lincoln. I just drove down Woodburn this morning and saw that the one old house that was standing on this site has been demolished. Kind of bittersweet, as that house was really beautiful, like so many others in that part of EWH and Evanston. But if the demolition of the house allows for this project to go forward, it will definitely be a win for the neighborhood. 'Downtown' Evanston is seeing a little bit of a resurgence, with the new Towne developments and the rehabs that the Port Authority are doing around 5 Points, so it would be great to further connect that area with the Woodburn/DeSales Corner area. Also, I think the school in this part of the neighborhood (directly across from the cemetery) is one of the most beautiful and overlooked structures in Greater Cincinnati. It would be amazing to see it converted to residential some day. Streetview shot of the demolished house: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1319568,-84.4765039,3a,75y,287.05h,78.26t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sqa2_4ob55vxj5EHszj3Jbw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 Streetview shot of the school: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1342023,-84.4784988,3a,75y,94.57h,102.16t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s6Y8J22m4gGUA-BpELNfa6g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
May 23, 20169 yr Neyer is going to work with Castro on the Baldwin building renovation. They chose Castro based on their experience with historic renovations, particularly The Julian in Columbus: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/05/23/exclusive-these-companies-will-team-up-on-100m.html Check out the old Streetview photos over the years to see Castro's impressive renovation of "The Julian" warehouse in Columbus (compare 2011 to now). 2011: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9559468,-83.001064,3a,90y,7.22h,109.87t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sKNAPVCZdWyyWM7pIqvcNOg!2e0!5s20110901T000000!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1 2015: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9559468,-83.001064,3a,75y,7.22h,109.87t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sTjvY6JXJo1Z4s8JlQgfUhw!2e0!5s20151101T000000!7i13312!8i6656
May 23, 20169 yr Impressive! Hopefully they can stick around after this and go nuts in Camp Washington. Just put those wonderful looking industrial casement windows back in the Crosley, all the empty Powell plants, old abandoned pattern shops, etc.
May 23, 20169 yr This project is a SIGNIFICANT improvement from their last one in EWH. These properties are adjacent to each other. One at Woodburn & Chapel and the new one at Woodburn & Lincoln. I just drove down Woodburn this morning and saw that the one old house that was standing on this site has been demolished. Kind of bittersweet, as that house was really beautiful, like so many others in that part of EWH and Evanston. But if the demolition of the house allows for this project to go forward, it will definitely be a win for the neighborhood. 'Downtown' Evanston is seeing a little bit of a resurgence, with the new Towne developments and the rehabs that the Port Authority are doing around 5 Points, so it would be great to further connect that area with the Woodburn/DeSales Corner area. Also, I think the school in this part of the neighborhood (directly across from the cemetery) is one of the most beautiful and overlooked structures in Greater Cincinnati. It would be amazing to see it converted to residential some day. Streetview shot of the demolished house: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1319568,-84.4765039,3a,75y,287.05h,78.26t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sqa2_4ob55vxj5EHszj3Jbw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 Streetview shot of the school: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1342023,-84.4784988,3a,75y,94.57h,102.16t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s6Y8J22m4gGUA-BpELNfa6g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 Not that anyone evidently cares about this development on here, but several bulldozers were present at the site today breaking up the parking lot pavement and leveling the ground to prepare for development.
May 23, 20169 yr Impressive! Hopefully they can stick around after this and go nuts in Camp Washington. Just put those wonderful looking industrial casement windows back in the Crosley, all the empty Powell plants, old abandoned pattern shops, etc. Agreed! And closer to the CBD, there are some old warehouses in the West End and OTR that could be converted. And how about this old warehouse on Culvert St: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1027414,-84.5017978,3a,75y,79.79h,89.11t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sF61Gf4CjPDV_Cyv85GV3iA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
May 23, 20169 yr Impressive! Hopefully they can stick around after this and go nuts in Camp Washington. Just put those wonderful looking industrial casement windows back in the Crosley, all the empty Powell plants, old abandoned pattern shops, etc. I completely agree that Camp Washington should be a huge boom for apartments. Amazingly, I've seen development folks say "who would want to live in camp washington, it's not near anything".. Actually, it's the PERFECT location to be close to a lot of things but cheaper and calmer. Bike to Northside, bike to OTR, down the hill from Clifton, etc. The Crosley building is slated to become 220 apartments by Core after SCPA opens. They are working on financing now.
