OTR home tour from 12-4pm Saturday..I know I can’t personally afford to live in otr, but I guess those who can and are interested this might be an interesting tour to see an various collection of units at one time.

15th & Race progress:

 

Even if it’s infill, there is something beautiful about the streets finally feeling whole and complete again. Really adds to the coheviness of otr and it’s exciting to think this is the only the tip of the iceberg.

Even if it’s infill, there is something beautiful about the streets finally feeling whole and complete again. Really adds to the coheviness of otr and it’s exciting to think this is the only the tip of the iceberg.

 

Agreed 100%, its the thing I love most about checking up on OTRs progress when I'm in town.

Teez Café is listed for $208,000:

https://www.sibcycline.com/Listing/CIN/1585436/208-E-Liberty-St-Mt-Auburn-OH-45202

Maybe it’s just me...but that seems really...fairly priced...if not kind of cheap?

? for maybe 1,000 SF tiny vacant building? 

I peeked in the door, and it looks like Simply Rolled Ice Cream is almost ready to open.  They are putting the finishing touches on the space, even while the building is all covered in scaffolding.

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/04/27/exclusive-rolled-ice-cream-shop-coming-to-over-the.html

 

This is where the barber shop was, before they were moved to Walnut Street

 

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/01/18/years-history-moves-otr-barbershop/21962443/

 

 

The ~70's-era facade of the TruPartner Credit Union (corner of Elder/Vine) has been removed, revealing the original brick underneath. I'm not sure what the long-term plan is for the facade, as it looks pretty rough with the missing cornice and cinderblock patchwork on the parapet wall:

 

 

Here's a Streetview photo of the previous glass facade:

Something that I did not really realize till now but is there any reason why we have not seen any hotel developments in OTR/West End? I think the old Kroger site would be great for apartments/hotel

3CDC is/was planning to put a boutique hotel on 12th between Queen City Radio and The Transept. We also have the Symphony Hotel on 14th north of Music Hall. But in terms of big name brand hotels, I don't believe there are any plans.

Jose Garcia did a rendering of a hotel/office/residential structure for the large race and liberty lot. He posted it on his Instagram around November of last year.

 

Not sure why Jose did a full rendering for 3cdc if they are paving it into a parking lot...unles 3cdc is purposely waiting for the liberty street diet to occur first.

It looks like that parking lot is paved with permeable pavers, not asphalt. If that's the case, it might be primarily for drainage reasons, but might also be because they know it's going to be temporary and be torn up in a few years for new development.

It looks like that parking lot is paved with permeable pavers, not asphalt. If that's the case, it might be primarily for drainage reasons, but might also be because they know it's going to be temporary and be torn up in a few years for new development.

I hope you're right, but I was wondering if the pavers cost more or less than typical asphalt. Based on just my own assumptions, I though the pavers would be *more* expensive, due to extra labor involved.

Jose Garcia did a rendering of a hotel/office/residential structure for the large race and liberty lot. He posted it on his Instagram around November of last year.

 

Not sure why Jose did a full rendering for 3cdc if they are paving it into a parking lot...unles 3cdc is purposely waiting for the liberty street diet to occur first.

 

Someone told me it was a conceptual design for some competition he was involved in.

It looks like that parking lot is paved with permeable pavers, not asphalt. If that's the case, it might be primarily for drainage reasons, but might also be because they know it's going to be temporary and be torn up in a few years for new development.

I hope you're right, but I was wondering if the pavers cost more or less than typical asphalt. Based on just my own assumptions, I though the pavers would be *more* expensive, due to extra labor involved.

 

The grading and placement of pavers without materials is more than the demo and installation of asphalt including materials. Asphalt is the temporary surface. They are not allowed to use aggregate. Asphalt is the next step up from that.

Apperantly 15th and vine renderings have already been done and the otr community council has already reviewed them..hopefully we will see the rendering in the hcb packet soon.

Are you referring to the Kroger's Site, or the two historic buildings they are turning into Office space?

Are you referring to the Kroger's Site, or the two historic buildings they are turning into Office space?

 

For 1505 - 1507 Vine...opposite side from Kroger. The large lot next to the recently renovated building with the blue bay windows.

3cdc has officially announced they have begun work today on the Meiner and Behleb block of buildings by Kroger. They are starting to unbrick the windows as we speak.

The latest hcb had info on rehab of 1626 walnut st and a roof top deck addition, and the rehab of a historic garage on Findlay st and turning it into a bar/restaurant.

The latest hcb had info on rehab of 1626 walnut st and a roof top deck addition, and the rehab of a historic garage on Findlay st and turning it into a bar/restaurant.

 

Also in that packet, there's work proposed for 26 W McMicken, adding new balconies and windows... the architectural drawings for the interior are a bit funky (can't tell what's existing vs proposed, and the plans are several years old, so it's not clear what will be completed right now)...  but in any case, glad to see work being done on that building, since it's quite large. Hopefully they will be replacing the glass block windows that face McMicken.

