I don't think it's an either/or situation. Yes, it's extremely important to be stabilizing the historic building stock we have. But that's not by default always the most beneficial move for them, or anyone, to be making. Filling in the gaps can help accelerate the desirability of an area by making it feel more complete and in turn accelerating the fixing up of nearby existing buildings. Ignoring the gaps could really reduce the desirability of a lot of areas prolonging the redevelopment of vacant properties.

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.

 

Thank you.

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.

 

Thank you.

 

Perhaps now is the time to go on offense and get the state historic tax credits programs expanded then. Every year there are many worthy projects that don't receive them. Maybe city councils from across the state can roughly simultaneously pass resolutions in favor of expanding the program. 

 

While I agree with the urgency of addressing historic buildings, it's worth noting a surprising amount of the catalytic development to take place in OTR to date has been new construction, starting with the Gateway garage and condos, to the new Mercer Commons buildings. The two new buildings on Vine with Quan Hapa and Elm and Iron in them have been critical to defining their respective street corners. In contrast, the largest "chunks" of historic renovation I can think of are Westfalen on Race and the Mercer Commons buildings along Walnut. Perhaps that just the nature of the beast though, renovations are going to be more onsey-twosy type projects.

 

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.

 

Thank you.

 

Perhaps now is the time to go on offense and get the state historic tax credits programs expanded then. Every year there are many worthy projects that don't receive them. Maybe city councils from across the state can roughly simultaneously pass resolutions in favor of expanding the program. 

 

The State Historic Tax Credits are funded out of the state budget... so you would need to lobby your State representatives in the Ohio House and Senate, not the City Councils, since cities have no direct control over the state budget. Cities can - and do - offer other additional incentives for renovation, such as Cincinnati's property tax abatement on renovations (which is available for <a href="http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/community-development/housing-assistance/residential-property-tax-abatement/">residential</a> or <a href="http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/community-development/neighborhood-development/cra-commercial-tax-abatement-program/">commercial</a> purposes).

^i know that, but I guess I consider the state legislature to be a lost cause, especially for an individual citizen petitioning an individual member. Resolutions from cities would be symbolic, but my thinking is if cities across the state speak officially and loudly in a unified voice it might be enough to get something done.

I think it has to be a mix of both.

 

Let's look at the big project on the SW Corner of Vine and 15th that seems a go now.

 

3CDC will use New Market Funds I believe and other financing types to meld together both historic buildings and new construction.  This is a perfect mix of what we are talking about, filling in the gaps with quality infill that increases the cohesiveness of the block.

 

All of the infill is very important and that is why people like us who are city nuts critique new designs, etc.  We need to stabilize as many buildings as possible so they keep standing, but at the same time 3CDC I believe does a great job of patching everything together as it moves north, and east and west.  They aren't sporadic in their development.

 

Other developers are a little more sporadic and especially individuals.  They are looking for the best opportunity they can feasibly handle in a neighborhood they know has momentum.  3CDC does a great job of restoring tough projects because they are experts at finance.  On new developments it seems they have done fairly well though we all know they have their critics on new infill.

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.

 

Thank you.

 

Perhaps now is the time to go on offense and get the state historic tax credits programs expanded then. Every year there are many worthy projects that don't receive them. Maybe city councils from across the state can roughly simultaneously pass resolutions in favor of expanding the program. 

 

While I agree with the urgency of addressing historic buildings, it's worth noting a surprising amount of the catalytic development to take place in OTR to date has been new construction, starting with the Gateway garage and condos, to the new Mercer Commons buildings. The two new buildings on Vine with Quan Hapa and Elm and Iron in them have been critical to defining their respective street corners. In contrast, the largest "chunks" of historic renovation I can think of are Westfalen on Race and the Mercer Commons buildings along Walnut. Perhaps that just the nature of the beast though, renovations are going to be more onsey-twosy type projects.

 

 

Hmm.  I live in the building with Elm and Iron, and think it's really nice infill, but I think that the catalytic parts of OTR (to the extent any section has been catalytic) is without a doubt the stretch of buildings on Vine from 12th to 13th.  All those are renovations, and you have good residential pieces (Trideca, Duveneck) with Bakersfield, Senate, A Tavola, Sloan, Abigail Street, Krueger's, 1215, and the Lackman all in that one block stretch. 

It all changes from street to street. In a place like Main Street renovations were key because so few demolitions had occurred along the stretch of Main through OTR. On Vine Street it's a mix because some blocks had decent fabric left, others had essentially nothing left. On streets like Race north of 15th you have lost almost everything. This is why it's not an either/or situation. When you have such sporadic fabric to begin with renovations will only get you so far. For instance, if they just renovated the existing buildings in the 15th and Race project and left all the gaps unfilled it would not be successful. There's a 200' long empty space between buildings. Never would this result in proper street activity which is, above all else, the catalytic element in OTR. Urban built form is about that connection of people on the sidewalk to the businesses on the ground level of buildings. If you have no buildings you have no street life. And as such an area will fail to really ever take off.