May 23, 20169 yr I certainly wouldn't want to live in Camp Washington. There's really bad highway noise and pollution from 75, plus all the noise from the rail yards on the western edge of the neighborhood. There is little to no neighborhood business district, and while you're close to Northside and Clifton, you're definitely not IN (or really walkable to) either of those places. There is also the jail there and salt pile and several other less than desirable users. Oh, and the current population there is very heavily Appalachian and not very welcoming to outsiders. I kind of think of it as being like a white, more industrial Lincoln Heights.
May 23, 20169 yr I certainly wouldn't want to live in Camp Washington. There's really bad highway noise and pollution from 75, plus all the noise from the rail yards on the western edge of the neighborhood. There is little to no neighborhood business district, and while you're close to Northside and Clifton, you're definitely not IN (or really walkable to) either of those places. There is also the jail there and salt pile and several other less than desirable users. Oh, and the current population there is very heavily Appalachian and not very welcoming to outsiders. I kind of think of it as being like a white, more industrial Lincoln Heights. I lived on the CUF side of the hill for for 18 years, and the hum of the city lulled me to sleep with the knowing that even though i was switching off for the night, life was moving right along. Plus the screech of the rail cars on the CSX hump were like metallic sirens singing. Seriously, i loved it there, but my dream next house is also a re purposed industrial space and i love all the flat bike-able streets and rusty metal decay so i realize I'm in my own little sub group.
May 23, 20169 yr I certainly wouldn't want to live in Camp Washington. There's really bad highway noise and pollution from 75, plus all the noise from the rail yards on the western edge of the neighborhood. There is little to no neighborhood business district, and while you're close to Northside and Clifton, you're definitely not IN (or really walkable to) either of those places. There is also the jail there and salt pile and several other less than desirable users. Oh, and the current population there is very heavily Appalachian and not very welcoming to outsiders. I kind of think of it as being like a white, more industrial Lincoln Heights. I lived on the CUF side of the hill for for 18 years, and the hum of the city lulled me to sleep with the knowing that even though i was switching off for the night, life was moving right along. Plus the screech of the rail cars on the CSX hump were like metallic sirens singing. Seriously, i loved it there, but my dream next house is also a re purposed industrial space and i love all the flat bike-able streets and rusty metal decay so i realize I'm in my own little sub group. I believe there's totally a market for Camp Washington, I'm just not it. I actually think it has a similar vibe to the arts district and some of the other industrial areas in downtown LA. Those places are seeing a dramatic resurgence/gentrification despite being in a heavily industrial, highway adjacent area. Hell, the LA river and Mill Creek even look pretty similar! Btw, I agree about the highway noise from the top of the hill. I get a constant hum from 71 at my spot in Mt. Adams, but I've learned to not even mind it at all. I think it's a little different being up on the hill vs down in the valley, hearing that noise at-grade, but again, I know everyone has different tolerances for such things.
