January 26, 20178 yr Apartments, Airbnb, restaurant planned south of Rhinegeist A local investment group is continuing to bet on development along the Cincinnati Bell Connector route. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/01/25/exclusive-apartments-airbnb-restaurant-planned.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 26, 20178 yr The Northern Liberties continue to boom. In a few years we're going to have a significant population in that previously deserted part of the city.
January 26, 20178 yr ^ and two that show how modern infill with high quality materials can fit beautifully within the existing OTR fabric. I hope that the OTR Foundation Infill Committee is taking careful notes.
January 31, 20178 yr 15th & Race Condos are now "The Allison". 3CDC has posted a ton of construction photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/53177138@N04/albums/72157653141182378/page1 Looks like they're keeping the commercial floor spaces dirt until a restaurant or restaurants design their plumbing. Also, there appear to be sound walls between the units but I'd still be worried about hearing the neighbors in this all-wood building.
February 2, 20178 yr Author Cincinnati’s new Shakespeare theater takes shape: PHOTOS Feb 2, 2017, 11:21am EST Erin Caproni Digital Producer Cincinnati Business Courier Construction of Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s new theater is whizzing along as the group prepares to open its 2017-18 season in its new home this fall. The company will move into the Otto M. Budig Theater at 12th and Elm streets in Over-the-Rhine in the coming months and host its grand opening on Sept. 8. http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/02/02/cincinnati-s-new-shakespeare-theater-takes-shape.html
February 2, 20178 yr Does anyone know if there are plans for the movie theater that Shakespeare is leaving at 719 Race? It would be great to have a repertoire cinema again
February 3, 20178 yr This is also a huge amount of progress being made in the buildings immediately north of The Allison which I believe will be all low income apartments. I'm referring to the buildings on the left here:
February 6, 20178 yr $25 million Over-the-Rhine project has a name, groundbreaking date The development team working on a $25 million mixed-use development in Over-the-Rhine has a name and groundbreaking date for the project. Source 3 Development, the downtown-based development group that is leading the development of the northwest corner of Liberty and Elm streets, named its development Freeport Row. The name is an ode to Freeport Alley, which is being preserved in the center of the project. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/12/12/25-million-over-the-rhine-project-has-a-name.html I just learned that the Liberty and Elm (a.k.a. "Freeport Row") project approval was appealed to the Zoning board of appeals, by the OTR community council. Not sure if this will appear at the February meeting. This evidently happened January 20 but I just heard about it a couple days ago. If anyone has any specific information about scheduling of the zoning board of appeals decision, please let it be known. My take - L&E is not a fantastic example of great infill architecture. But, annoyingly, the forces against the development bear significant responsibility for that, because they caused the entire project to be shortened/downsized. Instead of joining forces to make buildings smaller, we should be cheering density. We should be asking developers to put an appropriate portion of their revenue, which benefits from higher densities, toward high quality materials and design. The OTR Foundation "Infill Committee" has organized opposition with the OTR community council on this. In my opinion, they are dominated by a romantic notion of OTR that is not practical. They complain about this building being out of scale with the neighborhood, while ignoring examples to the contrary -- notably the Streitmann building that is more massive while fronting a street about half as wide (12th).
February 6, 20178 yr ^Agree completely. This idea that OTR is made up purely of 16-25' wide row buildings is nothing more than an inaccurate romantic understanding of the built environment. There are plenty of great examples of nicely integrated large buildings this should be utilizing for contextual design. And by contextual I mean things like scaling, graining, massing, etc. not style. We really need to get away from pushing for faux historicism. Compare the new infill on the 1500 block of Elm to the 1500 block of Race. Race still feels contextual and appropriate (the 3CDC one could be better but it's not terrible) and the Jose Garcia and Terry Boling buildings are great examples of modern infill. The street's historic architecture still shines and the new infill is appropriately modern while feeling like it belongs. Go over to Elm and you have the garbage Towne put up. It looks cheap. They didn't even do a good job at being faux historic. They're insulting to their historic neighbors. That block now feels cheapened. These faux old buildings make it look like some silly suburban planned community with some bucolic name like "The Grove" or some other BS. OTR needs to do better. There's enough money to do better.
