April 25, 201213 yr Elm Street Acquisition has a mailing address of 1410 Race so I am pretty sure it is a 3CDC subsidiary. They have also bought property N. of Liberty.
April 25, 201213 yr New Asian restaurant coming to Over-the-Rhine http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/blog/2012/04/new-asian-restaurant-coming-to.html An Asian-inspired restaurant has signed a lease for a space at 14th and Vine streets in historic Over-the-Rhine. The restaurant will be named Hapa, and is rumored to be operated by the same owners as Pho Lang Thang. also this little tidbit in there: "Construction work is scheduled to begin on the $53.5 million Mercer Commons development later this year, and officials with The Model Group say to watch for an announcement this summer on a new development in partnership with the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation."
April 25, 201213 yr ^ I hope it's not more low or mixed income. Model is already adding 180 more low income units to their nearly 400 already existing low income units in OTR. 3CDC is trying to play nice by adding low income into their projects. Every low income advocate will hate them no matter what. If they add 30 it's too low. 100? Still too low. Unless they add an equal amount, they won't make josh spring or anyone else like him happy. They should stick to what they do best but make sure they aren't buying occupied property.
April 25, 201213 yr New Asian restaurant coming to Over-the-Rhine http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/blog/2012/04/new-asian-restaurant-coming-to.html An Asian-inspired restaurant has signed a lease for a space at 14th and Vine streets in historic Over-the-Rhine. The restaurant will be named Hapa, and is rumored to be operated by the same owners as Pho Lang Thang. also this little tidbit in there: "Construction work is scheduled to begin on the $53.5 million Mercer Commons development later this year, and officials with The Model Group say to watch for an announcement this summer on a new development in partnership with the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation." And I'm sure it's going to be Hapa-ning! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 26, 201213 yr ^ I hope it's not more low or mixed income. Model is already adding 180 more low income units to their nearly 400 already existing low income units in OTR. 3CDC is trying to play nice by adding low income into their projects. Every low income advocate will hate them no matter what. If they add 30 it's too low. 100? Still too low. Unless they add an equal amount, they won't make josh spring or anyone else like him happy. They should stick to what they do best but make sure they aren't buying occupied property. That's quite a shallow and entitled outlook on the situation. Obviously there are people at both extremes of the spectrum, with people like Josh Spring who want OTR to be THE utopian homeless center of Cincinnati, and people like you who want to see it cleaned up and white washed beyond recognition. There is a balance to be had, and I think the (rightful) consensus among City leaders and 3CDC is that OTR is going to be a place for everyone, and truly embody the ideals of an inclusive community where people from all incomes and classes can find places to live, work, and hang out. Affordable housing shouldn't be included in projects just to throw a bone to the social service agencies, it should be built to ensure that some of the people who have called OTR for years can continue to do so. When no one would touch OTR with a 30 foot pole, there were people living in OTR, raising families, going to the corner stores, etc. The criminal element has to go for OTR to be successful, but the notion that all poor people have to leave is absolutely absurd and shameful.
April 26, 201213 yr ^ there are about 3000 low income units in OTR. Federal guidelines say the vacancy rate of low income offerings is too high and fought to deny 3CDC affordable housing tax credits for adding 30 more units (Model has worked out an exemption, hence why they're basically the only ones adding low income). Back in the day we used to just say put them all in one neighborhood, I don't want to see them". That was wrong & it in no way helped anyone. Today the general school of thought is that mixed income does better than low income towers or federally created ghettos solid with low income. The City of Cincinnati has 90% of the low income offerings in the county. As soon as more is added to the county it's filled. Low income doesn't mean you don't own a car and have to live in OTR to walk everywhere. Many of my low income, section 8 neighbors Definitley have cars. We need to continue spreading out our low income developments across more neighborhoods & dramatically increasing our home ownership base. It's become one of the lowest of a major city in the country and in the end, makes it more difficult to help those in poverty when our city is constantly broke because we lost our middle class. For a healthier balance to OTR, we need more market rare housing, it's already one of the densest low income communities in the country. We shouldn't REMOVE any affordable housing from OTR at all, but at 3000 units of low income, it's pretty damn high as is and maybe it can stay there for a little while. (remember 3CDC has only added 200 units of market rate housing in 5 years.) On a grander scale we need more low income housing across the county, evenly.
