The Community Revitalization Agency (formerly the Miami Purchase Preservation Fund) is seeking a loan from the city's HOME funds for $217,000 to renovate 8 buildings as affordable housing rental units.

 

In OTR, these buildings are 1622 Logan, 1627 Walnut, 1624-1626 Moore, and 1642-1644 Vine.

 

They will also work on 850 Dayton, 1916 Colerain and 2258 Vine.  The West End projects will be posted in that thread.

 

The total project cost is $5,257,631.  I'm unsure about their other sources of money, but they do get federal Section 8 grants and all kinds of stuff from programs like that.

 

I won't get into all of the legalese, but this project has the support, in writing, of the Over-the-Rhine Community Council.  It has gone to Finance Committee and it is expected that this will go through council without trouble.

 

If you're into that sort of thing and really want to know what's in the agreement, the whole 47 pages can be found here:

http://city-egov.rcc.org/BASISCGI/BASIS/council/public/child/DDD/17635.pdf

 

 

In other news, the city is getting around to demolishing 1426 Pleasant, which is city-owned and has been vacant for quite some time. 

 

Here you can see how much of Pleasant St. is missing.  1426 Pleasant St. is the one with the arrow:

 

New info on Vine Street development:

 

http://www.3cdc.org/content.jsp?articleId=236

 

Apparently 3cdc has already begun construction on another 48 units in addition to the Gateway units.  Pretty exciting stuff.

Post courtesy of Michael Redmond....

 

 

This is the now approved plan for the top of Main St in front of Rothenberg.  This plan includes lighting and trees as well as a change of the street by way of a bump out of the sidewalk.

 

 

(NOTE: Rothenburg would be off of the left side of this image.  It's tilted to the left 90 degrees.)

Just wondering, but who's going to implement this plan.  I've noticed many of the buildings at the corner of Main and Liberty (many of those in the above photo) have been boarded up recently as if they're being prepped for construction.  Is this somehow related?  It's certainly exciting. 

Thank you Grasscat

 

Vernon Rader was the one who pushed this through.  He is also the one who ownes the 5 boarded up buildings you are talking about.  He spent last year on exterior work and now is moving to the inside.  Vernon is moving forward with what will soon be market rate apt.  In addition to what can be seen above, the electric lines will be buried.

the electric lines buried!!!  that makes my day.  i say we all buy a building in otr, renovate it, and live there.  come on everyone, follow me!!!  wahoo.  sorry...been studying way too much and drinking red bull.  finals week at osu fast approaching!

That streetscaping plan will look a whole lot better than the current intersection!  How soon will the city make these improvements?

Other news,

 

as most have probably seen the tire building is coming down as we speak next to Don's Crank Shaft building. Word on the street is Vernon Rader is trying to get Don's. Hopefully within a week or so all of the graffiti on the Rothenberg fence (next to the Basketball courts) will be removed as well as the graffiti running all the way down E. Clifton.

 

Sunshine on Peete St. We are in the process of removing a lot of the overgrowth on Peete St expecially next to the steps going from Peete to Vine. After it is cleared, it will be landscaped similar to the Main St Steps on Mulberry. We will try this year to get Peete Alley blocked so we can prevent further dumping. Joe Gorman will have his lots cleared on Mulberry which will open up one of the most incredible views from street level of the city. This will probably happen over the next couple of weeks.  Also the Main St. steps were cleared last year from Mulberry to Seitz, this year, hopefully before the cleanup, we are going to clear back the steps going all the way up the hill by 3 ft on both sides to add a little light to what is now a tunnel of trees.

 

E. Clifton is almost entirely vacant from Frintz to Vine. We are looking for a single developer to take buy this section and rehab the entire block. Footstool properties already is under construction on one of the buildings.

 

 

^ Let us know when the cleanup on Mulberry is over so I can come check that out!

 

Great news on Don's, too!

