May 17, 20169 yr Does the Art Academy still have student housing above Taste of Belgium? I remember going to a party in one of those apartments before the restaurant opened, in 2009 or 2010. Can't wait for the day the Art Academy announces they're cashing out and moving to South Fairmount or something like that. That building they own is now worth ridiculous money.
May 17, 20169 yr Why would you want them to "cash out and move to South Fairmount or something?" They're a good institution to have in the neighborhood.
May 17, 20169 yr Do the Taste of Belgium owners own that entire building? It seems pretty large from google maps. I wonder if the owners will ever consider opening up a second concept restaurant within that same building.
May 18, 20169 yr Anything worth a damn moving to South Fairmount would be pretty tight. Not saying Art Academy should do that. But imagine having student housing in the Lunkenhiemer plant or the Midwest Textiles building, it would be rad. Back to TOB though, I hope that dining room isn't private for long, the article states that the expansion will grow seating from 77 to 100+, but 26 of those are in the private dining room, which though will be open for brunch, however I hope it just becomes part of the main restaurant.
May 18, 20169 yr Why would you want them to "cash out and move to South Fairmount or something?" They're a good institution to have in the neighborhood. The students -- at least those without full financial support from their parents -- can't afford to live in the area anymore. I looked on the academy's website last night and they only have housing in OTR for freshmen, and it wasn't very cheap. It looked like it worked out to about $750/mo for apartments shared with 2-4 other people. That might have included utilities, in which case it's an okay deal, but it didn't appear to include food like a normal college dorm. So sophomores+ are either paying out the nose to live near the school or they're commuting in from who-knows-where. The school could build a new school elsewhere and turn its existing Jackson St. building into high-priced apartments and subsidize operations with that income.
May 18, 20169 yr Except that would basically require gutting the existing building. A building they poured a lot of money into. It's not setup for easy conversion at the moment. Would living in Clifton Heights really be any further than many UC students live from UC? It's a 2 minute bus ride down the hill.
May 18, 20169 yr No, but making a statement that you, "can't wait for something to happen" implies you (Jake) thinks it should. And I'm saying, as a response to that, that it makes no sense and that having them in the neighborhood is a good thing and that their building really isn't that great for redevelopment since it is very specifically designed for their needs.
May 18, 20169 yr Didn't the Art Academy already make some money by selling off the building it owned at the corner of 12th & Walnut, which became 3CDC's HQ and Lachey's?
May 18, 20169 yr Art students still live above Taste of Belgium. I know a grad student who lives there....
May 18, 20169 yr I noticed a few recent liquor license applications for Main Street: - 1203 Main (former Mixx) - 1280 Main (storefront just north of Macaron Bar) - 1417 Main (former PB&J office space) I believe all of these retail spaces are in Urban Sites buildings. So it looks like they have some restaurant or bar tenant in mind for each of those spaces.
May 19, 20169 yr My neighbor on Main bought his condo for $100k three years ago. He listed it last week for $167k and he already has an offer pending for $180k. So buyers in OTR are apparently outbidding each other and driving up the prices due to limited inventory.
May 19, 20169 yr A guy in my building bought a studio about 2 years ago for $119k and apparently people got into a bidding war when he listed it at $149k. It's just not OTR though. The guy I'm talking to has been looking for a house and he put in offers or looked at properties in Northside, Silverton, Westwood, Madisonville, and Oakley which all wound up going well above asking price and sold within a matter of days. He finally got an amazingly attractive house in Madisonville after going about 10% over ask because it had several interested parties the first day it went on the market which was the day he put in his offer. It's crazy out there. Nothing lasts.
May 19, 20169 yr It's just not OTR though...... It's crazy out there. Nothing lasts. I bought a house in St. Bernard. There were 7 bids and I got it about 6% above asking price. I've seen about 10 houses fly off the market in less than a week over the last few months. Seems like lots of doctors, grad students, and Xavier professors are moving in.
May 19, 20169 yr I've been paying a lot of attention to Northside out of personal interest and if it's less than 175k it's off the market in 1-5 days. If you aren't in right away you don't stand a chance.
May 19, 20169 yr When I sold my house in Northside in 2014, I had someone interested in purchasing it within two hours, and I had an offer by the end of the day. It was for about $10k over what I paid for it, but by the time negotiations had settled, I made out with about $5k. I kind of regret selling it, since Northside is literally bursting at the seams with renovations and construction. Renting it would have been easy.
