I just edited my post because I forgot to say just that. It's a great building but doesn't interact with the street enough. Which makes sense for its location and the desires of those who will live in it, but that wouldn't make sense for the location of the Coffee Emporium building.

 

Five stories is definitely the right height for this spot. It makes the most sense with the surrounding buildings.

I'm all for infill and increasing the density, but in the meantime, the corner building is the right size for restaurant/bar and some of the parking lot area could be turned into a nice space for outdoor dining/drinking.

I would rather see the focus on restoring existing abandoned buildings and building on vacant lots before we start seeing smaller (non-historic) buildings demolished and replaced with larger ones. Maybe in 10-15 years that will become the focus. In the mean time, maybe some interesting uses can be found for these smaller buildings.

Put some rooftop dining/activity on that thing - will help activate upper floors without there actually being upper floors.

I don't know, with the pace of things, seems like it could be ripe for a new construction building in the next 2-4 years if some decides to redevelop.  12th Street is a main thoroughfare in the area.  Multiplier effect is here.

 

The other question I have is, for as long as I have lived here, the SW corner of 13th and Walnut has had an Urban Innovation sign on it forever.  I wonder when that will ever get rehabbed?  I see the next building to the west of this is 3CDC, so I am assuming they will rehab this building probably at the same time they rehab the building across the street.

Rehab is great, but new construction in conjunction with rehab is something we should strive for. Not everyone urban wants to live in a rehabbed building. And we want the widest variety of people possible. As such we should offer the widest variety of options.

Photos of the inside of 3CDC's new office: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/blog/2014/12/take-a-look-inside-3cdc-s-new-office-photos.html

 

EXCLUSIVE: 5 single-family homes coming to Over-the-Rhine

Dec 9, 2014, 11:52am EST

Tom Demeropolis Reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier

 

John Hueber Homes is making the move from building new residences in Over-the-Rhine for Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. (3CDC) to developing property in the historic neighborhood on its own.

 

John Hueber, founder and president of the Loveland-based home building company, is working on a single-family home development on Republic Street, between West 13th and West 14 streets, about a block from Washington Park. The new development at 1321-1329 Republic will include three new construction townhomes and the renovation of two existing buildings into single-family homes.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/12/09/exclusive-5-single-family-homes-to-be-built-in.html

I'm curious how they'll handle the building that's set back really far from the street.

 

I'm happy to see new construction happening. They're also building a building just south of Liberty that I'm assuming will also be a single-family home.

 

I'm just fearful these will all look like that pile that was just built on Elm. What with its ridiculous cornice. I'm really hoping these are higher quality.

Does anyone have a picture of the new building on Elm?

 

The most recent Google Streetview came from July this year.

 

The building at the northeast corner of Clay and 14th is currently under renovations. Owned by Wade.

 

The building at the northwest corner of Clay and 14th was purchased on September 17 by SOLI Interests, LLC. No visible work done yet. Anyone have any info on this?

 

The renovation at the corner of 13th and Cogswell Alley (opposite Ziegler Park between Main and Sycamore) is coming along nicely. They added a large deck on the second floor. Parking underneath. That is going to be one awesome house when it's finished.

The site plan shows pretty good creativity for handling the geometry of the plots, increasing density and maximizing the street frontage. Shows how precious developable land is in this area. The only major loss is that 1323 won't have views of the street... I wonder how much of a discount they'll have to price that one at since their only view will be of the parking courtyard.

I am happy they pushed for a 12' driveway instead of 15'. 12' is narrow enough to be pretty unintrusive. I'm not a super huge fan of all the curb cuts happening all over Republic, but it's not a super busy street and I think it functions fine since it's almost entirely residential.

 

$600k is actually a really surprising amount. That's a LOT of money. I'll be impressed if these all go for the prices asked. And I hope they do. That'll prove to other developers that new construction works in OTR on a single-family scale which is needed to fill in a lot of gaps.