Go Mr. Redmon Go!  The dead end of Peete St. is very rough.  As a fan of the Cincy steps, I am familiar with that set from Peete down to Vine. There are some mangey dogs right there, but fenced in.  The bottom of the steps on Vine St. have a (what was once) a very nice entrance for the steps. 

 

Here are a few pix I took today around the Main/E. Clifton/Liberty streets area.  (coincidence that I happened to take a couple of that demolition that Michael mentioned.

 

looking north on Main over Liberty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well OTR fan, its coming back.  Tarbell has dubbed it REPeete. Those steps we thought would take us several years to get to, but the trees are coming down now. The Dept. of Urban Forestry did a walk through of the entire area from Mulberry down to McMicken early last week and we are laying out a phased approach to Peete and E. Clifton that should be well on its way by this fall with new planting.

 

Some very exciting things are in the works from Liberty and up so keep snapping the pics, things will be changing. If you get a chance, walk down Peete to the end and at the corner of Peete and Frintz, some of the changes have begun.

I accept your challenge!  Keep up the good work. :clap:

 

 

here are the Vine to Peete Sts. steps, just for a "before" visual !

 

 

once on Peete, here are the steps on up to Mulberry

 

 

 

 

Does anyone know what is going on with the building on the right hand side of this photo?  It has had quite a bit of work done, just curious as it is a pretty high profile corner which could really jump things across Liberty along Main St.

 

* Gary Mark Custom Homes has purchased empty lots at 508 and 514 Dandridge St. and at 1318 Pendleton St.  The lots are contiguous.  There may finally be some new construction action on the Dandridge Townhomes, which were first proposed in 2003.

 

* Model Management is getting ready to do a major remodel to provide 10 market-rate apartments at 275 W. McMicken Ave.  (Auditor lists property as 274 Stark.)  The property, which was built around 1875, currently has 18 units.

 

* The Community Revitalization Agency (CRA) loan referenced in this post passed council unanimously.  CRA will be renovating 1622 Logan, 1627 Walnut, 1624-1626 Moore and 1642-1644 Vine into rental apartments. 

 

* This may be better addressed by Michael Redmond, but I noticed that the following properties were for sale.  These were supposed to be rehab projects, which I mentioned in this post.  Do you know anything about these?:

      2 Hust Alley, 29 E. Clifton, 41 E. Clifton, 57 E. Clifton and 1918 Vine

 

I have those 5 listed.  They are all located between Frintz and Vine on E. Clifton.  We are also trying to get the rest of the properties under contract so that it can be sold off to a single developer.  Hohlbein is pushing forward with his Peete properties and 1 E. Clifton property (72 E. Clifton)  1918 vine and 2 Hust Alley are side by side and outside the original project. 

We are also trying to sell 111 Mulberry and 102 Peete, these two, although quietly for sale, can be sold as shells or as finished product.  111 has views from every floor and is huge, but 102 is the carriage house on Peete and could be a beautiful home and a garage can be added on the East side of the home.  This pic below is an older pic, the house to the west (the far side) was owned by a little old man named Wilbur Adams (he died less than a year ago) and the house has been torn down.  The trees in the second pic are coming down at 4:00 today.

 

102 Peete

 

 

 

111 Mulberry

Quiet rebirth in Over-the-Rhine

Developers launch $16.7M renovation

BY MARLA MATZER ROSE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

Over-the-Rhine has taken its victories where it could get them in recent years. The neighborhood is one of stark contrasts, home to a nationally recognized collection of 19th-century Italianate buildings and a crime problem that residents and police say is rooted in the drug trade.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060326/NEWS01/603260422

Large scale development is really the only the way to clean up the drugs and crime. But it's discouraging to hear the Art Academy having a drop of enrollment since the move to OTR. In another article that was news to me was the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra considering moving from Music Hall. Things aren't happening fast enough even for them. It doesn't help that people like to throw road blocks every step of the way. There really needs to be a sense of urgency by everyone, city hall, police, residence. This could be the only chance to turn things around.

