Just as soon as that magical Fortune 500 Company shows up :wink:

I'm excited to see the tower start moving up.  Looks like a nice project all around and hopefully spurs some more residential across the street

 

*Edit: Just realized across the street is the Joseph Groups Property.  So probably nothing there for another 30 years :oops:

 

It's already been 30 years hasn't it?

 

29. They last made that statement in 1987 when they tore down a building and "saved" the facade for "future use" whatever that means.

 

Someone on Facebook posted a compilation of the buildings they've torn down to create that lot. There were some seriously attractive and unique buildings that occupied that lot.

^I'd love for someone to call them on that facade that was "saved for future use".  Where is it?  And how does it fit into your plan for a Fortune 500 HQ?  :roll:

 

Someone on Facebook posted a compilation of the buildings they've torn down to create that lot. There were some seriously attractive and unique buildings that occupied that lot.

 

Oh I bet.  Just like all of "old" Cincinnati.  Even in spots you wouldn't think so much but they have it like along Riverside, on the outskirts of East Walnut Hills like McMillan toward Columbia Parkway, and then even on Madison Road getting close to Rookwood with beautiful garden apartments.

 

You always wish they didn't tear down so much, it's a shame.  But the real shame on this particular one is that the Josephs have not been good stewards of their downtown holdings in the last 29 years it seems.  Do they have any historic buildings they own and have put into use?

^I'd love for someone to call them on that facade that was "saved for future use".  Where is it?  And how does it fit into your plan for a Fortune 500 HQ?  :roll:

 

I was just thinking the same thing. Someone who testifies at The Dennison should bring up the fact that they claim to have the original facades in storage and make them prove that they're actually still there and being taken care of.

 

Someone on Facebook posted a compilation of the buildings they've torn down to create that lot. There were some seriously attractive and unique buildings that occupied that lot.

 

Oh I bet.  Just like all of "old" Cincinnati.  Even in spots you wouldn't think so much but they have it like along Riverside, on the outskirts of East Walnut Hills like McMillan toward Columbia Parkway, and then even on Madison Road getting close to Rookwood with beautiful garden apartments.

 

You always wish they didn't tear down so much, it's a shame.  But the real shame on this particular one is that the Josephs have not been good stewards of their downtown holdings in the last 29 years it seems.  Do they have any historic buildings they own and have put into use?

 

Yes. Ron has restored several buildings. The building Buona Tera is in in Mt. Lookout Square is one of his restorations and turned out quite nice (and I'm not just saying that because I worked on it). It's a shame that level of care can't make its way to the Dennison.

^That's good to know.  At least we know that if they don't get the demolition, they would be able to restore the building with good care if they decided to go that route. 

Just walked by 8th and Sycamore to check out the construction.

 

Looks like they are about ready to start on the second residential story above the garage.

 

 

 

What is going on with the garage facade? If this is the final product it is hideous!

 

 

 

What is that next to the hotel? 

Just walked by 8th and Sycamore to check out the construction.

What is going on with the garage facade? If this is the final product it is hideous!

 

Most definitely not the final product:

Isn't that an old rendering though?

Isn't that an old rendering though?

 

Here is the most recent rendering, from February 2016 courtesy of Al. Neyer:

 

Isn't that an old rendering though?

 

Here is the most recent rendering, from February 2016 courtesy of Al. Neyer:

 

 

And from 3CDC:

 

Uh. That gray sewer grate going up looks nothing like the renderings. Sigh.

That's a different angle of the building. The renderings are showing the 8th and Sycamore Street sides. John's photo shows the Sycamore and 7th Street sides.

 

What is that next to the hotel? 

That is the valet entrance and what looks to be the hotel pool on the floor above it.

That's a different angle of the building. The renderings are showing the 8th and Sycamore Street sides. John's photo shows the Sycamore and 7th Street sides.

 

You're right. You can get a small glimpse from the 3CDC rendering. Doesn't look like it will end up super appealing.

New downtown Cincinnati parking garage sets opening

Jul 29, 2016, 9:59am EDT Updated Jul 29, 2016, 10:52am EDT

Erin Caproni

Digital Producer

Cincinnati Business Courier

 

A new parking garage is set to open that will add 500 spaces in the urban core.

