Is there a reason typically why certain projects recieve the historic tax credit, and other projects don't? Because it seems the one's that didn't are also in historic areas in OTR and take place in historic buildings as well. Is it just the state being like, "Yo, we ain't rich homie Quan. Thanks for applying, but you gotta realize we can only hand out so much money to all of ya'll. Your project is cool and all. But this project that we did give money to seems like older and more historic-er. Yo"

 

 

Preference is given to larger projects and projects in smaller cities.  So rehabbing a small building in one of the 3C's is a disadvantage. 

There is probably a point system used for ranking these projects. The state wants to make sure that an experienced developer is leading the project so that the project doesn't fail, and that the rest of the financing for the project is already lined up. If someone just applies for these credits without a solid plan, they are going to be rejected.

There is probably a point system used for ranking these projects. The state wants to make sure that an experienced developer is leading the project so that the project doesn't fail, and that the rest of the financing for the project is already lined up. If someone just applies for these credits without a solid plan, they are going to be rejected.

For those interested in applying or details...

 

As someone who just lost out on round 14, I can say it is very competitive, and increasingly so. There is a point system. There is also a small projects category that sets aside a certain amount of funding and allows individuals like me to compete successfully for these credits, against the big developers.

 

Last round, small projects ranked 68 and up got funded. This round the cutoff increased to 75.

 

The scoring is pretty well prescribed. The one variable that you have under your control is how much tax credits you ask for, as a percentage of the total project cost. If you decrease the amount you ask for, you increase your points. What you are seeing with the increased competition is that the tax credit percentage is going down, with developers calculating how much they have to give up in order to win the credits. So theres that market interaction built into the ranking system, which is sort of interesting.

 

But with that logic, it seems strange that tax credit being asked for Broadway Square Phase 2 was rejected, considering phase 1 went pretty well, and the developers are experienced with getting business done. Or was it a matter of them asking too much money?

^Model Group was already involved in three of the awarded projects. The region got 7 awards total. There may be a limit to how many projects a single company can receive or a dollar amount limit.

Thought this was pretty cool. From vacant lot, to a baseball field in OTR: http://www.uc.edu/news/NR.aspx?id=21858

 

 

 

Thought this bit was interesting to.......

 

 

To further encourage people to make the connection between north and south Liberty, the studio class is creating an art installation informed by the research they’ve conducted with neighborhood residents at community meetings. “Pleasant Street Alternative Steps” will be a public art infographic that combines the sentiments of pedestrians about the future of their neighborhood with photographs of their feet. Printed on street wrap slip-proof vinyl, the installation will serve as a path marking the way between Findlay Market and Washington Park.

 

"Our intention with both the Field of Greens and Alternate Steps installations is to really activate the street,” says Hollstein. “It’s been exciting for the students to see the amount of effort it takes to create a genuine citizen-engagement-oriented planning initiative.”

green boxes

A garden of edible greens planted in recycled milk crates will line the Pleasant Street Wiffle ball field.

 

 

On July 11, Michael Zaretsky and the MetroLAB students will illustrate to neighbors what the pedestrian-friendly streetscape could look and feel like. This is the Saturday prior to the 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, so it’s an opportune moment because both Findlay Market and Washington Park will see an increase in foot traffic from visitors to the city. Sections of the street will be closed to motorists, and MetroLAB will apply research gained from a community engagement event on June 5 to demonstrate options for encouraging pedestrian use of the corridor, such as seating, lighting, interactive art, food trucks or stalls and musical installations.

Last round, small projects ranked 68 and up got funded. This round the cutoff increased to 75.

Does the staff give you any idea where the cutoff will be when you are applying?

Last round, small projects ranked 68 and up got funded. This round the cutoff increased to 75.

Does the staff give you any idea where the cutoff will be when you are applying?

 

No. 

 

Last round, small projects ranked 68 and up got funded. This round the cutoff increased to 75.

Does the staff give you any idea where the cutoff will be when you are applying?

The staff from the SHPO (State Historic Preservation Office) will meet with you and give you their guess (based on previous rounds of funding), but until they receive all of the applications, even they don't know what the cutoff will be. The projects get force ranked, and then then the size of the funding pool for each round determines how many projects will get funded. There's a bit of added complexity because they have separate pools for small projects (under $1 million), medium projects, and the very large "catalytic" projects (like Music Hall).

 

 

I went through the grading process for a project and IMO it would be pretty difficult to make a score above 70.  So if the cutoff this time was 75, then that tells me the competition is very stiff. 

