jmecklenborg[/member] - Uptown Consortium has now made it public that they've bought Dual Manor: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/07/03/exclusive-uptown-consortium-buys-4-properties-for.html

 

 

Thank god that building is hideous!

...and there was much rejoicing. 

 

 

 

......it will have a third round wing added to create the worlds largest fidget spinner....... (I kid)

The place was nuts.  Its weird layout was just one more thing, but it would have been nuts anyway. 

 

 

Latest planning commission shows that GCRA is planning to build 14 single family homes on 3539-3537 Eden Ave, see page 33: https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/planning/about-city-planning/city-planning-commission/jul-20-2018-packet/

 

 

 

 

Uptown site for NIOSH clears hurdle, feds offer more project details

 

A final environmental impact statement for the proposed $110 million National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health campus recommends its location in Avondale, a key step in building the consolidated facility in the growing Uptown area, and offers more details on the project.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/07/26/uptown-site-for-niosh-clears-hurdle-feds-offer.html

The fact that the RFP calls for several individual security checkpoint buildings leads me to believe that it will be built like a fortress. I picture it set back from the street, surrounded by no cut/no climb fencing.

 

Sadly, sounds like you were spot on: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/07/26/uptown-site-for-niosh-clears-hurdle-feds-offer.html

The campus would be set back from the nearest public street by at least 100 feet to comply with federal anti-terrorism standards and be fenced in

 

For context, that means the buildings will be set back a bit more than the Public Health Department (approx 75') but less than the EPA (approx 150').

 

So, MLK is going to remain highway-esque and pedestrian/bike hostile for the foreseeable future.

 

MLK is a highway already. It ruined parts of Avondale and Camp Washington that will probably never return to their former charm. There was once a bridge at Eden, and a school on Hopple down the hill. Quite a tragedy that this road ever was built, but I know that its a common thoroughfare for thousands of people. They should have sunk it at Hopple and just made an express tunnel to the west side. But I guess I'm a dreamer.

Snapped a couple pics of the Avondale Town Center development on Sunday.

 

Avondale Town Center 8-5-18 by Chad McCann, on Flickr

 

Avondale Town Center (2) 8-5-18 by Chad McCann, on Flickr

Also snapped a couple pictures of the Children's Hospital expansion.

 

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Expansion 8-5-18 by Chad McCann, on Flickr

 

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Expansion (2) 8-5-18 by Chad McCann, on Flickr

 

As well as the parking garage expansion one block east.

 

Cincinnati Children's Garage Expansion 8-5-18 by Chad McCann, on Flickr

 

Cincinnati Children's Garage Expansion (2) 8-5-18 by Chad McCann, on Flickr

Hey Cincy_Travels[/member] your photos are not loading for me. You may want to try either hosting them on a service like Flickr or attaching them directly to your post on this forum.

Hey Cincy_Travels[/member] your photos are not loading for me. You may want to try either hosting them on a service like Flickr or attaching them directly to your post on this forum.

 

Thank you for letting me know. I thought I had my photo sharing fixed but obviously not. I took your advice and created a Flickr account. Should't have any trouble seeing them now.

Latest planning commission has info about plans to make MLK and Reading EVEN WIDER. UGH.

 

https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/planning/about-city-planning/city-planning-commission/aug-17-2018-packet/

 

I don't know the mechanics of how dedication plats work. Does the City have to pay fair market value to seize the land for the right-of-way? The term "dedication" implies no payment changes hands and the Planning Commission packet doesn't state any prices for these parcels.

Also, the reserved light rail ROW on the north side of MLK near Eden is going to be claimed by another "dedication plat". 

Not sure if that means MLK is getting wider. The action along MLK could be reserving ROW for a shared use path on the north side of the street. (I don’t think light rail is on their radar.)

Uptown Consortium has absolutely no vision for what Uptown could become.

Oh they have a vision, its just a really terrible pseudo suburban one that has little regard for how unique Cincinnati's historic vernacular architecture is.

 

Its a tragedy that no one calls them out for it either.

Not sure if that means MLK is getting wider. The action along MLK could be reserving ROW for a shared use path on the north side of the street. (I dont think light rail is on their radar.)

 

I lived up there when they widened MLK from a mere 4-lane road to what it is now with the highway lights.  That was done around 1997-98.  That's also when OKI was doing the I-71 light rail study and there was plenty of space to reserve for light rail. 

Not sure if this has been posted here or not. Couldn't find it.

 

https://www.uptowninnovationcorridor.com/master-plan/

 

^I saw a drawing just like that projected at a Cincinnati City Council meeting back in 2010.  It's pretty obvious that more of the same will appear on the other side of I-71. 