April 26, 201213 yr Also edale, nothing I said could loosely be interpreted to say kick out the poor people. I even specifically said 3CDC needs to keep buying only empty buildings & not displacing residents. Way to include over the top & extreme language to criticize a good point. OTR has around 3000 low income units & is getting nearly 200 more in the next year and a half. To deny that we should not be filling OTR with low income, even when HUD says it shouldn't be, is living in a fantasy world. No one is saying tear down or convert affordable housing. I'm saying full empty buildings with market rate units to create a stable balanced neighborhood. HUD agrees. Add more low income, but not in poor neighborhoods. That's a recipe for failure. Renovating low income is also necessary. Not adding more to struggling neighborhoods, but creating a higher quality Affordable housing stock is great.
April 26, 201213 yr ^ agree. 14th is way too skinny to make 2-way between Race and Vine. 15th is much wider. Why is it too skinny? Because cars can't travel at 35 mph through it? Tell most European cities that. I agree it's too skinny. You couldnt' make it two way unless you ended all on-street parking there. I guess that would be okay--hadn't really thought about it. But there's no way you can fit two cars down 14th between, say, Vine and Walnut. You can only get one down there now one way with the parking (and there are always cars parked there).
April 26, 201213 yr Also edale, nothing I said could loosely be interpreted to say kick out the poor people. I even specifically said 3CDC needs to keep buying only empty buildings & not displacing residents. Way to include over the top & extreme language to criticize a good point. OTR has around 3000 low income units & is getting nearly 200 more in the next year and a half. To deny that we should not be filling OTR with low income, even when HUD says it shouldn't be, is living in a fantasy world. No one is saying tear down or convert affordable housing. I'm saying full empty buildings with market rate units to create a stable balanced neighborhood. HUD agrees. Add more low income, but not in poor neighborhoods. That's a recipe for failure. Renovating low income is also necessary. Not adding more to struggling neighborhoods, but creating a higher quality Affordable housing stock is great. Apologies if I worded my response too harshly, OC. I agree that affordable housing should be spread out to a certain extent throughout the county, but I do think that OTR/downtown will always have a concentration of social services, and thus should have a higher number of affordable units when compared to the rest of the city or region. When you look at the work 3CDC has done so far (of which I am a HUGE fan), there has been very little attention paid to affordable housing. When redevelopment began, that strategy obviously made sense, but now that we are starting to see a critical mass of non-poor residents moving into southern OTR, affordable housing has to be considered. I do agree that 3CDC themselves might not be the best agency for developing affordable housing, as they are more focused on economic development rather than social welfare. However, I think the partnership 3CDC entered into with OTR Community Housing for the City Home project is a good example of how non-profits with totally different missions can work together to create a project that is beneficial for all parties in OTR. As far as the model group's low income housing, I believe they are doing some pretty innovative and untraditional management strategies. I had a conversation a while back with an exec from Model, who telling me about some of the screening processes and requirements that residents will have to follow through on in order to get and keep their housing.
April 26, 201213 yr ^ agree. 14th is way too skinny to make 2-way between Race and Vine. 15th is much wider. Why is it too skinny? Because cars can't travel at 35 mph through it? Tell most European cities that. I agree it's too skinny. You couldnt' make it two way unless you ended all on-street parking there. I guess that would be okay--hadn't really thought about it. But there's no way you can fit two cars down 14th between, say, Vine and Walnut. You can only get one down there now one way with the parking (and there are always cars parked there). The other option is to make it two-way, keep a lane of parking, but have a situation where if two cars end up on it at the same time trying to go through in opposite directions, one of them has to back up and let the other out. Generally, people won't use it, but it keeps it useable and keeps the parking available. Might not be viable with the American legal system, but it's done on old city streets in Europe. It works if people aren't trying to zip all over with their car.