I went through the grading process for a project and IMO it would be pretty difficult to make a score above 70.  So if the cutoff this time was 75, then that tells me the competition is very stiff. 

I think this is true in OTR (there are several factors related to geography). You can play with points related to the amount of requested credits as a percentage of total project expenses (0-10). Plus theres a 4-pt category for job creation which is sort of a mystery to me. It seems that you only get them if you've got signed leases before you even begin construction, but some people get those points.

 

Also, the top vote getter in each jurisdiction gets 15 points for jurisdictional balance, so the more jurisdictions there are applying, the more spread out the awards will be. If you are in a jurisdiction that doesn't send many applications, this would be a huge benefit.

Hyde Park restaurateur opening new concept in OTR: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/07/01/hyde-park-restaurateur-opening-new-concept-in-otr.html

 

The owner of Alfio's Buon Cibo in Hyde Park is opening a new Argentinian concept on Walnut Street in Over-the-Rhine.

Alfio Gulisano and business partner Juan Imeroni are bringing Che Argentinian to 1342 Walnut St. and hope to be open by mid-August.

 

Gulisano told me the concept would be pure Argentinian, which itself is a mixture of Spanish and Italian.

 

Does anyone know about that location? I googled street mapped it, and it's in a weird spot...can't imagine how they will fit that many people, and isn't the courtyard shared by other residents? In general that whole block that Che is supposedly situated on seems to be residential rather than retail, so the location just seems a bit strange to me.

 

Other than that, correct me if I'm wrong, but this is situated to be OTR largest seated resturaunt. 195 total seats in total (2 stories of seating, and a large outdoor courtyard for seating..I'm not sure how much the Mercer has, but I can't imagine it's that much.

For the most part, Walnut is mixed use. The exception is all of those residential buildings owned by "OTR Housing Associates LLC". Walnut was probably so devoid of life in the early 90's that there was no objection to those residential-only buildings being built. But Walnut is about to be OTR's next hottest street.

 

On a side note, I looked up some of those buildings on the auditor's website and they are massively undervalued. For example, 1350 Walnut (corner of Walnut at 14th) is classified as a two family home with a total of 6 bedrooms, and is currently valued by the auditor at $62,000. (It was valued at $160,130 in 2009 but it looks like the owner went in front of the Board of Revision and had it lowered.) What a joke. I assume that the developer is required to keep it as low income housing for a certain period of time, but after that's up, I bet the developer sells the building for a half million.

Because of the cap the city puts on property tax collections, it doesn't matter to the city. The county, school district, and various levies are missing out on some income, though.

Those buildings on Walnut that are low-income housing are LIHTC projects done by Eagle Realty in the 90's. They have to stay low-income for thirty years. That means they will likely convert to market rate some time in the 2020's.

Maybe they'll just be torn down at that time.

 

They're so awful. They're called "Bracket Village" yet not a single one of them has a bracket detail within their cornice. Meaning they're ironically named, cheaply built, poorly planned buildings that do very little for the street life of Walnut.

Yeah I was thinking more tear down. All of that is like a five minute walk from the streetcar. So in a dream scenario we get 4-5 story mixed use with no parking. Oh and a progressive mayor/council....

 

One can dream! :-D

They look better than Mercer Commons across the street. 

I think the low-income buildings along Walnut are good, solid buildings fulfilling a very important purpose.  The front stoops on them are cool.  Considering the time and place they were built their design and urbanism could be a LOT worse.  Or we could have been stuck with a parking crater there or something. 

Bracket Village was THE ONLY new construction in OTR in the whole decade of the 90s.  And there wasn't much built in the 60s, 70s or 80s either, except maybe the MedCenter, CMHA offices, The Diner and the Shell Gas Station. Compared to those Bracket Village is great urbanism. Sure, Bracket Village should have been higher density with commercial storefronts, but hey, we still have new buildings being proposed and built on Elm with even less density and less height.

Bracket Village was THE ONLY new construction in OTR in the whole decade of the 90s.  And there wasn't much built in the 60s, 70s or 80s either, except maybe the MedCenter, CMHA offices, The Diner and the Shell Gas Station. Compared to those Bracket Village is great urbanism. Sure, Bracket Village should have been higher density with commercial storefronts, but hey, we still have new buildings being proposed and built on Elm with even less density and less height.

 

Don't forget Kentucky Fried Chicken. 