^ For $600,000 the prices are in the $250 per square foot range, or more than double the average in Cincinnati. Though these are nicer homes, in a more difficult to work urban setting, and on land with a high value/demand, they are still making some big profit margins at that price.

$250/sq. foot is pretty typical of new stuff (either new construction or renovation) in OTR these days which is really starting to get to a point where we'll hopefully start seeing some higher quality materials used. At that price point we really need to start seeing Ikea cabinets go away, cheap fixtures gone, better counters, better toilets and showers, etc. The fit and finish level in most stuff in OTR is fine, but I've yet to really see something truly high end. And that may just be because I deal with ultra high end stuff on a daily basis at work that sometimes pushes $800/sq. ft., but I really want to see some better work happening in OTR.

Part of that cost is a permanent parking space at no additional cost, I'm sure. That's pretty valuable to some people.

The building at the northwest corner of Clay and 14th was purchased on September 17 by SOLI Interests, LLC. No visible work done yet. Anyone have any info on this?

 

SOLI is Urban Sites. They've requested historic tax credits (with support from City Council: http://city-egov.cincinnati-oh.gov/Webtop/ws/council/public/child/Blob/40805.pdf?rpp=-10&m=1&w=doc_no%3D%27201401132%27). If/when they receive word about the tax credits they'll begin renovations.

The site plan shows pretty good creativity for handling the geometry of the plots, increasing density and maximizing the street frontage. Shows how precious developable land is in this area. The only major loss is that 1323 won't have views of the street... I wonder how much of a discount they'll have to price that one at since their only view will be of the parking courtyard.

 

How will the residents of 1323 get to the street? Will they have to walk through the parking lot?

It certainly appears that way. That's...not ideal. There isn't even a pedestrian gate to get into the property.

 

Edit: Unless there's a gate, not shown, that leads to that small strip of space between the new buildings and 1321 Republic.

The site plan shows pretty good creativity for handling the geometry of the plots, increasing density and maximizing the street frontage. Shows how precious developable land is in this area. The only major loss is that 1323 won't have views of the street... I wonder how much of a discount they'll have to price that one at since their only view will be of the parking courtyard.

 

I'd live in 1323, its secluded yet in the middle of everything :)

 

I like this project a lot (and the other building on Elm that's new).  Btw, there is an exceptionally nice one just north of the new building on Elm that has arched windows - its an absolutely gorgeous restore and looks like they spend more on the windows.

 

Also I can't wait to see North of Liberty republic get restored, its much more intact.

^Are you referring to the elderly home on the northwest corner of 15th and Elm? That building came out amazing. The restoration to the ground floor is phenomenal. It's a really beautiful building and a good precedent for building restoration in OTR.

^-I think so, its this building:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Over-The-Rhine,+Cincinnati,+OH/@39.111253,-84.51887,3a,49.4y,32.15h,95.15t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1swyLTM95w5UT3Bk_LXkWokw!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x8841b3f93c470c51:0x3c5f36f7cdfaefac

 

Also I can't wait to see North of Liberty republic get restored, its much more intact.

 

Republic between 14th and 15th has great mature street trees, I think they should try to replicate that if possible as it goes north- it makes it much more welcoming.

^-I think so, its this building:

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Over-The-Rhine,+Cincinnati,+OH/@39.111253,-84.51887,3a,49.4y,32.15h,95.15t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1swyLTM95w5UT3Bk_LXkWokw!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x8841b3f93c470c51:0x3c5f36f7cdfaefac

 

Yep, that's the one. It came out so well. I want more renovations of that quality happening.

 

 

Also I can't wait to see North of Liberty republic get restored, its much more intact.

 

Republic between 14th and 15th has great mature street trees, I think they should try to replicate that if possible as it goes north- it makes it much more welcoming.

 

That's what makes Republic such a comfortable street. That sense of enclosure. And republic north of Liberty is much narrower which will only lead itself to a nicer tree canopy in the future. They just need to get rid of that massive brown box...thing...that features a historic steeple...what even is that thing? Is it a church?