April 27, 201213 yr There are plenty of narrow streets in Northside. Granted it's three lanes wide, but there is parking on both sides, which leaves just one lane for two-way traffic.
April 27, 201213 yr There are plenty of narrow streets in Northside. Granted it's three lanes wide, but there is parking on both sides, which leaves just one lane for two-way traffic. Hmm, you're right, I didn't think about that. I think they typically have driveways, though, which makes it a lot easier to pass if there is a conflict.
April 27, 201213 yr ^ agree. 14th is way too skinny to make 2-way between Race and Vine. 15th is much wider. Why is it too skinny? Because cars can't travel at 35 mph through it? Tell most European cities that. I agree it's too skinny. You couldnt' make it two way unless you ended all on-street parking there. I guess that would be okay--hadn't really thought about it. But there's no way you can fit two cars down 14th between, say, Vine and Walnut. You can only get one down there now one way with the parking (and there are always cars parked there). The other option is to make it two-way, keep a lane of parking, but have a situation where if two cars end up on it at the same time trying to go through in opposite directions, one of them has to back up and let the other out. Generally, people won't use it, but it keeps it useable and keeps the parking available. Might not be viable with the American legal system, but it's done on old city streets in Europe. It works if people aren't trying to zip all over with their car. I don't think this would work, especially if the idea is that one of the cars might have to backtrack back into Vine Street.
April 28, 201213 yr Japanese Restaurant Coming To OTR Coming soon to Over the Rhine… a Japanese GastroPub and sushi bar that combines three venues into one: a contemporary dining room, a hip bar/lounge, and a year-round, landscaped beer garden. The latest kid on the block of the Gateway Quarter’s bustling restaurant scene is set to open in mid to late fall. The place will be co-owned and operated by Jon Zipperstein and Hideki Harada. Zipperstein is probably best known as the restaurateur of Embers, one of the top dining establishments in the city, and Harada, a native Cincinnatian and Sycamore High alum, will play dual roles as owner/chef. (BTW, Jon Zipperstein is related to the founder of iSPYCINCY). The restaurant concept is Japanese Izakaya. The food will be savory, salty, and go well with alcohol. “We’re taking American favorites into the Japanese style,” said Harada, whose parents are from Japan. “I want to gather all types of food palettes and don’t want to leave anyone behind. Most of the exotic stuff will come out of the sushi bar.” Cont "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
April 28, 201213 yr ^Amazing! I was just thinking about how OTR needed a sushi place! Plus the fact that there will be a lounge element, beer garden, AND the chef has trained in Japan and worked at Embers, Boca, and Nobu(!) AND is a local just has me really stoked for this place!
April 29, 201213 yr This is fantastic news, truly fantastic. This is relatively far north and will move the action up to an area that still has some riff-raff problems. Hopefully this building coming online will force Kroger to clean up their act with monitoring activity in their parking lot and keeping it clean....neither of which happens right now. Our waitress at Senate this weekend indicated that Senate's owners are scoping locations for a new bar concept, but no timeline yet because the owner's wife is about to have twins. So more to come. Also, chatted with the wife of the one of the guys involved in Hapa. She was surprised I knew so much about the concept and location and censored herself a little bit once I started asking specific questions, but did say it will be Pan-Asian incorporating lots of communal seating.
April 30, 201213 yr ^Amazing! I was just thinking about how OTR needed a sushi place! Plus the fact that there will be a lounge element, beer garden, AND the chef has trained in Japan and worked at Embers, Boca, and Nobu(!) AND is a local just has me really stoked for this place! I'm excited too - very interested to see what the year-round landscaped beer garden will look like!
April 30, 201213 yr Looks like Segway's new bike store/annex is open. They are renting those electric bikes that they sell, and hopefully regular bikes as well. Haven't been in yet but from walking by I noticed some cool looking hipstery bikes I assume are for sale. I love how the downtown area is getting two new places to rent bikes within a couple weeks (Smale Park being the other one). I would probably never buy one of those electric bikes but I look forward to cruising around on one sometime!
