6 hours ago, jwulsin said:

The owners also own the adjacent, empty parcel at 118 E McMicken. I'm curious to hear what their plans are for that empty parcel, as well as the rear building at 116 E McMicken. 

 

If I had to guess, I would say they'll use that as a staging area for construction until both buildings at 116 E McMicken are finished.

 

Their plans don't show that being used as an amenity space for 116, but if I were them, I would at least propose a nice fence to provide residents a place to hang out, let their dog out, etc until they develop the lot. Unless they plan on developing the lot shortly after 116 is finished. I know Northcrown owns a lot of properties around that area, so I could see it being a little while before they start any new construction on vacant lots.

On 4/12/2021 at 1:39 PM, Troeros2 said:

I feel like the hype train is starting to die down with rhinegeist.

 

Not sure why they haven’t entered the seltzer market at this point.

 

I can’t drink ipa’s anymore or any beer for that matter. They make me gain weight like crazy and I feel so bloated and heavy.

 

 

They're like the 25th biggest craft brewery in the country, they're not having any issues making money or keeping up their "hype."  Like most breweries they probably just don't want to make seltzers and already have their well established cider line for non beer options.  The tap room also offers wine and cocktails.  They make a lot of other beers besides IPAs and still have the best tap room in arguably the best location the city.  So I don't really agree with anything in this post. 

Also as they've expanded distribution, they've grown in popularity tremendously in other cities. As far as I can tell it's a pretty well respected brewery and held in a high regard by most.

On 4/12/2021 at 1:39 PM, Troeros2 said:

I feel like the hype train is starting to die down with rhinegeist.

 

Not sure why they haven’t entered the seltzer market at this point.

 

I can’t drink ipa’s anymore or any beer for that matter. They make me gain weight like crazy and I feel so bloated and heavy.

 

 

 

I don't see any evidence of this at all. They keep expanding. They are on tap at like 90% of bars, not just here, but also in Columbus, Cleveland, Indy, Pittsburgh, Louisville, etc. I went to Louisville right before the pandemic and asked the waitress at the restaurant I was at if she had any good local recommendations and she started gushing about Rhinegeist. 

So do we have any idea when Liberty and Elm will start construction? Just drove by that empty lot today and it’s screaming out to be developed. 

4 hours ago, Cincy513 said:

So do we have any idea when Liberty and Elm will start construction? Just drove by that empty lot today and it’s screaming out to be developed. 

Not sure how accurate this site is but from it, it’s stating a July start date.

 

 https://www.constructionjournal.com/projects/details/39b99c47cb6b4b6b904f575d7fad30e3.html

 

16 hours ago, DEPACincy said:

I went to Louisville right before the pandemic and asked the waitress at the restaurant I was at if she had any good local recommendations and she started gushing about Rhinegeist. 

Lol. 

Wilkomen buildings were looking good when I drove through OTR yesterday.  Love seeing infill projects. 

The developer just got the final key approval today. 
 

So I’m guessing that site above is accurate to some extent.

 

I’m just glad that eye sore of an open lot will be filled and will hopefully be a catalyst for future north of liberty development.

29 minutes ago, Troeros2 said:

The developer just got the final key approval today. 
 

So I’m guessing that site above is accurate to some extent.

 

I’m just glad that eye sore of an open lot will be filled and will hopefully be a catalyst for future north of liberty development.

Very excited for this project. It will really help bridge the gap between northern and southern OTR. Now to get that cell phone store redeveloped (heard it’s going to be a parking lot).

Saw this on Reddit...

 

https://m.imgur.com/dMcL73h

 

It looks like some type of work is being done between Mecca and the bagelry on walnut st in otr.

 

Anyone know what this is for? I don’t recall anything being announced?

Urban Sites is turning the entire plot of land into a parking lot. I think they are doing some sewer and water line replacements first before it gets paved.

9 minutes ago, OliverHazardPerry said:

Urban Sites is turning the entire plot of land into a parking lot. I think they are doing some sewer and water line replacements first before it gets paved.

