^^ I've come to this realization within the past week, too. Even just the "station" part of the development is about equal to all the land bounded by Markbreit, Edwards, and the RR tracks. So much potential for quiet streets with new single family homes and maybe 4 story apartment buildings fronting Madison.

 

This city sure knows how to take a great opportunity and make the least of it. Makes me want to move to Toronto.

 

This dates back to the Luken years.  The city spent $20 million on the Kennedy Connector.  If the land had been developed as residential, there would have been no need for the connector, and that money could have gone a long way toward purchasing the land. 

 

Yeah Oakley Station and the Center of Cincinnati is a disaster.  We didn't need more retail in this city, esp big box retail.  It just pulls business from the traditional business districts away to stuff with highway visibility.  This area could have been redeveloped into upwards of 500 single family homes.  The city could have bought the industrial land and auctioned off the lots one-by-one at a slow rate (for example 5 per month) to let the area develop a personality. 

 

 

 

 

 

It's insane that we're still building areas like Center of Cincinnati/Oakley Station and the Newport Pavilion in the 2010s, especially when there are other nearly-vacant strip malls right around the corner from these locations.

Oakley Council approves Chick-fil-A plan

 

Gary Rouse, a principal with GBC Design Inc., said the Chick-fil-A would be about 4,700 square feet, consist of a double drive-through and have a parking lot of 57 spaces.

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/community-news/2016/03/03/oakley-council-approves-chick-fil-plan/81271620/

 

 

Makes sense esp. for the lunch rush. The one in Florence is set up in a way that requires cars to drive around the building TWICE.

I despise it when fast food joints make you circle the building a bunch of times.

...wait, how does that even work...do you spiral inwards with the final point being the window where you collect your food? Wouldn't that mean cars are crossing paths? What happens if the line backs up? Does it become a self-fulfilling endless jam?

 

I never go to fast food places and haven't been through a drivethrough in probably a decade. I've never seen how this works firsthand.

The thing about CFA is that they're doing really well right now. The ones in Columbus are always slammed. They're not in Eastland or Eastgate malls anymore, but their standalonesite are always slammed. They've also picked up a lot of snob appeal like Chipotle had. And they carry adult sauces, not just sugary ones.

...wait, how does that even work...do you spiral inwards with the final point being the window where you collect your food? Wouldn't that mean cars are crossing paths? What happens if the line backs up? Does it become a self-fulfilling endless jam?

 

I never go to fast food places and haven't been through a drivethrough in probably a decade. I've never seen how this works firsthand.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chick-fil-A/@39.0130918,-84.6395762,91m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x30ae57b9c9be1366!6m1!1e1

Ha, it's like the dance of death. Google maps shows it in all it's glory. I think it was NASCAR inspired.

 

 

Okay so my theoretical jam doesn't happen if people stop at the line like they're supposed to.

 

So basically you can no longer approach that building without walking across a line of people waiting to go through the drive through. Fast food was already auto-oriented, but that just takes the cake. The people who use their legs to go into the restaurant are an afterthought in that site planning.

This is why we can't have nice things

They could do so much better:

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7253995,-111.85653,3a,90y,188.83h,82.34t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNCoi9jnYveZwngo82504Xw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The brand does well because of customer service and the quality of food. Absent the founder's comments that he walked back and apologized for (on his own behalf and on the behalf of the company, realizing that his personal beliefs should not interfere with how the company is operated), there has been no appreciable dip in profits in the chain - ever. When you order, the feedback is prompt and courteous. When the food is delivered, the server is courteous and asks if you need anything. There is mouthwash in the restrooms. There is mints on the tables. The facilities are clean. The orders are correct.

 

If McDonald's or really any other chain can mimic this, they would have stellar crowds day and night.

 

I've seen those drive-throughs get jam-packed in a vortex many times over but it's never been an issue. During the rush, they will have folks outside taking orders on hand-held devices that transmit it to the kitchen.

At this point, I don't care at all what future developments look like at Oakley Station. I'll never go there outside of necessity. So let it look generic. It'll all be blighted in 20 years and we can rebuild.

Yeah, the time to complain about auto-centric buildings at Oaklay Station came and went a long time ago. The entire area is laid out in a way that discourages anyone from walking into or through it at all, drive thru restaurants like this are exactly what people should have expected.

 

I had no idea that was what they meant by double drive-thru, though. I haven't been to a Chik Fil A since the Tower Place food court closed years ago. I just assumed it was something like McDonald's has been building at their busier locations, where getting the customers order is apparently the biggest holdup:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1346892,-84.5001258,83m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

 

I biked through there after they'd put in the streets and graded all the land, but before any of the buildings were up (maybe they'd started on the apartments), and I was stunned at just how huge the whole development is.  Even ignoring the already developed Center of Cincinnati, it's massive, and all that land has been squandered on this awful low-density suburban development. 

 

I will say though that the street grid isn't all that bad.  The streets are straight and mostly connected to each other, if not the rest of Oakley.  If they'd just plan for at least one railroad crossing it would help so much.  34th or Appleton are the two most logical choices to line up, but 34th is a bit too far west to be of much use.  Appleton could still be done with a little realignment of Factory Colony Lane.  The fact that it doesn't line up now though shows that there was never any intention of connecting it through, which is a shame. 

 

What's really sobering is that these streets have almost exactly the same cross-section as Freedom Way at The Banks.  Did I mention squandering?   

