They also appear to be working their way down Highland toward Home Depot (as I drove by today).

Kohls wouldn't survive. The area is over-saturated.

I'm sorry to see the Friars Club leaving Clifton Heights. I played basketball for them in 7th and 8th grades and had a lot of good times in that gym. Any word on where they're relocating or what will come of the old building?

 

I think this will help the redevelopment of clifton hts, wonder what the old building will become i hope they dont just tear it down.

Newport to get new project

Includes apartments, retail

BY MARLA MATZER ROSE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

NEWPORT - Forty-one units of new market-rate apartments plus street-level retail space should be coming to Monmouth Street downtown next year under a deal cut among the Newport Housing Authority, the city of Newport and Camp Washington-based Middle Earth Developers.

 

"This is an important project for the city in an area that was once very vibrant," Newport Chief Financial Officer Greg Engelman said. "There are still a lot of businesses in the area, but they aren't as vibrant as they once were. We're hoping by bringing new residents in and creating newly renovated retail space, this will help the neighborhood overall."

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060506/BIZ01/605060377/1076/BIZ

Hilton Garden Inn to come to Blue Ash

BY JEFF MCKINNEY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

BLUE ASH - A local businessman plans to invest $12 million to build a 118-room hotel along Glendale-Milford Road just west of McKinley Road.

 

The four-story Hilton Garden Inn will be built by Jiten Patel, a Blue Ash-based hotel operator. Work on the hotel will begin this summer, and the business is expected to open by August 2007.

 

Patel said the hotel will be geared to business and leisure travelers and will have one-bedroom and two-bedroom suites.

 

Please visit The Cincinnati Enquirer Archives for the rest of the story.

well, im always happy for more hotel space.  wasnt the fact that cincy doesnt have enough hotel space for the olypmics a key reason cincy wasnt considered or something like that. 

Top Story

 

Oakley: Lofts at 4120 now in pre-sales

 

I don't know where my mind was, but my post last week mentioned the demolition by Seven Hills Properties of an apartment building at 4120 Allendale Dr, near the Hyde Park Country Club.  I failed to mention that it's part of the Lofts at 4120 project that has been mentioned on here a few times.  (Search within this thread for _"Lofts at" Oakley_.  All mentions will turn up.)

 

The condos are now in pre-sales.  Twenty units are available, and range from $740,000 to $940,000.

 

These huge residences will overlook the golf course.

 

Here is the project website:

http://www.loftsat4120.com/index.html

 

---

Also of note

From the 5/7/06 Enquirer:

 

 

Hilton Garden Inn to come to Blue Ash

BY JEFF MCKINNEY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

BLUE ASH - A local businessman plans to invest $12 million to build a 118-room hotel along Glendale-Milford Road just west of McKinley Road.

 

The four-story Hilton Garden Inn will be built by Jiten Patel, a Blue Ash-based hotel operator. Work on the hotel will begin this summer, and the business is expected to open by August 2007.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060507/BIZ01/605070406/1076/rss01

---

Round-up: Cincinnati and inner burbs

 

AVONDALE

The apartment building at 634 Gholson Ave is getting new decks.

 

AVONDALE

The Habitat for Humanity project at 3554 and 3556 Haven St should be starting soon.  They have received their permits.

 

CARTHAGE

Cincinnati Housing Partners is currently renovating 107 W 68th St, built in 1922.

 

EAST WALNUT HILLS

1529 Madison Ave is being renovated into 11,000 square feet of Class A office space.  There will be three floors plus a basement, each in the 2500- to 3500-square-foot range.

 

EAST WALNUT HILLS

The developers of the Bulluck Terrace condos have purchased 1414 Locust St and have applied for a demolition permit.  My educated guess is that they're going to use the site for parking.

 

MADISONVILLE

Transformed Properties truly transformed this home at 6228 Desmond St, which it had acquired for $25,000.

   

 

MADISONVILLE

5724 Sierra Park Pl was purchased for $20,800 by Buy Fix Sell Co to be rehabbed and resold.

 

MT. AUBURN

537 Carmalt St was purchased for $10,100 after a foreclosure left it on the market for 7 months.  It has been vacant since August 2003 and was condemned in early 2006.  There may be no saving this one.  The value's in the land.

 

MT. AUBURN

The owner of 7 Estelle St is doing the bare minimum that a VBML requires.  What does he care?  He lives in Colerain Twp.

 

MT. LOOKOUT

3527 Kroger Ave has had an updating in an area of many rehabs.

   

 

MT. LOOKOUT

16 Observatory Hill (built 1939) will be torn down and replaced with a new home.  The assessed value of the old home is $448,500.  It's 2166 square feet.  It's cute.  What's the problem?  Oh, yeah...the new home will crack $1,000,000.

 

PRICE HILL

Bloc Ministries has purchased another home in Price Hill, this time at 4024 W Eighth St.  (Their previous purchase was at 4017.)  These "BLOC" houses consist of tutoring and recreational opportunities for at-risk high school students.  CityBeat did a piece on Dwight Young and the BLOC houses.

 

SOUTH CUMMINSVILLE

1760 Powers St has been purchased for $5,000 after being bank-owned for 11 months.  This property has had vacancy and litter problems for years.  The new owner is now cleaning out the house.  It will take a lot of work to get this rehabbed.

 

SOUTH FAIRMOUNT

1927 Montrose St has been rehabbed, but, due to lack of demand in the area, is only on the market for $69,900.

   

 

COVINGTON

County, city embark on final phase of cemetery fence fix

Kenton Community Recorder, 5/4/06

An ongoing project to replace the fence surrounding Linden Grove Cemetery may be finished before the end of the year.

 

The cemetery board has applied for a $25,000 state grant that would help it finish installing a black steel fence around the historic cemetery at Holman and 14th streets.

 

Kenton County and the city of Covington jointly fund and maintain the historic cemetery, which opened in 1843.

 

COVINGTON

Developer finds new home

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/7/06

In their 10 years of working on Third Street facing Cincinnati's downtown waterfront, Steve Hemberger and Doug Hynden never expected to run their business across the river. But after looking for two years for a signature building to buy for their newly reorganized partnership, the partners in real estate developer Anchor Properties settled on a brick toll house at the foot of the Roebling Suspension Bridge in Covington.

 

Anchor, which is one of the largest developers for Walgreens nationwide, snagged the 5,000-square-foot building, which collected tolls from the early 1900s until 1963, from high-profile Covington developer Bill Butler of Corporex Cos. The partners paid Butler $1.55 million for the property late last year and agreed not to build above the toll house's roof line. They are spending about $1.5 million more to renovate the structure, which comes with its own compact surface parking lot.

 

Butler had purchased the property to maintain its historical character and protect the sight lines of buyers at his exclusive Ascent condo project, which is under construction one block away.

 

"This was a win-win for everyone," said Corporex marketing director Debbie Vicchiarelli. "They got a wonderful property. Covington got to keep a historical building. And the owners of the Ascent got to ensure their skyline views."

 

DAYTON

Burned church restored

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/1/06

More than two years after a fire destroyed most of First Baptist Church at the corner of Fifth and Dayton streets, the congregation celebrated the opening of new facilities Sunday.

 

"Basically, everything on the other side of the gym has been totally rebuilt from the alley to Fifth Street," said the Rev. Allan G. Daigle.

 

Since the fire destroyed the church Jan. 14, 2004, the church has held its services in its gymnasium. The gymnasium is attached to the building, but was spared from the fire. Services have been held back in the church since Easter Sunday. But it was officially reopened with a dedication service Sunday.

 

"You can't express how much more (exciting) it is to get out of the gym and come through those double doors and enter the new church," said Randy Pollitt, who has served as the church's volunteer custodian for two and a half years.

 

DEVOU PARK

Official grant decision for museum due in June

Cincinnati Post, 5/2/06

The staff, board of directors, volunteers and community friends of the Behringer-Crawford Museum are celebrating the $1.5 million grant secured from the Kentucky legislature as announced in The Post last Saturday.

 

But the determination on the grant from the Department of Transportation has yet to be officially made.

 

According to Gary Johnston, president of the Behringer-Crawford Museum, although everyone is hopeful, "the Transportation grant (TEA-21) is still very much up in the air. We will not know about it until early June."

 

The requested monies would be used to help complete the museum's current $4.9 million expansion project, which will increase the amount of usable exhibit and collections space from about 5,000 square feet to 20,000 when finished.

---

Round-up: Outer burbs and metro

 

BETHEL

Community building getting a new look

Bethel Journal, 5/3/06

Renovations are bringing the Bethel Community Building out of the 1980s.

 

The community building is experiencing its first round of major repairs since opening in 1986. The reconditioning will be complete this week.

 

"It's just time for a new look," said Clarissa McCoy, assistant administrator.

 

The building has undergone new hardwood flooring, tiling, wainscoting and painting as well as landscaping on the exterior.

 

BLUE ASH

Construction project builds on growth

Northeast Suburban Life, 5/3/06

Ursuline Academy President Sharon Redmond will go to great lengths for her students. She'll even drive a backhoe.

 

Redmond is proud of the school's $10.1 million campus construction project. However, she said the reaction of students watching her drive a backhoe to the June 2005 groundbreaking was one of her most enjoyable moments.

 

The project has been called "Expanding Space, Expanding Minds."

 

Not only will it benefit the students at Ursuline, but it will help prepare for growth in the future, Redmond said.

 

CLEVES

Three Rivers considering two buildings

Western Hills Press, 5/3/06

Three Rivers Local School District officials are gathering feedback from the community to get an idea where residents stand on plans to build two new schools.

 

Last week the district hosted community meetings where it presented plans to build a new preschool through sixth-grade building and a seventh- through 12th-grade building, and asked residents for comments and their level of support on four key issues.

 

Three Rivers Superintendent Rhonda Bohannon said the district wants input from the community on the master building plan and wants to let people know what the school board has selected to do in terms of deciding to build two new schools.

 

COLERAIN TWP.

Can we fix it?

Northwest Press, 5/3/06

Construction barrels are as inevitable as dandelions and will begin popping up around Colerain Township in coming weeks.

 

The township road department's last request for a levy failed in 2000, leaving the department without levy funds. The township scaled back summer road projects to stay within its budget.

 

Road work is being paid for using money that comes to the township through the Hamilton County Engineer's Office, the Road and Bridge fund money and township's share of money from the sale of motor vehicle permits.

 

This year, Public Works Director Bruce McClain awarded more than $900,000 in road contracts.

 

CRESCENT SPRINGS

Residents oppose proposed apartments in Nordman neighborhood

The Community Recorder, 5/4/06

Nordman Drive is a quiet, tree-lined street -- and residents want it to stay that way.

 

They're opposed to a neighbor's plan to build a 8,000 square-foot apartment building at 2472 Nordman, where a rental home now sits on a site full of trees.

 

"We like the quiet, quaint neighborhood feeling to it. That would be lost," said Tammy Conradi, who lives across the street.

 

Crescent Springs businessman Vincent Albanese owns the site in question, which is vacant except for a single-family house he rents out. He did not return several phone messages left at his home seeking comment.

 

DELHI TWP.

Sports storage plan gaining momentum

Delhi Press, 5/3/06

The Delhi Athletic Association is moving closer to accomplishing its goal of a new storage building on township property.

 

Ken Dolch, president of the association, came back to trustees April 26 to update them on plans to build a 40-foot by 60-foot building at Delhi Township Park.

 

The structure, which would double as both a storage shed and meeting site, is proposed to be built behind the lodge.

 

Dolch said the association estimates the cost to be $47,107. Of that amount, $20,692 would be provided by in-kind volunteer labor by association members.

 

DRY RIDGE

Commission approves zone change

Grant County News, 5/3/06

The Grant County Planning Commission approved a zone change last week for a residential and commercial development in Dry Ridge in the future.

 

Two parcels of land - one around 24 acres and the other around 62 acres - were changed from agricultural to residential and highway commercial.

 

The land is located in the west end of the Brentwood subdivision and south of Ferguson Boulevard. One Eleven Developers, LLC, wants to extend Ferguson Boulevard to connect to Stewart Road. The new road would complete the U.S. 25 Bypass loop. Under the new zone change, the land around the road could be used for retail, hotels, banks and restaurants.

 

One Eleven also wants to continue building onto the Brentwood subdivision. The company is proposing 48 new lots, each around 8,800 square feet, for single family homes. The new homes in Brentwood would have access to the new road.

 

FORT MITCHELL

Hemmer expansion to double space

The Community Recorder, 5/4/06

Paul Hemmer Companies has embarked upon a new construction project.

 

But this time, the dust and debris of construction is in its own Fort Mitchell headquarters.

 

They're just ripping out walls, ceilings, everything," said Kathy Groob, vice president of corporate marketing.

 

The company is expanding and renovating its headquarters, which will double its space in the 100,000 square-foot building.

 

Construction should be finished by January 2007. The entire fourth and fifth floors of the six-floor building will be renovated, as well as the lower level and common areas. The company also plans to move into newly-remodeled office space on the second floor.

 

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS

Lakeside sale moving forward

Kentucky Post, 5/6/06

A prospective buyer for the beleaguered Lakeside Heights Nursing Center continues to move toward purchasing the Highland Heights facility, despite the fact that its state license is still in jeopardy and all its residents have moved out.

 

Tower Holdings, which has been operating the center since last month, wants to buy the 286-bed nursing home, although it won't close on the deal by Sunday - the day the company listed on state documents as the anticipated purchase date, said Tower attorney Ann Miller.

 

She said Friday the deal would "probably take longer than that."

 

But as Tower Holdings moves forward, so does the appeal by the nursing home to the state's decision last month to revoke the bed license

Kentucky Post: Home trying to stay open (4/28/06)

 

INDEPENDENCE

Zoning change gets 1st reading

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/3/06

City Council is divided over whether to allow commercial development across from Simon Kenton High School.

 

Council voted 3-3 Monday on having a first reading to approve a zone change for 2.4-acre property on Madison Pike across from the school. The reading is the first step in the process.

 

Mayor Chris Moriconi cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the first reading. The council will decide whether to approve the change whenever a second reading would come before council.

 

The property's owners hope to put two offices there - a law firm and home-building firm.

 

INDEPENDENCE

Zoning change possible

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/3/06

A proposed development will force Independence leaders to balance requests for more retail with concerns about growth.

 

Independence-based developer One Eleven has 64 acres at Mount Zion and Bristow roads for the construction of condos, single-family homes and about 160,000 square feet of retail and commercial projects.

 

Independence City Council will consider next month whether to change the zoning from residential to commercial.

 

...

 

One Eleven plans to build 57 one-level patio homes and 36 condominiums on the back portion of the property, near Timber Lane. The homes would appeal to single professionals and empty nesters, said Jim Bertram, co-owner of One Eleven.

 

Along Mount Zion and Bristow roads would be five buildings for commercial businesses, the largest being 112,500 square feet, according to the plans.

 

INDEPENDENCE

City may seek guidance on how to grow

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/5/06

Phone calls from retailers interested in Independence have been common for the city's mayor in the past two years.

 

The expanded Ky. 17, set for completion in two years, and construction of several large subdivisions have served as a catalyst for commercial development in this southern Kenton County suburb, Mayor Chris Moriconi said.

 

Now city leaders hope to have a plan to prepare for this growth and prevent future conflict among new businesses and residents.

 

The Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission proposed this week before Independence City Council a market analysis and area study to determine where these new businesses will go and how the town should grow.

 

INDEPENDENCE

Pedestrian-friendly project

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/7/06

Pedestrian access through the heart of Independence will continue to improve as more sidewalk construction begins in the next month.

 

The construction will extend and repair sidewalks near the Liberty Orchard Subdivision along Madison Pike/Ky. 17, said Mayor Chris Moriconi.

 

The $123,000 project is part of an effort to connect via sidewalk a 2½-mile stretch from Simon Kenton Elementary and Summit View Middle and Elementary schools through the historic downtown.

 

"It is going to make it more pedestrian friendly," Moriconi said. "We want people walking more. This is going to connect a major subdivision, Liberty Orchard, to the downtown area."

 

LOVELAND

House-sized garage irks some Loveland neighbors

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/1/06

There's a new garage here that's bigger than some houses.

 

It meets city zoning rules, which say that a backyard structure can't take up more than 35 percent of the yard. And owner Pete Engel got the necessary permission to build it.

