That goofy church sure has messed up that area,  too much traffic for me to ever want to go around there anymore.

 

I am 99% sure that another LA Fitness chain has just signed on to take the old Home Depot Expo site. They are moving into the region rather quickly with Cresent Springs, Centerville, and Kenwood Towne Place locations already under construction.

 

 

Is this what is going in right next to the circuit city right now? I've been watching this building go up but there doesn't seem to be any info on what is going in there.

Yes, an LA Fitness is under construction beside Circuit City.

Home Depot is closing all of their EXPO stores, which was one of the planned stores for Millworks.

 

Perhaps it's also worth noting that the Circuit City currently there will be closing as well.

Home Depot is closing all of their EXPO stores, which was one of the planned stores for Millworks.

Perhaps it's also worth noting that the Circuit City currently there will be closing as well.

 

Actually, LA Fitness took the EXPO lot.  EXPO bailed on the area years ago, choosing to just hold onto the land than build a store.

Whats the deal with the millworks project these days?

Whats the deal with the millworks project these days?

 

It seems as if they are moving forward with the Kennedy Connector and Millworks.  They are starting to purchase properties on the south side of Ibsen between Ridge and Marburg. The question is at what rate does the city move? This has been going on for 5 or 6 years! Look for more info come spring 09.

I'd imagine that the Kennedy Connector would be well suited to any infrastructure money, especially if that would eliminate the need for TIF financing at Millworks - which was the original funding source.

This thread started on February 28th, 2004.  FIVE YEARS AGO!  IMO, the Millworks delays are more disappointing to me than any other delayed project in Cincinnati.  The city has such a need for a megaplex theatre in the city limits.  With the Showcase in Reading now closed, there is a large segment of the population under served.  While I absolutely love the Mariemont & Esquire Theatre, they do not include enough "family" movies.  The Millworks concept with movie theatre and Jungle Jim's offered great promise yet little has happened since the original renderings were released. 

I haven't seen anything about the Kennedy Connector in Cincinnati's requests for infrastructure money.  Why not?

Because this project seems as dead as the Beer Hall of Fame!  It is time to move this project to "abandoned projects"

Because this project seems as dead as the Beer Hall of Fame! It is time to move this project to "abandoned projects"

 

Sorry, but agreed. The economy can't support such things now, and whatever you'd get would be cheap infill. Great idea for the fiuture, though!

It's on a very low boil. Something will happen there in the next ten years.

It's on a very low boil. Something will happen there in the next ten years.

 

I believe it will be much sooner than the next 10 years. The money is there and with the hope of creating jobs this $300 million/67 acre project is vital to Cincinnati.

Oakley open house shows Kennedy Connector preferred alternative

http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2009/06/oakley-open-house-shows-kennedy.html

 

The City of Cincinnati and M-E Companies presented to the Oakley community the preferred alternative for the Kennedy Connector project at a public open house and comment session at the Crossroads Community Church on Tuesday evening.

 

The new roadway, to be called Kennedy Avenue and connecting the intersection of Kennedy Avenue/Duck Creek Road and Madison Road/Camberwell Road, is one of dozens of individual projects included in Tier 2 of the Eastern Corridor project.

Seems work has started on the Kennedy connector. The hillside trees are being cut down. Homes are boarded up and about to be demo.

They boarded up all the homes on Ibsen near Ridge. I thought they were not going to get rid of those homes? Also a lot of tear down occurring behind the buildings along Ridge between Ibsen and Barrow. Also on Duck Creek there is a lot of tree removal and temporary work roads in various places on the hillside.

The grade of this new connector will be VERY steep. If they are going full board on the connecting road. Im sure the project(Millworks) is still active.

 

Here is a pdf of the Connector.

 

http://www.oakleynow.com/PDFs/Kennedy+Connector%20-%20New%20%20Proposal.pdf

Im sure the project(Millworks) is still active.

 

 

Only in dreams.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20101220/BIZ01/12210316/Millworks-plans-revive-in-Oakley

 

Apparently they were still active

The Center of Cincinnati development is crappy even by strip mall standards.  Hopefully this will be a little better.

Including the location of a possible future new rail station. Isn't that cute.

The only official tenant is a 12 screen Regal Cinemas to be opened February 2012.  The schedule is subject to change (of course).

While the Millworks proposal had the character of a semi-mixed-use "lifestyle center" it at least attempted to create somewhat of a street grid with some decent public space.  Now it appears to be devolving into typical suburban "pod" development with large swaths of parking and retail outlot parcels.  A movie theater might be a nice thing to have, but how much more retail do we really need?  In the past 10 years we've had about 12% growth in retail sales while the amount of retail space has doubled.  Now a lot of it is vacant, for obvious reasons.  They can put a ton of good residential development back there, and fairly easily connect it to the Madison/Brotherton business area of Oakley. 

^agreed. Residential is the way to go. And might as well throw in a movie theatre and a few restaurants

Anything go in the old Circuit City?