February 6, 20178 yr ^Ah yes, The Real Movies. Home of the Rocky Horror Picture show for 25~ years. From everything I've heard it seems like it was a better art theater than the Esquire...
February 10, 20178 yr Author More apartments coming to Over-the-Rhine near Washington Park Feb 10, 2017, 2:55pm EST Updated Feb 10, 2017, 3:01pm EST Chris Wetterich Staff reporter and columnist Cincinnati Business Courier New housing is coming to Over-the-Rhine near Washington Park and Music Hall in the former Joseph House. BAM Realty Group is renovating a nearly 5,000-square-foot, four-unit apartment building at 1207 Elm St. at a $1.2 million cost. The building was constructed in 1880 and has been vacant for at least five years. http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2017/02/10/more-apartments-coming-to-over-the-rhine-near.html
February 11, 20178 yr $25 million Over-the-Rhine project has a name, groundbreaking date The development team working on a $25 million mixed-use development in Over-the-Rhine has a name and groundbreaking date for the project. Source 3 Development, the downtown-based development group that is leading the development of the northwest corner of Liberty and Elm streets, named its development Freeport Row. The name is an ode to Freeport Alley, which is being preserved in the center of the project. More below: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/12/12/25-million-over-the-rhine-project-has-a-name.html I just learned that the Liberty and Elm (a.k.a. "Freeport Row") project approval was appealed to the Zoning board of appeals, by the OTR community council. Not sure if this will appear at the February meeting. This evidently happened January 20 but I just heard about it a couple days ago. If anyone has any specific information about scheduling of the zoning board of appeals decision, please let it be known. My take - L&E is not a fantastic example of great infill architecture. But, annoyingly, the forces against the development bear significant responsibility for that, because they caused the entire project to be shortened/downsized. Instead of joining forces to make buildings smaller, we should be cheering density. We should be asking developers to put an appropriate portion of their revenue, which benefits from higher densities, toward high quality materials and design. The OTR Foundation "Infill Committee" has organized opposition with the OTR community council on this. In my opinion, they are dominated by a romantic notion of OTR that is not practical. They complain about this building being out of scale with the neighborhood, while ignoring examples to the contrary -- notably the Streitmann building that is more massive while fronting a street about half as wide (12th). http://www.citybeat.com/news/news-feature/article/20851474/neighborhood-groups-are-concerned-about-the-final-version-of-a-big-new-development-coming-to-northern-otr The hypocrisy continues to amaze. "Community groups" argue for and obtain a reduction in density, leading to a reduction in profit, and then they complain about not getting the good design or the parking garage or the income-based units they think should be a part of this development. Did they not ever think about using those items as a bargaining chip prior to taking the increased density (and the revenues) off the table? Let's call this what it is - certain members of the community, including the OTR foundation, who want to push their romantic notion of an OTR built for tourists, and who are grasping for any straw they can get their hand on in order to push for that, whether it is affordable housing, or parking needs, or the scourge of density, or - the new one - the lack of engagement with "the community." And to the OTR foundation "infill committee" I'd ask, just where are these "infill guidelines" that you are supposed to be so expert at. Quit hiding behind them and make them public, if in fact we are supposed to believe that you represent some sort of advanced thinking in that realm, compared to the rest of us ordinary citizens.
February 12, 20178 yr Agreed! The worst thing to happen to any kind of progress is 'design-by-committee' They need to appoint one single person who's actually good at it instead of gathering opinions from people who shouldn't be giving their opinions.
February 17, 20178 yr It looks like every single one of these buildings on W. 15th Street are sale pending: https://www.sibcycline.com/Listing/CIN/1481590/210-W-Fifteenth-St-E-Cincinnati-OH-45202 Also some of the Wade Street Properties look like they've been sold, and most of the Elm Street Townhomes have been sold it looks like as well. So, I don't know if anyone was anxious about sales in OTR but they are definitely selling off now in the Elm Street Corridor!