 

But city officials say they didn't realize how large the 1,535-square foot building would look in the Pheasant Hills subdivision, and how visible it would be from one of their main streets, West Loveland Avenue.

 

Neighbors complained, but there was nothing the city could do to undo it.

 

LOVELAND

Kids can help design Loveland skate park

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/2/06

The city's hoping to start building its new skate park soon in Lever Park, and officials want the kids who'll use it to help them design it.

 

The idea started in 2003 when some skateboarders approached City Council about it.

 

"Kids in Loveland have been waiting a long time for this skate park, and we want to have it installed by late summer,'' Mayor Rob Weisgerber said in a statement Monday. "Input at this meeting will really help shape the layout and safety considerations of the skate area.''

 

City officials plan to put the project out for bid this month. But they need to finalize the design. They've set a meeting for May 17.

 

MARIEMONT

Homewood Development is transforming 3604 Flintpoint Way, built in 1948.  This updated $300K home is listed for $569,900.

   

 

MASON

Mason sees future in parks foundation

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/2/06

This city said it wants to build a handicapped-accessible park, buy better equipment for its swim team and help underprivileged kids take part in its programming.

 

But it doesn't have the money.

 

Parks and Recreation Department Director Michael Hecker said he hopes that will soon change.

 

This Warren County city of almost 30,000 plans to follow cities such as Cincinnati and Westerville near Columbus in establishing a parks foundation to help pay for green space development and recreation programs.

 

MONTGOMERY

Chrisman Fine Homes is building a brand new $695K home at 8764 Arcturus Dr.  This was the site of a $190K teardown.

 

NEW MIAMI

New Miami voters shoot down athletic complex

Hamilton JournalNews, 5/2/06

Voters in the New Miami Local School district on Tuesday gave a resounding “no” vote to a proposed athletic complex and operating expenses.

 

Issue 1 — a combined five-year .75 percent income tax and 3.25-mill bond issue — was voted down 552 to 207, according to unofficial results from the Butler County Board of Elections.

 

NORTH COLLEGE HILL

NCH schools studying new facilities plan

Hilltop Press, 5/3/06

Proposals for three new school buildings are being seriously discussed in the North College Hill City School District.

 

So far, district officials have had three public forums on the topic and plan to send a survey home to parents soon asking for input.

 

Superintendent Gary Gellert said all of the existing school buildings -- Goodman, Becker and Clovernook elementaries, the junior high and high school -- have all served the district well. But, he's quick to add, all are more than 40 years old.

 

SHARONVILLE

Summit Woods Corporate Center III is under construction at 50 E-Business Way.  This is a site visible from I-275, just off of Kemper Rd and east of Reed Hartman Hwy.  The building will be 4 floors and 106,000 square feet.

 

SILVERTON

A small new subdivision is being built right along the Kennedy Heights/Silverton border.  A southern extension of Hedge Ave is being built, and six homes (yet to be built) are for sale.  Prices are in the $180K-$225K range.  It appears that they will be single-story homes in the 1700-square-foot range.

AERIAL MAP

 

SYCAMORE TWP.

Moeller's landscaping plan a concern

Northeast Suburban Life, 5/3/06

Officials with Moeller High School will present a revised plan for parking later this month.

 

The school wants two lots in the 7700 block of Kennedy Lane for additional parking. The lots are owned by Neyer Properties, which would transfer the property to Moeller if the parking proposal is approved.

 

However, the Sycamore Township Zoning Board of Appeals has not approved the plan due to landscaping concerns.

 

SYMMES TWP.

Safety Center opening next month

Northeast Suburban Life, 5/3/06

A new facility housing Loveland-Symmes Fire Department's Station 61 and District 3 of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office will have a public dedication from 1-4 p.m. Sunday, May 21.

 

The 30,000-square-foot building at 8871 Weekly Lane replaces the old Station 61 building on nearby Chapel Square Lane and the former sheriff's office on Union Cemetery Road.

 

Financed by a levy in 2002, the $5.2 million building will also be used for public meetings. The public meeting space in the basement can also double as a shelter during severe weather.

 

TAYLOR MILL

Residents 'shed light' on concerns

Kenton Community Recorder, 5/4/06

Michael and Sarah Frietch don't need the bright lights of Hollywood. They just need to step out in their own backyard.

 

The Frietchs, who live on Lakewood Drive in Taylor Mill, voiced a complaint to city commission regarding the newly constructed softball field lights at Scott High School. According to Sarah Frietch, the brightness of the lights have provided an "unbearable nuisance" to adjacent residential properties. She said the problem had existed for close to two months, and no action had yet been taken by the school to appease the neighbors.

 

"The light was so extreme coming through the closed blinds of our bedroom windows, it was like trying to sleep in a tanning bed with our eyes open," said Sarah, referring to the first time the lights were operated, in late February. "[The light] was much more extreme than the full force of the sun on a bright, clear sunny day."

 

Michael Frietch said the residents would be happy to merely have some shades put up over the lights, and have a cut-off time each day when the lights had to be shut down.

 

WEST CHESTER TWP.

Model train mecca coming to big space

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/7/06

An Evendale businessman with a lifelong love of trains is planning a multimillion-dollar entertainment complex here built around one of the world's largest model railroad layouts.

 

Called Entertrainment Junction, the center would be located in the former Oak & More store east of Interstate 75 at Tylersville Road. It will have a 25,000-square-foot model train layout, a meeting/party room, a model railroad hobby shop, a model railroad museum, rotating seasonal displays and a play area for younger children.

 

The project is the brainchild of Don Oeters, president of Watson's Superstore, who has been developing the project for about two years.

 

"I'm a train person. I've just always liked trains,'' said Oeters, who has model train layouts in his home and at his store on Sharon Road.

 

WEST UNION

Hospital employees sign first I-beam

West Union People's Defender

The first I-beam to be set at the site of the future Adams County Regional Medical Center was first laid on the ground on April 25 to receive signatures from employees, volunteers and board members of Adams County Hospital. Linda Niles, CEO of ACH is pictured placing her signature on the beam, which will be placed near the southeast corner of the planned emergency room. The Adams County Board of Trustees retained the services of Danis Building Construction Company for the project, which is expected to be completed in late autumn of this year.

 

WILMINGTON

New Donatos going into shopping center

Wilmington News Journal, 5/5/06

The 9,400-square-foot center will house five tenants including Donatos. A fall opening is anticipated, with developer Doug DeVilbiss hoping for October.

 

The center is expected to be a mix of retail and eateries. A national restaurant, whose name residents will recognize, is expected to occupy the west end of the retail center, with Donatos on the east end about where it’s located now. An announcement on the identity of the national restaurant would be made after a lease deal is finalized.

---

They're building such CRAAAAP!!!

 

MAINEVILLE

$164,000 will buy you this very basic box.  I've seen more character in trailers.  Hyatts Ln.

 

UNION

Garage with some sort of human habitat attached.  Zev Ct.

 

WEST CHESTER TWP.

This one's just a disaster, starting from the steps to the front door for no apparent reason.  It doesn't even appear that there's much of a landing once you get there.  And all in a nice dull color scheme.  Providence Woods Ct.

 

 

This is the most god awful thing I have ever seen, even given all the previous entries in the "building such crap"  category. If I was an architect or builder, I would not want my name anywhere near this thing.  Any idea if this is an affordable housing project?  I used to be in the business and this looks a lot like some of the low end crap some affordable housing developers throw out.

^ It's $164,000, so it's neither "affordable housing" nor high-end housing.  You're right, though...it looks like something Habitat for Humanity or a low-end rehabber would produce.  (Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking what Habitat does with limited resources.  I think it's a great program.)

 

I don't know who the builder is.

 

Yeah, I just sort of blew over that shot, didn't notice it specifically, but holy ass, that is an amazing piece of architecture.  It's a garage with an attached home...

I just did some digging and it's the Regency Park subdivision.  M/I was the builder.

 

It looks like the plan is called The Debut:

http://www.mihomes.com/details.asp?Subid=32755&listingid=240193&type=P

Wow...paying $150K for that?  And it's just one full bath, 1378 square feet - there are so many wonderful places in the city for less than that giving you more than that - I just don't understand.  Even if I had kids, I'd drop $100K in Norwood, get somewhere with character, and spend the difference on private schools...hell, just pulling at random, here's a $100K home up for sale in Norwood right now:

http://www.huff.com/web/search/searchdetails.php?MLNumber=988337&PPropertyType=26

 

Rehabbed in the last year, so I'd imagine all the mechanics are in good shape.  And since it was built in 1930, I bet there's hardwood floors under that carpet - you might be able to have hardwood throughout just by ripping up carpet, renting a sander and spending a couple weekends with some fumes.

 

So many places like that, with porches and fireplaces and character...I just don't understand the appeal of ugly on a postage stamp...ugly in the middle of the woods?  Yeah, I get that - you're there to be by yourself, cut off, and ugly is a cheaper way of getting there.  But ugly in a subdivision?  Just does not compute...

It looks like the plan is called The Debut:

 

The Debut of what?  A giant piece of feces that happened to fall out in the shape of a house?

^Of course not!  It's a giant piece of feces that happened to fall out in the shape of a garage...

I think I like the sound of Feces Cottage or some such better than The Debut for the model name.  Apparently more accurate than the latter, but still classier than The Shithouse.

...the development can be Fecal Meadows...

 

...I think we've got the first exurban subdivision for Rivage worked out...

How about "Fecal Flats"?

Fecal Flats.  We have a winner!

its a step up from a trailer (errr manufactured house); so they do sell.

"its my first home without wheels"

Top story

From the 5/10/06 Kentucky Post:

 

 

City OK next for planned condos

By Luke E. Saladin

Post staff reporter

 

Yet another condominium project is on tap for Covington.

 

The latest proposal to add to the city's housing stock is a 30-unit development on 3.4 acres on the northeast side of Kyles Lane between Madison Pike and Valley Drive.

 

The $6 million development has already received a unanimous approval from the Kenton County & Municipal Planning and Zoning Commission. The Covington City Commission is expected to give final approval to the project on May 23.

 

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060510/NEWS02/605100342/1014

---

Round-up: Cincinnati and inner burbs

 

AVONDALE

211 Forest Ave has been purchased after being foreclosed in March 2005 and being vacant ever since.  The multi-family, 3000+ -square-foot house went for $12,500.

 

AVONDALE

UC Holds a Street Party to Celebrate a New Homeowner

UC News press release, 5/10/06

Megan O’Malley and her kindergarten-age daughter, Shamia, will get a grand party to greet their new neighbors as representatives from UC, the City of Cincinnati, Fifth Third Bank and Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity host a street party celebrating the first-time homeowner. The dedication gets underway at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 13, at Megan’s new home, located at 3552 Haven St. in Avondale.

 

Cincinnati City Council President Pro-Tem Laketa Cole will issue a city proclamation recognizing the 6,000 hours that UC students, faculty and staff have volunteered over the past three years to building homes for Megan, as well as Sylvia Smith and Janie Cunningham – two sisters who became neighbors with homes located on Winkler Street in Mt. Auburn. The three homes were built in partnership with UC, Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity and Fifth Third Bank, which has pledged a total of $100,000 toward the three-year partnership. Each of the new homeowners and their families dedicated 500 hours of “sweat equity” with the volunteers before purchasing the home with a 20-year interest-free mortgage payable to Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity.

 

CARTHAGE

An auto salvage operation is demolishing structures on the land between North Bend Rd and Seymour Ave, just east of the Mill Creek.  Great...just what Carthage needs....

 

DOWNTOWN

KITTY'S COFFEE ADDS A SECOND LOCATION

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/14/06

Kitty is now brewing at two locations.

 

Kitty's Coffee opened May 1 at 121 Court St., in the former Awakenings Coffee space. According to Catherine Syphax, co-owner with her husband, Gary Gabbard, the new café is very similar to their original one at 120 E. Fourth St.

 

Kitty's coffee beans come from local roaster Seven Hills Coffee Co.

 

EAST PRICE HILL

790 Delhi Ave will be demolished.  The house has been vacant and condemned since 2003.  Thanks for your inaction, asshole.

 

EAST PRICE HILL

939 Woodlawn Ave was purchased for $6,000 after being bank-owned and vacant for 10 months.  It was condemned in February.

 

EAST PRICE HILL

967 Wells Ave (built 1880) was purchased in February and is currently being converted from a two-family to a SFD.

 

EAST PRICE HILL

James Pierce of Harrison let 1042 Grand Ave deteriorate for years.  So instead of fixing it, it will be demolished instead.  This guy has properties all over the West Side, mostly in run-down areas.  He is the worst kind of slumlord.  Thanks, asshole, for contributing to the problems of my city.

 

EAST WALNUT HILLS

The City Planning Commission has approved the plat of the Elizabeth T. Bley subdivision, phase 4, which will consist of six more townhomes off of Hackberry St.

 

EAST WALNUT HILLS

Last week, I mentioned that the developers of Bulluck Terrace were going to tear down 1414 Locust St for parking.  I neglected to mention that they're also going to demolish 1416 Locust St.  As of a few days ago, both were still standing and the grass was about a foot high.  It appeared that there were crews there doing pre-demo.

 

EVANSTON

3312 Spokane Ave will be torn down.  This two-family home was a hazard for many years.  The city vacated it and the owner decided to rent it to Section 8 tenants anyway.  Then, in 2003, the building mysteriously caught fire, which caused heavy damage.  Then the owner died.  Check out the code reports for this property some time.  It's a fun read.

 

EVANSTON

Evanston Community Council and Evanston CPOP are requesting a traffic signal or a stop sign for Hewitt Ave.  They complain that cars speed through there unabated.  The city is looking at installing a device at Hewitt/Fairfield or at Hewitt/Trimble.  A report and recommendation is due back on this by May 24, 2006.

 

MADISONVILLE

Starfire Council is moving from 2300 Victory Pkwy to a larger home at 5030 Oaklawn Dr.  They plan to renovate 7,500 square feet for their own use and lease the remaining 30,000+ square feet to help fund their mission.  The work should cost around $400,000.  Starfire is a non-profit unique to Cincinnati that provides inclusive social and service activities for children, teens and adults with disabilities.

 

MT. AUBURN

126 Winkler St has been purchased and a rehab has begun.  The structure was built around 1865.

 

LOWER PRICE HILL

This garage at 2358 Glenway was condemned in early 2004.  The building is collapsing and the city has had to barricade.  A public hearing resulted in a call for demolition.  However, the owner posted bond and was granted a stay on the demolition.  Why the hell is he trying to save this piece of crap?  Why hasn't he done anything about it in over two years?

 

MT. LOOKOUT

Chrisman Homes is building a new $719,000 on the site of a teardown at 3255 Nash Ave.  The old home, built in 1878, was assessed at $165,000.

   

 

NORTH AVONDALE

The residents of Wess Park Drive were supposed to receive four speed bumps.  Instead, that money was allocated to a speed camera program that was never implemented.  Now they want their damn speed bumps.  This was kicked to Finance Committee and the city manager should offer a report on May 24, 2006.

 

NORTH FAIRMOUNT

The former E-check station at 2740 Beekman St (just south of Hopple) will be reborn as a car wash.  It seems like that's all that these building will be any good for.

 

NORTHSIDE

4163 Pitts Ave looks sharp.  The assessed value before this rehab was $37,000.

   

 

NORTHSIDE

A year ago, 4259 Williamson Pl was purchased for $31,000.  After being rehabbed from a two-family to a SFD, it's now on the market for $159,900.  That makes 5 houses that I can think of that have been rehabbed on the 4200 block of Williamson in the last 18 months.

   

 

NORTHSIDE

Due to safety concerns (including a child being struck by a car while attempting to catch a bus), residents in the area are pushing for a traffic signal at Hamilton and Glen Parker avenues.  A report and recommendation is due back to council by May 24, 2006.

 

OAKLEY

The two-family at 3802 Isabella Ave has been rehabbed and is now on the market as a single-family.

   

 

PRICE HILL

Essay earns cash for park

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/14/06

Alex Gramke spends quite a bit of time at Carson-Covedale Park in Price Hill. He practices with his football and baseball teams a few nights a week after school, and he rides his bike with his neighborhood friends to play pickup games there on his off days.

 

Now, because of an essay he wrote, Gramke and the rest of the area kids who use the facility can enjoy playing there even more.