 

Milacron is looking to sell off over 16 acres from its old HQ site.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/05/18/exclusive-milacron-selling-portion-of-former-hq.html?ana=twt

 

Oh, goodie.

More room for crap.

Which leaves Cast Fab? I'm surprised that the new residents haven't yet complained about their loud and dirty neighbor that was once part of the Milacron complex.

 

I wasn't aware that last portion was still active.

Is Milacron planning to demolish part of their building but not the rest?  The highlighted area cuts rather arbitrarily across it while leaving a bunch of fairly open land untouched. 

I'm assuming that, yes, they're going to be demolishing part of their building. Otherwise, it'd make for some funky co-working spaces!

I saw a bunch of engineer-type guys with hard hats and yellow vests on having a conversation up on that railroad spur bridge on Monday night.  Maybe they're going to keep it for pedestrian/bike access to the development.  Or with one of those traffic lights like they had on Maryland Ave. in Price Hill they could have cars cross in one direction at a time. 

 

jmecklenborg[/member] - isn't that the bridge that they're painting right now? So... it might be related to the painting project.

That bridge looks like it used to have 3 tracks, but now only has 2. It's 50' wide:

 

I get the impression they're going to paint both bridges, the 3-track wide mainline and the 1-track spur.  I saw some temporary brackets on the spur bridge the other day. 

 

It would be a real shame to lose that spur bridge because there's so few connections across I-71.  The only issue is that any pedestrian or bike crossing would still need to cross the other active track to connect to Harris Place at the old Norwood train station, or else take a very steep down then up detour via what's left of Duck Creek Road and Harris Avenue.  I don't think a grade crossing is really that big a deal, they can even put mini crossing gates there, which is currently being done where the bike trail crosses the railroad up in Loveland to make it a quiet zone. 

Milacron is planning on demolishing most of the offices. They needed way too much work to be brought up to code and were practically falling apart. They are keeping the Cimcool lab and the Cimcool production facility as it would be very expensive to cleanup the existing site and move to a new facility. I would expect they would keep the curved spur that Cimcool uses.

 

Don't know if you could use the third track on the ex-B&O, but the freight railroads would probably be against it. That line is owned by CSX and the track is leased to the I&O.

I thought so too, until I saw this: http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=40.18304,-83.77734&z=19&t=H

 

It's the Simon Kenton Trail running on the unused second track for lengthy distances. The track is still very active, as is the trail. If it can be done there, why not on the Oasis line too?

Grandfathered status perhaps?  I believe that paths in a railroad right-of-way are now required to have a concrete barrier if they're too close together, otherwise a fence will suffice.  Not too big a deal if it's only over the bridges, but along the entire length would be very prohibitive.

That bridge looks like it used to have 3 tracks, but now only has 2. It's 50' wide:

 

 

 

No, there is another bridge just north of this one for a single-track spur that crosses I-71 from near the old Norwood incinerator.  I'm not sure if it's still in use or not.

 

I didn't think the spur was used anymore, though they sometimes parked cars on it.  That said, just now I saw they'd removed all the old metal railings and have started putting up plywood to, I assume, pour some concrete stem walls on top, like they did on the mainline bridge a year or so ago.  That would suggest they expect it to remain at the very least. 

Doesn’t Milacron still uses rail line

My former roommate tells me that he was at a movie at Oakley Station this past weekend and came back to his car to find that...the catalytic converter had been stolen.  It's one that bolts on but somebody cut it out.  He complained to management and there was no camera pointed at that area of the parking lot. 

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield have opened their new office at Oakley Station:

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302005813/en/Anthem-Blue-Cross-Blue-Shield-Opens-Offices

...leaving their Walnut Hills campus ripe for redevelopment!

Get a look at Anthem’s new Cincinnati office

 

 

Last week, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield moved into its 80,000-square-foot office building at Oakley Station.

 

The move keeps 400 jobs in the city of Cincinnati as the state’s largest commercial health insurer moved from East Walnut Hills to the mixed-use development in Oakley.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/03/06/get-a-look-at-anthem-s-new-cincinnati-office.html

No, there is another bridge just north of this one for a single-track spur that crosses I-71 from near the old Norwood incinerator.  I'm not sure if it's still in use or not.

 

Incredibly, it is:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1621308,-84.4339505,268m/data=!3m1!1e3

The Homewood Suites is under construction. Looks like it'll be a 4-story structure:

 

The Buffalo Wings & Rings appears to be done with construction. Not sure when it will open.

 

The Cast Fab site has been demolished, in preparation for sale to FCC or some other buyer (<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@39.159342,-84.4323077,3a,75y,272.2h,83.44t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sd0T2au1ePv_JEvb2wSj6ag!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en">old streetview for comparison</a>):

I bet we can say Disney St. again after the forum reset.

I was looking at the area on Google Maps and happened to find a label for "Millworks" -- the name of the mixed use, new urbanist development that was going to occupy this site before it was scrapped in favor of the current Oakley Station plan.

I was just looking around the map on google and found there is a funny streetview leftover in the middle of the new oakley station area. Not quite the view I was expecting. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Oakley,+Cincinnati,+OH+45209/@39.1571344,-84.4284092,649m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x8841ad71a25b4a85:0x91d58858848f1e56!8m2!3d39.1511025!4d-84.4225186