May 23, 20169 yr I certainly wouldn't want to live in Camp Washington. There's really bad highway noise and pollution from 75, plus all the noise from the rail yards on the western edge of the neighborhood. There is little to no neighborhood business district, and while you're close to Northside and Clifton, you're definitely not IN (or really walkable to) either of those places. There is also the jail there and salt pile and several other less than desirable users. Oh, and the current population there is very heavily Appalachian and not very welcoming to outsiders. I kind of think of it as being like a white, more industrial Lincoln Heights. I lived on the CUF side of the hill for for 18 years, and the hum of the city lulled me to sleep with the knowing that even though i was switching off for the night, life was moving right along. Plus the screech of the rail cars on the CSX hump were like metallic sirens singing. Seriously, i loved it there, but my dream next house is also a re purposed industrial space and i love all the flat bike-able streets and rusty metal decay so i realize I'm in my own little sub group. I could hear that hum of the train brakes for the first 4 years of my time in Cincinnati then I moved to a spot that you couldn't hear them except on rare occasions and I realized how accustomed I had grown to them. Falling asleep was hard without that noise. I occasionally hear them now that I'm in OTR if it's a quiet night but I miss the consistency of that noise that I had in Clifton Heights.
May 23, 20169 yr Camp Washington is really cool, if you go to the Hopple Street Shell station in the morning you get a real good sense of the neighborhood waking up for a hard day's work, probably headed to Johnny Cash or Mike Rowe style jobs. As far as living there I'd actually be worried about some of the leftover brownfield pollution in the soil, especially if I had children. The Crosley building itself was involved in the manufacture of early radios and WWII prox fuses, so I bet there's some nasty chemicals residues left behind there, but I'm sure with the proper techniques it could be remediated. www.cincinnatiideas.com
May 24, 20169 yr The sad thing about Camp Washington is that it has probably the most shuttered neighborhood business district in the city. There's four full blocks of Colerain Avenue between Marshall and Hopple that are full of storefronts, but they're nearly all empty since Colerain goes from nowhere to nowhere thanks to I-75. There's some other perfectly serviceable storefront buildings north of there neat Bates as well. Even Hopple itself used to be somewhat of a business node, but it's little more than a highway rest stop now. That could present an opportunity though, to treat Colerain sort of like Short Vine, since it's not a major thoroughfare anymore.
May 24, 20169 yr My brother in law used to live on Riddle and you could hear the trains alot,but he said he loved it cuz it reminded him of growing up near a train hard in Germany. Also, work with a guy who just moved from Northside to CW and loves it, said his rent is half for a similar apartment and he rides his bicycle to Northside and otr all the time.
May 24, 20169 yr The sound you are hearing is mostly the hump yard. The sound is worse the higher up you are, with Fairview Ave. probably getting the worst of it. Oddly the sound level in Camp Washington isn't as bad as the the sound on the hillside streets. I used to live on Mulberry with a great view of downtown. The sound from I-75 was horrible though, and it was two miles away.
June 21, 20168 yr Could Walnut Hills co-working space save neighborhood's Kroger? Jun 21, 2016, 10:39am EDT Chris Wetterich Staff reporter and columnist Cincinnati Business Courier The city of Cincinnati will kick in $500,000 to build a small business co-working space at the city-owned Durner Building in the 2400 block of Gilbert Avenue in Walnut Hills. Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld and Mayor John Cranley announced the move on Monday and City Council included the funding in the city’s fiscal year 2017 budget. http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/06/21/could-walnut-hills-co-working-space-save.html
June 21, 20168 yr Regarding Chris Smitherman's comment at the end of the article, I wish we could have a serious conversation about how the most unattractive thing on that block is...the Kroger building. It presents a blank wall to McMillan and Kemper and then has a large blast radius of parking and grassy lots surrounding the other two sides.
June 21, 20168 yr I'm not optimistic that the Walnut Hills Kroger will be saved. I think most people have accepted that idea that once Kroger opens their new Corryville store, they will close the Walnut Hills store. It's unfortunate, but like chinkley[/member] said, the design of the Walnut Hills Kroger is terribly anti-urban so I won't be that sad to see it go.
June 21, 20168 yr One of my favorite buildings in Walnut Hills was this apartment complex one, right next to Kroger, with these fantastic faces on it. Sadly it is now a grassy lot and I don't remember any fights to save it. (Sorry, I can't get the embed to work!)
June 21, 20168 yr Yeah that was a really great building, part of an unnecessary mass demolition that happened up there :/ Throwing away their best assets...