 

Gramke, a 10-year-old fifth-grader at St. Teresa of Avila, was named one of 32 regional winners for the Briggs & Stratton "Diamonds in the Rough" contest, which challenged baseball and softball players ages 7-12 to write an essay about why their field should be refurbished and why their sports have given them "The Power Within" to be successful.

 

Gramke's essay, which nominated Carson-Covedale's Jerry McClatchey Field, won $5,000 as a regional winner and is one of 16 finalists for a $20,000 prize for the field's renovation. The winner, which is being voted on by the public at www.briggsdiamondsintherough.com, also will receive a baseball clinic with Hall of Famers Lou Brock and Carlton Fisk.

 

SOUTH FAIRMOUNT

2081 Bickel Ave has been purchased for $20,000 after being owned by Fannie Mae for 21 months.

 

SOUTH FAIRMOUNT

MK Allen Properties purchased 1908 State Ave and quickly sought a permit to demolish it.  This building has been a dump for years and has been condemned since 2004.  I don't know why the buyer would be interested in the land, though they do also own 1902 State Ave.

(1908 State on the left)

 

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS

640 Probasco St has been purchased for renovation.

 

WALNUT HILLS

I may be wrong, but I believe there's a plan to turn the building at 2181 Victory Pkwy (Victory and Park) from offices to residences.  Permits are in route.  Signs are still on the outside offering office space.

 

WALNUT HILLS

801 Oak St has been purchased, after being bank-owned since late 2004.  I'm not sure if it had tenants.  The new owner has done a nice job turning around a couple of properties in Avondale and Evanston.  However, she also owns an abandoned building in the West End that she seems to be ignoring.

 

WALNUT HILLS

The city is finally putting some work into the houses it owns at 838 and 846 Lincoln Ave.  They're in pretty bad shape.  (I believe 846 is condemned.)  From current building permits, it looks like they're putting about $40,000 into new decks and interior drywall.  I love this row of homes.  I'd hate to see them die.

   

 

WALNUT HILLS

Crowne Mortgage has owned this property at 2921 Monfort St since late 2001.  Soon after, the building became vacant and then condemned.  Ever since, a comedy of inspections/hearings/stays of demolition ensued.  Meanwhile, the residents of the neighborhood had to look at this sorry thing.  Not only that, but the house was not secure.  Who knows what could have happened in there or who's kid might get hurt.  Well, it's finally coming down.  RIP, 1881-2006.

 

COVINGTON

381 Altamont St has been rehabbed as affordable single-family housing.

(after only)

 

COVINGTON

The restoration of 828 Bakewell St is complete.

(after only)

 

COVINGTON (Latonia)

153 E 41st St has been rehabbed.

(after only)

 

DEVOU PARK

Homebuilders to unveil new gardens at Devou Park

Cincinnati Business Courier, 5/9/06

The Home Builders Association of Northern Kentucky will unveil the Memorial Gardens at Devou Park Overlook at 10:30 a.m. June 2.

 

The project was completed over the past year using member donations of labor and supplies. It was conceived as part of the organization's 50th anniversary activities in 2005. Additional funds for the project were provided by the Home Builders Care Assistance Fund of Northern Kentucky.

 

The project includes a brick paver patio with park benches and period lamp posts surrounded by landscaping.

 

"It's a fitting gift to the citizens of the region who make this such a great place to live," association President Jim Cutter said in a news release.

 

NEWPORT

Old sod at Newport High will get an estimated $770,000 toupee

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/12/06

One of Northern Kentucky's worst football fields soon may be getting a major improvement.

 

The Newport School Board voted Thursday to seek bids to install artificial turf on the field at Newport High School. Estimated to cost about $770,000, the new surface would not only save the district in annual maintenance expenses but also expand sports and recreation opportunities for Newport students, officials said.

 

The high school field has always drained poorly, creating a mud pit when games are played in the rain. The varsity football teams at Newport High and Newport Central Catholic High School use the field for home games.

 

Given the grass recovery time necessary when the weather is bad, few other activities can take place there. Physical education classes cannot use the field. Neither the high school's junior varsity football team nor its girls soccer team plays any home games.

---

Round-up: Outer burbs and metro

 

ALEXANDRIA

Library looking for land around Alexandria

Alexandria Recorder, 5/11/06

The Campbell County Public Library is looking for land to build a library branch inside or south of the Alexandria city limits.

 

A scouting party has been set up to start driving the roads looking for suitable property, said Library Director JC Morgan said at the Wednesday, May 3 Campbell County Fiscal Court meeting.

 

"We've got a growing population down here, and we'd like to serve them better," Morgan said.

 

The library has been monitoring the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's plans for Ky. 536 carefully, and finding a spot near the intersection with U.S. 27 on either highway would be an ideal spot, he said.

 

AMELIA

Amelia seeking financial assistance for Morse House restoration effort

Clermont Sun, 5/10/06

The Village of Amelia is applying for a Community Block Development Grant to preserve and restore the historically significant Morse House.

 

The Morse House, located at 44 Oak Street, was built in the 1850’s and is one of the oldest homes in Amelia. Its original location was at 54 Main Street, the current site of the CVS store. It was moved at a cost of $150,000 on Dec. 14, 1998. The move was paid for by the drug store chain Rite Aid, which wanted to build a store at that location.

 

In the following years, many more thousands of dollars have been spent to preserve it. In fact, Rite Aid has donated the equivalent of $178,000 for the project. Unfortunately, more is still needed.

 

Over the years, there have been many preservation efforts. According to Mayor Mark Menz, the Village itself has spent approximately $55,500 in repairs and upgrades.

 

ANDERSON TWP.

7618 Forest Rd has been purchased by CFS Homes, a developer/builder, most likely for a teardown.  A home built in 1925 and assessed at $138,000 currently occupies the lot.

 

AURORA

Building demo request for condos tabled

Dearborn County Register, 5/5/06

Whether to grant an OK for demolition of five structures which would clear the way for a condominium project in downtown Aurora was tabled by the Aurora Historic Preservation Commission Tuesday, May 2.

 

The commission set a special meeting for 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 16, to consider the request.

 

Meanwhile, its consultant Kent Abraham, southeast representative of Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, will meet with the developer and Aurora Mayor Donnie Hastings to discuss the AHPC’s concerns.

 

The unanimous decision followed lengthy discussion and insistent urging by Hastings to approve certificates of appropriateness for the demolitions, so the developer could proceed “to the next level.”

 

BETHEL

Pavilion to honor Sgt. Maupin

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/8/06

Before Sgt. Matt Maupin was a soldier, he was a member of the Clermont High School crew.

 

On Sunday, members of the rowing team broke ground for a pavilion named in his honor that will be used for the crew's events and the community.

 

The Matt Maupin Welcome Pavilion will be at the crew's training ground, William H. Harsha Lake in East Fork State Park, and will serve as a meeting and celebration place for regattas. It can also host other events such as weddings, picnics and reunions.

 

High school students from throughout Clermont County have been involved in "Rock-On Matt," an effort to collect rocks to build the pavilion. It will feature stone supports, a stone fireplace, a cooking area and a stage.

 

It is expected to open by the end of the year.

Community Journal Clermont: Ground broken on Maupin Pavilion (5/10/06)

 

COLD SPRING

Granite Spring getting community park

Campbell Community Reocrder, 5/11/06

Residents moving into Granite Spring will have a 1.9 acre neighborhood park completed before fall.

 

The park, being built by Fischer Homes, will be donated to the City of Cold Spring for maintenance and upkeep when finished, said Paul Bogen, secretary of the city's Parks, Recreation and Tree Commission.

 

It will be mostly open spaces, Bogen said.

 

"With it being in a residential neighborhood, it's kind of a neighborhood park," Bogen said.

 

DRY RIDGE

Commission approves zone change

Grant County News, 5/4/06

The Grant County Planning Commission approved a zone change last week for a residential and commercial development in Dry Ridge in the future.

 

Two parcels of land - one around 24 acres and the other around 62 acres - were changed from agricultural to residential and highway commercial.

 

The land is located in the west end of the Brentwood subdivision and south of Ferguson Boulevard. One Eleven Developers, LLC, wants to extend Ferguson Boulevard to connect to Stewart Road. The new road would complete the U.S. 25 Bypass loop. Under the new zone change, the land around the road could be used for retail, hotels, banks and restaurants.

 

One Eleven also wants to continue building onto the Brentwood subdivision. The company is proposing 48 new lots, each around 8,800 square feet, for single family homes. The new homes in Brentwood would have access to the new road.

 

The Planning Commission unanimously approved the zone change, and the project will now move onto the Dry Ridge City Council.

 

EDGEWOOD

City building dedication is next week

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/12/06

Residents can check out the new city building at its dedication next week.

 

Edgewood residents are invited to bring their scissors and take part in the official ribbon cutting at 10 a.m. May 20, City Administrator Roger Rolfes said. Tours will be offered until 4 p.m. Residents also can write messages on index cards that will be stored in a time capsule in the wall behind the building plaque. Light refreshments will be served.

 

The brick, two-story building on Dudley Road that opened in late March is about seven times larger than the 21-year-old municipal center that was torn down in August 2004 to make way for the new one, Rolfes said. It brings police, fire and administrative offices under one roof and features a more efficient, handicapped accessible, cable-ready design that will enable city workers to better serve the public.

 

ELSMERE

City says no condos for now

Erlanger Recorder, 5/11/06

The city council informally decided against a zone change that would have allowed for condominiums to be built near the southern end of Turkeyfoot Road.

 

Shawn Egan of Wedgewood Homes, originally proposed the idea to the city in March, prior to going through the formal process of a zone change with the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission.

 

However, at their May 9 meeting, the council decided that the 24-acre site would be better suited for the city to remain zoned for industrial use.

 

"There's too many unknown factors in that area right now to make a zone change," said council member Robert Northcutt. "We don't know how Turkeyfoot is going to end up, with regards to the traffic patterns and flow. I'm just not in favor of it at this time."

 

FORT MITCHELL

City to pay for construction on subdivision roads

The Community Recorder, 5/11/06

Normally, cities don't worry about the roads in new subdivisions until construction is finished and the roads become their responsibility.

 

But Fort Mitchell officials are worried about the drainage system being installed on roads in the Olde Fort Mitchell (Kruempelman Farm) development.

 

Kruempelman Drive, which is finished except for the final layer, already has potholes and rough surfaces, due in part to the lack of an underground drainage system.

 

The city will install its own drainage system under the rest of the subdivision's roads, which includes the Kruempelman Drive extension and two side roads.

 

FORT THOMAS

District breaking ground on school renovation

Fort Thomas Recorder, 5/11/06

The Fort Thomas Independent School District is ready to break some ground for the renovation of Highlands High School.

 

A ceremony for the renovation will be at 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 17 in front of the high school.

 

Holly Collinsworth, capital campaign chair for the Fort Thomas Education Foundation, said the event is big for the city because the schools are such an important part of the community.

 

"Everybody has been touched by education in Fort Thomas," Collinsworth said. "They graduated, or have kids who graduated, or grandkids that are still in school. Everybody has been touched by education in Fort Thomas."

 

FORT THOMAS

Mayfield Ave. residents work for slow down

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/12/06

Residents along Mayfield Avenue will turn in a petition today with the required number of signatures - 19, or two-thirds of the houses on the street - to have speed humps installed to slow down speeders.

 

Residents there have long complained that the speed limit of 15 mph is not followed, and that drivers on their way to Highland Hills Park speed down Mayfield, which serves as the only automobile entrance to the park.

 

Krista Baioni, who has lived on Mayfield four years, said residents know there are long-term plans to help the problem - including creating a new permanent entrance to the park from James Street - but with the summer season looming, traffic on the street is expected to increase.

 

"I've only been here a few years, but the speeding is really bad," Baioni said. "We all hope this can provide at least a temporary answer to the problem."

 

HAMILTON

City land on the trading block

Hamilton JournalNews, 5/7/06

City officials are considering swapping land with a local property owner and real estate agent as part of an effort to revitalize Hamilton’s Second and Fourth wards.

 

City officials have been in discussion with Philip Morrical Jr., who owns properties at 143 Chestnut, 173 Walnut and 914 Front streets.

 

Collectively the properties are valued between $14,500 and $16,000, and each are located in a targeted redevelopment area.

 

In recent years the city has launched an effort known as the Neighborhood Initiative which is aimed at enhancing neighborhoods and renewing the housing stock of Hamilton’s Second and Fourth wards.

 

INDEPENDENCE

Neighbors tired of noise

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/8/06

Some of the residents just outside Independence's city limits want the sounds of heavy machinery to stop.

 

A seven-acre parcel inside the city's southern border has been a construction eyesore for the past several years, some residents say. The property is behind houses on Madison Pike and Mapletree Lane about a half-mile from Simon Kenton High School.

 

Behind Bill and Kristy Ahearn's Mapletree home, fill dirt, debris and several tractor-trailers rest on a hillside facing their home in an area zoned residential.

 

The Ahearns say they have had to deal with the unsightly views and loud equipment for the past several years. Since December, trucks have been dumping fill and debris closer to their property, Bill Ahearn said.

 

MONROE

Old high school could become new rec center

Middletown Journal, 5/11/06

Monroe city and school leaders are in the process of making plans to put the old Lemon-Monroe High School building to use for the community.

 

The city and Monroe Local School District, together, are pursuing a state grant to help fund the demolition of the old high school building and develop the site as a recreational center and park.

 

The city and schools plan to jointly submit the grant application, which is due early next year, said Bill Brock, Monroe’s city manager.

 

The Lemon-Monroe High School building — which has been leased by Middletown City Schools in the past — will not be rented out next year.

 

MONROE

Couch’s Campers $2 million in expansions

Hamilton JournalNews, 5/9/06

The old Lesourdsville Lake will once again be an attraction thanks to recreational vehicle giant Couch’s Campers.

 

In its 35th year in business and fourth year in Monroe, the retailer is in the midst of a four-phase, $2 million expansion on the Ohio 4 site of the former Americana Amusement Park, said founder Jerry Couch.

 

In addition to a new service center, Couch’s also is building a 30,000-square-foot indoor showroom.

 

Couch said the showroom — which should be completed by this fall — will resemble a strip mall and will be one of the largest of its kind in the state.

 

MT. HEALTHY

School to shrink, but also rebuild

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/11/06

School leaders plan to shrink the district from eight schools to three by 2009, but key parts of the plan are undecided.

 

The school board decided Tuesday where it may put two proposed elementary schools but tabled a decision about where to place a new combined high school and middle school.

 

Mount Healthy is downsizing to cope with enrollment declines and tighter budgets, said Superintendent David Horine.

 

"The quicker we can consolidate, the quicker we'll be able to reduce our costs and save our operational funds," Horine said.

 

MT. ORAB

Hospital develops plan for Mt. Orab

Georgetown News Democrat

The administrative staff and Board of Trustees at Brown County Regional HealthCARE have developed a plan to utilize the land purchased approximately two years ago along US 68 and state Route 32, in Mt. Orab.

 

The plans to develop the property will involve selling a portion of the property to a development company that will incur the cost of building an urgent care clinic/ medical office building, according to BCRH Board of Trustee member Eric Sontag.

 

Legally, the county-owned, not-for-profit health care system cannot sell land on its own grounds. So, in order to sell the land to a development company, BCRH has turned to the Brown County commissioners.

 

The April 26 Commissioner’s Journal consisted of a unanimous decision by commissioners, Perry Ogden, Dale Reynolds and Kirby Cornett who voted in favor of permitting BCRH to negotiate with a development company that will build the medical facility and enter a lease-to-own agreement with BCRH.

 

OXFORD

Planning votes in tie over Bella Place

Oxford Press, 5/12/06

The proposed Bella Place project on the former Pedro’s building site has collected plenty of frowns after being tabled multiple times at the request of the both the applicant and the planning commission over the past three months.

 

While Tuesday’s planning meeting did not result in a tabling, both sides were not smiling following a 3-3 tie on a subdivision request, which will be heading to city council.

 

In the latest round between the two parties, applicant Greig Rutherford reduced the proposed 9,000-square-feet subdivision from four to three lots. Planning substituted the original subdivision request with a combined version of the new proposal’s preliminary and final subdivision hearings to expedite the process.

 

When the planning commission’s vote resulted in a tie, the subdivision request became an agenda item for the next planning meeting, Law Director Stephen McHugh said. Chairman Paul Brady suggested reconsidering the item to move it forward. McHugh explained it would not be possible.