February 17, 20178 yr It looks like every single one of these buildings on W. 15th Street are sale pending: https://www.sibcycline.com/Listing/CIN/1481590/210-W-Fifteenth-St-E-Cincinnati-OH-45202 Also some of the Wade Street Properties look like they've been sold, and most of the Elm Street Townhomes have been sold it looks like as well. So, I don't know if anyone was anxious about sales in OTR but they are definitely selling off now in the Elm Street Corridor! It does look like the W 15th homes are doing really well. But I only see that one of the Towne Properties homes have sale pending; do you know otherwise that the others are sold? I just had the impression that those units were going to go slowly.
February 17, 20178 yr ^incidentally isn't it annoying that, still, you can't get on Cincy MLS and actually do a search for "downtown" or "over the rhine"? I mean, I can restrict my search to Oakley, or Hyde Park, and literally any of the suburbs. Just another example of anti-city bias, IMHO. Irksome.
February 17, 20178 yr ^incidentally isn't it annoying that, still, you can't get on Cincy MLS and actually do a search for "downtown" or "over the rhine"? I mean, I can restrict my search to Oakley, or Hyde Park, and literally any of the suburbs. Just another example of anti-city bias, IMHO. Irksome. To get listings of Downtown and OTR you have to select "City of Cincinnati" as the neighborhood. For whatever reason that is the filter for just DT/OTR...which doesn't make much sense for a number of reasons.
February 17, 20178 yr ^incidentally isn't it annoying that, still, you can't get on Cincy MLS and actually do a search for "downtown" or "over the rhine"? I mean, I can restrict my search to Oakley, or Hyde Park, and literally any of the suburbs. Just another example of anti-city bias, IMHO. Irksome. If you type in "City" for Comey and Shepard it gives you CBD, OTR, some West End and some Mt. Auburn. It's a pretty close approximation of 'walkable to downtown'
February 17, 20178 yr It looks like every single one of these buildings on W. 15th Street are sale pending: https://www.sibcycline.com/Listing/CIN/1481590/210-W-Fifteenth-St-E-Cincinnati-OH-45202 Also some of the Wade Street Properties look like they've been sold, and most of the Elm Street Townhomes have been sold it looks like as well. So, I don't know if anyone was anxious about sales in OTR but they are definitely selling off now in the Elm Street Corridor! It does look like the W 15th homes are doing really well. But I only see that one of the Towne Properties homes have sale pending; do you know otherwise that the others are sold? I just had the impression that those units were going to go slowly. Yeah, you know, I just hadn't seen a lot listed so I figured they were already sold, no insider info at all. I did notice though on pictures I wasn't the biggest fan of them compared to other listings I have seen in OTR
February 17, 20178 yr It looks like every single one of these buildings on W. 15th Street are sale pending: https://www.sibcycline.com/Listing/CIN/1481590/210-W-Fifteenth-St-E-Cincinnati-OH-45202 Also some of the Wade Street Properties look like they've been sold, and most of the Elm Street Townhomes have been sold it looks like as well. So, I don't know if anyone was anxious about sales in OTR but they are definitely selling off now in the Elm Street Corridor! It does look like the W 15th homes are doing really well. But I only see that one of the Towne Properties homes have sale pending; do you know otherwise that the others are sold? I just had the impression that those units were going to go slowly. Yeah, you know, I just hadn't seen a lot listed so I figured they were already sold, no insider info at all. I did notice though on pictures I wasn't the biggest fan of them compared to other listings I have seen in OTR Pretty sure the 15th Street ones were all pre-sold. Re Wade, several had to be pre-sold as a condition to obtaining financing. Also re Jim Uber comment above on the objections by certain members of the "community," well, I could not have said it better myself.
February 17, 20178 yr ^Overall, when I looked at all the listings, OTR was selling a lot better than downtown itself and Mt. Adams. It seemed like Prospect Hill is humming pretty well along with OTR. The other curious thing I noticed was that in OTR it seemed some of the 3CDC units weren't selling the best but the "smaller" developers were doing better. I wonder if the asking prices are too high on those new builds by 3CDC and the Elm Street Townhomes. The pricing not matching up with the quality?