Urban Sites is going to renovate 1200 Race St, which consists of 16 apartments: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/07/05/exclusive-urban-sites-upgrading-apartments-along.html

 

 

Not sure if any major exterior modifications will be made, but they'll be putting in central air, so at the very least the window AC units will be removed.

Was it low income housing before then?

Exterior modifications include paint and tuckpointing.

 

 

It was not low income housing; just low-end market rate housing.

Spaces leases office at 15th & Vine - Cincinnati Business Courier

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2018/07/06/exclusive-huge-coworking-space-coming-to-over-the.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search

 

They will be leasing the entire upper floor from what I understand.

 

Also, long time Hyde Park retailor, world of beads, is moving to 1429 Vine st.

 

3cdc leasing team is simply killing it right now.

Can anyone clarify this. As pointed out before, 3cdc is planning to build a parking garage behind (the eventual demolished) Kroger site on Vine, facing walnut st.

 

My question is, isn’t that land owned by the Wades? Does this mean they sold some of their parcels to 3cdc?

 

Or maybe I’m confusing all of this, and this won’t actually occupy the walnut parcel, but rather just occupy where that red warehouse looking structure is...

Can anyone clarify this. As pointed out before, 3cdc is planning to build a parking garage behind (the eventual demolished) Kroger site on Vine, facing walnut st.

 

My question is, isn’t that land owned by the Wades? Does this mean they sold some of their parcels to 3cdc?

 

Or maybe I’m confusing all of this, and this won’t actually occupy the walnut parcel, but rather just occupy where that red warehouse looking structure is...

 

The plan is all the existing structures that belong to Kroger on Vine St. will be sold to 3CDC for $1. These structures will be torn down and made into the parking garage. I am sure there are a couple plots surround the grocery and warehouse building that Kroger doesnt own but that wont hinder the plans for a new parking structure.

Thank god! Parking Requirements rule will go away by August for new businesses/housing development in OTR. Was such a stupid requirement and thank god level heads prevail.

Well wasn’t expecting this:

 

Cincinnati plan would allow new housing, businesses in OTR without new parking

 

https://cin.ci/2zuTUCT

 

Gonna need all urbanist hands on deck to support this one.

 

Big picture thought on parking minimums: how absurd (and how much hubris is it) is it that we think it’s possible to micromanage the parking spaces of thousands of residents, visitors, and downtown workers, with dynamic needs that change over time, that together function as an organic, non-linear system, anyway? No wonder minimums cause market distortions and prevent growth. They are ham-fisted interventionalism.

How would this affect density in otr? Was parking requirements really an issue for density before? I was under the impression developers just weren’t interested in creating more dense unit housing.

Well, fore example, wasn't the new bar by the owners of Senate at the corner of Liberty and Walnut downsized because they had to include more space for parking?

Cranley's stance has been the same all along: Citywide residents already helped bring the streetcar and Washington Park's makeover to Over-the-Rhine, so they should have access to parking.

 

This is the most absurd thing I've heard out of Cranley in a while; it's almost as if he doesn't understand how urbanism works...  ::)

Ironically, it looks like developers who funded Cranley might be pushing for this change. 

City Council actually first introduced this change in 2012, but the city administration is just now getting around to implementing it, because Cranley.

 

Also, I wouldn't quite call it a "done deal" yet. There's some possibility that neighborhood NIMBYs will object and this change won't go through.

 

If you support the elimination of minimum parking requirements in OTR, you should probably send an email to the address on this postcard.

How would this affect density in otr? Was parking requirements really an issue for density before? I was under the impression developers just weren’t interested in creating more dense unit housing.

 

It's just hard to fit parking in an urban environment so people end up using valuable space for parking. It also makes housing less affordable, adding thousands of dollars to the cost of development that gets passed on to consumers.

And the reality is that development without attached parking does just fine. I bought my condo in Westfalen Lofts Phase 2 which had (I think) 42 units and no attached parking and they had zero issue selling them all. A big part of that was that the units were priced really well because the associated cost of the structured parking requirements for a development that size were non-existent. For those of us with a car in the building, we did whatever worked for us, whether that meant Washington Park Garage, parking in the unmetered parts of the area, somewhere else, etc.

Big picture thought on parking minimums: how absurd (and how much hubris is it) is it that we think it’s possible to micromanage the parking spaces of thousands of residents, visitors, and downtown workers, with dynamic needs that change over time, that together function as an organic, non-linear system, anyway? No wonder minimums cause market distortions and prevent growth. They are ham-fisted interventionalism.

 

This is a really good point. Besides the obvious burden to developers and historic preservation that the parking minimums create, we are assuming that in 10 years the same number of people will be driving and parking downtown. Between transit, uber/lyft, and future self driving technology we really have no idea what the parking will need to be in the future.

 

Especially in the historic districts and neighborhoods there should be absolutely no parking minimums, those neighborhoods were built before cars were even invented, so why try to shoehorn them in now? I don't care about downtown's requirements quite as much, but this should absolutely be applied to OTR and Pendleton.