 

PETERSBURG

Split Rock ready for reveal

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/12/06

Think of Split Rock Conservation Park in Petersburg, Ky., as the natural equivalent of an "Extreme Makeover" episode, trading abandoned farmland and a failed marina for natural grasses, wetlands and scenic vistas that paint a picture from centuries ago.

 

The sprawling 165-acre experiment in going back to nature isn't open to the general public, but it is available by appointment for groups seeking to take a walk in the untamed, reclaimed woods through prairies and wetlands.

 

"If you come here now, you can see what natural areas are supposed to look like," says Mark Jacobs, a conservation technician with the Boone/Kenton County Conservation District who is the park's overseer.

 

RIPLEY

McIntosh home is honored for restoration

Georgetown News Democrat

A group of approximately 12 Ripley residents who call themselves The Ripley Community Group has taken it upon themselves to improve the look of homes within the village.

 

As incentive for property owners, The Ripley Community Group will hand out one award during each quarter throughout the year to recognize homeowners within the village who have dedicated time to the restoration of older homes. The honor is The Ripley Community Group Beautification Award.

 

“What we are trying to do is encourage people to fix up their homes,” said Ruth Bloyer, founder and chairperson for the Ripley Community Group. “To inspire pride (in the Ripley community) is what we want to do.”

 

The first home to receive the Beautification Award was that of Lee and Cindi McIntosh, who reside at 22 North Fourth Street, in Ripley.

 

UNION

Bank may become community center

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/12/06

The city has made a bid for a former bank building it wants to use as a community center.

 

Union will offer $275,000 for the 2,575-square-foot building on three-quarters of an acre at Hathaway Road and Old Union Road.

 

PNC Bank closed the building earlier this month to move to a new building on U.S. 42.

 

"It's a nice building," Mayor Don Kirby said. "There are a number of things we could do with it, as well as it would be an anchor for the old town area."

 

The city wants to hold festivals along the old commercial strip that sees less traffic now that U.S. 42 bypasses the area.

 

WEST CHESTER TWP.

County planners on board with train-themed complex

Hamilton JournalNews, 5/9/06

Plans for an indoor train-themed entertainment center in West Chester Township moved full speed ahead Tuesday as the Butler County Planning Commission gave its endorsement to Entertainment Junction.

 

County Planner Joe Schmidt told the commission that Entertainment Junction owner Don Oeters is looking to rezone property off Interstate 75 from a manufacturing use to a special purpose district to house a train museum and interactive experience.

 

Oeters is the owner of Watson’s of Cincinnati, which sells pools, spas and other recreational equipment.

 

The plans call for the attraction to be built inside the 80,000-square-foot Oak & More furniture building off I-75 south of Tylersville Road.

---

They're building such CRAAAAP!!!

 

BURLINGTON

A very boring design.  What's with the garage door?  Yeah, that's really subtle.  I'm glad to see that they went all out on the landscaping.  All of this for $276K...Bridge Pointe Dr.

 

INDEPENDENCE

$158,900 for this thing?  You can find a similar house for $55K in Northbrook.  Catletts Ct.

 

$15M retail site to bloom at former Frank's Nursery

Cincinnati Business Courier - May 12, 2006by Laura BavermanStaff Reporter

 

A $15 million upscale retail development is under construction on the former Frank's Nursery site behind Kenwood Towne Centre.

 

Sycamore Township approved Midland Atlantic's plans for a new two-story retail building and renovation of the adjacent building, the former home of Sterling Cut Glass, in the fall.

 

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2006/05/15/story8.html

Residents fight for wooded site

Developer wants to build 16 houses on 4 acres

BY STEVE KEMME | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

http://news.enquirer.com/assets/AB28110515.PDF

MOUNT WASHINGTON - Although their house is in the middle of a bustling city neighborhood, Randy and Barbara Gardner feel like they're in the country when they walk into their backyard.

 

Four wooded acres with a creek sit next to their property on Wilaray Terrace, off busy Beechmont Avenue.

 

"It's like a light show out here when the fireflies come out," Barbara Gardner said. "It's so dark, and with the fireflies twinkling all around, it's spectacular."

 

 

But the Gardners and their neighbors are worried they might lose this pastoral setting.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060515/NEWS01/605150335/1056

MT. LOOKOUT

Chrisman Homes is building a new $719,000 on the site of a teardown at 3255 Nash Ave.  The old home, built in 1878, was assessed at $165,000.

   

 

 

I love to see new residential development inside the city limits, but... Tearing down intact, cared-for victorians and replacing them with bland surburban-style garages with attached houses is not the way to do it.  What a shame.

Woo hoo - some Walnut Hills lovin'!  Regarding this place:

 

WALNUT HILLS

I may be wrong, but I believe there's a plan to turn the building at 2181 Victory Pkwy (Victory and Park) from offices to residences.  Permits are in route.  Signs are still on the outside offering office space.

 

 

...that's the sister building to the super-ugly building that was torn down at 2145 Luray for The Overlook at Eden Park condo tower (thread here). 

 

 

 

Any idea if the plan is to demolish it or just to refit it for residential?  I vote for demolition!

Oh, and a fun shot - from when demo on 2145 Luray was in progress, you can see 2181 Victory above the rubble:

 

 

MT. LOOKOUT

Chrisman Homes is building a new $719,000 on the site of a teardown at 3255 Nash Ave.  The old home, built in 1878, was assessed at $165,000.

   

 

 

I love to see new residential development inside the city limits, but... Tearing down intact, cared-for victorians and replacing them with bland surburban-style garages with attached houses is not the way to do it.  What a shame.

THAT HOUSE IS 719,000 US DOLLARS?!!!! LMAO  What a damn shame...that's a nice little house and it's historic.

True that!!!!  I dont see how the new one could be worth 720,000 and the beautiful victorian only 165,000!?!?!?  The current home must extremely under valued.  Who knows...value is all in the eyes of the beholder I guess.

^ its 'true dat'  :roll:

Top story

 

University Heights: 396 Probasco St nearing completion

 

Here are a couple of shots taken 5/19/06 on the two-unit property being built at 396 Probasco St.  The structure looks like it's near completion, missing only a few outside finishes.  However, the property has not yet been listed.  Though it is quite possible that tenants are already under contract.

 

 

 

Background on this project from the Random Cincinnati Developments Thread:

July 7, 2005

April 12, 2006

---

Also of note

 

Columbia Tusculum: New Golden Avenue Townhomes in pre-sales

 

Here's a rendering of the Golden Avenue Townhomes, which is being built right across the street from Goldenview (at 3436 Golden Ave).  These are on the market for $599,000.

(also pictured is the house that formerly occupied the lot)

   

---

Round-up: Cincinnati and inner burbs

 

CLIFTON HEIGHTS

2228 Flora, a two-family, has been extensively renovated.

   

 

COLLEGE HILL

After seven months of being owned by Fannie Mae, and an even longer time of being filled with rubbish, 1649 Larch Ave has been purchased.  This appears to be a possible rental unit.

 

EVANSTON

After being lender-owned for nearly two years, 1524 Ruth Ave has been purchased.  It appears it will be a rental property.

 

MT. WASHINGTON

Stanbery home to be rebuilt

Forest Hills Journal, 5/17/06

Q. What is the status of the caretaker's home at Stanbery Park. The home faced potential demolition as part of the ongoing park renovations.

A. Historic home enthusiasts can take heart. Although the original structure will be demolished, a new building using materials from the old one will be built at the park, said Priscilla Elgersma with the Stanbery Park Advisory Council.

 

"We're calling it the Caretaker's Project," Elgersma said. "We are going to reuse and recycle the materials from the (original) home."

 

The new structure will be located at the front of the park. A new picnic pavilion is also part of the plan.

 

The project, which is part of Phase II of the Stanbery Park renovations, is budgeted at about $300,000.

 

NORTH FAIRMOUNT

After being vacant for seven months, a buyer has purchased 1861 Denham St.

 

OAKLEY

Wow.  2721 Alberts Ct.

   

 

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS

The_Cincinnati_Kid's rehab project at 505 Tafel St is now listed for $105,990.

http://www.cbws.com/property/propertydetail.aspx?property=c9a2f7eb-1979-4fbd-adb0-5637efa71740

 

ELMWOOD PLACE

The two-family at 310 Walnut St has been rehabbed into affordable housing.

   

 

NEWPORT

Plan undergoes tinkering

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/16/06

The Newport City Commission considered changes Monday night to the city's 20-year comprehensive plan that would call for, among other things, a 7-acre strip of green space between Fourth and Fifth streets.

 

The city's planning and zoning staff also recommended deleting text in the comprehensive plan that calls for making Monmouth Street two-way and enacting zoning for a higher house density on the south side of town.

 

The City Commission didn't vote on the changes to the plan Monday night.

 

The 20-year plan doesn't establish new zoning laws but serves as a road map for zoning decisions for the next two decades, said Greg Tulley, Newport planning and zoning coordinator.

 

NEWPORT

Historic label may extend to 36 more homes

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/17/06

Some homeowners on East Second Street want to preserve the facades and historic character of their 100-year-old homes. Others don't want development restricted.

 

The two opinions frame the debate as Newport considers expanding its East Row Historic District by 36 more homes.

 

The City Commission will consider whether to approve the expansion in the 300 and 500 blocks of East Second Street after a public hearing on May 30.

 

NEWPORT

County moves offices, preps new center

Campbell County Recorder, 5/18/06

Campbell County has turned a former bank building on Monmouth Street into the headquarters for three of its offices that receive the most customer traffic.

 

The county has already moved the Campbell County and Municipal Planning and Zoning Commission offices to 1010 Monmouth St. Within two months, the Department of Housing, and Occupational License Department will also move in.

 

Both the planning and zoning and occupational license departments are leaving offices in the Campbell County Fiscal Court Building at 24 W. Fourth St., Newport. The housing department will move from leased space in a building at 515 Monmouth St., on July 3, and the office will be closed June 28-30 to prepare for the move.

 

NEWPORT

Garden, walkway set to open on river bank

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/19/06

Visitors to the Ohio River bank in Newport for the past century have walked under the shade of a cottonwood tree.

 

Next week, people walking under the tree will have a garden and walkway to rest at the landmark.

 

Crews have worked this week to build a garden of native species and historical displays in the shadow of the tree in front of Newport on the Levee.

 

The garden, named the WAVE Foundation Riverbank Learning Garden, will host educational seminars for schools and groups about nature and history in the region.

 

The garden will be inaugurated at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

 

NORWOOD

Dirt is being pushed around at 3800 Montgomery Rd (NE corner of Montgomery and Cleneay).  The parcel is owned by a developer who wanted to put a car wash in North Avondale.  How that relates to this, I don't know.

---

Round-up: Outer burbs and metro

 

ANDERSON TWP.

For pedestrians sake, crosswalk getting stop sign

Forest Hills Journal, 5/17/06

Residents of the Landings of Anderson typically don't walk to Juilfs Park, even though it is across the street from their subdivision, resident Nicolas Schmelzer said.

 

If they go, they drive, he said. Anything else is too dangerous.

 

Because traffic on Clough Pike is so fast, Schmelzer has said he worries about the safety anyone from his subdivision crossing the street.

 

Since March 2005, he has requested the county install an "on-demand" pedestrian stop light at the intersection of Clough Pike and Endovalley Drive.

 

BURLINGTON

Sidewalk work starts

Boone County Recorder, 5/18/06

A project to upgrade sidewalks in Historic Burlington is under way.

 

Crews will be working primarily on the north side of Ky. 18 from Garrard Street to Perlate Street and on North Jefferson Street from Ky. 18 to Perlate Street, according to Boone County Assistant County Administrator Robin Curry.

 

The first phase of the project should be completed by Aug. 29. The first phase is costing a budgeted $440,077 with the county paying 20 percent of that amount and a federal grant the remaining amount.

 

CAMPBELL COUNTY

Consultants guide flurry of Campbell planning ideas

Alexandria Recorder, 5/18/06

Consultants hired by Campbell County tapped community and government leaders for their ideas about the future of the county last week.

 

The consultants used a computer program to help them distill, massage and synthesize leaders' thoughts and ideas over a three day process called Community Catalyst at Alexandria's community center, said Dr. Michael Thorne Kelly, founder and vice-president for research for the Maine-based Advanced Management Catalyst, Inc.

 

AMCI's experience with planning includes helping the U.S. Air Force re-engineer its supply chain. The company has also worked with large companies and communities to help them plan for the future, Kelly said.

 

The process is part of the county's effort to update its comprehensive plan. In February a committee of more than 80 people started working on the plan, which will guide development in the county.

 

CLERMONT COUNTY

Clermont housing projects win state grants

Cincinnati Business Courier, 5/18/06

Two housing projects in Clermont County were among nine statewide to win funding Wednesday from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. The agency distributed more than $14.7 million to develop and maintain affordable housing for low-income families.

 

Local companies that received funds were:

 

* SY Bethel Park Investors, which received $6.4 million in tax-exempt series bonds to renovate two Batavia apartment complexes -- Bethel Park Apartments and Zebulon Park Apartments. Bethel Park, in Bethel, has 84 three-bedroom units. Zebulon Park, in Batavia, has 66 three-bedroom units. When the $9.6 million project is completed, the units will be rented to families at or below 60 percent of the area median gross income.

* Fairfield Homes Inc., which received $550,000, plus a $1 million equity bridge loan to buy, renovate and build additions to Clermont Villa in Owensville. The project will cost $4.6 million. The 46-unit complex includes one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, which will be rented to families making 35 percent to 50 percent of the area's gross median income.

 

COLERAIN TWP. (White Oak)

Buckhead Homes is beginning construction on The Estates at Squirrel Run, a 20-lot, high-end development.  This will be an extension of a stub road in the Squirrel Creek subdivision, which was developed in the late 1980s.  Homes will range from $450,000 to $700,000+.

 

DEERFIELD TWP.

Kings High's renovation starts June 2, officials say

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/17/06

Kings schools' race to complete a $1.5 million renovation to end its high school's chronic air quality problems will begin June 2.

 

Officials announced the school closing Tuesday, saying that students, parents, teachers and coaches will be prohibited for safety reasons from entering Kings High School off of Columbia Road until the work is done.

 

The new school year starts Aug. 22 and officials hope the extensive renovation will be completed in time so the high school's 1,100 students will not be affected, said Lindsay Braud, communications coordinator for the Warren County school system.

 

DELHI TWP.

Cheviot Savings opens Delhi Township branch

Cincinnati Business Courier, 5/15/06

Cheviot Savings Bank has opened its sixth branch, this one in Delhi Township.

 

The savings and loan will hold a grand opening celebration June 7 at the branch, located at 585 Anderson Ferry Road.

 

Cheviot (NASDAQ: CHEV) also has locations in Cheviot, Monfort Heights, Bridgetown and Harrison, as well as a lending center in West Chester. It has two branches in the works: one set to open in Taylor Mill in October and a Crosby Township site in the planning stages.

 

FLORENCE

New 5-acre park on U.S. 42 may be in budget

Florence Recorder, 5/18/06

The city is planning a new, 5-acre park on U.S. 42 by what used to be NiBlack Memorial Drive.

 

Currently, $1 million for the park is included in the budget as a special project for the 2006-2007 fiscal year. The budget will be finalized by June.

 

The park will be built on the site of the old city building near the Boone County Library on U.S. 42 on what is now a parking lot and a grass field.

 

Florence Public Works Director Bob Townsend said the park will include a playground, picnic shelter, basketball court and walking trail.

 

FLORENCE

Man contends Florence stole land

Florence Recorder, 5/18/06

After years of disputes with city officials, Larry Vogelsang of Uri Drive has resorted to posting a sign in his yard that declares the city of Florence stole his property.

 

Vogelsang, who will be 91 in July, and his wife, 89, bought the lot their house sits on and two adjacent lots in 1949.

 

Vogelsang claims when he signed an agreement around 1956 to allow the city to build a sewer line on his property, he wanted the line on the same lot as his house, leaving the other two lots clear and more desirable to buyers.

 

However, he says, the line was built on the adjacent 50-foot-wide lot, which Vogelsang contends doesn't leave enough room to build a decent house.

 

Vogelsang said at his age he wants to sell the lot so his four children, who live out of state, don't have to.

 

FORT MITCHELL

Kroger plans store upgrade

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/18/06

Kroger hopes its landlord will tear down its Expressway Plaza store and build a new, bigger one. But it likely won't be a Kroger Marketplace location, a company official said.

