The "Former Showcase Cinemas" site was also the former 3C's rail Cincinnati station location, for those who can remember way back to 2010. 

I think this is good news.  I see great potential to create a solid business district in Bond Hill.  Swifton Commons/Jordan Crossing has a lot of land that could easily be divided into office space.  In addition, the intersection of California and Reading has the bones to make a great neighborhood business district.  The housing stock in that area is beautiful and manageable for middle income families.  Hopefully, the city can recognize this potential and use Catholic Health Partners as leverage for a neighborhood rebound, which it turn would make people look at Jordan Crossing with a new light.  My only concern for the future in that scenario woud be increased traffic on Rhode Island, which may cause some misguided NIMBYism toward anything.  Reading need to remain the main traffic corridor in the area.

^ The more available through streets there are, the less pressure there is on any one to become a cut-through of sorts.  As soon as streets start being closed to through traffic, the problem multiplies and begins to cascade out of control, so it's best to nip that in the bud.  I doubt there's going to be a significant number of people coming here via anything other than the Norwood Lateral anyway though.  This site has much more direct highway access than the Paycor and SHP crap further to the east, though I expect this will be just as car-dominated.

I think this is good news.  I see great potential to create a solid business district in Bond Hill.  Swifton Commons/Jordan Crossing has a lot of land that could easily be divided into office space.  In addition, the intersection of California and Reading has the bones to make a great neighborhood business district.  The housing stock in that area is beautiful and manageable for middle income families.  Hopefully, the city can recognize this potential and use Catholic Health Partners as leverage for a neighborhood rebound, which it turn would make people look at Jordan Crossing with a new light.  My only concern for the future in that scenario woud be increased traffic on Rhode Island, which may cause some misguided NIMBYism toward anything.  Reading need to remain the main traffic corridor in the area.

 

Would be way better if they stayed downtown.  1930s suburbia is better than 1990s, but its still pretty auto oriented out there, and doesn't have much to offer over a suburb that's not part of Cincinnati with better schools.  I don't know why there is so much focus on Bond Hill when the real focus should be on the core.  Yes I know that's a platform Cranley won on, but its not leveraging what the city should be leveraging.

I am very happy CHP decided to stay in the city, they easily could have moved out to Blue Ash or Mason in an empty field somewhere... but hopefully this has more of an impact on bond hill than just an office building surrounded by a big parking lot.  But i imagine that is all it will be.  As far as getting the most development out of something, i would have loved to see them take an empty lot along Central Parkway in CBD.

 

But at the end of the day they stayed in the city and will continue to contribute to the community.

Saw in the Toledo Blade that the Ohio historic Preservation Tax Credits Round 12 are going to be announced at a press conference in Findlay today. 

 

The Article mentioned they are providing $37 million in credits this round, up from the usual $30 Million.  The 3 C's have benefited hugely from this program in recent years.  I know there are several buildings on 7th and Race that are awaiting to receive the credits in order to commence construction. 

 

Hopefully some worthy projects get some funding this way... I know the Renaissance (Bartlett Building) and the Enquirer Building hotel conversion were both made possible through this program.

If you haven't recently, take a walk along Fourth Street. There's so much construction activity, it's almost impossible to keep track of all the projects. I just noticed 3 West Fourth St is being worked on, with holes being busted through the formerly windowless wall. Any day a windowless wall gets windows is a happy day:

 

Progress on the east side of 3 East Fourth St:

^ what/who is going in this building?

Wasn't this abandoned church in the West End supposed to become a music venue of some kind?

http://www.trulia.com/property/3159553892-1815-Freeman-Ave-Cincinnati-OH-45214

Wasn't this abandoned church in the West End supposed to become a music venue of some kind?

http://www.trulia.com/property/3159553892-1815-Freeman-Ave-Cincinnati-OH-45214

 

That's what BoMA did in Cbus ... I don't think they host concerts anymore though ...?

^ what/who is going in this building?

Port & Chamber.

@Jake: Yes, and a restaurant and arts center. They got in way over their heads and did no repairs to the building. Teddy Aitkins, Manny Hernandez and Skye White purchased the church (I believe) via OTR Adopt. They paid quite a bit for the property, which is now back on the market for $25,000.

A row of about 8 homes facing Burnett between University and I believe Donahue were demolished this past weekend. 

:x  Anyone know if anything is going in there?  Those houses looked like they were in okay shape (not perfect but livable).  Sigh so typical.

I am having a hard time understanding where you are talking about could you be more descriptive. Donahue and University do not approach Burnett in my recollection.