I feel there has been progress in the OTR over the past decade. It used to be where I found the whole neighborhood outside the main entertainment area threatening. It seems that the areas east of Walnut or even vine have become fairly safe. It seems that the area from Vine to the west is still a very rough area and there is a lot of progress to be made. Considering 10+ years ago the entire area north of Central Parkway was very rough shows that there has been significant progress. There is still a lot to go however. I wish the article would have touched on some of the successes in the OTR over the past 10 years.

I wish the article would have touched on some of the successes in the OTR over the past 10 years.

 

I agree, some coverage of the progress that has been made would be a nice step in the direction of turning the public's opinion of OTR for the better.  Instead, we get this gem:

 

Decades of inaction and reports now lying on dust-covered shelves stand in testament to the social and economic complexities in a neighborhood that, through it all, has attracted a trickle of new residents in recent years to a dozen or so new or renovated buildings.

 

There have been far more than a dozen building renovations in OTR in "recent years."  And while a "trickle" is more accurate than a "flood" or even a "stream" of new residents, I'm sure that the number of residents in these new or rehabbed apartments and condos is around 200-300, not just a few dozen as the article implies.

yeah, i was going to say something about the "dozen or so" buildings.  pure enquirer material right there.

I got chills reading this article on Sunday.  Seeing the maps of how many and the clusters of bldgs. that 3CDC controls is encouraging.  3CDC has proven themselves to me thusfar and I only looked forward to every project they are involved with from now on.  The Washington Park area is on the cusp of a major turnaround.  When these bldgs are rehabbed, by 3CDC, the SCPA is complete, and the addition to Washington Park is complete this will be a completely gorgeous area.

 

Just north of this area is the Findlay Market District and then the Brewery District.  Both of these areas are also seeing an abundance of new investment and will too be reborn with new life/glory.

 

It seems as though each area throughout OTR is seeing its own little renaisance.  When these rebirths grow into one another you will see a GREAT OTR!!!

 

On another note:  I dont understand the idea of the symphony moving out of Music Hall.  If they have stuck around this long why not wait another 2-3 years for the rebirth of a national gem (OTR).

<i>I'm not in OTR on daily basis(maybe once a month) so I put a lot of stock in Nick's opinions. He isn't a social service nazi or a religious nut republican. He sounds downright reasonable to me. I hope city council is listening.</i>

 

<b>The CSO at The Emery?</b>

 

Patience is running out in OTR. Nerves are raw, people are tired, there's a lot of tension in the air.

 

Despite the talk that comes out of City Hall, most people down here do not see things getting better overall. There are small signs of progress here and there, but nowhere near enough. And the empty lines about "taking time to change" and the "slow process" just aren't cutting it.

 

I have been pretty gracious to this new Administration and Council since the November election. But I'll admit to being a tad annoyed at this point that they aren't taking proactive steps to clean this neighborhood up. That they seem to still tiptoe around the thornier issues that MUST be addressed, like social service reform and overconcentration of poverty.

 

They need to find some guts, and soon. Because the residents and business owners down here are fed up, and their anger is close to a tipping point. Want proof?

 

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, one of, if not THE, most powerful entities in the neighborhood, is making some very loud, very public complaints about the Washington Park area, and the clear impact that it is having on attendance. I was just down there yesterday, and Christ... all I could think of was John Alschuler's old comment about parking your car there and daring someone to say the police were doing their jobs.

 

This is real. You're talking now about the CSO, the bars, the condo residents, all talking about getting the hell out of here. Its time to make a choice. Its time to actually do something about this. Otherwise, its all over for Over-the-Rhine, and probably for the entire city.

 

I'm personally disgusted, in case you can't tell. I'm so disappointed in these people I had such high hopes for. I expected a lot more than this.