February 17, 20178 yr It looks like every single one of these buildings on W. 15th Street are sale pending: https://www.sibcycline.com/Listing/CIN/1481590/210-W-Fifteenth-St-E-Cincinnati-OH-45202 Also some of the Wade Street Properties look like they've been sold, and most of the Elm Street Townhomes have been sold it looks like as well. So, I don't know if anyone was anxious about sales in OTR but they are definitely selling off now in the Elm Street Corridor! It does look like the W 15th homes are doing really well. But I only see that one of the Towne Properties homes have sale pending; do you know otherwise that the others are sold? I just had the impression that those units were going to go slowly. Yeah, you know, I just hadn't seen a lot listed so I figured they were already sold, no insider info at all. I did notice though on pictures I wasn't the biggest fan of them compared to other listings I have seen in OTR Pretty sure the 15th Street ones were all pre-sold. Yes, the 9 townhomes on W 15th were all pre-sold and are all under construction. One of them will be a 5 story single family home. Rest are three or four story single family homes.
February 22, 20178 yr A lot of progress is being made at the 15th & Vine project. A surprisingly large portion of the buildings facing Vine Street have been demolished. Basically it's only the facades that are being saved and the rest of the block will be filled in with new construction. Also notice that in the back of that photo are the Meiners Flats and four other buildings owned by 3CDC that I suspect will be part of their next major development.
February 22, 20178 yr I thought the partially demolished condition was related to the Smitty's fire. Have they taken down more?
February 22, 20178 yr Yeah, the building in the picture was still fully intact. In the plans they essentially left the old walls only as deep as the first room so that the hallway could be more usable. Not the best integration of an historic building ever, but it does achieve a more usable floor plate. Then you have the former Smitty's buildings that were about that deep as a result of the fire you mentioned. The building on 15th will also be getting this same treatment I believe.
February 22, 20178 yr It would be really cool if they did something like this downtown but made it the base of a high rise. I recall something similar in NYC.
February 22, 20178 yr The Hearst Tower is probably what you're thinking of. It's a cool project. http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/hearst-tower/ I've seen quite a few of these types of facadectemy projects in Toronto lately. Lots of highrises using lowrises for a base where the facade lives on but that's about it.
February 22, 20178 yr The Hearst Tower is probably what you're thinking of. It's a cool project. http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/hearst-tower/ I've seen quite a few of these types of facadectemy projects in Toronto lately. Lots of highrises using lowrises for a base where the facade lives on but that's about it. Said it before and will say it again: this would be perfect at the W&S HQ at the corner of 3rd and Broadway.
February 22, 20178 yr I thought the partially demolished condition was related to the Smitty's fire. Have they taken down more? Here's how it looked in Feb. 2016: As you can see, the building with the yellow and blue striped front extended back pretty far. They've demolished everything behind the roof peak. It's pretty unfortunate that they had to demolish this much of the building to make the new development work, but I'm glad they are at least making the effort to save the facade unlike other historic buildings owners in this city that just want to knock stuff down.
February 23, 20178 yr very interesting. It will be a good project, but a similar effort to remove the back parts of structures as part of the 15/Race project was met with fierce resistance and this never seems to have been discussed publicly (I follow things closely but confess maybe I missed this one). Also, the Smitty's buildings were almost completely torn down but were saved at the last minute so it is good 3CDC is incorporating them. The large building across the street (Meiner) was also saved from emergency demo.
February 23, 20178 yr Back of new houses on the south side of 15th: North side of 15th: Sea of parking behind new Towne Properties homes fronting Elm St.: South side of 15th: 2-car garages behind new homes on north side of 15th St.: Towne Properties: Jim Uber's building: Wade St.: Party wall: 1-car garages behind Wade St.: Elm St. north of Liberty:
February 23, 20178 yr Towne is garbage. They have no ability to do anything good. The sooner other developers flood their sector of the market the better. The townhomes on 15th look pretty decent. Still wish they weren't faux-historic, but at the very least their scale and massing looks correct. And they occupy the entire site which is something that seems to be uncommon in infill these days. I'm hoping the finishes are of a decent quality.
February 23, 20178 yr The Hearst Tower is probably what you're thinking of. It's a cool project. http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/hearst-tower/ I've seen quite a few of these types of facadectemy projects in Toronto lately. Lots of highrises using lowrises for a base where the facade lives on but that's about it. Yes, that building is incredible. Here's another more modest example. http://i.imgur.com/MB7sG0Z.jpg
February 23, 20178 yr It really is mind boggling just how much boring and ill-conceived architecture gets built around here. Just wondering if these people even went to college because most of these types of project look like they could have been picked out of a catalog. Even renderings for large budget projects these days seem like some google sketch-up crap made in an afternoon. The whole field of architecture is certainly in one of its darkest times in history.