 

Tangentially though I have always wanted the park edge on Bishop to be more clearly defined. A low retaining wall, a gracious sidewalk, and pedestrian scale lighting, could be made possible by the eventual removal of most houses along the west side of the street.  Such selective demo could do wonders for the perceived quality of the park, by providing a maintainable park barrier (a frame if you will) and creating an inviting pedestrian connection from the University to Ludlow/Jefferson.  A slow project by the parks service and UC partnership maybe 10-15 yrs out... one could dream right? 

I checked, yes it is the block between University and Donahue.  Here:

 

Tangentially though I have always wanted the park edge on Bishop to be more clearly defined. A low retaining wall, a gracious sidewalk, and pedestrian scale lighting, could be made possible by the eventual removal of most houses along the west side of the street.  Such selective demo could do wonders for the perceived quality of the park, by providing a maintainable park barrier (a frame if you will) and creating an inviting pedestrian connection from the University to Ludlow/Jefferson.  A slow project by the parks service and UC partnership maybe 10-15 yrs out... one could dream right? 

 

I think the park is pretty useless and that at the very least the MLK side of it should be developed. MLK is an absolutely horrible street with a horrible streetscape on both sides -- UC's ridiculous campus on once side, an almost completely unused park on the other. 

 

There were still homes on MLK near Bishop St. until about 2009.  I don't know why they were demo'd.  But it would be great to see the park board sell off the corner of MLK & Clifton for a midrise apartment of some kind, then sell off 25 wide x 90 foot deep lots along the rest of MLK to to the EPA for a row of the 20-foot homes characteristic of the area.  Create a rear drive for alley-type garage access. 

Yes, "ridiculous." It's so ridiculous how the campus wasn't designed to face a street that didn't even exist when much of it was built and organized. And so ridiculous how dense it is compared to petty much every other school if its size. And ridiculous how much of what was designed around the car was redesigned around humans so it's enjoyable to be there as a student. So ridiculous.

 

/rolling of eyes.

 

 

That row of houses doesn't seem like it's a spot a developer would choose. I wonder if there's ever any plan beyond some form of parking on the site. That area doesn't need anymore demolitions for parking. It already has significant holes and this concerns me quite a bit. Hopefully I'm wrong and something ends up being built on the site at the very least.

I have to say as a general obervation, while its great to see so much contsruction and development, our city is really starting to look like crap and I think some of the shabiness is unnecessary. While ripping up the streets over the last few months is understandable related to the streetcar and associated work, it seems they have been ripping up our roads for the last few years.  If you look at essentially any street in CBD or OTR, they are in horrible conditionand most sidewalks do too.  The exercise of repaving has been sloppy done and it seems thee has been no thought of asthetics whatsoever. To me, it just seems like  streets and sidewalks are just getting blown out on so many unrelated projects i.e. not  anywhere near new construction or the streetcar. This has been going on for 4 or 5 years now.  Please tell me there is some master paving plan in 2017 that will fix the mess our city is becoming.  It seems excessive. 

I have to say as a general obervation, while its great to see so much contsruction and development, our city is really starting to look like crap and I think some of the shabiness is unnecessary. While ripping up the streets over the last few months is understandable related to the streetcar and associated work, it seems they have been ripping up our roads for the last few years.  If you look at essentially any street in CBD or OTR, they are in horrible conditionand most sidewalks do too.  The exercise of repaving has been sloppy done and it seems thee has been no thought of asthetics whatsoever. To me, it just seems like  streets and sidewalks are just getting blown out on so many unrelated projects i.e. not  anywhere near new construction or the streetcar. This has been going on for 4 or 5 years now.  Please tell me there is some master paving plan in 2017 that will fix the mess our city is becoming.  It seems excessive. 

 

Every street that is being disturbed by streetcar construction will be repaved from curb to curb once construction is complete. The entire lengths of Elm, Race, and 12th Streets in OTR will be repaved this fall. They also seem to be doing a decent job of repairing the sidewalks. Near each streetcar stop, the entire sidewalk is being redone.

 

I don't know what the long-term plan is for streetscaping in the CBD. Much of the older tile sidewalks look very outdated.

Every street that is being disturbed by streetcar construction will be repaved from curb to curb once construction is complete. The entire lengths of Elm, Race, and 12th Streets in OTR will be repaved this fall. They also seem to be doing a decent job of repairing the sidewalks. Near each streetcar stop, the entire sidewalk is being redone.

 

Oh man, I was getting pretty excited for August 15th when the construction would be mostly completed in OTR.  I totally fuzzed out on the fact that the roads were going to be torn up again so soon :-( .

I could be mistaken but I think that a lot of the disturbance of roads and sidewalks, other than streetcar, has been due to Duke gas line rehab. On the other hand I'd have assumed that somebody would have collected money to fix all of that.