I have little faith in Vandercar creating something special, but if they bring additional residential I will be happy.  This area also really needs a new cinema - how bad can they screw that up?  I know I shouldn't ask.  One interesting thing is that for as crappy as the previous development was that Target seems to do an amazing amount of business.

Ever since Vandercar pulled the bait and switch with Center of Cincinnati, I have little faith and much doubt as too the final product.

The theater will probably last as long as the one of Reading and the Norwood Lateral in Bond Hill did. I'm surprised the city is still allowing this unsustainable suburban drivel to infest their best neighborhoods.

The theater will probably last as long as the one of Reading and the Norwood Lateral in Bond Hill did. I'm surprised the city is still allowing this unsustainable suburban drivel to infest their best neighborhoods.

 

From the plan in that article, it looks like they're replacing that large industrial development that sits to the south of the Target/Meijer, across the street from the megachurch, not displacing any residential development. Is that industrial complex occupied, even partially? I'm generally opposed to suburban-style development as well, but if that site is sitting relatively unused, then any productive use would be an improvement.

^ I think there is a facility that makes tires, gears and other parts for HO scale slot car racers in there.

Demolition planned on Milacron site

By Forrest Sellers  [email protected]

 

 

Demolition at the former Cincinnati Milacron site in Oakley could begin as early as February.

 

Steve Dragon, a representative for Vandercar Holdings, Inc., recently provided an update on development at the site during the Oakley Community Council meeting. The mixed-use development, which the Community Council voiced its support for at a previous meeting, will consist of residential, commercial and retail components. The development is being referred to as Oakley North Redevelopment.

 

The development will be at Marburg and Ibsen avenues.

 

A previous developer also had plans for a mixed-use development at the site, which was referred to as Millworks. A sluggish economy and delays on a roadway link called the Kennedy Connector curtailed work on the project.

 

cont.

There are signs indicating the project now on the building that is across the street from the church and directly behind Target.

I just noticed that the website http://www.cincinnatimillworks.com doesn't exist anymore.  I saved these off years ago.  These were the original renderings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oakley project gets OK from Cincinnati’s planners

Date: Friday, April 22, 2011, 6:00am EDT

 

 

The Cincinnati Planning Commission endorsed a zone change that could enable a 2011 groundbreaking for Oakley Station, a $120 million mixed-use development planned for a 74-acre site where a cluster of machine-tool factories once operated.

 

Vandercar Holdings Inc. of Oakley is proposing 350,000 square feet of retail space, 250 apartment units, a 60,000-square-foot movie theater and up to 300,000 square feet of office space. The planning commission voted 3-1 in favor of the zone change, with a number of conditions that encourage but do not require the developer to use structured parking to increase the project’s density. The only “no” vote came from Chairman Caleb Faux.

 

“This is like taking a piece of West Chester and plopping it in Oakley,” Faux said. “We should go back to the drawing board and see if we can’t do a little better on this site.”

 

cont

 

We need more people like Caleb Faux on that board and less "yes men".

The design of this project is of little concern. It is isolated from the fabric of Oakley by forces that nobody can control. Smyjunas has already damned this corner of Cincinnati, but there are countless others where urbanists should focus their energies. The only real threat this project poses is siphoning off retail demand from established areas like Rookwood.

I wish they would at least find a way to reuse some of the old factories instead of replacing them.

Either this project or Rookwood won't get its movie theatre, there is no way any company would go that close to themselves or another competitor.

The attitude that "this site is so bad that we don't need to do anything worthwhile here" is a notion that needs to die.  If anything, the difficult sites are the ones that require the most careful design and consideration in order to mitigate the impact of those external forces.  The road, highway, and railroad boundaries present opportunities to better integrate the site with the surrounding neighborhood.  Bridging the railroad tracks to better connect the heart of Oakley to the site, and also bridging I-71 to connect with the gorgeous but now defunct US Playing Card factory and the rest of Norwood would be hugely beneficial.  To concede to typical suburban crap development just because "the site is too difficult" not only misses an opportunity, but it hurts the city and the surrounding communities by creating one more throwaway place that generates traffic and isn't worth caring about.  I can guarantee more people care about those factory buildings than the stuff they're proposing to replace them with.  This simply isn't good enough. 

The design is absolutely horrible-- The place will be a huge failure--- really pathetic that anyone would vote to support this in the middle of an urban environment.  There are DOZENS of cities that have pulled off great developments in locations just like this-- NONE of them have these massive sprawl parking lots. 

 

Very disappointed in the commissioners who voted for them.  Truly disheartening.

 

Here's what is most reprehensible about this- It will be a failure because we're not in the suburbs and developments like this are so 1990's and no longer wanted in urban centers... BUT because it fails-- suburbanites will say-- see- cities are bad- you can't build anything there or it fails. 

 

The sprawl of this development makes Rookwood look urban! That's shocking. 