Oh...that’s a slightly disappointing. 

 

Not sure why so many larger infill projects seem to be on the back burner lately with more and more parking lot infill projects instead...

Yeah, it's definitely disappointing, but the 3CDC parking lot on the former Kroger site is always full on the weekends and sometimes even on weeknights now. They will make some good money on parking fees until they come up with the funding to actually build a mixed use building. It's a huge parcel, so hopefully we can get something with good density in there eventually.

34 minutes ago, OliverHazardPerry said:

Yeah, it's definitely disappointing, but the 3CDC parking lot on the former Kroger site is always full on the weekends and sometimes even on weeknights now. They will make some good money on parking fees until they come up with the funding to actually build a mixed use building. It's a huge parcel, so hopefully we can get something with good density in there eventually.

I still think that a well lit and well secured surface lot is still better than a dark unlit area full of weeds and litter.

 

At the very least I hope this will help be a catalyst to help bring more businesses into that stretch of walnut.

 

It’s quite a dead zone on that particular block. 
 

Also, somewhat unrelated, but still any word on what the heck is going to happen with grammars bar building? I thought the whole divorce process ended a while back between the wades.

 

I hope the building won’t just be left to rot until a collapse occurs or some drug bum decides to go inside the building a light a fire for the night.

Million-dollar townhomes wrapping up construction in OTR

 

A pair of local developers who partnered on four luxury townhomes in Over-the-Rhine are wrapping up construction on the project.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/04/22/million-dollar-townhomes-otr.html

 

Hmm...much worse than their renderings.

 

This is the type of stuff that makes me so against faux-historicism. These are clearly pulling inspiration from traditional rowhomes, but miss the mark on essentially every detail.

 

- The inset, arched entryways are weirdly tall on the lighter brick buildings.

- The basement windows being square is a really odd proportion that doesn't match its neighbors.

- The split height entry mean the first floor window are oddly high in comparison to the location of the front door

- The front doors look cheap.

- The alternating brick colors, both of which are incorrect for a place like OTR, feels cheesy.

- The horizontal spacing of the windows is off. Too close together and stand against the typical 3 windows seen on buildings of similar proportions in OTR.

- The lighter brick buildings having the light brick banding above the first floor that aligns with the "limestone" is super weird and an odd choice.

- I'm pretty sure I don't need to explain how absolutely garbage those cornices are.

- The upper vents being aligned but only captured within the cornices of the lighter brick buildings seems strange. Just capture them in the cornices for all the buildings. It makes more sense given the context.

- The bricks used for the base, the dark grey and light beige, are both ugly in the overall context.

 

And the thing is, if they weren't going for a faux-historic look, most of these issues could be super easily incorporated into a different design that wouldn't come off as odd because there wouldn't be a great example of the architecture they're trying to "replicate" right next door. It's the reason faux-historicism, if not done extremely well, pretty much always comes off feeling off and slightly cheap.

47 minutes ago, jmicha said:

The alternating brick colors, both of which are incorrect for a place like OTR, feels cheesy

As renovations across town are painting existing brick (usually white because of HGTV), and with the vernacular of brightly painted Italianate in OTR already, I'm surprised developers of new build in OTR don't just use cheap brick of whatever colors they can find and paint each townhome a different color.  

Edited April 22, 20214 yr by ucgrady

1 hour ago, ColDayMan said:

Million-dollar townhomes wrapping up construction in OTR

 

A pair of local developers who partnered on four luxury townhomes in Over-the-Rhine are wrapping up construction on the project.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/04/22/million-dollar-townhomes-otr.html

 

 

The anti-gentrification crowd is nowhere to be found on these. You could've fit a couple dozen apartments on this site and they would've been infinitely more affordable. But they aren't actually worried about affordability. 