That’s strange because there was a drawing for a garage that included some kind of transit center for busses and Uptown shuttles right where the “smart center” (whatever that is) is. Doesn’t show up as a garage here. I thought it had already gottten some funding. (Not sure if that is a logical place for a transit center anyway)

I've tried unsuccessfully to figure out what "SMART CENTER" might refer to. The closest I could come up with is this Ohio State affiliated program for testing autonomous cars:

http://www.trcpg.com/blog/2017/01/26/trc-smart-center-announcement/

https://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/trc-breaks-ground-first-phase-smart-center/DiI1xVbfS1lbrZxSI5v2PM/

Oh in Columbus you have to spell it SMRT. Seriously. Try it that way.

Sounds to me like instead of making a transit center and attempting to get anything out of an already underfunded Sorta, they are just earmarking it for 'future smart car spot' and will simply ignore it for a while but make it seem cool in a Musk kind of way.

For my job I travel to a lot of offices in different cities that are located on "Innovation Drive" and similarly named streets or in some sort of "Innovation District". These places are almost always built with this sort of design, a faux walkable/mixed-use campus-like setting, but extremely car-centric in reality. They're very unpleasant places to walk, and as a result, most people will drive their rental car from the hotel on one side of the street to their office on the opposite side of the street.

Plus, it's just a short walk to a tartar sauce factory. 

For my job I travel to a lot of offices in different cities that are located on "Innovation Drive" and similarly named streets or in some sort of "Innovation District". These places are almost always built with this sort of design, a faux walkable/mixed-use campus-like setting, but extremely car-centric in reality. They're very unpleasant places to walk, and as a result, most people will drive their rental car from the hotel on one side of the street to their office on the opposite side of the street.

 

For true walkability, not just walkability as a buzzword, you have to start with streets. Then, the building entrances must face the street.

 

It’s pretty simple but rarely done

I suspect that a lot of cities have an Uptown Consortium type of entity that wants to develop these "Innovation Corridor" districts, and they understand that mixed-use development and walkability are important buzzwords, especially with the type of companies they want to attract and the type of employees that those companies want, but they aren't actually very passionate about those ideas or have any clue about how to implement them.

 

For all of the criticism that 3CDC gets, they seem to genuinely understand the importance of walkability, mixed-use development, and historic preservation, and do a pretty good job of implementing those ideas, in a way that none of the other institutions in Greater Cincinnati do.

I don't know how much work 3CDC did before Steve Leeper. When I first moved here they were just starting up Mercer Commons. It seems that since Mercer Commons which I don't personally think looks very good, they've done a better job with infill though of course it isn't as good as it could be.

 

Back to my point, Steve Leeper is an outsider from the region, is that correct?

Architecture is a whole different issue and is less important than the urban form IMO. I have a lot of criticisms about the architecture of many of 3CDC's projects, but they generally get the form right. Uptown Consortium is getting the form of this area all wrong. As much as they want to say it's walkable, pedestrians do not feel safe walking down a sidewalk next to a 9 lane wide section of MLK, and do not feel safe crossing it, even if they paint a crosswalk. Uptown Consortium pushed for the new interchange and for MLK to be widened instead of pushing for actual walkability and transit access in this area.

3CDC is working in areas that already have established street grids, and most of their work is historic renovation and strategic infill, so it's not really an apples to apples comparison to brown/greenfield development. I don't think the site plan posted above is all that bad. You're not going to have a fine grained urban neighborhood constructed right next to the freeway and along MLK, which at this point is basically freeway-lite. About the best you can do along this stretch of MLK is build up a consistent streetwall with some height to it, to help make the street width feel slightly more appropriate, which I think this plan attempts to do. Along University you have an opportunity to connect with the surrounding neighborhood, and that is where the residential component is planned to go. Same thing on the NE portion along Whittier.  The most troubling part of this plan, to me, is the NIOSH component. Look at that moat of 'green space'. Yuck.

Right, but Uptown Consortium chose to push for the new interchange and wider streets. They could have chosen to instead focus on adding BRT routes serving Uptown or even building the proposed streetcar extension to Uptown. They could have focused on rebuilding a finer-grained street grid that would have been more compatible with the type of walkability they claim to want.

There were much larger forces pushing for the MLK interchange than just Uptown Consortium. Widening MLK does not preclude it from being a BRT corridor, and in fact, it might actually make it easier to accommodate a dedicated transit lane in the future, assuming SORTA has the money and will to undertake such an endeavor. I think another access point from 71 to Uptown was sorely needed, and I'm glad they installed the interchange, even if it does feel grossly over engineered. It was ridiculous that there wasn't a northbound exit between Reading and Dana! That's like, 4-5 miles of the city that were totally sealed off from accessing 71- complete craziness. MLK is a collector street, and it has basically been designed as a boulevard to link 75 and 71, while serving as a primary access point for UC, the hospitals, EPA, and now the new offices being developed. Like I said in my last post, if this whole area can largely be built up, and a fairly dense streetwall can be established, I think it will be a positive thing for Uptown. There are plenty of neighborhood focused commercial areas in these neighborhoods, and MLK serves a totally different purpose. While it will never be built to this intensity, I think of MLK almost taking on a DC K St. type of vibe, just way less intense. Wide street (with perhaps some potential for dedicated transit lanes in the future) lined by mid-rise office. Fairly bland and dead at night, but serves an important role regardless.