It's the OTR rec center which has a roller rink in it.  That was my polling place for awhile...they actually had the voting booths set up on the roller rink. 

It's the OTR rec center which has a roller rink in it.  That was my polling place for awhile...they actually had the voting booths set up on the roller rink. 

 

That place is actually an asset to the neighborhood.  Put a mural on it or something to make it a little less ugly.

That's right, I knew that.

 

It's just such an awful building. It's about as bad as building can get. It has no features, is MASSIVE compared to the scale of everything around it, is an ugly material, lacks windows, etc. etc. etc.

 

It really needs help. As in a complete makeover. That stretch of Republic will never feel comfortable with that brown turd looming over everything.

...but it's got a really nice steeple!

I feel bad for that steeple. Talk about improper incorporation of historic elements into new construction. Yeesh.

How far is too far gone for old OTR buildings?

Enquirer editorial 3:40 a.m. EST December 14, 2014

Davis Building

 

The Stough Group tried to make the case last month that a building it owns in Over-the-Rhine is in such poor condition that it cannot be saved. The Historic Conservation Board denied Stough's request to demolish the Davis Building, but the company has threatened to sue. That got us to wondering, how far gone is too far for an old building?

 

So we looked at the fate of other badly dilapidated buildings in OTR – one of the largest intact historic districts in the United States – in the past decade.

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/editorials/2014/12/14/far-far-gone/20337847/

Here is the information being presented to the Historic Conservation Board for the plans of Grammer's Place. Many more plans, photos, and renderings than before. Since this is such a large project that will likely span 5+ years, I think it deserves its own thread.

The only thing that troubles me right now is:

 

"The development proposes to save the

existing building's Walnut Street facades and to restore and incorporate the

existing Grammers’ bar room into the complex, if economically feasible. "

 

HCB should only approve something if it is promised to be preserved. I also don't like only using the facades of the buildings. I wish they would incorporate the existing buildings into the plans. Either allowing them to be "standalone" buildings that are wrapped on all sides by new construction, or by opening up the sides and/or back to allow expanded units.

I really like this project so far. Preserving the facades of the buildings along Walnut is a great compromise. This will really jumpstart development in the eastern half of OTR and also serve as a bridge to the Northern Liberties. Perhaps this could even accelerate the pace of the Liberty Street redesign.

This project seems to do a good job of making sure it activates the streets it touches. The portion of Liberty that will need a curb cut is less than ideal, but the other garage entrance is off a side street which is good.

 

The townhomes leave a little to be desired, but again, it's a side street so it's not as important to worry about street activation.

 

The massing seems like it'll fit nicely onto Liberty and the corner is being treated properly on Walnut and Liberty. And the creation of a pedestrian corridor and mews will be a really great asset.

 

I'm looking forward to this moving forward.

I think it's a great concept for this corner. Considering what's on the other corner - the Shell where there was yet another shooting yesterday, I'll be glad to get something done to bring some legit activity to that area.

^I can't wait for that Shell to close and development to occur there. There are few places that seem to attract as many problems as that place.

There is a need for a gas station in the basin. The city needs to plan for an alternative location for one, I think. Or there needs to be a redesign of the current shell.

^That site is too important of a plot to be a gas station. Nowhere along Liberty makes sense. No main road makes sense. No corner should ever be given to a gas station, let alone two.

 

Gas stations go against all of the most important qualities of an urban space. Street-wall, ground level activation, and proper articulation of corners. They make no sense in urban locations.

 

That being said, if one could be integrated into some development where it is hidden in some manner that would work, but the chances of that happening are pretty much zero.

A quick search for "form based code gas station" brought up:

 

When a form-based code builds a gas station by Eric Fischer, on Flickr

 

 

This could be nice! I think this looks pretty good, considering its a gas station. And if it were moved to mid-block on the alley 'corner' all the better...