May 19, 20169 yr Housing prices are still barely recovering from the 2008 collapse in some parts of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. Covington is still unbelievably cheap. St. Bernard seems like the most civilized of the still cheap parts of town. After that, maybe the west side of Montgomery in Norwood. Spring Grove Village is still surprisingly dilapidated and has the whiff of lawlessness to it that I remember Northside having when I was a kid. The bad vs. good borderlines in Walnut Hills and Avondale haven't budged. Evanston is still a dump, but people seem to be getting better money for some of those horrible houses than they should.
May 19, 20169 yr Last night I noticed there's a for sale sign on the window of the Davis Furniture Building even though it's not on Zillow or anything. Does that start some kind of ticking clock for the owners seeking demolition? (i.e. Must be listed for sale for x amount of time?) www.cincinnatiideas.com
May 19, 20169 yr Last night I noticed there's a for sale sign on the window of the Davis Furniture Building even though it's not on Zillow or anything. Does that start some kind of ticking clock for the owners seeking demolition? (i.e. Must be listed for sale for x amount of time?) You may want to let the Cincinnati Preservation Collective people know so they can start looking into that.
May 19, 20169 yr Wasn't there talks of 3CDC wanting to purchase that building? I hope that stills the case. That could easily be turned into a multi million luxery condo project, especially being right on the street car line.
May 19, 20169 yr Not sure if 3CDC owns this building, but Happy Belly on Vine will be closing there doors on May 28th. They owner said they wanted to change ventures, and spend more time with family as reasoning. As sad as it's to see Vine lose a business, I hope this will allow a new resturaunt tenant to come in that also serves beyond just lunch, but also dinner, and with a liquor license. It was a cute place, with nice healthy food, but the place was hardly ever packed and always closed in the early afternoons. That place could host a much larger "player" in the "OTR restaurant row" on Vine.
May 19, 20169 yr Happy Belly was the most over-priced restaurant on Vine, and that is saying something. Dinky sandwiches with trend-chasing names for $10+ was never going to last in such a competitive environment.
May 20, 20169 yr Completely agree. Went there once and couldn't believe how little you got for how pricey it was.
May 20, 20169 yr Their food was really good, but yeah, it was expensive. That and their hours made it almost impossible for most people to ever even try it. Too bad since the product they were offering was tasty, but it just wasn't accessible.
May 20, 20169 yr And Picnic and Pantry opened down the way and serves just as good, if not better, food that's cheaper.
May 20, 20169 yr The slightly-downsized LibertyElm project is moving forward after the zoning change was approved today.
May 20, 20169 yr There's some construction on the roof of the Barlow Motors Building at the corner of Race and Central Parkway. Looks like they're adding some kind of deck above the top of where the stair shaft opens on to the roof: http://wedge3.hcauditor.org/view/re/0760002037300/2015/summary Here's the aerial photo (before construction began):
May 20, 20169 yr Yeah that was in one of the HCB packets awhile ago. The owner of the building is adding a roof deck to the residential unit and will be moving into it (or maybe already lives there? I can't recall the specifics). In other news, the Terry-Boling designed 3-unit, 4 story building just north of 1510 Race is beginning. They've fenced off the site. I'm excited to see this one rise since it looks like it will be a very interesting building. I wish I remembered which month it was in the HCB packets but I can't recall at the moment. But it will have rear alley-accessed garage and then three residential units. The ground floor is one unit (with its own courtyard, the second floor is another, and the top two floors will the the owners' unit. The top floor will be set back quite a bit and will feature massive operable walls that will lead out to huge rooftop terraces on the front and rear of the building. Definitely a cool project.
May 23, 20169 yr About 10 empty lots on Renner St. that have been listed for what seems like years are all pending now. So we finally might see some new construction there.
May 23, 20169 yr ^Those were listed at ridiculously high prices and also isolated from any redevelopment going on, I wonder what they sold for. www.cincinnatiideas.com
May 23, 20169 yr They may be isolated but I'm hearing they'll all be expensive townhomes. That, in conjunction with the theater building which is part of a larger redevelopment effort, could lead to this little corner making some progress.