February 23, 20178 yr Also someone seems to have bought my dream home 1420 Race. Can't wait to see it finished.
February 23, 20178 yr It's not architects that are the problem, it's the fact that Cincinnati doesn't command anywhere near the real estate prices to be able to do anything better. Construction is very expensive so unless you can get quite a bit more than what things go for in Cincy you aren't going to see better designs. Unfortunately.
February 23, 20178 yr ^ OTR prices are at a point now where far better quality should be possible. Some of those new builds are going for $700-$800,000 https://www.trulia.com/property/3243587866-1511-Elm-St-Cincinnati-OH-45202 A few years back when prices were less than half of that, I'd agree that getting better quality wouldn't have made financial sense. I don't think that's the case anymore.
February 23, 20178 yr The trap is that "it's so expensive already to build crap, why would anyone pay even more for something better?"
February 23, 20178 yr ^ yeah but the contrast between the W 15th street buildings and Towne is illustrative. These projects are happening at the same time, the price points are basically the same, but one is a development that is literally copy/paste while the other has strived for a degree of individuality at the unit level, even though they are being built at the same time. And W. 15th is completely sold out, while Towne has apparently sold one unit, and will probably struggle for a little while to sell the rest. I'm also not a screaming fan of the W. 15th, but I do think they will look really good together, and have a totally different feel than Towne. And the market has told us this is what people prefer. And, no, it doesn't cost significantly more to do it that way, or at the least you can say that it's possible to make a decent profit - especially when you factor in the lost revenue from having millions in construction loans on your books until the crappy designs finally sell.
February 23, 20178 yr People are trying to get $100k for 25x90 lots that were selling for $5,000 in 2011 and $20,000 as recently as 2014. It's doubtful that anyone will ever again let go of a vacant lot in OTR for less than $75-100k. So that is going to eat into quality if prices don't start regularly topping $1 million for a 2,000 sq foot home.
February 23, 20178 yr I mean it doesn't seem that difficult to make a building like that more interesting. Most of the architecture in OTR is generally rectangular and with like one wall facing the street. Can't we get some interesting lentils and sills? Maybe a transom with some stained glass?? I'm not even saying replicate they styles of the past, just recognize that these simple elements can add a significant amount to a building. I'm really hoping to see someone make a building with that sort of honesty to the materials, but with a modern take on the stylistic elements. Also don't even get me started on Cornices. I feel like they are the most unique and defining part of the Italianate buildings we have, and the ones being built today have almost no character.
February 23, 20178 yr They're better than City West and the 1990s-era town homes on W. Court and Mound St. but not much better.
February 23, 20178 yr A lot of cities are building terrible infill right now. Most of what I saw in Denver recently was barely better quality than the Banks (albeit taller and glassier), and the neighborhoods from Curtis Park to Cherry Creek had some truly abysmal residential infill scattered throughout. That's not to say we should be shooting for crappy infill, but it seems that nationwide people are generally more willing to pay for a location than for good architecture right now, with a few exceptions scattered around. “To an Ohio resident - wherever he lives - some other part of his state seems unreal.”
February 23, 20178 yr Latest HCB packet is out: http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/buildings/historic-conservation/historic-conservation-board/february-27-2017-staff-report-and-attachments/ Includes Pleasant St 3cdc condo redesign.
February 23, 20178 yr They're better than City West and the 1990s-era town homes on W. Court and Mound St. but not much better. Right. I would also say the Towne Properties townhomes on Elm are slightly better than the Brackett Village buildings on and around Walnut.
February 23, 20178 yr Also don't even get me started on Cornices. I feel like they are the most unique and defining part of the Italianate buildings we have, and the ones being built today have almost no character. Specifically for the Towne properties units, the cornices are not actually that bad. The thing that makes the whole thing bad is the copy/paste of one unit to the next. It ends up feeling either like a strip mall, or like a single massive building that's strangely been broken up into identical parts.
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