 

The Shell is super shady.

Good news on all the historic tax credits awarded.  These really all add up in the city.  Looking forward to the big Music Hall Project, the projects around Findlay and all the smaller projects in between.

 

I think the issue with the low income housing on Walnut is they are set back from the street a bit.  Also, that area in the recent past tended to be quite sketchy but I think it was that corner building on 13th and Walnut that contributed a lot to that (I think since it is cleared out).  Once that stretch of 13th comes back online, I think it will be even better.  In fact, I was down in OTR for the first time in a while and noticed all the people at 14 Bit and it was crazy to me because 2 years earlier it was a ghost town in that area and very quiet.

 

IMO, the more restaurants and bars they can add the better.  Things will only start heating up more as the streetcar comes online and more private projects start to take off, as they are already.

I thought it would be cool (in a perfect world) if Bracket Village was demolished and UC relocated DAAP to the site. DAAP and AAC along with all the galleries and pioneers in the area would create an even more amazing hub for art and sustainable design.

I completely disagree. It would/will also never happen.

 

This is a better location for private residential/commercial

Why is everyone hating on Bracket Village when there are so many abandoned structures and underused structures and parking lots and vacant lots and other odds and ends that could support future growth in OTR? 

 

I think Bracket Village strikes an almost perfect "Goldilocks" balance to provide low income housing woven into the market rate growth that is now occuring.  Not so large and concentrated to scare away market rate growth but providing a good amount of affordable housing. 

 

EDIT: IMO not every structure has to be four stories with ground floor level retail either, as long as the surrounding blocks and neighborhood as a whole is mixed use.

Bracket Village is not so bad that it needs to be demolished and started over. Let's assume the developer is required to keep it as low-income housing for 30 years... so in the early 2020's, they could do a full interior renovation with premium finishes and sell them as townhomes for $1 million each. If property values in OTR have risen so high by the early 2020's that they want to maximize the space, they could tear them down and build a 4 or 5-story condo building... but I don't see that happening.

I'd much rather live in Brackett Village than those horrid townhouses 3CDC built on Mercer. 

Don't be silly.

That's a fact and you can hold me to it. Those things on Mercer are awful.

So apperantly there's an OTR Museum in Development: https://www.facebook.com/OTRmuseum

 

https://www.facebook.com/events/1588763544723754/

 

More information to come as we get closer to the event.

 

Proceeds go toward the emerging OTR Museum. We are working towards acquiring a historic tenement building in OTR and will use the physical fabric of the building to tell the stories of OTR residents through time. This experiential, immersive museum will be based on the model of New York City’s award-winning Lower East Side Tenement Museum. The museum will seek to present visitors with a unique, hands-on encounter with the history of Cincinnati’s most intact historic neighborhood. The museum further seeks to engage the public in telling the stories of Over-the-Rhine through public programs and innovative research initiatives.

 

Join us as we develop our course.

Brackett Village is named for Brackett Alley which it abuts. 

 

I'm also in the keep Brackett Village camp. Demolishing it is idiotic. Renovating them into market rate units would be easy & a major financial boon for the developer.

 

They are actually an good urban form with doors on the street level and making use of side streets with entrances, Etc.. Some improvements should be made but the idea of tearing it down is simply fantasy.

 

 

The last of the Republic St. studios might have sold.  At the very least, there aren't any listed anymore.  That's definitely the last time we see anything listed for under $100,000.  In 5-10 years we might see the last sub-$200,000 unit sell. 

I don't feel that's going to happen. There are plenty of 450-500 square foot studios in the neighborhood which would need to be above $400/sq. ft. in order to pass $200k. The chance of that happening is slim.

 

Granted, my 493 sq. ft. studio that I bought 14 months ago has gone up in value by 20-25k based on an appraisal a realtor gave me when I was thinking about moving and weighing renting it out vs. selling it.

 

But even still, we're still talking about being in the mid 200s/sq. ft. They would have to nearly double in value from their original sale price in order to pass the 200k mark.

EXCLUSIVE: OTR is getting a candy bar

Jul 8, 2015, 6:43am EDT

Andy Brownfield

Cincinnati Business Courier

 

 

Two entrepreneurs are opening up a family-oriented sweet spot in Cincinnati's, well, sweet spot.