 

Representatives of Fort Mitchell, Beechwood Independent Schools and the shopping center's owner, Town Center Co. of Anderson Township, met last week to pin down details of an agreement that would make way for purchase of former Kentucky Transportation Cabinet land needed for the expansion.

 

"It's not physically feasible to build that kind of store (Marketplace) at Expressway Plaza," said Monte Chesko, real estate manager with Kroger's Cincinnati/Dayton market area. "We're looking at a larger store, but not on the order of what we're doing up at Liberty Township, (on) Cincinnati-Dayton Road."

 

FORT MITCHELL

Chamber Office Park final phase taking shape

The Community Recorder, 5/18/06

City council unanimously approved on May 15 a proposal that will put the Chamber Office Park one step closer to completion.

 

"We think it's a great location for a business to come," said Mayor Tom Holocher.

 

Construction on two new 45,000 square-foot office buildings will likely begin before the end of the year, according to David Heidrich, general manager of Crescent Springs developer The Zalla Companies.

 

That will leave only two more buildings slated for the 13-acre Buttermilk Pike development, which is home to the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce headquarters and eight other office buildings.

 

FORT THOMAS

Gifts key to Highlands project

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/17/06

Highlands High School's four-phase, $32 million expansion and renovation is finally beginning.

 

Officials with Fort Thomas Independent Schools have wanted to give the 80-year-old school a face-lift for years, but a lack of money has prevented it.

 

One reason it's happening now is because more than $2.3 million in private donations has been raised to fill the gap between local and state money allocated. "As far as Kentucky is concerned, I'm not aware of something of this magnitude," Superintendent Larry Stinson said of the private funds for a public school.

 

A ceremonial groundbreaking will take place at the school at 12:30 p.m. today.

 

The $18 million first phase is to be completed by December 2007. It will include accessibility for the disabled; new electrical, heating and cooling systems; four fully equipped science labs; four lecture rooms; expanded art facilities; wireless classrooms; and a refurbished auditorium.

 

FORT THOMAS

Residents want speed humps on Mayfield

Fort Thomas Recorder, 5/18/06

The residents of Mayfield Avenue have spoken. Twenty three of the 29 property owners on the street signed a petition requesting the placement of speed humps along the street that is the main access to Highland Hills Park.

 

At the Monday, May 15 Fort Thomas City Council meeting, Interim City Administrative Officer Fred Ewald asked the council to move forward with the addition of the humps.

 

Residents of the street came to the Monday, May 1 city council meeting to ask for the speed humps because they say in addition to the increased traffic flow in summer months, many of the visitors on the street do not heed the 15 mile per hour limit. The city has not acted on the requests, which also came before the council in 2005, because it was considering the possibility of moving the park access from Mayfield Avenue to James Avenue. That project has been put on hold for the time being.

 

FORT WRIGHT

Lake Street to be reconstructed

The Community Recorder, 5/18/06

The city council announced it will use the Municipal Road Aid money given from the state to help with the reconstruction of Lake Street.

 

The municipal road aid, which will be approximately $90,000, is derived from the state's gasoline tax, and is given to cities based on population.

 

The reconstruction will make Lake Street entirely concrete and was bid out by the city, along with a similar project on Kennedy Road. The city decided to award the contract to JPS Construction, whose total bid for the projects came to $549,044.10.

 

City engineer Mark Brueggemann said that the bid he presented included the reconstruction of Kennedy Road in asphalt, but he would approach JPS about the possibility of concrete on both streets.

 

GOLF MANOR

K&K Renovations has purchased 6131 Mayflower Ave to rehab.

 

GOSHEN TWP.

Soccer park becoming a reality

Community Journal Clermont, 5/17/06

With the donation of 22 acres of land for a new soccer park, the long time goal of establishing a park district in Goshen Township is coming to a reality, but first the Goshen Youth Soccer Association needs grass seed --lots of grass seed.

 

That's why the group is hosting the First Annual Goshen Youth Soccer Association "Just for Kicks Cruise-In Car Show and Sock Hop" 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at Goshen High School.

 

Jeff Scheadler, member of the Goshen Youth Soccer Association, said the biggest cost in getting the park up and running will come from seeding the soccer fields, which will require around 400 pounds of grass seed per acre.

 

The soccer complex will include at least 12 fields and a walking path, Scheadler said.

 

GRANT'S LICK

Highway widening forces Cooper Funeral Home move

Alexandria Recorder, 5/18/06

The funeral directors at Cooper Funeral Home haven't always changed with the times, and still offer food trays at services, but the widening of U.S. 27 is forcing a relocation.

 

The 2.4-mile $22.5 million widening project the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has planned would also force the relocation of the state historical marker highlighting the area's namesake salt lick springs.

 

The Cooper family, in business there for 31 years, has plans to double their space at a new location across from Reiley Elementary School, said J.D. Cooper, co-owner.

 

GREEN TWP. (Bridgetown)

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/19/06

When the sheets came off the senior art class project outside Oak Hills High School Thursday night, about 150 parents and students clapped and cheered at colorful, flowing tile murals of koi fish and flowers attached to three concrete benches.

 

Art teacher Sandy Federman took congratulations, doled them out to her students and pointed to a former Oak Hills art teacher, Sheila Kappa.

 

As dozens of students hugged Kappa, some giving her small gifts, Federman explained:

 

"It's bittersweet for me, teaching the class I've always wanted to teach," Federman said. "But I'm teaching it because a good friend isn't able to teach it. I love the classes, I love the students but I also love Sheila."

 

INDEPENDENCE

Subdivision picked for Parade of Homes

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/19/06

A new subdivision in Independence has been chosen as the site of the Home Builders Association of Northern Kentucky's 2006 Parade of Homes.

 

Tim Reese, developer with Centerline Development, broke the news to members of the Independence City Council this week.

 

Reese said 10 homes - each built by a different developer - will be constructed starting this summer and be finished by October. The Hickory Valley subdivision will sit just off Fowler Creek Road, south of Senour Road, and connect to the Claiborne subdivision.

 

"This type has never been done before," Reese said of the plan to feature competing builders' examples.

 

The homes, priced from $215,000 to $300,000, will then be open for viewing Oct. 13-15.

 

INDIAN HILL

And then there were none ...

Indian Hill Journal, 5/18/06

Drivers who saw the sign on Remington Road can trust the sign wasn't lying. Starting May 15, and lasting at least through June 3, Remington Road, also known as Ohio 126, is completely shut off from traffic.

 

That closure will stretch from the Indian Hill-Montgomery corporation lines to the Loveland-Madeira Road intersection.

 

Some of the equipment has been sitting aside Remington Road for a little while now, and the area on both sides had been cleared in preparation for the Monday shut down, said George Kipp, project manager for the city of Indian Hill.

 

Sharon Smigielski, public information officer for the Ohio Department of Transportation's District 8 office, said the June 3 end date on the road closing isn't etched in asphalt.

 

MADEIRA

Plum Creek Properties (ReMax Unlimited) is splitting the lot at 7608 Euclid Ave (NW corner of Euclid and Miami) and has both on the market for new home builders at $259,900.  The lot is currently occupied by a 1952 ranch house valued at over $300,000.

 

MADEIRA

The Madeira Pines subdivision will consist of 30 lots, accessible from a street which dumps out onto Shawnee Run.  It looks like it will be in the area surrounded by Miami, Camargo and Shawnee Run.  The development will consist of high-end custom homes.

 

MASON

Skate park in plans, not budget

Community Press Mason & Deerfield Twp., 5/17/06

According to the Mason Parks and Recreation Department, the city skate park project could be finished before construction can even begin.

 

Eric Hansen, assistant city manager, said the city is still attempting to finalize the design of the park.

 

There are three designs that have been created based on community feedback from town meetings, Hansen said, and the city is still choosing which design to use for the park.

 

Hansen said once a design is chosen, the city will accept bids for the construction of the park before going to the City Council for approval to move forward.

 

But that's where the park could lose its momentum.

 

MONTGOMERY

New sanctuary being built for local church

Northeast Suburban Life, 5/17/06

A tower of textured stone rising from the ground amid steel beams supporting a gently sloping roof will soon be the new sanctuary for the congregation at Ascension Lutheran Church.

 

"Growth," said Steve Grieser, pastor of the church for 12 years.

 

"About a year ago we basically ran out of space." However, the idea to either remodel the existing space or build a new space began seven years ago.

 

"It took a couple of years to envision the project," Grieser said. "We then went through two basic plan changes before finally raising the funds and getting a contractor."

 

MONTGOMERY

Montgomery's proposed dog park may be put on ballot

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/20/06

Opponents of a proposed dog park in Montgomery launched a petition drive Friday to place the issue on the November general election ballot.

 

Montgomery is considering creating a 1½-acre dog park in 21-acre Pioneer Park on Deerfield Road. Some residents don't want the dog park because they say it would harm the park's character.

 

"It's a quiet, clean, passive recreation area," said Brett Leonard, a member of Preserve Pioneer Park, a group that formed to fight the dog park proposal. "We believe there is no reason for that to change."

 

Preserve Pioneer Park is trying to place two ordinances on the November ballot that would block the dog park.

 

SHARONVILLE

The ownership of Park 42 will be submitting plans for the retrofitting of the existing warehousing distribution center on the north side of the facility and converting it into offices similar to the rest of the development. This will add approximately 40,000 square feet of office space, which will upgrade the appearance of this side of the facility for the future office development that is scheduled for the old Green Industry Site. This has the potential of creating 150-175 new jobs to the City.

 

SPRINGDALE

Springdale senior housing plan opposed

Tri-County Press, 5/17/06

Golden Leaf Development proposed to the Springdale Planning Commission in March conceptual plans for non-assisted living senior housing on the land.

 

The project, which would touch Kemper Road, Rose Lane, Smiley Avenue and Springfield Pike, would have several three- and four-unit ranch-style condominiums and a three-story building housing about 30 one- and two-bedroom units, according to Steve Galster, councilman and planning commission member.

 

Residents aren't the only ones concerned about land being developed and the potential for increased traffic.

 

SYMMES TWP.

Drees has purchased the lot at 8864 Cross St (near Loveland Madeira and Humphrey).  This is a vacant site cleared by a demolition in 2003.

---

They're building such CRAAAAP!!!

 

Will return next week.

Cool, I really like the Probasco St. and the Golden Avenue projects!

 

Very interesting...looks like they got the front half done first...just a touch odd.  But it's a clever enough way of having six garage spaces without either hiding them or having them look like ass...definitely cool, just a little weird...

^ They built right on top of existing garages.

 

One can rent a room in that house for only 425

from graigslist...

 

 

$425 / 1br - share a Brand New house w/ other UC students, 5 min from UC,

Reply to: [email protected]

Date: 2006-05-07, 12:44PM EDT

 

 

There is one room available in a BRAND NEW house. The house is really nice, with a large kitchen large living room and a porch. The other occupants are responsible UC DAAP students. We are looking for another UC student to fill the vacancy from around June 10 for Three Months. Rent is 425, that includes utilities.

 

396 Probasco St at Digby  google map  yahoo map

Kyles Lookout condos OK'd

Townhouse units to start in $180,000s in project marketed to all age groups

BY CINDY SCHROEDER | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

 

COVINGTON - A developer here will break ground this summer on 30 single-family, townhouse condominiums off Kyles Lane on the border with Fort Wright.

 

Covington City Commission unanimously approved a zone change for the project, tentatively called Kyles Lookout, Tuesday night, nearly two months after the Kenton County Planning Commission recommended approval.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060524/NEWS0103/605240361

Not sure exactly what is going in, but there are signs on the old Kmart indication that a new "Retail Development" is coming and retail space is available; Neyer & Vandercar are the developers.  That seems to indicate that they will be building a shopping plaza of some sort on the site.  There are also a number of florescent orange spray-painted signs indicating that there is a "Big Sale" taking place at the old KMart - although they do not say what is being sold. 

 

A while ago I read the minutes of the Col Twp community council meeting and it said there was some interest in the former Frank's Nursery site on Highland as potentially becoming office space. 

Kohls wouldn't survive. The area is over-saturated.

 

There isn't a Kohl's near that part of Cincinnati without having to go to Field's Ertel.  The strip mall is zoned "big box" and being a discount department store that attracts everyone from low income to upper middle class, the area seems perfect.  Another reason why I think a Kohl's would be successful there is because they have converted several other closed down K-marts into Kohl's in other parts of the country.  The blue prints are already done for the conversion. 

A while ago I read the minutes of the Col Twp community council meeting and it said there was some interest in the former Frank's Nursery site on Highland as potentially becoming office space.

 

Wow, I'd sure hate to work in that space - traffic would be appalling...

Top story

 

The Arbors of Pleasant Ridge: Finally beginning?

 

The Arbors of Pleasant Ridge might now be getting off the ground with some excavation and fill work. 

 

The development will abut the Ridge Club.  Access will be from Losantiville Ave via the newly-created Tudor Ave, and from Burkhart Ave via Lisbon Ave.

 

City Lands Development Company has had this project in the works since 2001, when the last parcel for the 14-home single-family development was purchased.   

 

Details are still pretty sketchy about the price or the look of the units.  All that is known is that they will be detached, and pricey.

 

MAP OF SITE

---

Also of note

From the 5/22/06 Cincinnati Business Courier:

 

Jewish snaps up land, could seek to expand

Cincinnati Business Courier - May 19, 2006

by James Ritchie

Staff Reporter

 

The Health Alliance has begun assembling property for an expansion of Jewish Hospital in Kenwood.

 

Late last year, the hospital group's board agreed to pursue several parcels south of the Jewish campus for a total of as much as $9.1 million. The properties, on Happiness Way, Festive Court and Kenwood Road, include several residential tracts and the property used as headquarters for Mercantile Savings Bank.

 

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2006/05/22/story2.html

---

Round-up: Cincinnati and inner burbs

 

AVONDALE

After a foreclosure left the two-family at 849 Rockdale Ave empty for nine months, it has been purchased for a cool $8000.  It doesn't appear that the new owner will be an occupant.

 

CARTHAGE

The city is seeking public comment on amending their 2006 Action Plan and incorporating a CDBG Float Loan to Cincinnati Housing Partners for $500,000.  This loan would be used to demolish 7000 Vine St.  In its place (and on the adjacent empty lot at 7004 Vine St) they would construct a new building for the Cincinnati Central Credit Union.  They are accepting comment until June 20, after which time they will forward the amendment and the comments to HUD.

 

COLUMBIA TUSCULUM

Either a rehab or a teardown is imminent on 475 Stanley Ave.  It was purchased about a month ago by a neighbor dba "S&A Custom Construction LLC".  The home, built in 1891, has no known problems.

 

CORRYVILLE

2925 Bellevue Ave has been rehabbed as a single-family home.

   

 

EAST PRICE HILL

Imago has purchased 3647 W Eighth St to add to add to its properties in the Enright Ridge Urban Eco-Village.

 

EVANSTON

1519 Ruth Ave has a new owner.  This property was vacated by the city in March 2005.  The owner eventually lost it to foreclosure.  Since then, the building has been vandalized, including the theft of its copper plumbing.  The new owner plans to rehab it for habitation.

 

LINWOOD

The rehab of 4822 Morse St is now complete.

   

 

MADISONVILLE

5428 Whetsel Ave has had a nice updating.

 

 

MT. LOOKOUT

Newport Construction Company will tear down the 1940s ranch house at 3705 Kroger Ave and will build this $1.295M home in its place.  The old house was valued at nearly $500,000.  And to think--these poor souls have been displaced and are on their own on the streets!  ;)

   

 

NORTH FAIRMOUNT

After sitting empty for several months, 2634 Beekman St has been purchased for $12,000 by an investor.  There is no word on whether he will rehab it or just hold on to it.

 

NORTHSIDE

After sustaining heavy fire damage in October 2005, 4678 Hamilton Ave will finally be torn down.

 

NORTHSIDE

The bank rehab of 4522 Innes Ave is complete.  It's on the market for a very reasonable $92,000.

   

 

OAKLEY

A lender is rehabbing 4111 Millsbrae, most likely to take advantage of the hot Oakley market and to sell it for quite a bit more than its worth.  They paid more than the assessed value to another lender to acquire the property.

 

PLEASANT RIDGE

The long-vacant four-family at 6110 Webbland Pl is being rehabbed by Epcke & Epcke.