 

Everyone on this page should do some research on the Americana At Brand in Glendale CA (near Pasadena & LA) which opened in 2008. It was the same situation- massive site that had a complete ground up redesign/redevelopment from industrious to residential & commercial.  The place is all parking structures that are hidden behind the developments-- and the place is insanely packed all the time.  They brought in major major retailers, movie theaters and great residences. 

 

 

If the planning commission really served a purpose they would be pushing for developments like the Americana at Brand and not this crap.  In Oakley Station.. people will move their parked car from the retail block to the movie theater block.  That's ridiculous.  Such a great opportunity wasted.

The attitude that "this site is so bad that we don't need to do anything worthwhile here" is a notion that needs to die.  If anything, the difficult sites are the ones that require the most careful design and consideration in order to mitigate the impact of those external forces.  The road, highway, and railroad boundaries present opportunities to better integrate the site with the surrounding neighborhood.  Bridging the railroad tracks to better connect the heart of Oakley to the site, and also bridging I-71 to connect with the gorgeous but now defunct US Playing Card factory and the rest of Norwood would be hugely beneficial.  To concede to typical suburban crap development just because "the site is too difficult" not only misses an opportunity, but it hurts the city and the surrounding communities by creating one more throwaway place that generates traffic and isn't worth caring about.  I can guarantee more people care about those factory buildings than the stuff they're proposing to replace them with.  This simply isn't good enough. 

 

Totally agree-  and letting this site go to waste like the planning commission has decided to do will continue to hurt this city. 

Another reason why Cincinnati needs to aggressively pursue Form Base Codes.

 

I don't understand the mentality of a city that settles for "good enough" instead of working on creating something with a real sense of place and character.

The attitude that "this site is so bad that we don't need to do anything worthwhile here" is a notion that needs to die.  If anything, the difficult sites are the ones that require the most careful design and consideration in order to mitigate the impact of those external forces.  The road, highway, and railroad boundaries present opportunities to better integrate the site with the surrounding neighborhood.  Bridging the railroad tracks to better connect the heart of Oakley to the site, and also bridging I-71 to connect with the gorgeous but now defunct US Playing Card factory and the rest of Norwood would be hugely beneficial.  To concede to typical suburban crap development just because "the site is too difficult" not only misses an opportunity, but it hurts the city and the surrounding communities by creating one more throwaway place that generates traffic and isn't worth caring about.  I can guarantee more people care about those factory buildings than the stuff they're proposing to replace them with.  This simply isn't good enough. 

 

Without the big connections, the design within the site is not relevant. You should channel your indignation toward pressuring the city and county to create more sophisticated ways of engaging developers and making big infrastructure moves that enable real urbanity, so the next Smyjunas can't pull this crap.

 

 

Hopefully the Rookwood Exchange projects mostly kills their plans.  The "Center of Cincinnati" project is so poorly executed.... and were getting more of the same from one hell of a crappy developer.  Without the movie theater, I'm not really sure what major retailer would be interested in this spot.  The Circuit City spot is still vacant too.

Hopefully the Rookwood Exchange projects mostly kills their plans.  The "Center of Cincinnati" project is so poorly executed.... and were getting more of the same from one hell of a crappy developer.  Without the movie theater, I'm not really sure what major retailer would be interested in this spot.  The Circuit City spot is still vacant too.

 

As much as I'm not a big fan of Rookwood projects, I have to completely agree.

As for Americana at Brand, it's a totally unrealistic project for Oakley to aspire to for several reasons, but more importantly, it's in the heart of Glendale, a city of 200,000 who put $77 million in public funds towards land acquisition costs alone. It had a total cost of half a billion. Those apartments command $3,000 a month for a one bedroom. As for the connectivity, well, google maps tells that story better than I can.

 

It's really good practice to keep in mind the market and location context of a site and then go find comparisons that reflect that context. That kind of comparison exercise will reap a lot more usable knowledge and precedent that you can use to form good public policy.

The concept of the Americana could absolutely work here. Yes- its WAY too fancy for Cincinnati- but it's garages instead of surface lots, all buildings face inward to a large public pedestrian plaza. Rather than the silly sprawling development that Oakley station is, take those same buildings... The same apartments, same buildings and bring them together-  creating a small public area instead of these small islands surrounded by surface lots. The original Millworks design was closer to the concept of the Americana. Cars on the outside- public pedestrian centered design in the center.

 

This design will have people driving from one store to another. I really hope John wasn't one of the votes for this project.

Horrible design, but I'm not convinced this project will even happen. I believe either Rookwood Exchange, or this will become reality. Not both. Rookwood Exchange is further along than this, so I think we might all be lucky enough to have this project die an economic death as Rookwood Exchange snatches up the office and retail tenants, and movie theater chain before this project.

^ agreed- Rookwood exchange is still good for the region... but not as good for the city. Either way, it's benefits will ripple throughout all neighboring communities- anyone have any renderings of Rookwood Exchange?  I'd love to be able to compare them to the Oakley Station development.