Big picture thought on parking minimums: how absurd (and how much hubris is it) is it that we think it’s possible to micromanage the parking spaces of thousands of residents, visitors, and downtown workers, with dynamic needs that change over time, that together function as an organic, non-linear system, anyway? No wonder minimums cause market distortions and prevent growth. They are ham-fisted interventionalism.

 

I would say it's both micromanaging and a clumsy brute force situation.  It's micromanaged in the sense that there's specific requirements for nearly every type of housing or business, which makes changing uses very difficult later on, even if it's just changing from a dentist's office to an accounting firm.  On the other hand, the brute force nature of it is that parking is maximized to try to cover all worst-case scenarios, leading to huge redundancy and waste.  So it's not dialed-in per se, it's just "throw as much parking in as possible."

Well wasn’t expecting this:

 

Cincinnati plan would allow new housing, businesses in OTR without new parking

 

https://cin.ci/2zuTUCT

 

Gonna need all urbanist hands on deck to support this one.

 

Big picture thought on parking minimums: how absurd (and how much hubris is it) is it that we think it’s possible to micromanage the parking spaces of thousands of residents, visitors, and downtown workers, with dynamic needs that change over time, that together function as an organic, non-linear system, anyway? No wonder minimums cause market distortions and prevent growth. They are ham-fisted interventionalism.

 

While city staff is proposing a residential parking permit plan south of Liberty in conjunction with the elimination of parking requirements (which is fantastic), a better strategy would to hold off on the residential permits and a perform a comprehensive study of short and long term parking needs and how they will be addressed.

 

Locking in a poorly thought out residential permit plan in only a portion of the neighborhood will make it that much harder to have a more comprehensive solution in the future. The plan basically picks a random number of spaces and assigns them to be permit or flex spaces, with no understanding of the actual demand.

 

A comprehensive study should be undertaken with a portion of the additional funds being raised by the recent meter rate/hour hikes to have an independent third party analyze current and future demand when the neighborhood is fully built out. The study should also include short, medium, and long term solutions including with structured parking on a block by block level, mix of metered/free spaces, dynamic pricing, etc as well as additional transit options.

I just noticed that the Enquirer headline about the relaxing of minimum parking is "Is parking going to get more difficult in OTR?", because of course that's what they would headline it as.

The proposed residential street parking is dumb, because all the side streets are already full of residents looking for places to park, and all this will do is make it harder for visitors to park and make residents buy permits.  There will be a lot more people trying to buy the permits than there will be spaces.

Give OTR residents an option to buy a special Banks Garage pass that comes with a monthly streetcar pass. Heck, this should already exist anyway.

I just noticed that the Enquirer headline about the relaxing of minimum parking is "Is parking going to get more difficult in OTR?", because of course that's what they would headline it as.

 

Unfortunately I suspect that adventurous parkers are encroaching on Clifton Heights, as I increasingly see cars parked on the lower half of W. Clifton, below the Bellevue Incline pier.  Earlier this year, while UC was still in session, I saw overnight parking take almost every possible spot between Hastings and Vine.  That's a huge number of people in that area with cars that didn't have cars in 2012 when I moved to Mulberry St. 

 

So along with resident parking for OTR, it might soon be needed for Clifton Heights below Warner St. 

 

I noticed earlier today by Vine St, that the krukemeyer building ground floor is being used for the construction HQ for the new 15th and vine project. I also noticed construction vehicles on the gravel lot as well. It seems like 3cdc is eager to get this infill project off the ground fast.

I just hope they don't discover Prospect Hill - I can usually find at least one spot up there whenever I need to go downtown for something, and I'd prefer not to lose that!

I just hope they don't discover Prospect Hill - I can usually find at least one spot up there whenever I need to go downtown for something, and I'd prefer not to lose that!

 

Findlay Market is completely reliant upon cars...hopefully Findlay Playground can be rebuilt in the next five years with an underground garage and then the current lots can be redeveloped one-by-one. 

I just hope they don't discover Prospect Hill - I can usually find at least one spot up there whenever I need to go downtown for something, and I'd prefer not to lose that!

That's how I felt about clay street 6 or 7 yrs ago.

The proposed residential street parking is dumb, because all the side streets are already full of residents looking for places to park, and all this will do is make it harder for visitors to park and make residents buy permits.  There will be a lot more people trying to buy the permits than there will be spaces.

 

And because Cranley insists that OTR pay for everything themselves the program has to be financially self sufficient, unlike every other neighborhood it has been enacted in, meaning permits will probably cost a couple hundred bucks a year. Can you imagine the outcry when someone spends that money and won't even be able to use it?

^exactly.  I'll spend $150 for a residential parking permit and meanwhile, every space on my street is already taken with meters, so I try to get one of the un-metered spaces 2 blocks away, and their already full with the residents who live on that block. 

 

Maybe just meter every space and be done with it.