April 30, 201213 yr Do either of those places do long term rentals (i.e. days, rather than hours)? If so, for reasonable rates?
April 30, 201213 yr I checked out one of their electric bikes soon after they opened 2 or 3 years ago. They make a lot of sense for people who aren't in particularly good shape who need a boost going up the city's hills. But the battery adds a ton of weight, so it seemed to me that you'd be stuck wanting the power assist all the time. It also isn't very practical for the simple reason that getting one stolen is a much bigger hit than an ordinary bike. So if you lived in Mt. Adams and worked downtown they could make a lot of sense if you have a place indoors to keep the bike (when I worked downtown I took my bike up to where I worked on the 4th floor). But chaining them to a bike rack seems like a bad idea.
May 1, 201213 yr ^- I rented one of these electric bikes when I was in San Francisco last Jan. Since my legs aren't as in good a shape as they would be in the summer and SF is quiet hilly (and you use different muscles for hills than flatlands - like I'm used to in Chicago) they were really nice for getting around. The only issue was the weight of the battery was annoying when I was on flatter areas, but it was worth it for being able to conquer the hills in such a compact walkable city.
May 1, 201213 yr ^Amazing! I was just thinking about how OTR needed a sushi place! Plus the fact that there will be a lounge element, beer garden, AND the chef has trained in Japan and worked at Embers, Boca, and Nobu(!) AND is a local just has me really stoked for this place! I just wanted to point out that OTR already has a sushi bar and lounge called Mixx. That said, I think the neighborhood will be able to support both sushi places.
May 1, 201213 yr Ok, you're right. We should clarify, this will be a shooting & gun free sushi bar. Now they're different! :)
May 1, 201213 yr Pet Wants is moving to 1409 Vine. While sorry to see them leave Findlay, it's a good move (closer to me) and will help fill the Parvis retail row a little bit.
May 1, 201213 yr Looks like they are repainting the Ensemble Theater. No more faux stone/marble finish.
May 1, 201213 yr ^^ saw that yesterday. looks SO much better. I never actually noticed all the great detail on the facade until it was all white yesterday...go figure.
May 1, 201213 yr I can't tell if it's going to be white, or if it's just being primed for some other paint job.
May 1, 201213 yr I really hope it's a primer. The white looks terrible. Imagine what that would look like after a few seasons of weathering.
May 1, 201213 yr Pet Wants is moving to 1409 Vine. While sorry to see them leave Findlay, it's a good move (closer to me) and will help fill the Parvis retail row a little bit. A good example of a store that sells "staples/essentials" wanting to move closer to residents.
May 2, 201213 yr Looks like they are repainting the Ensemble Theater. No more faux stone/marble finish. Wow, good news. I always hated that. But in all honesty, the crowds at Mixx on Friday and Saturday...yikes! Huh, I thought that was like a gay/hipster bar. Maybe it started out that way and devolved?
May 2, 201213 yr ^ you're joking yes? Mixx is the busiest & popular black bar downtown. Never gay, not hipster.
May 2, 201213 yr Pet Wants is moving to 1409 Vine. While sorry to see them leave Findlay, it's a good move (closer to me) and will help fill the Parvis retail row a little bit. I heard Findlay Market raised her rent by $200 a month.
May 2, 201213 yr ^ you're joking yes? Mixx is the busiest & popular black bar downtown. Never gay, not hipster. Oh. Don't know why I didn't know that. Never been there... I don't think it was around when I last lived in the city. I'm more curious to go there now that I know it's not a "ditto" bar.
May 2, 201213 yr ^ you're joking yes? Mixx is the busiest & popular black bar downtown. Never gay, not hipster. Oh. Don't know why I didn't know that. Never been there... I don't think it was around when I last lived in the city. I'm more curious to go there now that I know it's not a "ditto" bar. In that case, you should check out Biff's afterwards.