 

PLEASANT RIDGE

Lawndale Ave between Montgomery and Glengate will have speed humps installed some time this summer.

 

PRICE HILL

Science students restore woods behind Dater

Price Hill Press, 5/24/06

Dater High School students have been learning hands-on science lessons as they work to restore the natural environment surrounding their school.

 

About 45 students in Bill Schnure's environmental science classes recently started renovating a five-acre plat of land in the overgrown and trash-filled woods behind the school as part of the Mill Creek Restoration Project.

 

Students helped design the landscaping plan for their campus' Freedom Grove, a future outdoor classroom amidst native flowering trees, vegetation and mulched trails.

 

WINTON PLACE

Cognis plans new capacity

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/24/06

Cognis Corp. said Tuesday it will embark on a multi-million investment at its Winton Place specialty chemical plant this summer to increase its capacity to provide ingredients to the truck lubricant and agricultural markets.

 

The project, expected to be completed early next year, won't mean additional jobs but underscores the German-based company's commitment to local operations employing about 600, said spokeswoman Kathy Bollmer.

 

The project will involve streamlining and expanding capacity of the plant's esterification plant, which combines alcohols and acids to create compounds with specific properties.

 

COVINGTON

The multi-family at 802 Willard St has been restored.

(after only)

 

COVINGTON

1329 Garrard St has been cleaned up for resale.

(after only)

 

COVINGTON

N. Ky. health center to get bigger digs

Cincinnati Business Courier, 5/25/06

A Northern Kentucky Health Department center in Covington will move to a larger facility in June.

 

The center, at 634 Scott St., will be relocated to the new James A. Dressman Kenton County Health Center at 2002 Madison Ave., also in Covington.

 

The center will open June 5.

 

The Kenton County Health Center will be closed the week of May 29-June 4. Emergency services will be available at the Health Department's centers in Boone, Campbell and Grant counties during the move.

 

COVINGTON

Covington parking concerns addressed

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/26/06

The city's public safety committee is studying whether Covington should issue residential parking permits in high-traffic areas such as MainStrasse and the historic Licking-Riverside neighborhood.

 

Licking-Riverside residents who live near Covington's Ohio riverfront have long complained that nonresidents who work in Cincinnati use neighborhood streets as park-and-ride lots to avoid the cost of parking downtown.

 

On Tuesday, Steven Wilson, who lives in 500 block of West Sixth Street in MainStrasse, asked Covington City Commission to designate 18 resident-only parking spaces on both sides of West Sixth Street between Philadelphia and Bakewell streets from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. Monday through Sunday.

 

Calling it "a quality of life issue for the taxpaying, voting and resident property owners," Wilson said he and his neighbors are upset about having to carry children and groceries for blocks - sometimes in rain or snow - because customers of MainStrasse restaurants and bars have taken all of the nearby on-street parking.

 

NEWPORT

Residents say, 'Bar go away'

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/25/06

Some Westside residents are tired of having a bar in their neighborhood.

 

They say the crowd at Joe's Sports Bar, at 10th and Patterson streets, has become larger and rowdier. They see Joe's patrons urinating in public and discarding trash - plus, finding a parking spot on the street is a problem.

 

Other residents say the bar causes little to no disturbance. The bar's owner says he prohibits patrons from acting up or carrying alcohol into the neighborhood and bans people for such offenses.

 

Disgruntled residents - and the bar's owner Joe Howard - hope the bar will move.

 

Howard said he plans to move Joe's to the 800 block of Monmouth Street, pending approval for state permits. He doesn't know how long that will take.

---

Round-up: Outer burbs and metro

 

ANDERSON TWP.

Round Bottom Road rough for truckers, bikes

Forest Hills Journal, 5/24/06

Like oil and water, truckers and cyclers don't mix on Round Bottom Road.

 

Doug Evans, owner of Evans Landscaping on Round Bottom, told Anderson Township trustees at their May 18 meeting he was worried the road was an accident waiting to happen.

 

"I'm not against bicyclists, but I'd feel bad if something happened to one of them," he said. "But there's been many instances where those people who don't pay any taxes, don't pay any fuel tax, ride down there like they own the road, ... It's not just me. ...Anybody who has a business or lives down there, has seen it."

 

Evans said the problem stemmed from an increase in businesses along the road combined with a deterioration of the road.

 

AURORA

Contingencies curb nod given to condos

Dearborn County Register, 5/19/06

A condominium project proposed by Doug Anderson, Aurora, cleared its first major hurdle Tuesday, May 16, when the Aurora Historic Preservation Commission granted certificates of appropriateness for the demolition of five buildings.

 

The motion included 12 contingencies and passed 5-2, with commission members Karen Miskell and Dave Reidel voting nay.

 

Voting for the motion: AHPC Chairman Shirley Meyer and members Chris Baltz, Cynthia Bean, Marty Lindgren and Jenny Awad.

 

COAs are required for construction and demolition within the Aurora Downtown Historic District.

 

BATAVIA

UC Clermont Dedicates West Woods Academic Center

UC News, 5/26/06

The University of Cincinnati Clermont College dedicated its fifth building in six years today with the dedication of the West Woods Academic Center.

 

University of Cincinnati President Nancy Zimpher joined Dean David H. Devier, community members, faculty, staff and students for the dedication. The ceremony followed the annual community breakfast where the college presented "A Year of Change" video that highlighted the accomplishments and growth during the academic year.

 

The West Woods Academic Center is a two-story, 14,000 square-foot addition located at the west end of the Peters-Jones Building and is connected via a two-story bridge. UC Clermont College has experienced 30 percent enrollment growth over the last four years. The newest building addition will provide the college much needed space for instruction and faculty offices.

 

"The college has experience unprecedented growth over the last four years. This new high-tech classroom and faculty office space will be a welcome relief for our campus as we continue to serve an increasing number of students. I am very pleased with how we were able to expedite this new building and take occupancy in just12 months," said Dean Devier.

 

BETHEL

Bethel plans to purchase land

Clermont Sun, 5/25/06

The Bethel Village Council presented its first reading of a new ordinance that, if adopted, could lead to the construction of a new municipal building for the village.

 

Ordinance 1545, presented May 22, called for the authorization for village administrator Michael Shiverski to move forward in the execution of a contract to purchase three plots of land in the city block on which the current municipal building is located, essentially making the entire block from behind the Plane Street storefronts the property of the village.

 

“The village is looking into purchasing the three pieces of property north of the municipal building here,” said Mayor David Simpson. “If we can acquire that, we’ll have the whole block here. We’re looking into a new administration building. It’s my understanding that all three people have agreed to sell the land, they were agreeable.”

 

In all, the total purchase price of the new property would be just shy of $300,000, and would give the village all of the land up to Bone Street to develop. The current municipal building, which has undergone extensive renovations over the past two years, is continuing to crumble and cause mounting bills for the village.

 

COLERAIN TWP.

Construction of at least one single-family house is getting underway at 8792 Pippin Rd.

 

DEERFIELD TWP.

Pedestrian tunnel among ideas for altering Irwin Simpson Road

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/21/06

Big ideas are being floated for Irwin Simpson Road, one of this township's longest and most diverse thoroughfares.

 

The state wants a bike path along it, a Homearama subdivision wants a pedestrian tunnel underneath it, and retail development could require parts of it to be widened or straightened.

 

As plans form for the two-lane road, it may become a model for other Warren County communities where developments are sprouting up on once-rural roads.

 

"This is probably the picture of things to come for a lot of our township and county roads where we have a lot of aggressive development," said Warren County Engineer Neil Tunison. "There's going to be a lot of upgrades in Deerfield and Hamilton townships, probably up in Clearcreek Township. Irwin Simpson is really probably going to be our first try on making those types of road improvements."

 

ERLANGER

Neighbors out to halt Transitions

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/24/06

Opponents of a planned residential drug and alcohol recovery center have not given up their fight.

 

On Tuesday, seven property owners who would be neighbors of the 100-bed facility near the entrance of Pleasure Isle Drive filed a lawsuit in Kenton Circuit Court to stop the center. Today was the deadline to appeal the Erlanger Board of Adjustment's April 24 decision granting the non-profit Transitions Inc. a conditional-use permit to build the center.

 

Opponents, including the manager of the Fun Center at Pleasure Isle, filed suit against Erlanger's board of adjustment, Transitions Inc. and the former owners of the site just off Madison Pike where the 28,000-square-foot chemical dependency center for men would be built.

 

In their lawsuit, critics say the board of adjustment's decision was opposed by more than 50 nearby residents. They allege the center fails to comply with Erlanger zoning, including proof that it's an "institution for human medical care," as Transitions said in its application, and they claim it would be detrimental to the surrounding community. They say it was proposed for Erlanger only after it met with resistance in Covington and Florence.

 

ERLANGER

Home builders outgrow group's headquarters

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/28/06

Home building just keeps on surging in Northern Kentucky, and the Home Builders Association of Northern Kentucky wants to surge right along with it.

 

This Thursday, members of the trade group will be scoping out a building in Erlanger. Seems the group is increasingly cramped in its 26-year-old building on Grandview Drive in Fort Mitchell. It wants bigger digs.

 

"We've essentially outgrown the building we're in," executive vice president Dan Dressman said. "We've looked at the possibility of expansion here, but we'd still have a problem with parking. The building we're looking at has five times the parking we have here."

 

EVENDALE

Neyer plans to upgrade Evendale medical building

Cincinnati Business Courier, 5/22/06

When Jewish Hospital announced it would vacate and sell its Evendale medical office building, Al Neyer Inc. jumped at the opportunity to buy and market the property.

 

The 62,000-square-foot building, now 60 percent vacant, was transferred this week for $3.7 million. Neyer has pledged it will upgrade the lobbies and common areas to make the building marketable for other medical users.

 

The building, at the intersection of Reading and Glendale-Milford roads, houses medical groups including For Women, Podiatry of Hamilton and Lab Alliance.

 

Neyer likes Evendale, a village seeing retail and office growth. Miller Valentine's and Anchor Properties' Evendale Commons mixed-use project is under construction across the street. Wal-Mart Supercenter is the anchor and Starbuck's and Fifth Third Bank have already signed letters of intent.

 

FAIRFIELD

Fairfield gets up-to-date Justice Center

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/23/06

Dispatcher Machelle Kibby stands at her work station, watching one monitor showing Village Green Park, another the inside of the Justice Center.

 

Risers move up and down or from side to side, positioning a bay of monitors to an optimal viewing position.

 

It is one of three such stations equipped with a computer, phone and radio for dispatchers at the city's new Justice Center, a $11.3 million 50,033-square-foot structure designed specifically for police and court operations.

 

"We can stand now," Kibby said Monday. "We had much of this before - but on a much smaller scale."

 

FORT THOMAS

Dental surgeon planning new building

Fort Thomas Recorder, 5/25/06

Dr. Fred Steinbeck isn't just changing the way people's teeth look these days. His office space, at the corner of Highland and Newman Avenues should have a new look in about six months.

 

Steinbeck, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, has temporarily moved to the 20 Grand office building. His office building at 627 Highland Ave., has been demolished, but a new office will be rebuilt at the same site.

 

"We hope to have it complete in about six months," said Sherry Steinbeck, Fred's wife and office manager. "There were some water issues with the foundation. It had a flat roof and that's very difficult to take care of."

 

The office has been on the corner of Newman for more than 10 years, Sherry said. The new building will be larger that the old office.

 

At the Monday, May 15 Fort Thomas City Council meeting, former City Administrative Officer Jeff Earlywine said the planning and zoning commission approved the plans for the office. He said the site was formerly zoned for residential housing.

 

FORT THOMAS

Breaking ground

Fort Thomas Recorder, 5/25/06

Cris Collinsworth, far left, and members of the Fort Thomas Education Foundation and Board of Education broke ground for the renovation of Highlands High School on Wednesday, May 17.

 

GEORGETOWN, OH

Courthouse committee selected

Georgetown News Democrat

Should Brown County construct a new courthouse? This is a question Brown County officials have faced for the past several years.

 

To answer the question, the Brown County Commissioners have selected a Courthouse Steering Committee that will search for grants, review possible building sites and conduct feasibility studies to determine the possibility of constructing a new courthouse in Brown County.

 

Currently, Brown County’s court system operates from three separate facilities in Georgetown. The Brown County Court of Common Pleas, located 101 So. Main Street, utilizes the historic county-owned facility. Brown County Municipal Court operates from a county-owned facility, located 770 Mt. Orab Pike. The county currently leases space, located on State Street, to house Probate/ Juvenile Court.

 

A new courthouse would allow all court systems within the county to operate from the same building, which would eliminate confusion for members of the general public who are unfamiliar with the court system and reduce costs currently associated with the leasing of court space.

 

GEORGETOWN, OH

Georgetown side-steps sidewalk project

Georgetown News Democrat

A sidewalk project in the downtown area and a discussion on zoning were the key topics at the Georgetown Village Council meeting Thursday, May 18.

 

Councilman Tony Applegate asked how the sidewalk project for the courthouse square project was progressing in roundtable discussion.

 

The village had previously sent out letters to property owners surrounding the square several months ago. The letter questioned owners about sidewalk repairs and replacing the trees surrounding the square.

 

Mayor John Jandes said several letters had been returned mostly asking what the cost of the project would be. Most of those returned came from the “commercial row” side (west) of the square. The next step is up to council.

 

GREEN TWP. (Covedale)

It's hard to tell from the pics, but 5517 Muddy Creek Rd has been rehabbed.

   

 

INDEPENDENCE

Twenhofel students teach about their green building

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/27/06

A team of sixth- and seventh-graders at Twenhofel Middle School is getting local and national attention for teaching the benefits of saving energy.

 

The team is part of the National Energy Education Development project that seeks to "promote an energy-conscious and educated society."

 

The team has been working on projects throughout the school year on energy and focusing on energy-saving features of the new school building, said teacher sponsor Beth Davis, who coordinates the group with teacher Sharon Cross.

 

The new energy-efficient, 111,000-square-foot school building opened in December.

 

INDEPENDENCE

Library construction in high gear

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/28/06

Kenton County Public Library officials are overseeing construction of the William E. Durr Branch - anticipating the fall completion of the project, located on Walton-Nicholson Road.

 

The brick and external walls are finished, and work is being done on internal walls, doors and windows, said branch manager Anita Carroll. Electrical and plumbing work also continues.

 

"They have a busy summer ahead," Carroll said.

 

The $7-million branch will replace the current Independence Branch, south of the Cherokee Shopping Center. Construction on the project, which began last August, will continue through the summer and is expected to be completed by November, said library director Wayne Onkst. Morel Construction of Highland Heights is doing the work.

 

INDIAN HILL

The Indian Hill Planning Commission will consider a request by Lawrence M. Paul Trust to subdivide a 16.5-acre lot at 9200 Shawnee Run Rd.  This land is currently occupied by a house and a barn.  The subdivision will create three  lots.  A public hearing will be held June 20.

 

INDIAN HILL

The Indian Hill Planning Commission will consider a request for a minor subdivision of a 14.3-acre lot at 8125 Kugler Mill Rd, within the Ravenswalk subdivision.  The subdivision will create four lots.  This will also have a public hearing on June 20.

 

LEBANON

Lebanon's vacant post office to be cultural hub

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/20/06

Warren County's cultural life is about to improve.

 

This week, the county Historical Society secured $225,000 in state funds to renovate the vacant former downtown post office into a community cultural center. Historical society leaders say they will use the space to attract traveling exhibits.

 

The grant from the Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission will allow the historical society to expand into the 4,375-square-foot building along South Broadway Street near Ohio 63. The group has already raised and spent $1.8 million in local donations to acquire and connect the society's headquarters to the adjacent post office.

 

"The addition of this venue gives us the capability to host exhibits such as those from the Smithsonian Institution," said Shirley Ray, director of the society's museum, who has begun the application process for a traveling Smithsonian exhibit. "They have certain requirements, and this allows us to upgrade the safety and security standards that would allow us to meet those rigorous requirements."

 

LOVELAND

Loveland residents soon to 'take a hike'

Loveland Herald, 5/24/06

The city is considering a proposal from its Tree and Environment Committee to create a hiking trail that will connect Phillips Park to Kiwanis Park through the Simpson Farm property.

 

The trail would be about one mile in length and could be completed as early as this summer.