 

On the subject of sidewalk repair, I do not think they've done such a great job. But that may be due to the state things were in to begin with. Concrete can look nice when  nicely done. But it needs to be consistent in terms of the joint placement and finish. When concrete looks like what it is - a patchwork - then it looks like crap.

 

On the other hand, hell, it's a sidewalk. The biggest problem is really that even though things have improved tremendously, any picture you'd take in most of Cincinnati simply shows too much sidewalk cause there's still not enough people on them. With lots of people, it won't matter so much what the sidewalks look like. A lot of places in other parts of the world would look like hell without all of the people walking, but the vibrancy totally dominates these rather mundane and utilitarian infrastructure pieces.

I'm not going to lie, this entire conversation is confusing to me. Basing any opinion on an area of active construction in and of itself seems silly. But beyond that...where are people seeing things getting worse? So many streetscaping projects have happened in the 7 years I've lived here and they all look great. Mt. Lookout, OTR all over, Downtown, Clifton, etc. I'd argue that things haven't looked this good in the time I've been here with the only exception being areas around the streetcar which have already been discussed.

Have a walk on my block of 1500 elm. I'm sure I am biased by my vicinity. But yes the new streetscapes on vine and elsewhere in OTR are great.

 

But also I agree that the tiles in the CBD were a bad idea from the beginning. Never going to wear well.

http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2012/10/council-supports-historic-tax-credits.html

 

"308-316 Main Street, recently acquired by the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) for a $9 million project to create five condominium units and two commercial storefronts"

 

nice to see a plan is underway for those buildings

 

Has anyone heard any more news regarding these five buildings? There doesn't appear to be anything going on with them

 

 

Actually about 9 months ago I had emailed 3cdc and asked if they had still intended on converting these buildings into the Condos. The response i received was that yes that is still the plan but there is not timetable for when that will actually happen.

 

I construction could start moving along as these buildings have a lot of Character and will look great once completed. Not to mention they are right on the doorstep to the heart of downtown.

The facade of 3 East Fourth St has been removed:

 

 

 

whoa! What's going on there? It's been vacant the better part of 5 or 6 years.

Before: http://goo.gl/maps/vRNfI

 

I really liked it :(

The Chamber of Commerce and the REDI Cincinnati group are moving into that i believe in October.

 

What is odd is that they released some renderings of the remodeled building and the exterior was the same in those renderings (I forget where they were posted a while back).

 

But i guess after review they are completely changing the building.

From the Chamber's website: Chamber, others to move into new building in October

 

 

For years now, our region has been on the move. To ensure that momentum continues, your Chamber is now on the move too. The Chamber recently announced that later this year, they will be one of five Cincinnati organizations that will be housed in a downtown Cincinnati office building.

 

The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, Regional Economic Development Initiative (REDI), Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority (Port Authority), Cincinnati Business Committee (CBC) and the Cincinnati Regional Business Committee (CRBC) will call the 40,000-square foot building at Three East Fourth Street home effective October 1st.

 

Having all those business organizations under one roof will ensure further collaboration, both planned and organic. Additionally, the building will have a streetscape offering a welcoming environment for both Members and the community, and offer us an address to call our own.

 

“The new headquarters building is an exciting announcement for many reasons,” offers Brian Carley, President & CEO, Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. “Greater collaboration and easier access for business leaders and partners will simply make us more nimble and better stewards of the region’s success.”

 

Read more about the move, including what all of the organizations are saying about it, in the joint news release

 

Take a closer look at the Cincinnati Enquirer's story

Changes coming to Fountain Square retail?

 

It looks like the retail space surrounding Fountain Square will be getting some new tenants.

 

...

 

The retail spaces are part of Fifth Third Bank’s headquarters and parking garage around Fountain Square. The majority of the available space is the former Bullseye Bar & Fire Grill, formerly El Coyote and before that Cincy’s on Sixth and Cadillac Ranch. The space is just more than 9,400 square feet.

 

...

 

It’s possible the former Bullseye/Cadillac Ranch space will be divided into multiple spaces.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/07/23/changes-coming-to-fountain-square-retail.html?ana=twt

 

Posting this mostly for the news about potentially splitting the Cadillac Ranch space, which I believe is far overdue. Would be great to upgrade the last corner of that intersection.

Pretty minor - but i was walking in to work this morning and the Brueggers Bagels at 4th and Vine was closed and had a sign on the window that said it will be closed until further notice... just seemed odd.

 

Wonder if it has anything to do with the potential development of the ingalls building as a whole? But the Ingalls building did not win state historic tax credits so i assumed that was on hold as well.

Pretty minor - but i was walking in to work this morning and the Brueggers Bagels at 4th and Vine was closed and had a sign on the window that said it will be closed until further notice... just seemed odd.