 

3CDC has done a fantastic job so far of gauging what's necessary on a block to block basis with only a handful of hiccups. on Vine between 12th and 13th they focused purely on renovation since the fabric was decent to begin with. But when you get up to the area of Vine/14th/Mercer you had terrible fabric. So new construction made the most sense. And with that they connected the successful area to what was going to become Parvis Lofts. Had they just ignored that massive gap there would have been a disconnect between what was happening down by 12th and Vine and what would become of Parvis Lofts.

 

There's no singular answer. We need both and both are equally important in the creation of a cohesive urban environment.

3CDC cannot do it alone. We need more programs like OTR Adopt and what the OTR Foundation is doing with educating individuals in property rehab. Entire sections of historic OTR like Mohawk Place are in danger because they are just too far away from the areas of activity or the streetcar.

The bottom line is still the bottom line -- renovating these buildings when they're in advanced states of disrepair is horrifically expensive.  Most of the easily repaired buildings have already been snatched up.  A lot of people are lining up to lose a lot of money renovating what's left. 

I just noticed that the "slip ramp" from McMicken to Walnut has been demolished. Does anyone know if this is permanent, or is it just related to the utility work occurring along that corridor?

what in the world is a slip ramp?

^ the lane that allowed cars to make a continuous turn from McMicken to Walnut without stopping.

oh. thanks.

I just drove by again and realized that it's actually the entire Walnut Street portion of that strange Walnut/Moore/McMicken/Lang intersection that has been razed. Does anyone know if this is permanent? It would be great if that extra space could be added to Grant Playground, and there's no real downside in terms of traffic flow.

Urban Sites just closed on 1134, 1142, 1148 Main St. I'm pretty sure those are the Japp's, Japp's Annex and Drinkery buildings.

I just drove by again and realized that it's actually the entire Walnut Street portion of that strange Walnut/Moore/McMicken/Lang intersection that has been razed. Does anyone know if this is permanent? It would be great if that extra space could be added to Grant Playground, and there's no real downside in terms of traffic flow.

 

Yes it is a permanent expansion of Grant Playground. The Brewery District helped facilitate with DOTE.

 

Wow, I saw plans for this but I assumed it was at least a year away.  Very exciting. 

That Back/Moore/Lang/Walnut/McMicken intersection is going to be really, really odd to navigate now. I'm guessing the short stretch of Moore will be converted to one way. Ideally, Walnut would be converted to two-way between Liberty and McMicken.

^ Why?  It doesn't really change anything. 

Agreed on turning that section of Walnut two-way. The city is already studying turning Walnut (north of Central) and Main (north of 12th) two-way.

^ Why?  It doesn't really change anything. 

 

From the looks of it, there will either be no way to get from Moore/Back to McMicken or Lang, or there will be an awkward left turn from Moore to Walnut that crosses traffic coming up Moore. The fact that Walnut and Lang no longer line up is awkward as well.

 

Some of the original drawings showed a smaller triangle section of park in place of the short stretch of Moore that seemingly would have made the whole area lay out better.

^ Why?  It doesn't really change anything. 

 

From the looks of it, there will either be no way to get from Moore/Back to McMicken or Lang, or there will be an awkward left turn from Moore to Walnut that crosses traffic coming up Moore. The fact that Walnut and Lang no longer line up is awkward as well.

 

Some of the original drawings showed a smaller triangle section of park in place of the short stretch of Moore that seemingly would have made the whole area lay out better.

 

jjakucyk is correct, nothing really changes. Back is one way westbound so no traffic feeds to the intersections. Walnut is one way southbound. Moore is still 2 ways. The only changes are traffic traveling east on McMicken (and south on Lang) have to have a sharp turn to Moore (which is actually great as it slows the racetrack that is that corner). All other traffic flow remains the same, plus there will be a new signed pedestrian crossing at the east corner of Moore and McMicken. The traffic light stays for Lang to exit to McMicken.

^ Why?  It doesn't really change anything. 

 

From the looks of it, there will either be no way to get from Moore/Back to McMicken or Lang, or there will be an awkward left turn from Moore to Walnut that crosses traffic coming up Moore. The fact that Walnut and Lang no longer line up is awkward as well.

 

Some of the original drawings showed a smaller triangle section of park in place of the short stretch of Moore that seemingly would have made the whole area lay out better.