 

Really, I've kind of given up already. I hear the same stuff I heard five years ago. Projects come and go, and none of them does very much. I mean, remember how the Art Academy was going to change everything? Hundreds of art kids running around the neighborhood? Hardly. Most of them are pretty terrified and run from point a to point b. I do the same thing. I can barely stand walking around down here, you can bothered so much.

 

You can't build around the drug dealers, the mentally ill, the addicts, the aggressive panhandlers, the prostitutes. Its not working, and its not going to work.

 

I'm sick of talking about talking about, thinking about it, fighting about. I thought this Mayor and this Council would change this stuff, but I see nothing, I repeat, NOTHING so far. They just kind of shrug, or talk about 3CDC's "plans."

 

Wow, more plans. How exciting.

 

Again, the answer here isn't more loan programs, or even more developments, until you clear out the barriers to growth. Those condos on Vine aren't selling for a reason. This neighborhood has got to stop offering a one stop shop for homeless crackheads. Nobody wants to pay 200k to deal with that!

 

The ghost of Buddy Gray keeps people in positions to change this so gutless, and that just disgusts me. Look, they're just WRONG, the evidence is all around us, let's stop placating them and DO SOMETHING.

 

Lest anyone think this post is nothing but complaining, I'd put forward this proposal: move most CSO performances to the now-vacant-and-crumbling Emery Theatre. It would save a historic gem, breathe new life into the Entertainment District, and it would look full every night they play there (the Emery is about 2200 seats total). The acoustics are amazing, there's ample parking nearby, and its at least safer than Washington Park.

 

Unfortunately, I doubt the CSO would move invest in another OTR Space without some major commitments in terms of safety and funding from the City.

 

Once again, City Hall, time to step up.

 

posted by Nick @ 4:18 PM  5 comments

 

http://nickspencer.blogspot.com/

Nick's hit a mean streak of pessimism lately.  You need plans first if you're going to get anything done.  And 3CDC is taking action: the rehabs on Vine St. are underway.  Sure, it's a bummer that only 3 of the Gateway condos have sold so far, but they will sell eventually.  The American Building a block away has sold 70%, every one of them priced higher than the most expensive Gateway condo.  3CDC's actions to date have been decisive, and I am confident they will respond to CSO's concerns.

 

I like his point about Buddy Gray.  Gray's problem was that he thought that OTR belonged to a certain group of people.  His philosophy was exclusive of others who wanted to move into OTR and renovate buildings to live in.  He advocated socioeconomic segregation in the name of helping people escape homelessness and ensuring that low-income people have places to live.  This approach may have some practical appeal in that excluding market-rate residents helps keep a lid on property values so that low-income residents an afford housing.  But low-income residents and their slumlords cannot afford to preserve or maintain the buildings in OTR, and I've never heard of a case where enclosing poor people in crumbling ghettos has done them any good.  So in the long run, his methods ran contrary to his stated goals.  He was simply a well-intentioned fool. 

 

Inarguably, Cincinnati needs a facility like the Drop Inn Center, but it doesn't have to be on Washington Park.  In fact, its users would be better-served by a facility separated from the sections of OTR that remain drug-infested.  Coincidentally, this would better serve the CSO too.

^Well put, but this leads one to the question of what came first?...the chicken or the egg?

 

Is it that poor people are currently in OTR and therefore the Drop Inn Center needs to be there?

Or...

Is it that the Drop Inn Center is located in OTR and therefore the poor have followed it there?

 

 

PS:  I believe the chicken came first due to evolution processes :-)

Nick has done nothing but whine since the election.  :roll: If he doesn't like OTR then maybe he should move to west chester or some other culdesackofshit.

I am a huge fan of the Emery Auditorium, often wishing to win the lottery just to bring it back on line, but can't see the CSO there (yes, I know they were there once, 80 years ago), they are just too well entrenched at Music Hall and for what Emery gains in acoustics and 'right size' it certainly loses in elegance and beauty.  It was built to be a school auditorium at it's root. 