9 minutes ago, ucgrady said:

As renovations across town are painting existing brick (usually white because of HGTV), and with the vernacular of brightly painted Italianate in OTR already, I'm surprised developers of new build in OTR don't just use cheap brick of whatever colors they can find and paint each townhome a different color.  

Honestly, I'd be completely on board with that. These four could each have a unique, fun color scheme that differentiates them. Keep the detailing simple and consistent across the four (or with minor variations) and give them personality with color. Then when someone purchases they can be all, "i'm down there, in the green house." Right now it's, "I'm down there, in the red brick townhome that's the incorrect red brick for the time period and geographical location of OTR with the really weird detailing that doesn't quite fit but is repeated two houses down in my neighbor in this group of townhomes that are clearly all identical other than some weird facade choices."

At today's Budget and Finance committee meeting (Item 4 on the agenda), they passed an ordinance to issue tax abatements for a new project at 1646 Vine St to "MKRB1 LLC" for a renovation project consisting of 1,200 square feet of commercial retail space and approximately 5,250 square feet of residential space (8 apartments).

The Budget and Finance committee also approved tax abatements for a Kingsley & Co (owned by Chinedum Ndukwe) proposal:

 

Quote

1923 Elm, LLC, thereby authorizing a 15-year tax exemption for 100% of the value of improvements made to real property located at 1923-1927 Elm Street and 205-207 Henry Street in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati, in connection with the remodeling of an existing building into approximately 13,398 square feet of commercial space, consisting of a 20-room boutique hotel, which remodeling shall be completed in compliance with Leadership in Energy Environmental Design Silver, Gold, or Platinum standards or Living Building Challenge standards, a total construction cost of approximately $4,147,682.

 

6 hours ago, jwulsin said:

The Budget and Finance committee also approved tax abatements for a Kingsley & Co (owned by Chinedum Ndukwe) proposal:

 

 

I was at Rhinegeist last weekend and was wondering what was going on with this building.  I’d love to see the Rhinegeist parking lot filled in one day. 

Chinedum Ndukwe

 

 

 

Oh lord, he owns property in OTR? 

7 hours ago, zsnyder said:

Chinedum Ndukwe

 

Oh lord, he owns property in OTR? 

Sure does. Here's a list of his portfolio, including "available sites": https://kingsleyandcompany.com/what-we-do/projects.html

Saw a truck unloading pallets of material at the ole Short Market vacant lot today. NW corner of Liberty and Sycamore.

Edited April 27, 20214 yr by 1400 Sycamore

18 hours ago, Ucgrad2015 said:

I was at Rhinegeist last weekend and was wondering what was going on with this building.  I’d love to see the Rhinegeist parking lot filled in one day. 

Here is what the Elm St building looked like back in the day. Surprise, they served Moerlein beer. Would be great if they could reopen the corner again to bring back a better streetscape.

Edited April 27, 20214 yr by mcmicken

You can still see what appears to be the worn down step that led into the business from decades of people walking in and out.

 

Has anyone heard about the proposed hotel for 1416 central parkway? 
 

Apperantly they want to demo a section of the historic buildings on that block and from what I understand it’s a rather large hotel chain with height involved.

 

Anyone who has additional details feel free to chime in.

1 hour ago, Troeros2 said:

Has anyone heard about the proposed hotel for 1416 central parkway? 
 

Apperantly they want to demo a section of the historic buildings on that block and from what I understand it’s a rather large hotel chain with height involved.

 

Anyone who has additional details feel free to chime in.

It's from the same development team that is doing The Pitch (and same owners as Cobblestone on Race St). The proposed height is not very tall. Most of the structure would just be 3 stories, with some portions up to 4 stories. They're working on designs, and will be submitting to Historic Conservation Board in the coming months. 

I didn't attend, but I see that yesterday's Historic Conservation Board reviewed applications to renovate 140 Mulberry and build a new duplex at 142 Mulberry, with "front" and "rear" 3-bedroom units. There are some details of the exterior at 142 Mulberry that I don't personally love (or perhaps the drawings are just too low fidelity), but I like seeing this kind of "middle density" new construction. Most of the new construction on Mulberry over the past decade has been single family. So, a duplex (or whatever you call this building type) is nice step up in terms of density. 