 

The city of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. will open the Eighth and Sycamore garage at midnight on Monday, Aug. 1 in anticipation of traffic as commuters make their way to work.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/07/29/new-downtown-cincinnati-parking-garage-sets.html

It's getting up there! 

 

The hotel on the opposite side of this development has an unusual exterior -- a combination of dark brick with field stone accents.

 

Not sure when you took this, but the Joseph's parking lot sure is empty.

 

I'm starting to lament the proliferation of block-sized buildings that don't add much variation to our street life.

IKWYM chinkley.  One thing I love about photos of old downtown is seeing rows of narrower-scaled buildings lining the streets, each one different from the next.  That's one reason why historic preservation is so important, since it's close to a full century now since development of that sort occurred.  But preceding this new building, the block along Sycamore between Eighth and Seventh Streets was pretty dead as far as pedestrian traffic goes, and it was just two buildings -- the Red Cross (which didn't attract many visitors at all) next to an ugly old city parking garage.  The commercial space in the new building will probably/hopefully create a lot more vitality, at least in comparison.

I'm starting to lament the proliferation of block-sized buildings that don't add much variation to our street life.

 

I think this sums up why we are seeing so much revitalization in OTR but not as much downtown. (And other cities are seeing a similar phenomena.) People enjoy being in OTR-like neighborhoods with human-scale development. The Central Business District concept where everything was demolished to make way for massive skyscrapers, stadiums, and convention centers does not result in a pleasant environment where as many people want to live. Sure, it appeals to some people, but not as many as neighborhoods like OTR, Northside, Pleasant Ridge, etc.

I'm starting to lament the proliferation of block-sized buildings that don't add much variation to our street life.

 

Something to think about also is that while I agree with you on the statement of city life this area used to be full of single purpose, block sized industrial buildings vs the the more mixed and smaller sized OTR area. Perhaps that quiet lack of street action will play well to people wanting a quiet neighborhood free of the outside foot traffic a more street oriented area has. Good to have some variety to satisfy all needs and while the block sized monoliths may be way overscaled and out of place in OTR this might be the area where they make more sense (just wish more of the older industrial spaces survived).

 

So comparing that to the mock ups it's going to go 2-3 stories higher? 

I'm counting 7 stories to go, each big block of windows you see in the 3CDC rendering is actually two floors. If you look at the smaller square windows in the Al Neyer provided rendering the number of floors is more clear.

It's getting up there! 

 

The hotel on the opposite side of this development has an unusual exterior -- a combination of dark brick with field stone accents.

 

It is such a shame that they slapped the stone facade onto the pillars at the base.  If they simply continued the dark brick through to the base of the building it would look good. 

This is starting to rise up a bit on the skyline driving north from Kentucky on I-471

 

I was thinking how good the Skyhouse project would have looked if it was going through on that skyline from that angle.

Yep, it's finally reached the height where it's starting to alter the skyline. It's visible from my office in Pendleton and my condo on Main Street in OTR.

My condo on Race Street would have had a pretty good view of it which was surprising. The crane went up and I could see quite a bit of it which I wasn't expecting. It'll be the only tower you can see from that unit without leaning over the balcony.

In the view from my office, it should fill in a gap in the skyline:

 

^ How much taller is it supposed to be in the photo? Like for instance ... use the teal patinaed church steeple for scale?

It's only going to be about 10' shorter than the arm of the crane. So quite a bit more height.

It's only going to be about 10' shorter than the arm of the crane. So quite a bit more height.

 

Oh, wow! Thanks for the response.

Yeah, if you look at the construction picture Travis posted on August 30 you can see they have completed 4 levels above the base. That means there are still 8 full levels plus the parapet that conceals the mechanical penthouse left to go. This one, though not huge, has a position in the city which will fill some nice gaps.

July 2:

 

October 1:

 

^ did you have a plane to get this photo? where did you take it from?

 

 

Great photos as always, Travis.

 

I want more than anything for a building to go up in the strip of land between W. and E. Cheapside. It's the perfect size for a statement, medium-sized structure.

^ did you have a plane to get this photo? where did you take it from?

 

Not a plane, a drone.

Fantastic photos! Thanks for sharing those!

 

I think this building has yet to feel very impactful, except from ground level, looking directly at it. Once it gets higher than the 7th and Broadway building, I think it will start to have a bit more prominence, though.  Also, once they get some construction lighting in there, itt'l be much more visible at night, and the red cladding should also help make it pop a bit as well.