 

jjakucyk is correct, nothing really changes. Back is one way westbound so no traffic feeds to the intersections. Walnut is one way southbound. Moore is still 2 ways. The only changes are traffic traveling east on McMicken (and south on Lang) have to have a sharp turn to Moore (which is actually great as it slows the racetrack that is that corner). All other traffic flow remains the same, plus there will be a new signed pedestrian crossing at the east corner of Moore and McMicken. The traffic light stays for Lang to exit to McMicken.

 

That little stretch of Moore between Back and McMicken is remaining two-way!?!  That is terrible news for bus service.

^ Why?  It doesn't really change anything. 

 

From the looks of it, there will either be no way to get from Moore/Back to McMicken or Lang, or there will be an awkward left turn from Moore to Walnut that crosses traffic coming up Moore. The fact that Walnut and Lang no longer line up is awkward as well.

 

Some of the original drawings showed a smaller triangle section of park in place of the short stretch of Moore that seemingly would have made the whole area lay out better.

 

jjakucyk is correct, nothing really changes. Back is one way westbound so no traffic feeds to the intersections. Walnut is one way southbound. Moore is still 2 ways. The only changes are traffic traveling east on McMicken (and south on Lang) have to have a sharp turn to Moore (which is actually great as it slows the racetrack that is that corner). All other traffic flow remains the same, plus there will be a new signed pedestrian crossing at the east corner of Moore and McMicken. The traffic light stays for Lang to exit to McMicken.

 

That little stretch of Moore between Back and McMicken is remaining two-way!?!  That is terrible news for bus service.

 

DOTE had SORTA verify buses can make the turn. There is not a ton of traffic going northbound on Moore either.

Are they just adding more green space with that expansion? Or will there be more decor/playground equipment as well.

 

Probably out of it's budget, but a large fountain with benches circling around the fountain what add alot more "elegance" to the park.

 

But I guess grass is already an improvement over more pavement.

Also sorry for the double post, but if you look at where they are doing the james brown mural (1437 main street) you'll notice a somewhat nice sized parking lot space.

 

I can't help but selfishly wish that would be home to future development...It's not large, but am I crazy for thinking it could house an apartment/condo complex? At the very least making that corner into a small public garden/green space would add alot more than a parking lot.

 

But at the same time, if there is potential for anything buildings to sprout there, that essentially means the murals would be blocked from public eye? Same goes for the lot with the mural of the Cincinnati Strongman to, no? It's painted on a building that's across a vacant lot. Thus, alot of these murals are kind of there for nothing if future development is built on these lots...

Also sorry for the double post, but if you look at where they are doing the james brown mural (1437 main street) you'll notice a somewhat nice sized parking lot space.

 

I can't help but selfishly wish that would be home to future development...It's not large, but am I crazy for thinking it could house an apartment/condo complex? At the very least making that corner into a small public garden/green space would add alot more than a parking lot.

 

But at the same time, if there is potential for anything buildings to sprout there, that essentially means the murals would be blocked from public eye? Same goes for the lot with the mural of the Cincinnati Strongman to, no? It's painted on a building that's across a vacant lot. Thus, alot of these murals are kind of there for nothing if future development is built on these lots...

 

The murals are there to beautify the area until something gets built. Almost all of them are in spots that will not last forever.

Are they just adding more green space with that expansion? Or will there be more decor/playground equipment as well.

 

Probably out of it's budget, but a large fountain with benches circling around the fountain what add alot more "elegance" to the park.

 

But I guess grass is already an improvement over more pavement.

 

Right now just green space. There is a pad being put in for a future Red Bike station. As part of the Brewing Heritage Trail the Brewery District plans to activate that corner with a small plaza and installations in the next few years.

Urbana Cafe is opening a permanent location right next to Nation Kitchen and Bar in OTR.

 

Question, what exactly is being constructed in Imagination Alley on Vine street? It's been walled off for a while now, and I'm having trouble as to what kind of renovations are taking place in the alley?

That space is part of Cintrifuse's site. They're going to have outdoor space for their office. You can see the large external stair that permits access to all levels being built now.

 

 

It appears that some of the space will be given to Cintrifuse and the rest will be redone as a public space. As it stands now though it's walled off as a construction staging area for Cintrifuse.

Urban Sites just closed on 1134, 1142, 1148 Main St. I'm pretty sure those are the Japp's, Japp's Annex and Drinkery buildings.

 

Urban Sites’ new project: upper-floor office space in OTR

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/print-edition/2015/07/24/urban-sites-new-project-upper-floor-office-space.html?ana=e_ph_prem&u=uvswnydLrHqB9inIF1yDdw0ccf9403&t=1437743686

Nice. Those buildings are quite large. This will bring a lot of daytime activity to that area.

Any idea what the office sizes and costs will be? The article is only open to subscribers.

 

I've always thought those would be better offices than residences (at least on the second floor) because of the Drinkery and Japps. Great to hear.