 

I walk around OTR two or three times a week. There are plans and there is reality, there are some people and buildings seemingly really starting to 'dig in', but still way too many idle folks of all stripes.  (I would also take some of my lotto money to fund regular and frequent police foot patrols. -  I see a fair amount of cruisers but don't think I have ever seen them 'on foot'.)

^Cincy needs to take a NYC/Rudolph Guiliani type approach when addressing OTR.  It is simply too important to allow any kind crime occur.  We need foot patrols, officers on horseback, officers on segways, cruisers, undercover cops, the guardian angels, and an active city government to spend money to sure up buildings used in the drug trade (add lighting, keep trespasers out, etc).

 

Lets step up to the plate and once and for all turn around this neighborhood and this city!!!!

I think we should bring down Marshal Law and have a curfew at 8:00, I give it 4 weeks to turn around. ;)

 

 

Nick has done nothing but whine since the election.  :roll: If he doesn't like OTR then maybe he should move to west chester or some other culdesackofshit.

 

I know Nick, I like Nick, he's a good guy.  He also can be a little bit of a downer :).  He's put a lot of his own time and effort into the neighborhood, and he's just not seeing the returns.  I can see where that would be frustrating. 

 

Having lived downtown and in OTR, I know where he's coming from.  Enough talking, more doing. 

Over The Rhine Targets Home Buyers

Reported by: 9News

Web produced by: Mark Sickmiller

Photographed by: 9News

First posted: 3/29/2006 12:24:06 PM

 

If you've thought about moving to the city, here's a great opportunity. 

"Live Buy Design in Over The Rhine," a marketing and financing tool, was

unveiled Wednesday morning.  The people behind it say they are trying

to create a renaissance in Over The Rhine.  They're trying to make it

attractive for you to buy property there.  They have creative financing,

for example, giving you one mortgage for owning and renovating a property.

 

 

Least...informative...article...ever.

<i>The print addition of the Enquirer had a bit more info but I can't find it online. I thought it mentioned the City is tossing in $500K. I thought banks have done these types of loans before and nothing real substantial seems to happen.</i>

 

<b>Mortgage program finances purchase, renovation</b>

 

By Joe Wessels

Post contributor

 

A collection of city and business leaders unveiled a new program today that will allow prospective Over-the-Rhine homebuyers to place purchase and renovation costs under one mortgage.

 

Dubbing it "Live Buy Design in Over-the-Rhine," city leaders, headed by Vice Mayor Jim Tarbell, announced the program at the Gateway Condominiums along Vine Street near Central Parkway.

 

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060329/NEWS01/603290352/-1/all

Does anyone know what was going on on Central Pkwy and Vine tonight? I saw a construction workers out there with bulldozers. The Vine St. entrance was closed also ... just curious.

City contractors have been tearing out and replacing curbs up and down Central Pkwy. all week.  Maybe that's what you saw.

 

It's good to see the city organizing efforts with private banks to get development going.  In the end, this kind of effort may prove to be as important as big, orchestrated redevelopment projects.

they have also been trenching up Central Parkway from Vine all the way up and around to Music Hall and laying what appears to be a new water line (they are not removing any old pipes as far as I can tell).  This work was also being done at this intersection yesterday.

 

They are installing tons of yellow plastic pipe, which I believe is gas lines, not water.  The water lines are black iron. 

What's blue ?

I thought water was blue & gas was yellow.

C-900 or "blue brute" is a common blue plastic water line, but I think Cincinnati and other cities require ductile iron pipe for all the piping in the right-of-way.

<i>Maybe this will help carve out an additional safe haven for the young artists types in OTR.</i>

 

<b>Theater troupe hopes new location brings more funds

Know Theatre in former nightclub near Art Academy</b>

 

Cincinnati Business Courier - March 31, 2006

by Dan Monk

 

Senior Staff Reporter

 

Over-the-Rhine's Know Theatre is hoping to grow attendance and triple revenue by moving to an abandoned nightclub one block south of the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

 

The move adds ballast to a burgeoning arts district in the southwestern corner of Over-the-Rhine, where developers are investing millions in new condominium, entertainment and ground-floor retail projects.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2006/04/03/story5.html

From the 4/5/06 Cincinnati Post:

 

 

Plan restores vacant buildings

By Joe Wessels

Post contributor

 

Fourteen vacant buildings around 12th and Vine in Over-the-Rhine would become home to 48 new condominiums and 12 apartments under a plan presented Tuesday.