 

These photos demonstrate how many parking lots there are in this part of downtown.  While hampered a bit by the jail and justice center, this part of downtown could become really cool, and have a great residential/neighborhood type of vibe.  The 13 story building at 8th and Main will give a little more height and heft to the area, and I hope we can get an announcement about 1 or 2 of the other parking lots going away here soon, too.

Greta shots. By my count this has 6 levels (the floor of the 7th is showing) plus the parapet left to go as far as height. If that's correct, this should be pretty prominent.

 

taestell[/member]  Do you have some sort of clearance to fly a drone downtown? I thought it was verbotten.

Last time I researched this, it seemed like drones exist in a sort-of legal grey area. There is no well-defined upper boundary for the air rights of property owners, nor is there a well-defined lower boundary for where the FAA's airspace begins. The only requirement at this time is that drones must be registered with the FAA, which this drone is. Cincinnati did say that drones shall not be flown over city parks, but that likely would not be enforceable if taken to court because of the boundary issue I explained.

Gotcha. I'd be curious if you get hassled going forward.

These photos demonstrate how many parking lots there are in this part of downtown.  While hampered a bit by the jail and justice center, this part of downtown could become really cool, and have a great residential/neighborhood type of vibe.  The 13 story building at 8th and Main will give a little more height and heft to the area, and I hope we can get an announcement about 1 or 2 of the other parking lots going away here soon, too.

 

I made this map quickly to show just how much developable land is on this side of downtown. Whether we call it Bucktown, Eggleston or copy Nashville and call it the Gulch, this area has tons of potential for new residential downtown. I would like to copy Nashville’s Gulch and start a Bucktown Business Improvement District that could help instigate some development in this area. The first step would be to demolish the Gilbert Ave viaduct and make Gilbert line up with Reedy/7th at surface level. This would open up a new interesting new 5 way intersection to be the epicenter of the new district. There are roughly 16 sites that could fit a development the size of Eighth and Sycamore or 6th and Broadway, meaning a potential for 2500 units in this district along Eggleston. Part of me wants to build the light rail line from the planned tunnel under Mt. Auburn down Eggleston, stopping once in Bucktown, then turning onto Pete Rose Way and utilizing the Riverfront Transit Center, even though this wouldn’t utilize the existing streetcar tracks, it would bypass the congested downtown to increase speed and would utilize the previously unused transit center and could allow for transit only lanes due to the extra space on these overly wide roads.

Its proximity to P&G, Western and Southern, the Casino, the riverfront parks, and with a few pedestrian enhancements to Mt. Adams and the rest of downtown this site should house a ton of residential. If the buildings adjacent to I-71/I-471 were roughly the size of Eighth and Sycamore, the parking garage portion at the base would bring the apartments above the height of the highway overpasses which would partially block the site and noise, making it similar proximity to the expressway as Park Place at Lytle, Adams Place Condos, One Lytle Place, or even the new One Rookwood apartments. Cincinnati has a ton of historic buildings, but we don’t really have a modern neighborhood like Nashville, Charlotte, or some of the other cities we think are lifeless. While I don’t prefer neighborhoods like these, they are popular with a certain segment of the population because they are seen as cleaner and more safe than historic renovations. (While the Banks is a new neighborhood, it is more of a noisy, sports and bro centric entertainment district, not a true residential district.)

 

I've thought the green section would make a good Megabus stop. A lot closer to downtown, Greyhound station, Casino parking, etc.

^ No doubt there a lot of vacant lots that can be built on in this part of downtown, but many of the lots you've identified are not very practical for infill development.  The lot next to the jail, for one, is actively used by the jail and the cops that come in and out of there all the time.  Plus, who would want to live literally directly adjacent to a jail? The little narrow rectangles and triangular sites between Gilbert and 71 would also be a pretty tough sell.  The space that is currently the dog park would be awful to live in given the noise of the highway and its complete isolation from...everything.  IMO, the two areas that are ripe for redevelopment in the map above are the area down by Pete Rose Way and the Riverfront, and the huge lots by Eggleston and Court.  There are also other big parking lots a little to the west of what is pictured that would make sense to have redeveloped.  I just think these areas are logical, relatively easy developable sites compared to the small, irregularly sized lots, and the ones that are strangled by ramps from 71, Columbia Parkway, 471, and Gilbert.  With so many other surface lots in the CBD, I can't see developers clamoring to build in these challenging sites with few inherent amenities. As for rail going through this area and then connecting to the riverfront transit center, I feel like that would be fairly analogous to Cleveland's troubled Waterfront Line, which skirts around the CBD in scarcely developed land (though there is considerable development occurring at the FEB project) and loops around to serve the waterfront.  Only problem is, since the line doesn't hit many of the main downtown nodes and is challenging to get to, it suffers from low ridership.  If we get the tunnel built, I think we'd receive much more benefit by having the line go straight through OTR and the CBD rather than skirt around the edges.