 

Wonder if it has anything to do with the potential development of the ingalls building as a whole? But the Ingalls building did not win state historic tax credits so i assumed that was on hold as well.

 

there were people going in and out of brugers this morning, my guess its a equipment related issue

The sign I saw said it was closed due to unities issues. They don't have central air in there.

From what I heard the building owner stopped paying for the electric and it was to be shut off this morning.

Changes coming to Fountain Square retail?

 

It looks like the retail space surrounding Fountain Square will be getting some new tenants.

 

...

 

The retail spaces are part of Fifth Third Bank’s headquarters and parking garage around Fountain Square. The majority of the available space is the former Bullseye Bar & Fire Grill, formerly El Coyote and before that Cincy’s on Sixth and Cadillac Ranch. The space is just more than 9,400 square feet.

 

...

 

It’s possible the former Bullseye/Cadillac Ranch space will be divided into multiple spaces.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/07/23/changes-coming-to-fountain-square-retail.html?ana=twt

 

Posting this mostly for the news about potentially splitting the Cadillac Ranch space, which I believe is far overdue. Would be great to upgrade the last corner of that intersection.

'

 

 

 

This is 100% speculative but would be a good spot for World of Beer to move in where el Coyote used to be.

 

Large patio and plenty of room... does world of beer typically serve food as well? Because the space obviously has a kitchen in it. Could be cut into two spots with WoB taking the side with no kitchen if that is the case.

Does anyone know what is going on at the top of the Fountain Square garage?

I've wondered that as well. Work has been going on for at least 3 weeks now. Mobile crane is there every so often.

There is a bunch of steel I-beams there today.

Does anyone know what is going on at the top of the Fountain Square garage?

 

I saw that yesterday too ... I am so curious? My first thought was maybe repairs?

Tried to upload photos but it's not cooperating. But as an update they've been doing excavation work all week at 2770 Observatory. Lots of dirt moving.

Drove by the 20th Century Oakley Theater today and noticed the marquis has been significantly upgraded.  New lights, cleaned up facade, removal of the tree/bush that was growing out of the top of the sign.  With the newly expanded Oakley promenade maturing a bit, Oakley's business district is starting to look really nice.  Just need to do something about the subway and carwash as the gateways into the district...

Also, the apartment project going in Oakley on the east Side of Madison appears to be moving ahead.  The site is cleared and there is already a significant aesthetic improvement.  I think this project will help to strengthen the business district and the neighborhood around it. 

 

Marburg Square is also constructing it's final phase of town homes.  The last 3 story building is being finished out on the inside, and the final two town homes are being framed right now.  While not a perfect site plan and somewhat poor quality materials and building designs, I think Marburg Square turned out pretty nicely.  It's a pretty dense development for where it is, it comes directly to the sidewalk on all sides, and there's a mix of apartments, town homes, and even a few larger single families (maybe also town homes?) in the center of the site.  If the city is going to gain back population, we need more developments like these that significantly up the density of the building sites they're on. 

They are renovating Kabat's office and have to go in through the garage side. 

A 4th Street sidewalk modernization project, between Vine and Walnut Streets, began on Monday, April 7th. Construction is cheduled M-F 7-4 and is divided into 7 separate phases, each at 4 – 5 weeks. It will start at Vine Street (Phase 1) and move east to Walnut Street (Phase 6), in that order. During phase 4, 5, and 7, construction is broken down into an A and B phase allowing for a portion of the sidewalk to remain open at all times. Phase 7 is the main staging area during the project and will be the last phase to be complete. The park area, Phase 7, will be closed to pedestrians for the majority of the project. Building entrances and entrances into the retail stores and banks will remain accessible to the public.

 

 

Work in Phase 4 will begin the week of August 4th and is estimated to take 4 – 5 weeks.

 

• Phase 1 update – a redesign of the handicap ramps at the 4th and Vine Street corner will take place in the next few weeks.  This redesign is required as the brick pavers are not conforming with the slope of the ramp.  Pavers in this area will be replaced with concrete. 

 

• Phase 2 update – due to a discoloration in the concrete, several sections of concrete in this area will be removed and re-poured.  Date still to be determined. 

 

• Phase 3 update – the final concrete pour is scheduled for August 1st and the paver install is scheduled to start the week of August 4th.

Also, it appears the sidewalk surrounding the Federal Building, specifically at the corner of Fifth & Main, is being replaced. The construction crew didn't appear to be affiliated with streetcar work

Why does a one block sidewalk replacement project have 7 phases?

Ahem...10 phases.  Don't forget about phases 4, 5, and 7 A&B. 

While I agree it seems excessive, there are multiple business entrances along this stretch. Not to mention half of the sidewalk on the north side of Fourth Street along this stretch was closed up until last week for construction at the Renaissance Hotel.