May 2, 201213 yr Circa 2002 there was that place with the red light bulb up around the 1600 block of Vine, near the Robocop painting. I dare anyone to claim they ever set foot in it.
May 2, 201213 yr I really hope it's a primer. The white looks terrible. Imagine what that would look like after a few seasons of weathering. I think the white is just primer. I was down there last night and there were some other colors on the building.
May 7, 201213 yr Just to reiterate how ridiculous of a store Charmz is... They currently have knockoff Louis Vuittion bags in their front window...not in a back room or in a a drawer inside, not even out of view to the street...right in the window as you walk by. these along with lime green hooker pants and some other things that generally belong in the trash. Don't their owners know they they can get in serious trouble for selling knockoff goods?
May 7, 201213 yr Just to reiterate how ridiculous of a store Charmz is... They currently have knockoff Louis Vuittion bags in their front window...not in a back room or in a a drawer inside, not even out of view to the street...right in the window as you walk by. these along with lime green hooker pants and some other things that generally belong in the trash. Don't their owners know they they can get in serious trouble for selling knockoff goods? Do they have those in big and tall sizes?
May 8, 201213 yr Just to reiterate how ridiculous of a store Charmz is... They currently have knockoff Louis Vuittion bags in their front window...not in a back room or in a a drawer inside, not even out of view to the street...right in the window as you walk by. these along with lime green hooker pants and some other things that generally belong in the trash. Don't their owners know they they can get in serious trouble for selling knockoff goods? Do they have those in big and tall sizes? Judging by who I've seen in those pants around the neighborhood, I'd say no, but that doesn't stop anyone from making them work.
May 11, 201213 yr Looks like Reser Bicycle Outfitters is opening up a shop at 1419 Vine. Great news. https://www.facebook.com/reser.bicycle.outfitters
May 17, 201213 yr Quan Hapa, new on Vine St from Pho Lang Thang guys http://cincinnati.com/blogs/dining/2012/05/17/quan-hapa-new-on-vine-st-from-pho-lang-thang-guys/ "It’s going to be daring and eccentric, says David Le about the new Asian restaurant he and his partners at Pho Lang Thang are opening in the Gateway Quarter. He, Duy and Bao Nguyen and chef Matt Cranert are opening Quan Hapa (pronounced Wang Ha Pa”) at 1335 Vine St.
May 17, 201213 yr Bicycle shop to open in OTR http://cincinnati.com/blogs/newintown/2012/05/17/bicycle-shop-to-open-in-otr/ "Reser Bicycle Outfitters, a specialty bike shop on Newport’s Monmouth Street, will open a second store in Over-the-Rhine next month."
May 30, 201213 yr I'm assuming this is the most appropriate place to put this. http://overtherhine.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/bill-cunningham-praises-progress-in-otr/ Bill Cunningham was singing OTR's praises on his show. Listening to the clip provided felt like living in a different world where everyone was onboard with the progress in the city, including suburbanites. Hopefully this won't be a one time thing. Hopefully he continues praising progress made in the city to his listeners. Even if only a tiny portion of them listen and try out downtown, that could be a huge plus. You know most of them will enjoy it and tell their friends about the great time they had downtown or in OTR. And word of mouth is more effective than any other form of advertisement.
May 30, 201213 yr ^ Replied/commented here: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,27051.msg623048.html#msg623048
May 30, 201213 yr Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria! Hope this makes celebrating urban progress less of a political identity issue in Cincy. The city's supposed to be for everybody!
May 30, 201213 yr Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria! Hope this makes celebrating urban progress less of a political identity issue in Cincy. The city's supposed to be for everybody! Totally agree with you. Which is why I don't lament the existence of (say) Toby Keith's at the Banks, or the fact that some bars in OTR may start attracting bros. A healthy urban Cincinnati will be attractive to more people than just fairly liberal-leaning young professionals, hipsters, and empty nesters. I might find [insert name of stereotyped class or group of possible resident or visitor] annoying, but it seems like you can't make a city attractive and inviting without making it attractive and inviting to almost everyone. The more the merrier.
Create an account or sign in to comment