The building ads claimed there was 45,000 square feet between the 3 buildings which included the space on the ground floor. That's quite a bit and will definitely introduce a ton of workers to a group of buildings that sees very little life during the day and doesn't cause a problem with residences being above noisy bars. This is definitely a good use of this space.

This is part of what the article states:

 

The buildings have three floors of vacant space above the first-floor bars. Each floor in three properties is about 3,000 square feet, meaning the entire development will add close to 30,000 square feet of available office space.

Anyone have the inside word when the 15th and race project is going to begin? 3cdc already won the rezoning issue they had just a few months ago, but they've been mum on when construction is due to begin

Any inside word on when this project is due to start construction?

3CDC is planning on demolishing the non-contributing portion of 1417 Elm St (old City Gospel Mission) in order to create three separate lots to sell for new construction. There is no plan yet for the historic church that will remain at that site.

That's good to hear. That addition to the historic church is seriously ugly and detracts from that stretch of Elm. I hope those three lots become a single apartment/condo building rather than townhomes though. I like townhomes as much as the next guy but not on main roads, especially along the streetcar. We need to take better advantage of open lots for dense new construction rather than single family homes. Those can exist nicely on side streets.

Pretty sure they will separate it into three parcels and sell them separately. Who buys them and what they do with them is unknown at this point of course.

I truly believe the City's generous abatement policy and the auditor's overwhelming undervaluing of land in OTR leads to these townhomes.  Without those two factors these parcels would be less attractive to single families and more attractive to multi-story mixed use developments.

Up for CRA abatements in City Council next week:

 

1833 Vine St to be rehabbed by Hagen Properties into commercial on the first floor and 7 market rate apartments. Apparently they plan to only spend $106,000 on the rehab... This is the former OTR Adopt property at the corner of Vine/Findlay.

 

Not OTR, but Pendleton: Cutter Historic Apartments, LLC will rehab 506 and 510 E. 12th Street, 511 and 513-515 E. 13th Street, and 1316 Broadway into approximately 32 units of subsidized, income-restricted housing at a total cost of approximately $5,103,348.

 

100 Findlay LLC (P&G employee Brent Borden) will renovate 100 Findlay Street into one commercial space and five market rate apartments at a total cost of $480,000.

 

Urban Sites will renovate 527 E. 13th Street into seven market rate apartments. The total project cost to renovate the 4,764 square foot building is $406,000.

 

Under the PDA 3CDC has recommended South of Lake Erie, LLC to develop 1722 Elm Street. The approximately 2,000 square foot building rehabilitation will result in one single family townhome and one rentable commercial space. The Developer intends to reside in the townhome and commits to renovating the property at a cost of approximately $303,500.

 

1833 Vine St to be rehabbed by Hagen Properties into commercial on the first floor and 7 market rate apartments. Apparently they plan to only spend $106,000 on the rehab... This is the former OTR Adopt property at the corner of Vine/Findlay.

 

So far their only progress has been taking down the OTR Adopt sign.  Otherwise it's been two years with no activity. 

1833 Vine St to be rehabbed by Hagen Properties into commercial on the first floor and 7 market rate apartments. Apparently they plan to only spend $106,000 on the rehab... This is the former OTR Adopt property at the corner of Vine/Findlay.

 

So far their only progress has been taking down the OTR Adopt sign.  Otherwise it's been two years with no activity. 

 

They only took it down after it blew off and landed on the power lines.

 

As for 1722 Elm, the adjacent alley is where Eli's vents their kitchen. I hope the new owners like BBQ because that place smells delicious all day long.

1833 Vine St to be rehabbed by Hagen Properties into commercial on the first floor and 7 market rate apartments. Apparently they plan to only spend $106,000 on the rehab... This is the former OTR Adopt property at the corner of Vine/Findlay.

 

So far their only progress has been taking down the OTR Adopt sign.  Otherwise it's been two years with no activity. 

 

They only took it down after it blew off and landed on the power lines.

 

 

What's funny is I remember back in 1997 or 1998 when they demolished the building immediately south of it for the small single-story thing that is there now, and the "Apotheke" sign was uncovered.  I remember the appearance of that German-language painted sign caused some short breaths and leg twitching for local history buffs.  I can only imagine that if it happened now instagram and twitter activity would fry the cell phone towers. 

 

Oh, and they had better not even think of incorporating that word into any ground-floor business...it's already been done:

http://www.apothekenyc.com/

 

Yet another craft cocktail bar.  Yawn. 

 

 

 

A Go Fund Me has been set up for Tuckers resturaunt who was burned down late last night: http://www.gofundme.com/5w2jfk2t98r

^ wasn't burned down. the kitchen area was destroyed.

I don't have any knowledge of the restaurant business. But don't they have insurance to cover this kind of stuff?