 

https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/buildings/historic-conservation/historic-conservation-board/may-3-2021-staff-report-and-case-materials/

 

Proposed renovation for 140 Mulberry, showing the proposed new garage (currently the ground/basement level is a field stone retaining wall):

 

Proposed two-family infill at 142 Mulberry:

 

34 minutes ago, jwulsin said:

It's from the same development team that is doing The Pitch (and same owners as Cobblestone on Race St). The proposed height is not very tall. Most of the structure would just be 3 stories, with some portions up to 4 stories. They're working on designs, and will be submitting to Historic Conservation Board in the coming months. 

Confused why they find to do a tear down instead of a rehab for the hotel project?

4 minutes ago, Troeros2 said:

Confused why they find to do a tear down instead of a rehab for the hotel project?

My understanding is that for the hotel portion, they'll incorporate the 3-story building at 1420 Central Parkway and are proposing to tear down the 2-story building at 1416 Central Parkway.

 

North of Whetsel Alley, they are proposing to tear down 1424 Central Parkway for outdoor/event space connected to The Pitch.

 

The proposed demolitions are shown in red below:

 

 

 

I guess that side of central parkway will become fcc-village.

 

Not necessarily a bad thing but I hope that more fcc inspired bars/restaurants/hotel projects become more spread throughout otr and not just strictly 1 street.

2 minutes ago, Troeros2 said:

I guess that side of central parkway will become fcc-village.

 

Not necessarily a bad thing but I hope that more fcc inspired bars/restaurants/hotel projects become more spread throughout otr and not just strictly 1 street.

Don't get your hopes up. Despite the progress made, the majority of visitors to Downtown still arrive and plan their entire day around their car and parking. Thankfully more and more are using things like the streetcar to move about, but if catering to the FCC crowd is the goal, it'll likely make the most sense directly within line of sight of the stadium.

8 hours ago, Troeros2 said:

Has anyone heard about the proposed hotel for 1416 central parkway? 
 

Apperantly they want to demo a section of the historic buildings on that block and from what I understand it’s a rather large hotel chain with height involved.

 

Anyone who has additional details feel free to chime in.

 

2 hours ago, Miami-Erie said:

 

I think I like it.

 

I’m not gonna complain too much. I would much prefer this flurry of activity thanks to fcc than the dead zone this area used to be prior to fcc.

8 hours ago, Troeros2 said:

I think I like it.

 

I’m not gonna complain too much. I would much prefer this flurry of activity thanks to fcc than the dead zone this area used to be prior to fcc.

It looks good. Wish it was somewhere around 5-6 floors instead, but then we’d probably have the OTRCC complaining that it’s too tall. 

Yeah I just wish it was taller.  Buildings on Central should be at least 5-6 stories, but I'm sure it wouldn't get approved by the idiots on OTRCC.  If those idiots still complain about this 3 story building being too tall then their opinion should just not be even considered moving forward. 

9 hours ago, Troeros2 said:

I think I like it.

 

I’m not gonna complain too much. I would much prefer this flurry of activity thanks to fcc than the dead zone this area used to be prior to fcc.

 

I think it's an upgrade for sure!

 

I am being a bit nitpicky, sure this is being built because of what's going on with FCC but FCC wouldn't be there if it wasn't for the development of OTR, so in substance all this development including FCC stadium is because of all the work in OTR. OTR was kind of hitting that line of Central Parkway anyways already on the west but this will further solidify, along with the road diet deal they are doing. Anyways, I'm being nitpicky, it's all good stuff!

I just hope for more hotels in OTR. 
 

I know the hcb is paranoid with height requirements so I doubt we will ever see a massive brand name hotel in otr.

 

That said, I think otr is special enough to be a tourist destination for many people that live our the tri state region. 
 