 

Gary Benesh, chairman of the Tree and Environment Committee, said the purpose of the project is to give residents the opportunity to enjoy the land that has been sealed off from development since it was bought by the city in 1994 and designated as a conservation district. Benesh said that means the condition of the property is not to be disrupted by anything. He said his proposal, however, would do little damage to the land.

 

"There's some really pretty natural area back there, and we really feel people should be able to check it out," Benesh said.

 

MADEIRA

Memorial delayed, but parade will go on

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/26/06

Last week's rainy weather slowed feverish work on the Madeira Veterans Memorial, tentatively pushing a planned Memorial Day unveiling to July Fourth.

 

Kathy Bechtold, organizer of the Veterans Memorial Committee, said the privately funded project has taken years to finish, but volunteers have been working hard to make it a reality.

 

"It's really starting to take shape," she said.

 

Work on the memorial started in early 2004.

 

MADEIRA

RENOVATED HIGH SCHOOL TO BE OPEN

Cincinnati Enquirer, 4/17/06

The public will get its first look at the renovated Madeira High School when it's dedicated April 23. The ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. The building at 7465 Loannes Drive will be open for tours from 2:30-4 p.m. The renovation is part of a $28 million bond issue, passed in 2004, to replace Dumont Primary and Sellman Middle schools and to renovate the high school to ease crowding. The new elementary and middle schools are expected to open in August.

 

MANCHESTER

Dedication of Kinfolk tower slated for Friday

Maysville Ledger Independent, 5/23/06

An effort that began as a family reunion wish has turned into a new landmark the village of Manchester hopes will attract more tourists to the Ohio River town.

 

Formal dedication of the new waterfront park and boat launch at Kinfolk Landing will be 3 p.m., Friday.

 

"It will be called Kinfolk Landing at Ellison Square," said Dr. Cornelia Dettmer.

 

In 2001, the descendents of four brothers who accompanied Nathaniel Massie on a surveying expedition along the nearly uncharted Ohio River began a series of donations that have enhanced different areas in Manchester. Massie was surveying the Virginia Military District and is a founding father of Manchester. Included in the projects are the 2001 refurbishing of Founders Cemetery and contributions that helped acquire a grant to build modern restrooms near Kinfolk Landing on Front Street in 2004.

 

MIDDLETOWN

Sunshine Cafe rises from ashes two years after fire

Middletown Journal, 5/26/06

Gina Courtney is ready for the sun to shine again.

 

The Nelbar Street resident has no complaints about the weather, mind you. Courtney, 34, just wants Sunshine Cafe, 640 N. University Blvd., to open its doors again.

 

And that should happen in early August. Construction on a new, 3,500-square-foot restaurant, one that seats more than 120 diners, is well under way just north of Reinartz Boulevard.

 

“We need Sunshine. There’s nothing else like this on this end of town,” said Courtney, the cafe’s general manager and part-owner.

 

MIDDLETOWN

Kroger aims to enliven market with 'marketplace'

Middletown Journal, 5/28/06

Store by store, the Kroger Co. is gradually reinventing itself in its home state.

 

The Cincinnati company’s “marketplace” concept puts a new spin on the “one-stop shopping” concept, said Jerry Vogt, Kroger district manager.

 

“We’ve always sold the light bulb,” Vogt said in an interview at his Tri-County Parkway office. “Now we’re selling the lamps.”

 

Marketplace is coming to Middletown. An expanded, nearly 112,000-square-foot store will be built just south of the current store northeast of Ohio 122 and Towne Boulevard. By way of comparison, the current Middletown store has about 43,000 square feet.

 

To make room for it, a former Hardee’s restaurant and what at one time was to be a barbecue eatery will be demolished, said Monte Chesko, Kroger real estate manager.

 

SYCAMORE TWP.

Moeller's lot moving into the neighborhood

Suburban Life, 5/25/06

After months of bickering and debating, Moeller High School can now begin planning the extension of its parking lot onto two residential lots on the 7700 block of Kennedy Lane.

 

The Sycamore Township Board of Zoning Appeals approved the rezoning of the two properties to be used for an extension of the school's parking lot during its meeting last week.

 

Principal Blane Collison said the new parking lot will give Moeller approximately 85 more spots and will significantly help the parking problem at the high school.

 

Greg Bickford, planning and zoning administrator for Sycamore Township, said the board approved the measure only after several months of discussion on the landscaping of the project. He said the resolution passed at last week's meeting was essentially written three months ago and was approved only after Moeller agreed to comply with about a dozen conditions.

 

Bickford said Moeller must allow only cars and SUVs on the lot, provide screen landscaping that within three years of planting will completely block the property from the residences in the neighborhood and have lights standing only four feet high that turn off at night, just to name a few.

 

SYMMES TWP.

Developer Joseph M. Allen is looking to build a 9.5-acre, 16-lot subdivison on McKinney Rd, just east of Woodcrest Dr.  The subdivision, called Summer Winds, will be built on a cul-de-sac.  Twelve of the homes will front on the street, while an additional four on the east side of the development will be built behind those fronting the street, with access via shared driveways.

MAP OF AREA (acreage on north side of McKinney)

 

SYMMES TWP.

New Symmes Township safety center opens

Northeast Suburban Life, 5/24/06

Township officials and dignitaries were on hand to open the Safety Center to the public on Sunday.

 

Hamilton County Sheriff Simon L. Leis and Hamilton County Commissioner and township resident Phil Heimlich spoke at the ceremony that opened with an honor guard and a flyover of the Sheriff's helicopter.

 

After the dedication and the ceremonial backing in of the first fire engine, the center was opened for tours.

 

Residents were able to see fire and law enforcement equipment, get their children fingerprinted and enjoy refreshments.

 

The 30,000-square-foot facility at 8871 Weekly Lane houses Station 61 of the Loveland-Symmes Fire Department as well as District 3 of the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.

 

UNION TWP.

Green building gets certification

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/26/06

Two years ago, Steve Melink, president and founder of Melink Corp., a national supplier of heating and air-conditioning equipment and services to retail chains, went to a Cleveland building conference that he says changed his life.

 

He met Kevin Hydes, chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council, and heard Hydes and others talks about the need to construct more energy-efficient and self-sustaining buildings.

 

"We have such a wasteful society, it was refreshing to hear architects and builders talk about a new way of thinking," he said.

 

On Thursday, Melink's journey came full circle as Hydes, Ohio Gov. Bob Taft and 200 others recognized Melink's new $2.5 million headquarters off Round Bottom Road as the first building in Ohio to achieve gold certification in the council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system.

 

Melink started his company 20 years ago in his basement.

 

His 30,000-square-foot building, which opened in December, is one of about 100 buildings nationally to achieve the gold rating.

 

WILMINGTON

CASH FLOWS FOR CANCER CENTER

Cincinnati Enquirer, 4/19/06

Donations are flowing in for a planned $8 million cancer center in Wilmington, Ohio. Construction began in March for the center, slated to open in February near Clinton Memorial Hospital. The CMH Foundation, the charity arm of Clinton Memorial, reported this week that it has raised $1 million of a targeted $3 million in private donations needed. The rest of the project will be financed through the hospital. Fundraising efforts are expected to continue all year. For information, call (937) 382-9454 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (937) 382-9454      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

 

WYOMING

Wyoming in turbulent waters

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/28/06

In case you haven't seen the dozens of yard signs, squeezed into the packed City Council meetings or read the city manager's blog, there's a controversy brewing in this city.

 

It's about a new pool.

 

The city already has put the Wyoming Family Aquatic Center out for construction bids, which officials plan to review at City Council's next meeting June 19.

 

But a group of opponents, Concerned Wyoming Citizens, says the pool would cost too much ($3.4 million) and be dangerous for kids, since it's on busy Springfield Pike. They also don't like that the pool would be in neighboring Woodlawn, even though the city's recreation center is already on the same site.

 

The group has collected more than 800 signatures asking the city to stop the process until a public forum, or until the community can vote. So far, city officials have declined. They want construction to start as soon as possible so the pool can open Memorial Day weekend 2007. Also at issue is the pool's potential impact on the Wyoming Swim Club, a fixture in the community for 48 years.

---

They're building such CRAAAAP!!!

 

HAMILTON

More than half of the facade is garage door.  This is worth $344,900?  It's on a golf course, but still....6218 Greens Way.

 

INDEPENDENCE

Seriously.  What the hell is this?  1123 Boyne Ct.

 

MORROW

Itty-bitty dormer windows.  Nice call.  6506 Abingdon Hall.

 

Holy Living Ass:

 

 

At first I thought, maybe that's intended to be the back of the house - but, with a driveway?  And even if it were, who the wants wants any angle of their house to look like that?  Good Lord...

Kyles Lookout condos OK'd

Townhouse units to start in $180,000s in project marketed to all age groups

BY CINDY SCHROEDER | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

 

COVINGTON - A developer here will break ground this summer on 30 single-family, townhouse condominiums off Kyles Lane on the border with Fort Wright.  Covington City Commission unanimously approved a zone change for the project, tentatively called Kyles Lookout, Tuesday night, nearly two months after the Kenton County Planning Commission recommended approval.

 

The condominiums by Kyles Lane Development will be built on 3.3 acres on the northeast side of Kyles Lane between Ky. 17 and Valley Drive.  The development will be connected to Kyles Lane via a single road offering room for vehicles to turn around, and a retaining pond will be added.

 

"We're marketing it across all ages - from young professionals to empty nesters," said Chris Montello,

 

MORE: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060524/NEWS0103/605240361

 

once again kentucky gets it right, marketing things for all income ranges.

 

man i never thought i would be saying that, Kentuckians are more progressive then Ohioans.

At first I thought, maybe that's intended to be the back of the house - but, with a driveway?  And even if it were, who the wants wants any angle of their house to look like that?  Good Lord...

 

And look at the back...side...back? porch.  It appears to be supported by four very large sticks.

 

I'm guessing the truss roof was added to that 4 family in Pleasant Ridge. Hilarious!

 

Just to clarify, that house in Hamilton is technically Fairfield Twp, Hamilton mailing address.

 

Thanks for the update!

^No kidding. It has needed double left turn lanes from Highland onto Ridge southbound for decades. It was bad when the old gold circle mall was there. I guess these are one of the things we have to deal with, being that it is a fragmented Twp.

I really think the city should promise a full infrastructure upgrade (roads, sidewalks, buried power lines) around Ridge/Highland in exchange for annexation.

Drove past DeSales Corner yesterday, and saw scaffolding in the building at the corner of Madison and Moorman...no idea what's going on, but hey, maybe it's something good!

 

^ All I know on that building is that they're renovating the inside, but I don't know for what.  Also, they are going to be doing tuckpointing work on the exterior, which explains the scaffolding.

 

Hopefully the end result will be cool.

 

Walnut Hills: New office building?

Details sketchy

 

Cornerstone Broker Insurance Services Agency is planning an office building at 2101 Florence Ave., next to I-71. 

 

I believe I mentioned this in a prior post, though I didn't have the name of the company at that time.

 

So far, they have applied for permits.  I believe that they are still awaiting a zoning change.

 

Cornerstone is currently leasing space in the Grand Baldwin building.

 

Here is the site, looking east.  I-71 is in the middle and Florence Ave is in the top right.  The building site is in the area with the billboards.

 

---

Cool.

From the 6/2/06 Enquirer:

 

 

PHOTO: The first class of the Blueprint for Success program attend a ribbon-cutting Thursday at the house they renovated in Mount Auburn. The house is on the market for $110,000.  The Enquirer/Gary Landers

 

Students hammer out a home

City-agency program recruits young people to learn skills

BY ALLEN HOWARD | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

A year ago, Keith Jackson, 25, and Lamiya Hill, 23, had no idea that they could renovate a house, doing things like installing drywall and flooring, painting, carpentry, and minor plumbing and electrical work.

 

That was before they became part of Blueprint for Success, a pilot partnership between the city of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency. The program teaches inner-city residents, ages 18-30, the construction business.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060602/NEWS01/606020396/1056/rss02

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Rumors

From the 5/31/06 Western Hills Press:

 

 

False rumors flying about plaza's future

BY KURT BACKSCHEIDER | COMMUNITY PRESS STAFF WRITER

 

WESTWOOD -- There are no plans to tear down the Western Hills Plaza and develop the property into a subsidized housing complex.

 

"It's kind of a curious rumor that has been circulating for a couple of months," said Donald Troendle, executive director of the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority, which oversees housing programs in Hamilton County.

 

http://news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060531/NEWS01/605310722/1074/Local

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I'm sure someone out there cares

 

Great Oaks Institution of Technology and Career Development has several projects lined up which are expected to begin soon. 

 

Many jobs are out for bid as we speak.

 

Scarlet Oaks, in Sharonville, has the following planned (estimated completion date in parentheses):

* New entryway, lobby, administration, student services and "cybrary" (August 2007)

* Technology infrastructure improvements (August 2007)

* Expanded parking, new sidewalks, landscaping (August 2007)

* Sprinkler system (2009)

* Refurbishment of culinary arts and hospitality services space (August 2006)

* Renovation of administration area to provide multi-purpose demonstration areas for staff, students, and community (August 2007)

* At the Center for Employment Resources, a renovation of the former Adult Workforce Development space to accomodate fire, law enforcement and safety services (September 2006)

 

At Live Oaks, in Milford, a renovation of the administration, student services and "cybrary" is expected to be completed in September 2006.

 

Also, Live Oaks, Diamond Oaks (Dent) and Laurel Oaks (wilmington) will receive new signage by September 2006.

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Round-up: Cincinnati and inner burbs

 

AVONDALE

204 Forest Ave, a three-family, will be demolished.  It has been condemned for several years, and it's taken the city quite a while to get it down.  Recently they have been removing asbestos.  The people who purchased it a month ago for $6,200 have done nothing to abate the nuisance and didn't plan to.  Then again, they do have a pretty good criminal history.

 

AVONDALE

Coach's legacy shines at park

Cincinnati Enquirer, 6/4/06

A memorial to Cleveland "Pepi" Parker was unveiled Saturday at Cleveland Parker Fields, formerly the Blair Park in Avondale.

 

Parker touched the lives of thousands of Cincinnati children by encouraging them to stay away from crime and drugs and to get involved with baseball. The Knothole coach touched three generations of children before he was killed 11 months ago.

 

Parker was 57.

 

He was talking on the phone with a friend about an upcoming baseball tournament when a bullet came through Parker's family room window and hit him. No arrests have been made in the case.

 

Parker lived across the street from the ballfields where a sculpture immortalizing him now stands.

 

CITY

Reds revamp diamonds

Cincinnati Enquirer, 6/2/06

Bill Blevins pours sandy-colored rocks from two paper cups onto a boardroom table at the Cincinnati Recreation Commission headquarters.

 

Some are small pebbles; others are the size of a golf ball or a cell phone - all collected in minutes from a local baseball field.

 

Blevins explains his goal: For 18 once-downtrodden inner-city baseball diamonds, he wants to find clay far superior to the dirt that contained the rocks on the table.

 

Blevins' inspiration comes from the men sitting across the table, who control $130,000 that the Cincinnati Reds Community Fund is supplying to restore the fields.

 

The money is giving 1,300 kids ages 5-15 on 85 inner-city teams safer, more enjoyable and better-looking fields that can be used more frequently.

 

CLIFTON

After foreclosure left the property vacant for 8 months, 3539 Vinecrest Pl has been purchased for $6,500.  Strangely, I can find no evidence of major problems with this home, but home values on the street are very low.  Built around the time of the Civil War, it's one of the older homes in the city.  The rest of the street was developed in the late 1920s.

 

CLIFTON

628 Martin Luther King (sometimes listed as 628 Dixmyth) will be torn down.  The property has been a nuisance for years.  They city has been trying to have it demolished for well over a year.  I believe it was tied up in court.

 

CLIFTON

Twins invest time, money to rehab houses in Clifton

Cincinnati Business Courier, 5/29/06

Twins Mitch and Matt Painter take dilapidated homes and try to make them the crown jewel of a neighborhood.

 

Next week, they'll put a Clifton house on the market that they bought three months ago for $160,000. After $130,000 worth of work, they expect it will sell for up to $399,000 within two weeks. They sell $4 million worth of renovated homes per year.

 

"We take the worst house on the best street and make it the Taj Mahal," Mitch said.

 

They seek to improve the value and quality of Cincinnati's oldest homes and neighborhoods.