 

I'm not a big fan of the way the facades are incorporated into the whole in the rendering. I think they have the right idea (since they are clearly going for Banks-bland architecture) of setting the higher part back from the preserved facades, but I think it should be set back further.

 

I guess it would help to see the model from street-level, though, to judge how sufficient the setback is or isn't.

 

The majority of the examples included in that document from other places are a joke, as they are clearly not aiming for that caliber of design. Hopefully the review board will see the glaring contrast rather than the supposed similarities they're trying to use as coattails to ride to easy approval.

How does the car wash work in the last example? Do you just pull your car in and let it work? I saw some great compact stations in S. Korea that I wish I had photos of now.

 

I think that gasoline stations are much needed in the basin (echoing some other comments). When I lived in OTR, I went to northern Kentucky to get fuel - the Shell station was notorious for just being shady all day long, and the Marathon/Sunoco stations had similar issues down in Queensgate (that and the Marathon owner is a scammer). Seeing as how we now have thousands of residents living and moving into the basin - many with cars, having a clean and safe place to get fuel is important.

It still is shady, though during the day, it isn't too bad.  I would highly recommend not going at night though, even if you need a quick item.  I did this twice before, but never again...

There is a need for a gas station in the basin. The city needs to plan for an alternative location for one, I think. Or there needs to be a redesign of the current shell.

 

There was a mixed use gas station and retail development planned for the Liberty/Elm plot, but they got such negative feedback from OTR council they dropped the project.  And that Shell is not going ANYWHERE.  He makes TONS of money.

 

Anybody ever go to this BP in downtown Chicago? Definitely looks out of place (but the giant skyscrapers certainly help).

 

Anybody ever go to this BP in downtown Chicago? Definitely looks out of place (but the giant skyscrapers certainly help).

 

I have, it was super junky.  It largely exists because its on a parkway that basically becomes the Eisenhower Expressway, think Liberty Street on stereoids, and the neighborhood until the last 15 years or so was really sketchy with one street being historically one of Chicago's most notorious skid rows (next to the prison tower).  They've tried to make it somewhat more pedestrian friendly by putting futuristic color changing LED lights on it and adding a center divider.  The futuristic lights btw make the gas station seem even more out of place. (That and the fact that the neighborhood is a hot part of town which may have rents rivaling the Gold Coast if  trends continue).

 

 

http://assets.dnainfo.com/generated/chicago_photo/2013/04/pillars-of-light-13657427483527.jpg/extralarge.jpg

Well I don't hate this - it has a lot of pros in terms of massing and address to major streets. But I think people are overlooking the problems with the Melindy townhomes. I would argue that the side streets are just as, if not more important to ensure good design be carried out. These are the human scaled spaces, the spaces that make urban environments special. To simply toss them aside and accept garages on the first floor would be unacceptable in my book. For years cities turned their backs on alleys and laneways and now realise their inherent value and are looking to activate these places. I understand Cincinnati isn't there yet but there is no reason why it shouldn't be.

Yea I think this addrsses most things well. It will be good to see so much added there. I really dont feel having garages on that part of clay wil be out of place, its a quiet street that is already broken up alot with curb cuts for driveways, parking lots and garages. To me that would fit right into the vibe of clay. I especially like the idea for the melindy pedestrian area, it might make that corner feel less like a dead-end and bring more people through to that pocket park.

That's not the vibe of Clay I remember. Isn't there a small park across the street from these proposed townhomes? And isn't this the location of that building torn down...with the mural, maybe. Google streetview confirms most of the rest of Clay just south of here all have first floor walk up homes with a scattering of vacant lots that will eventually see development that will likely respond to the Melindy townhomes.

Oh my bad, I used to park there pretty often a few years ago, my memory is probably wrong. I thought I remembere almost tripping over lots of curb cuts, but yea theres the park and lots of smaller apartment buildings.

The check cashing place at Reading, Liberty and 471 would be a decent place to move the Shell to