May 23, 20169 yr Yeah that was in one of the HCB packets awhile ago. The owner of the building is adding a roof deck to the residential unit and will be moving into it (or maybe already lives there? I can't recall the specifics). In other news, the Terry-Boling designed 3-unit, 4 story building just north of 1510 Race is beginning. They've fenced off the site. I'm excited to see this one rise since it looks like it will be a very interesting building. I wish I remembered which month it was in the HCB packets but I can't recall at the moment. But it will have rear alley-accessed garage and then three residential units. The ground floor is one unit (with its own courtyard, the second floor is another, and the top two floors will the the owners' unit. The top floor will be set back quite a bit and will feature massive operable walls that will lead out to huge rooftop terraces on the front and rear of the building. Definitely a cool project. jmicha[/member] - 1514 Race St was in the Oct 12, 2015 packet, starting on page 36: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8f9hquesg0rl05g/HCB.Agenda%26Materials.10.12.15.pdf?dl=0
May 23, 20169 yr ^Those were listed at ridiculously high prices and also isolated from any redevelopment going on, I wonder what they sold for. Well people on this very website were speculating that new construction was imminent on Renner back in 2007. The recession was absolutely destroyed any investment in marginal areas like this. Matt Jacob bought a row house on Renner that had been partially renovated around 2005. Whoever was doing the work screwed up on the flashing for the upper floor deck and the place was flooded every time there was a hard rain for at least a year. I went in there once when he bought it around 2012 for $12,000. Joists were rotting and the kitchen was literally falling into the basement. He just sold it last week for $36,000 and I don't think he put any work into it at all, other than covering the hole in the roof with a tarp.
May 24, 20169 yr 3CDC will probably be busy with the Mercer Commons Phase IV and Offices at 15+V projects for awhile, but hopefully it's not too long before they march north on Vine and save these gems:
May 25, 20169 yr Over in the 3CDC thread (not sure why it was in that thread) there was talk about Picnic & Pantry. Molly Wellman is rebranding it as "Bottle & Basket". They will sell wine and beer (by the bottle or by 6-pack). Not clear to me when the changes will be implemented. http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/05/25/molly-wellmann-expands-service-at-otr-location.html
May 26, 20169 yr Just looked through the packet. I swear that Terry Boling project is the nicest looking infill I've seen in OTR yet. Really hope he becomes a major player for the rest of the infill gaps in OTR. Seriously, what he's doing on Race St looks absolutely amazing.
May 26, 20169 yr Though I really enjoy Terry's work, don't expect him to be a big player. He's a man of many responsibilities betweeen DAAP, his firm (which is basically him and sometimes some DAAP co-ops), and all of his community involvement. He does fantastic work but unless something changes drastically he's only ever really working on a couple projects here or there at most it seems.
May 26, 20169 yr My favorite thing is that our zoning code prohibits the type of building that we say we want. Case in point: code requires a 25 foot setback from the back of the lot, but owners want a variance to have only a 5 foot setback. Staff recommendation is to grant the variance, since doing so will maintain the historic and visual continuity of the neighborhood. I've also noticed in other packets where there is a request for a front-of-lot setback variance. It's things like this that leave me really frustrated with my city, and wonder why we can't just change the code to reflect what we want.
May 26, 20169 yr ^ Yes true. Another common one, and even more inexplicable to me, is the density restriction. For example at 1527 Elm we had to spend another 6 weeks and more paperwork and additional $ because, as noted by the plan examiner: “CZC 1409-09 Residential Development in Existing Buildings: CC-A district requires 500 sf of lot area/ unit: The existing lot is 2,040 sf. As such, it is noncomforming (sic) for the existing 5 units. The 6th unit cannot be added without a variance.” These variances are approved routinely as far as I know. I know that OTR has in the works some wide ranging zoning changes, but it appears they either move very slowly or are stalled for some other reason (staff limitations, political hurdles).
May 26, 20169 yr Many of even the very dense multi-family zoning districts like RM-0.7 or the small-lot single-family zone SF-2 still have 5' front and side yard setbacks. Slightly less dense zones like RM-1.2, RM-2.0, RMX, and single-family districts SF-4 and SF-6, which cover a good chunk of the West End, much of Pendleton, Mt. Auburn, and Fairview have 20'-25' front yard setbacks. So there's no residential-only zones that permit zero lot-line development (in some you have limited ability to do zero side setbacks for rowhouses but only within your own development), and there's nothing between the 5' and 20' front yard setbacks. That makes a lot of non-conforming buildings.
May 26, 20169 yr http://www.wcpo.com/news/insider/135-million-plan-promises-to-improve-hundreds-of-low-income-apartments-in-over-the-rhine This is pretty huge news. 303 rehabbed low-income units, 200 new market rate units, 128,000 square feet of commercial space all across 27 buildings. That's a ton of investment and will really help keep existing residents in place while improving street life and adding a couple hundred new residences to the mix.
May 26, 20169 yr Can't wait to get the remaining details later today. I know 3CDC has been buying many of the Mercy Housing buildings so I expect that's related to this effort.
May 26, 20169 yr David Mann just tweeted this photo from the press conference I assume is going on right now on Race St:
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