Right, but Uptown Consortium chose to push for the new interchange and wider streets. They could have chosen to instead focus on adding BRT routes serving Uptown or even building the proposed streetcar extension to Uptown. They could have focused on rebuilding a finer-grained street grid that would have been more compatible with the type of walkability they claim to want.

 

Maybe with the increased investment it will help them do both down the line. It is not maybe your first choice but could be a win win for everyone in the long run.

 

I agree the interchange is great for Uptown and also East Walnut Hills and Evanston. But I do think the “quadrant” plans could be a little better. What are those things providing access to the interiors of the quadrant? Streets? Driveways? Parking lots? A street is unambiguous public space but those other forms leave a pedestrian to wonder if they’re really supposed to be there or not. Then if your building entrances are facing driveways or parking lots and have their backs turned to the street you’re really closing yourself off from the city and creating a “dead zone” on the street.

This street in Seoul is about 135 ft wide from curb to curb. 6 lanes in each direction. So about 30 feet wider than MLK. If we had this scale of buildings going that would be appropriate. But we are likely to get the 6-12 story generic urban office treatment instead. Also, that street in Seoul has really wide sidewalks, tons of street landscaping for buffering, and a subway running underneath it. It's a real pain to cross on the surface because you have to wait for two light cycles.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.5048551,127.0494974,3a,90y,241.16h,78.51t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1smJXasRFTBaR0T46gdiNXAA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

I asked Beth Robinson on Twitter what the "SMART CENTER" was, and here's her response:

We're studying ways to integrate public transportation options in the Corridor, and this is one site we are considering for a transportation “hub.” Access and connectivity are important components of our plan, so we’re studying how we can best provide transportation opportunities

Another little update on the Children's Hospital expansion. Adding the renderings for those who haven't seen them yet.

 

 

 

 

 

by Chad McCann, on Flickr

 

 

^For those who haven't seen it yet, they have placed Christmas lights on both tower cranes because they're so close to the Children's and UC helipads. 

Latest decision on how to redevelop MLK/I-71 area on hold

 

Cincinnati Planning Commission needs more time to decide whether it should recommend the creation of an interim development control overlay district that would cover portions of Avondale, Corryville and Walnut Hills.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/09/07/latest-decision-on-how-to-redevelop-mlk-i-71-area.html

 

Church, Bible college plan to partner on $40 million ‘Dream Campus’

 

New Friendship Baptist Church and Temple Bible College, two long-standing African-American property owners in Avondale, are looking to partner to redevelop their land into a campus that combines faith, education, health innovation and technology in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/09/12/exclusive-church-bible-college-plan-to-partner-on.html

 

That's a lot of demo. I wonder how those existing buildings are on the inside.

Another real estate scam courtesy of Steve Reece/Cranley.  We're probably seeing a free city-built parking garage with change orders funneled into his pocket.  In exchange, Cranley gets black votes. 

Tearing that church down would be a tragedy.

“Money in its proper place is a worthwhile and necessary instrument for a well-rounded life, but when it is projected to the status of a god it becomes a power that corrupts and an instrument of exploitation. When men arrive at the point of making money a god they become more concerned with what they can get out of society than with what they can give to society in terms of service…When men bow down and worship at the shrine of money they are being deprived of their most precious endowment—the possibility of living life in its fullness and its endless beauty.”

 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 1953

 

Tearing that church down would be a tragedy.

 

Of course this is coming down.  Cranley bought off Steve Reece back in 2003 with the Anthem Demutualization money. 

 

BTW, all details of that scandal have been wiped off of Google.  Who paid for that?

I readily admit I don’t know what the needs of the church & Bible college are here, but it seems to me rehabbing their existing structures and adding a new building would be an easier project, rather than demoing everything and building all new. But, I really don’t know anything about the building conditions or the financing part either.

If you look at the site plan, it looks like it's being set up for tearing down the new church in 20 years then marketing that part of the property to an office building or other developer.  Of course, the parking garage Reece won't pay for will sweeten the value of the property. 

Avondale Town Center update. I personally think this is a development that the area needs but if the residents of the area do not start to take care of the things that are already there then this development won't change anything. That neighborhood is riddled with trash. It's embarrassing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Chad McCann