 

OTR Candy Bar is opening at 1735 Elm St. across the street from Findlay Market on July 10, just in time for the All Star Game.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/morning_call/2015/07/exclusive-otr-is-getting-a-candy-bar.html

Folks are setting up parklets on Pleasant Street today and the street is mostly blocked off to vehicles.  Seems like a follow up event to the one in June: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/06/08/this-otr-street-could-become-a-pleasant-walking.html 

 

I suggest swinging by there and checking it out if you're in the neighborhood!

1732 Vine St, corner of Vine/Elder sold for $295,000 to 5B3G REALTY HOLDINGS LLC.

1732 Vine St, corner of Vine/Elder sold for $295,000 to 5B3G REALTY HOLDINGS LLC.

 

Previously, it was purchased for $62k... that was just two years ago in July of 2013. That's roughly 475% growth over two years, which comes out to roughly 218% appreciation annually. In other words, the property more than doubled in value each year.

The building two lots north of OTR Kroger has scaffolding up around it. It's hard to tell what they're doing but I have to imagine at this point it's just some stabilization work. Does anyone know more?

 

The large building at the corner of 15th and Vine that used to house Smitty's is in full clean out/interior demolition mode. Dumpsters are outside and crews are actively clearing everything out.

Seems like a huge deal, assuming that they actually redevelop that building and don't just let it sit for a few years. Not only are the Northern Liberties developing around Findlay Market and the streetcar, but now a full block away.

3CDC is expected to do the southwest corner of 15th & vine office building next year because they finally received NMTC's in the latest round. another change for that same corner.

1732 Vine St, corner of Vine/Elder sold for $295,000 to 5B3G REALTY HOLDINGS LLC.

 

Previously, it was purchased for $62k... that was just two years ago in July of 2013. That's roughly 475% growth over two years, which comes out to roughly 218% appreciation annually. In other words, the property more than doubled in value each year.

 

I haven't been inside but that building looked like it was in uncharacteristically good condition for the area.  When people start paying $200k for buildings with no roof, no floors, no windows, and a missing exterior wall then you know things have gotten out-of-hand. 

The current owner also did put some money into making the building weather-tight and stable until it could be redeveloped. So the cost increase is dramatic but the building is in a better state than it was when it sold for $62k.

3CDC is expected to do the southwest corner of 15th & vine office building next year because they finally received NMTC's in the latest round. another change for that same corner.

 

Is this new construction when it comes to the office building? Because if I recall that corner has alot of empty lot space just sitting there.

 

 

Btw, speaking of lots does anyone know if 3CDC has plans to convert that surface parking lot (right next to Abagails and the Senate resturaunt), into more condos/retail? Because it seems incredibly silly to have a large surface parking lot that sits literally RIGHT next to this massive parking garage.

There will be new construction that will fill in all the lots at the corner and in between buildings while connecting the existing four buildings on the cite.

 

As for the lot, they've stated they would rather sell it off to another developer when the time is right. AKA, when the streetcar is open and its value has gone up dramatically.

Additionally, it's an annual revenue generator for them and it provides parking for the restaurants whose retail spaces they own (which, while we all may disagree with them on, they value very highly). That lot will develop one day. There are plenty of other spots that are equally as important that will happen first.

Honestly I'd disagree that there are spots equally as important. This is 12th and Vine, the center of basically everything, at the streetcar stop for Vine Street. This is probably the most important site in OTR south of Liberty when it comes to beneficial infill.

Re: 12th& Vine lot, IMO there should be one structure built on half of that lot and while the half facing Vine should become a public square.  I think a new public space is appropriate in this area since it's already a natural gathering point in the neighborhood business district, and will become even more so with the streetcar stop in operation.

 

The structure could be shaped like an "L" to so it has frontage on both Jackson and 12th with the main facade facing the new square.  It could be a mixed use condo development or even a hotel.  Perhaps a new structure could connect with the upper stories of the Rookwood pottery building for additional square footage.  More and more I like the idea of a hotel there, giving out of towners and suburbanites the option to stay right in the neighborhood after a meal and/or bar hopping. 

 

I realize the lot is a low-maintenance revenue generator for 3CDC currently, but it is keeping the Vine Street district from reaching its full potential and having an exclamation point for all the activity.  If 3CDC is really that upset about the parking lost they could build a new garage on the lot on Walnut north of their headquarters. 

It's way more important for 3CDC to focus on stabilizing and rehabbing historic buildings right now. There is a ticking clock on every historic building in OTR that had a leaking roof or deteriorating brick wall. The parking lots in OTR will just sit there until development is ready to happen.