 

COLUMBIA TUSCULUM

471 Missouri Ave will be torn down.  The owner has also bought a vacant residential lot at 457 Missouri Ave.  This is in an area of a lot of new construction, with homes from $200K-$400K.  Expect more.

 

COLUMBIA TUSCULUM

After suffering fire damage in 2004 and being a public nuisance ever since, the city is tearing down 4371 Eastern Ave.

 

MOUNT AUBURN

Eight months after a series of banks took over 2139 Rice St, it has been purchased by an investor for $11,000.  The new owner owns many properties around town, most of them in decent shape.  This single-family, built around 1870, was valued at $75,000 and is tenant-ready.  So this guy got a real bargain.

 

NORTHSIDE

Working in Neighborhoods has purchased 4233 Fergus St for rehab as affordable housing.

 

NORTHSIDE

Working in Neighborhoods has also purchased 4446 Colerain Ave for $19,000.  Same deal.  This beat-up shack is 748 square feet.

 

OAKLEY

After significantly upgrading the value of their house three years ago, the owners of 3716 have purchased and plan the same for 3714 Hyde Park Ave, which was built in 1906.

 

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS

Sigma Alpha Epsilon is planning a 9,000-square-foot addition at their house at 2707 Clifton Ave.  The cost should be slightly under $3,000,000.

 

COVINGTON (Latonia)

New family restaurant includes sports history

Kenton Community Recorder, 6/1/06

It's been a grocery store, an auto parts store and a paint store.

 

But soon, the building at 36th and Decoursey in Latonia will become the crown jewel of the business district.

 

Gary Bockweg, 39, and Troy Houston, 35, are building a sports-themed, family-oriented restaurant in the building.

 

"There's nothing in Latonia that serves alcohol and you can bring your kids in," Bockweg said.

 

NEWPORT

Hearing airs view on historic label

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/31/06

The proposed addition of 36 more homes to the East Row Historic District created some debate Tuesday night between residents who want to see the area preserved and others more open to commercial development.

 

Newport City Commission held a public hearing where residents on East Second Street discussed the pros and cons of being in the district.

 

Newport's Historic Preservation Commission has recommended that properties in the 300 and 500 blocks of East Second Street be added.

 

Any property owner wanting to make exterior changes or build in the district must conform to the area's historic characteristics and get approval from the Newport's Historic Preservation Office.

 

Some property owners say they don't want to discourage development.

 

NORWOOD

Potterhill Homes has purchased 5330 Hunter Ave. for $130,000.  I have no idea why they would purchase this home.  They do some scattered-site building, but they paid far too much for it to be a candidate for teardown.  It could be a future redevelopment site, but home prices in the neighborhood are stable in the $80K-$110K range and I certainly wouldn't call it blighted.

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Round-up: Outer burbs and metro

 

ALEXANDRIA

Mayor: Growing borders require more police

Cincinnati Enquirer, 6/2/06

More residential development likely will prompt Alexandria to expand its borders as well as its police department, the mayor said.

 

"The city is growing in terms of population and in terms of size," Mayor Dan McGinley said Thursday at a City Council meeting. "In light of all recent annexation, we will need to add police."

 

McGinley said he expects the city to consider annexing at least 300 to 400 acres this year.

 

Alexandria's preliminary budget for the next fiscal year calls for another police officer and cruiser. Alexandria now has 13 officers.

 

The city introduced the proposed budget Thursday.

 

ANDERSON TWP.

CFS Homes has purchased 8169 Forest Rd, likely a teardown candidate since they paid more than double its assessed value.  The home currently occupying the site was built in 1952 and is under 1100 square feet.  The buyer also owns a couple of other properties in the same area, so they may have multiple projects going.

 

DEARBORN COUNTY

County plan commish locks up on zone change

Dearborn County Register, 5/26/06

Five attempts were made. Five attempts failed.

 

Dearborn County Plan commission members were unable to pass along a recommendation to county commissioners, Monday, May 22, on a rezoning request for 174 acres of land west of the Ind. 48 and Ind. 148 intersection, Manchester Township.

 

After the issue was tabled during the commission’s March meeting due to concerns about the high density of proposed subdivision Sun Valley Acres, developer Tom Kent returned with plans for moderate density.

 

The plans were not specific enough for neighbors and some plan commission members, however, which led to a stalemate in the vote to forward a recommendation.

 

No recommendation will be passed along to commissioners who make the final decision on rezoning requests.

 

DEER PARK

Deer Park to continue traffic study

Suburban Life, 5/31/06

Residents will have to wait for a solution to speeding on Clifford Road.

 

Deer Park City Council recently decided to wait until police can complete a traffic study before taking any action on residents concerns.

 

Residents of Clifford Road had asked the city to look into traffic on their street. In April, Jackie Jarvis, a Clifford Road resident, had approached council with concerns about speeding and the safety of children along the street.

 

Councilman Mike Allen said the police department had studied the street for two weeks taking speed measurements by radar.

 

DELHI TWP.

Delhi banks on newest business

Delhi Press, 5/31/06

One of the township's newest businesses opened May 15.

 

Cheviot Savings Bank, 585 Anderson Ferry Road, is the latest branch for the company, with a sixth planned for Rybolt Road and Harrison Avenue.

 

Annie Iverson, marketing director, said the township bank will be managed by Gloria Vetter, whose has been with the company for more than 20 years. Before moving to the Delhi Township branch, Vetter was at the Monfort Heights branch.

 

ERLANGER

Rehab center forges ahead

Kentucky Post, 5/30/06

Developers of a proposed long-term housing and recovery facility in Erlanger for men with drug or alcohol addictions are continuing with their plans, despite an appeal filed in Kenton Circuit Court last week.

 

The Erlanger Board of Adjustments voted 3-2 April 24 to grant Transitions Inc., a non-profit organization which operates drug and alcohol treatment facilities in Northern Kentucky, a conditional use permit to build the 100-bed center on Pleasure Isle Drive in Erlanger. On May 23, seven residents of the Pleasure Isle Drive area filed a lawsuit in Kenton Circuit Court appealing the board of adjustments decision.

 

Opponents of the plan did not reply to a message seeking comment, but their Web site, savepleasureislearea.org, says they object because the "rehab center will have access to limited public transportation options to the much needed social, medical, and occupational services the clients require. There is great potential for a dramatic decrease in property values in the surrounding community."

 

"My understanding of the process is that the way for people to appeal the action of the board of adjustments is in the form of a lawsuit in the circuit court," said Erlanger City Administrator Bill Scheyer.

 

FLORENCE

Travel kiosks coming to Ky. rest stops

Florence Recorder, 6/1/06

Travel, traffic and tourism information about the commonwealth is now at your fingertips inside Kentucky welcome centers and rest areas.

 

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is installing innovative new kiosk machines at 16 welcome centers and rest areas. On Tuesday, May 23 one of the new kiosk was demonstrated by the Transportation Cabinet representatives at the Welcome Center on southbound I-75 in Boone County.

 

Later this year, a kiosk will be located in each of the 28 welcome centers and rest areas. Kiosks are also located in the public areas of KYTC's central office building in Frankfort.

 

Gov. Ernie Fletcher said the kiosk resembles an ATM machine, and allows travelers to get live radar and other weather information, as well as detailed traffic information.

 

The interactive features also showcase local and statewide tourist attractions.

 

FORT WRIGHT

'Town Center' zone proposed to get quality development

Cincinnati Enquirer, 6/2/06

A new zone aimed at attracting quality development along Madison Pike, or Ky. 17, will be the subject of a public hearing Wednesday.

 

The hearing will be at 6:15 p.m. in Fort Wright City Council chambers, 409 Kyles Lane.

 

City officials want to create a "Town Center Form District" on 238 acres along both sides of Ky. 17 from Interstate 275 north to Howard Litzler Drive. The area currently has a variety of zoning, including residential, commercial and industrial. The Wal-Mart SuperCenter and Eaton Asphalt would not be part of the district.

 

In April, the Kenton County Planning Commission recommended approval of Northern Kentucky's first town center form district.

 

Fort Wright Mayor Gene Weaver told county planners that the proposed district includes "probably one of the hottest areas for development in Kenton County, if not all of Northern Kentucky."

 

HARVEYSBURG

Welding firm expands in Harveysburg

Cincinnati Business Courier, 6/1/06

A steel fabricator will break ground June 5, on a $2.2 million expansion in Harveysburg.

 

Tincher's Welding LLC, is building a 34,000-square-foot addition at its location near Caesars Creek Reservoir, in northeastern Warren County. The expansion will allow the company to consolidate operations from several locations into one building, according to a news release from the Certified Development Corp. of Warren County.

 

The company, founded in 1975, is owned by Terry and Judy Tincher. Financing is being provided by the Certified Development Corp. and National Bank & Trust.

 

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS

Cornerstone gets new location with parents' help

Campbell Community Recorder, 6/1/06

Cornerstone Montessori has a new location, but it wouldn't be possible without the help of several parents.

 

On Tuesday, May 23 parents acted as guarantors on a loan for the purchase and renovation of a former funeral home in Highland Heights. Cornerstone currently rents from St. Bernard in Dayton.

 

"They made it possible to help us get a loan to do the construction," said Gayle Brown, vice president of Cornerstone's board of directors. "It's like having a co-signer on a loan."

 

Families are guarantors on between $5,000 and $30,000 of the loan, Brown said.

 

INDEPENDENCE

New look YMCA prepares for busy summer

Kenton Community Recorder, 6/1/06

The Kenton County YMCA's facelift is nearly complete.

 

Camp Independence is putting the finishing touches on the $120,000 renovation to the pool and playground area that began in March. The renovations, which are expected to be fully completed in early June, will not only benefit YMCA members and guests, but will also allow the day camp to expand their programs during the summer.

 

"Our main goal with the camp is to have the kids engaging in activities all day long," said Sarah Rettig, the program coordinator. "We want to help with character development, and help to instill some morals and values in the kids, but also allow them to have a lot of fun at the same time."

 

The day camp will feature a variety of new activities this year, including an outdoor amphitheater and roller racers, a device which appears to be a sled on wheels. The camp has also added new shelters for science and art activities, in addition to the usual basketball and soccer. The camp will now meet in a new indoor shelter, where campers can escape the heat of the afternoon.

 

MANCHESTER

Waterfront facility dedicated

West Union People's Defender

The Village of Manchester dedicated a new waterfront facility at Kinfolk’s Landing on Friday, May 26. The area was designated as Ellison Square and includes a lookout tower, picnic shelter and restrooms. Adjacent to the area, a new boat launch ramp is ready for the boating season.

 

The Ellison family were some of the first settlers of Adams County and their rich heritage has been a large part of Manchester from the very beginning. The original Ellison home can be seen at 8th and Jack Roush Way in Manchester.

 

Several members of the Ellison family were on hand for the official opening of the new facilities and were touched by the generosity of the village to the Ellison family.

 

MONTGOMERY

Buckhead Homes has purchased 7810 Jolain Dr, built in 1957, for $230,000.  This will be a teardown.

 

RIPLEY

Ripley Riverwalk construction delayed

Georgetown News Democrat

Ripley residents may witness work being conducted on the Riverwalk Project in less than one week, according to Ripley Administrator Charles Ashmore.

 

Ashmore addressed the project during a May 23 meeting with Front Street residents and property owners.

 

“I will tell you the official status of the project is on hold, pending clearing from the Ohio Historical Society for one complaint they received about this project going forward,” Ashmore explained. “We believe we have satisfied all of the concerns of the Ohio Historical Society.”

 

Ashmore said representatives of the Ohio Historical Society were able to visit Ripley after receiving the complaint from an unhappy taxpayer that does not reside in the village of Ripley. After an on-site review of the property the project will effect, the Historical Society was impressed with project and the amount of public input that stood out in favor of the project, according to Ashmore.

 

Before construction begins on the project, the Village of Ripley must receive approval from the Ohio Historical Society, which Ashmore said could come at any day.

 

SPRINGFIELD TWP. (West College Hill)

Family Housing Developers, Inc. has added 6270 Betts Ave to its portfolio of vacant residential lots in the area.  It also owns several developable parcels on Fourth Ave.

 

UNION

Arboretum will be blossoming out

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/29/06

Boone County's arboretum could one day nearly double in size and cross Camp Ernst Road.

 

The Boone County Cooperative Extension District is buying 112 acres across from Central Park, said Bill Smith, extension board chairman.

 

The vacant land is owned by the Seven Hills Neighborhood House, a social service agency in Cincinnati's West End. The extension district has signed a contract to buy the land for $600,000, Smith said.

 

The district could close on the sale as early as Tuesday.

 

WALTON

Seniors' new center gets a grand opening

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/31/06

Senior citizens in and around Walton have a new place to eat lunch, take computer classes and even play volleyball.

 

City and state officials gathered Tuesday morning to formally dedicate the city's new $750,000 senior center. On Main Street directly behind the city building, the center replaces an older one that was often crowded.

 

"We come over a couple of days a week to play cards," said Ralph Meenach, who lives in Independence and was with his wife, Gen.

 

"On some days we would be crowded in the old place, but that's not going to be a problem here. This is beautiful."

 

WEST CHESTER TWP.

Seniors push barn conversion

Cincinnati Enquirer, 5/25/06

The controversy over the historic 1881 Muhlhauser barn just won't go away.

 

A persistent group of senior citizens wants the township to stick to its original plan to spend up to $5 million to turn the 125-year-old barn into a combination senior center, conference center and performance hall.

 

"It's the new board (of trustees)," says Roberta Ryan, 70. "They don't care about the barn. They treat it as a joke and it just sits there."

 

The barn still sits as disassembled parts under a blue tarp at Beckett Park.

 

After months of debates and years of delays, township trustees voted in March to reconstruct the barn. But the scaled-back plans envision the barn functioning more as a park shelter.

 

WILMINGTON

NCB breaks ground in Wilmington

Hillsboro Times-Gazette, 6/1/06

Representatives and guests of NCB, FSB participated in a ground-breaking ceremony Tuesday for the bank’s new location at 2790 Rombach Ave. in Wilmington.

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They're building such CRAAAAP!!!

 

COLERAIN TWP.

This is $269,900 for some reason.  And it only has three bedrooms.  And where the f$&k is the front door?  ;)  11650 Old Colerain.

 

Pair to develop vacant Kmart lot on Ridge Road

Cincinnati Business Courier - June 2, 2006by Laura BavermanStaff Reporter

 

Amberley Village residents Dan Neyer and Rob Smyjunas got tired of passing the large vacant Kmart on Ridge Road on their drives to and from work.

 

Their companies, Neyer Properties and Vandercar Holdings, were vying for the 11-acre property, so they bought it together and made a $10 million plan to improve the retail offerings on the busy strip in Columbia Township.

 

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2006/06/05/story6.html

Attorney renovating building on Sycamore for law offices

Cincinnati Business Courier - June 2, 2006by Laura Baverman

 

The six-story Sycamore Street building downtown, known for the green dragon silhouette on its north face, will house 32 attorneys later this summer.

 

Attorney Kelly Farrish had shared office space for 25 years when he decided he wanted to own a building and lease offices to attorneys who want state-of-the-art space with little overhead.

 

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2006/06/05/newscolumn2.html

Scarlet Oaks, in Sharonville, has the following planned (estimated completion date in parentheses):

* New entryway, lobby, administration, student services and "cybrary" (August 2007)

 

....

 

At Live Oaks, in Milford, a renovation of the administration, student services and "cybrary" is expected to be completed in September 2006.

 

The term "cybrary" must not take root...ick.

 

 

AVONDALE

 

Is that the back side of the statue?  'Cause...er...I'm not sure I'd want to be memorialized with something like that, especially if I'm remembered for my dealings with children...

 

 

Hey, thanks so much for the updates, as always!

^ Your question is answered.

 

 

Pair to develop vacant Kmart lot on Ridge Road

Cincinnati Business Courier - June 2, 2006

by Laura Baverman

Staff Reporter

 

Amberley Village residents Dan Neyer and Rob Smyjunas got tired of passing the large vacant Kmart on Ridge Road on their drives to and from work.

 

Their companies, Neyer Properties and Vandercar Holdings, were vying for the 11-acre property, so they bought it together and made a $10 million plan to improve the retail offerings on the busy strip in Columbia Township.

 

"This area has a lot of interest but needed someone like Rob and me to make the investment and transform what you see into, effectively, a new building," Neyer said...

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2006/06/05/story6.html?from_rss=1