 

Staff members of Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation - or 3CDC - explained the plan at Memorial Hall to an audience of about 50 people who included neighborhood and business leaders, residents and other business persons.

 

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060405/NEWS01/604050339/1010/RSS01

 

please God lets see the plan happen and please God let it work.  It is SO essential OTR becomes a viable place to live for most of us.

Six of the townhomes that are going to be built in the 500 block of Dandridge are on the market now.  The price range is $159,900 to $239,900.  These homes will be stone and brick and will be tri-level, with an entry on the first level.  They will have attached garages.  As of now, I don't know if they'll be built with a garage on the front or if they'll work an alley in somehow.

 

1832 Race St. is in the midst of being rehabbed from top to bottom.  This is the same owner who did the rehab work on 1830 Race.

(1832 Race)

 

Also, ReSTOC is renovating its office space on the 100-block of W. Fourteenth.

 

Went house/condo shopping this weekend.

 

We were able to find this link to the Dandridge Project.  My suburban-loving partner is a little apprehensive of OTR living . . . unless it is Prospect Hill (which is Mt. Aburn maybe) and then it is out of our price range generally (or lacks at least a one-car garage.)

http://www.sibcycline.com/builder/builder_display.asp?buildercode=1121&page=locate#downtown

 

We went to see a unit in the American Building.  A lot to be liked but the 2 bedroom/two bath in our price range was really a one bedroom/two bath with a study open to the living area.  We were a little disappointed.  Nice website with pictures: www.theamericanbuilding.com

 

Oh well, we will keep looking.

lacks at least a one-car garage.)

There is more to life than a car, suburban people can't fathom the idea of not having a garage. :drunk: ditch the car and walk.

Max:  I've lived in Boston while in college and never had a car.  You didn't need one.  When I lived in Downtown Cincinnati I had a car but since I also worked downtown I could go over a week without every driving it.  The point is I did/do own one and so does my partner and simple truth is we need a safe, secure parking area for the cars that we do currently need in this city.  If we lived downtown or OTR then I will walk to work no problem, but the car will need to sit somewhere.  And If you are spending $250,000 + on a condo/townhouse downtown or OTR you should get at least one space . . somewhere . .  somehow.  Would I not like to have a car?  Yes.  But my job and the current limitations of this city preclude that . . in my opinion.

Did you look at the gateway condos?  Nice garage space included!

Yeah - Their listed two bedroom (in our price range) is not really two bedrooms.  That's the same case for Park Place at Lytle (study, open to unit).  And as trivial as this may sound, I really do not like the architecture of Gateway.  And one of the big plusses about American Building we thought was you get two parking spaces.  Gateway & Park Place both give you one.

Thanks for the link BallHatGuy.  I guess that answers my question about the garages!

How about the carriage house at 102 Peete.  Will build to suite, and I can even have a two car garage built there for you.  number of bedrooms is up to you, we will vault the cieling the entire length of the home.  Single family, have me as a neighbor.  If you are interested we can sit down with the developer and work up a price.  (not a solicitation, just making a suggestion)  This is not currently on the MLS.

BallHatGuy, I am totally feeling what you are feeling right now.

 

My wife and I are looking for a condo right now as well. We also went to the open houses and everything this past Sunday. Frustrating, very frustrating ...

 

Who would of thought ... so many people want to buy something, but they can't because it's just not there ... everything is sold out so quickly! Cincy just needs a 20, or 30 story tower with nothing but condos. Start out cheaper at the bottom and work their way up in size and price.