I was in Miami this past week and you have streets in south beach that are buzzing with activity from restaurants and bars. Sure they have the nice Art Deco buildings but all I could think was wow how bland the Architecture looks aside from the beautiful baby blue skies and palm trees.

 

Otr keeps growing with activity thanks to the cluster of restaurants and bars and I hope with fcc more traveling opposing fans will be exposed to how beautiful and special otr is while visiting.

 

I hope that this eventually Spurs more hotel development, even if it’s boutique hotels across otr, and eventually Spurs more tourists from outside states.

Looks good, I also wish it was four stories since it's on central parkway but I love the idea of small boutique hotels in OTR. This looks like it's replacing the exterior patio at the Pitch, and also appears to be connected to it (it was mentioned to be the same owners), that makes we wonder if this will include some sort of rooftop patio or exterior space to replace that. 

I agree that more hotels in will be great for OTR.  Gets more people in the area to support the businesses and gives tourists a place to stay actually in the neighborhood.  I bet FCC eventually puts a hotel in the land they own north of the stadium. That one will probably be the highest/biggest one in the area, while the rest will have to be smaller boutiques.  

2 hours ago, ucgrady said:

Looks good, I also wish it was four stories since it's on central parkway but I love the idea of small boutique hotels in OTR. This looks like it's replacing the exterior patio at the Pitch, and also appears to be connected to it (it was mentioned to be the same owners), that makes we wonder if this will include some sort of rooftop patio or exterior space to replace that. 

Yeah - the part north of Whetsel Alley will initially be outdoor space for The Pitch. But after the hotel is built (timing still is uncertain but would probably take at least a year after approvals and financing are complete), there will be a portion of the hotel north of the alley. The Pitch will have a rooftop patio, and the hotel will also have a separate rooftop patio for events.

Just saw that Mad Tree is taking over the Kaze space on Vine.

 

Pretty big news and I was always wondering why mad tree didn’t have more of a presence in the urban core.

3 minutes ago, Troeros2 said:

Just saw that Mad Tree is taking over the Kaze space on Vine.

 

Pretty big news and I was always wondering why mad tree didn’t have more of a presence in the urban core.

Here’s the link. 
 

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2021/05/10/madtree-taking-over-former-kaze-space-in-otr.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_6&cx_artPos=1#cxrecs_s

https://www.madtreebrewing.com/news/madtree-alcove/

There's also an HCB hearing on June 21 about 228 E. Liberty Street (old Convenience store at the northwest corner of Liberty and Sycamore). The space used to be owned by OTR Holdings, which is 3CDC, but the current owner appears to be 

 

FOTOFOCUS CINCINNATI
212 EAST FOURTEENTH ST
CINCINNATI OH 45202

 

I'm really confused by this, and not sure what's going on. Is this still 3CDC related?

That's great news and it's not just the old Kaze courtyard (which is a great space) but also finally includes the redevelopment of Weilerts. From their website, “3CDC has waited more than a decade to find the right partner to bring the old Weilert’s Beer Garden back to life, and we feel we’ve finally found the perfect fit with MadTree’s Alcove” This is awesome news. 

8 minutes ago, ucgrady said:

That's great news and it's not just the old Kaze courtyard (which is a great space) but also finally includes the redevelopment of Weilerts. From their website, “3CDC has waited more than a decade to find the right partner to bring the old Weilert’s Beer Garden back to life, and we feel we’ve finally found the perfect fit with MadTree’s Alcove” This is awesome news. 

That’s beyond amazing news! 
 

The green building is one of the most gorgeous buildings in all of otr in my opinion.

 

I’m glad that not only will it be saved and repurposed but will be repurposed with a group like mad tree that should have massive success in this kind of location. 
 

This type of development is just the kind of news we needed after hearing so many depressing stories of restaurant after restaurant shuttering during the pandemic...hopefully this is a sign of things roaring back as we begin to slowly tip toe out of the pandemic and return to a semblance of normalcy agin!