These photos demonstrate how many parking lots there are in this part of downtown.  While hampered a bit by the jail and justice center, this part of downtown could become really cool, and have a great residential/neighborhood type of vibe.  The 13 story building at 8th and Main will give a little more height and heft to the area, and I hope we can get an announcement about 1 or 2 of the other parking lots going away here soon, too.

 

I made this map quickly to show just how much developable land is on this side of downtown. Whether we call it Bucktown, Eggleston or copy Nashville and call it the Gulch, this area has tons of potential for new residential downtown. I would like to copy Nashville’s Gulch and start a Bucktown Business Improvement District that could help instigate some development in this area. The first step would be to demolish the Gilbert Ave viaduct and make Gilbert line up with Reedy/7th at surface level. This would open up a new interesting new 5 way intersection to be the epicenter of the new district. There are roughly 16 sites that could fit a development the size of Eighth and Sycamore or 6th and Broadway, meaning a potential for 2500 units in this district along Eggleston. Part of me wants to build the light rail line from the planned tunnel under Mt. Auburn down Eggleston, stopping once in Bucktown, then turning onto Pete Rose Way and utilizing the Riverfront Transit Center, even though this wouldn’t utilize the existing streetcar tracks, it would bypass the congested downtown to increase speed and would utilize the previously unused transit center and could allow for transit only lanes due to the extra space on these overly wide roads.

Its proximity to P&G, Western and Southern, the Casino, the riverfront parks, and with a few pedestrian enhancements to Mt. Adams and the rest of downtown this site should house a ton of residential. If the buildings adjacent to I-71/I-471 were roughly the size of Eighth and Sycamore, the parking garage portion at the base would bring the apartments above the height of the highway overpasses which would partially block the site and noise, making it similar proximity to the expressway as Park Place at Lytle, Adams Place Condos, One Lytle Place, or even the new One Rookwood apartments. Cincinnati has a ton of historic buildings, but we don’t really have a modern neighborhood like Nashville, Charlotte, or some of the other cities we think are lifeless. While I don’t prefer neighborhoods like these, they are popular with a certain segment of the population because they are seen as cleaner and more safe than historic renovations. (While the Banks is a new neighborhood, it is more of a noisy, sports and bro centric entertainment district, not a true residential district.)

 

 

This area has so much more potential than a lot of people realize to become a seriously large neighborhood with a huge impact on the city. Taking notes from the Vancouverism sect of urban planning and utilizing both human scaled bases with towers above with really creative public spaces occupying the areas underneath all the overpasses could create a super unique area to the Midwest.

 

And I love the idea of it being where light rail moves to the riverfront. A stop in the middle of this area could prove incredibly beneficial to spurring a lot of large scale development.

 

In my personal opinion most areas of Downtown have the ability to grow without a ton of involvement or subsidy from the city. But this area needs a lot of planning and effort put into it to create a large scale public-private partnership and should be one of the major focus areas moving forward. Too much untapped potential.

 

Edit: And to edale's point, just have to be creative with weird spaces.

 

See: Vancouver House.

http://architizer.com/projects/beach-and-howe-st/

 

Utilize that weirdness of overpasses to your architectural advantage.

 

I think that's a good idea for the long term. But personally, I'd rather us focus our efforts in the heart of the CBD. There are tons of parking lots to redevelop and vacant buildings to rehab. I would also like to see a FWW-style re-envisioning of the highway ramps along I-71. There has got to be a way we can reduce the footprint of the ramps around the I-471/US-50/I-71 interchange as well as the ramps around Gilbert and Liberty.