June 21, 20168 yr I'm not optimistic that the Walnut Hills Kroger will be saved. I think most people have accepted that idea that once Kroger opens their new Corryville store, they will close the Walnut Hills store. It's unfortunate, but like chinkley[/member] said, the design of the Walnut Hills Kroger is terribly anti-urban so I won't be that sad to see it go. It's awfully anti-urban, but it is also a fully functioning grocery store for a neighborhood where most people probably don't drive. So having to get downtown to the vine st location, or across 71 to corryville (closer, but probably takes longer on transit), will be huge burden. It could be argued that kroger came into the neighborhood with a terrible design that actively harmed the surrounding area, which then led kroger to make the good business decision to abandon the neighborhood, in turn furthering the downward spiral. And, since Walnut Hills is poor and needy, they can't be "choosers" and demand good design, as Cranley and others have said. But maybe it's exactly that good design that is needed to improve the neighborhood. Rant over.
June 21, 20168 yr If only there were some sort of high-frequency circulator linking Clifton Heights, Corryville, and Walnut Hills via Taft and/or McMillan that would allow Walnut Hills residents to access the Corryville Kroger and the other amenities around UC...
June 21, 20168 yr If only there were some sort of high-frequency circulator linking Clifton Heights, Corryville, and Walnut Hills via Taft and/or McMillan that would allow Walnut Hills residents to access the Corryville Kroger and the other amenities around UC... are you thinking wiremobile?
June 21, 20168 yr I'm not optimistic that the Walnut Hills Kroger will be saved. I think most people have accepted that idea that once Kroger opens their new Corryville store, they will close the Walnut Hills store. It's unfortunate, but like chinkley[/member] said, the design of the Walnut Hills Kroger is terribly anti-urban so I won't be that sad to see it go. It's awfully anti-urban, but it is also a fully functioning grocery store for a neighborhood where most people probably don't drive. So having to get downtown to the vine st location, or across 71 to corryville (closer, but probably takes longer on transit), will be huge burden. It could be argued that kroger came into the neighborhood with a terrible design that actively harmed the surrounding area, which then led kroger to make the good business decision to abandon the neighborhood, in turn furthering the downward spiral. And, since Walnut Hills is poor and needy, they can't be "choosers" and demand good design, as Cranley and others have said. But maybe it's exactly that good design that is needed to improve the neighborhood. Rant over. Actually this might be a sinister strategy to nudge the poor out of Walnut Hills.
June 21, 20168 yr If only there were some sort of high-frequency circulator linking Clifton Heights, Corryville, and Walnut Hills via Taft and/or McMillan that would allow Walnut Hills residents to access the Corryville Kroger and the other amenities around UC... are you thinking wiremobile?
June 21, 20168 yr If only there were some sort of high-frequency circulator linking Clifton Heights, Corryville, and Walnut Hills via Taft and/or McMillan that would allow Walnut Hills residents to access the Corryville Kroger and the other amenities around UC... Here's my "Cinculator" concept: https://cincinnatiideas.wordpress.com/cinculators/ Not sure if it exists in the same alternate Cincinnati universe as the Mt Auburn Light Rail tunnel but it would be cheaper to implement. www.cincinnatiideas.com
June 21, 20168 yr Actually the United States is the alternate universe where such things don't exist.
June 27, 20168 yr Doesn't look good for the Walnut Hills Kroger: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2016/06/27/walnut-hills-we-want-kroger-stay/86332624/ "Our Walnut Hills location has been profitable only one year since 1991," Kroger spokeswoman Patty Leesemann said in a statement. "Our goal is always to work with communities to make stores work rather than to close them down – especially when there are no alternatives. We’ve pledged to work closely with the Walnut Hills Redevelopment (Foundation), neighborhood groups and city leaders once any final determination is made." Wright said he appreciates Kroger being willing to work with neighborhood groups if it decides to leave. The land and building have separate owners, neither of whom are Kroger.
Create an account or sign in to comment