May 25, 20232 yr 1 hour ago, cincydave8 said: I find it unlikely the county will move but for years they have wanted to consolidate to one building. Remember, they thought about moving to Mt Airy a few years ago. Right now, most county workers telework at least 3 days a week. On top of that they are given $100 month for a parking stipend. Consolidating to one large building with free parking would probably save the county money. Which almost means the only realistic option is building a new building for all county workers.
May 26, 20232 yr On 5/24/2023 at 1:39 PM, ucgrady said: The courthouse and therefore the attached jail seem like they are guaranteed to stay where they are; but everything else could hypothetically move out of the basin. Though the photo on the Courier article shows the Todd Portune building on Court street, I actually think the more desirable buildings if I was a developer would be the TImes Star building and the Alms & Doepke building. Court street is now getting more popular and it is right next door to Kroger so maybe that one could be converted as well, but Alms & Doepke, especially with the large county garage next door seems like a good conversion candidate. JFS (in the Alms & Doepke Building) has ~1200 employees, so that would make sense in terms of what the media articles are mentioning.
June 1, 20232 yr https://www.cincinnati.com/restricted/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cincinnati.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2F2023%2F05%2F31%2Fdemolition-of-key-downtown-site-blocked-by-developer-claiming-rights%2F70273027007%2F This building may never get demolished the way things are playing out.
June 1, 20232 yr Judge limits demolition on former Convention Place Mall Months after the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority thought it had the legal OK to demolish a decaying downtown building, a Hamilton County Common Pleas Court judge confined such activities to the interior of the building. The latest move in the long-running legal saga over 435 Elm St. came May 26 when Judge Alan Triggs granted a temporary restraining order barring the Port from taking down the building, the vacant former site of Convention Place Mall. On March 20, Magistrate Tom Beridon denied a bid by developer Kingsley + Co., which has a continuing legal dispute with the Port over the rights to develop the building, to stop the Port from tearing down 435 Elm. In April, Kingsley objected to the magistrate’s decision, asking Triggs to reverse it. A decision on the objection had not yet been made. On May 23, Kingsley asked for an emergency status conference because the demolition was underway, calling it “premature, inappropriate” and adding it “will cause irreparable harm.” “Those objections should be resolved before any demolition activity is permitted to proceed,” Kingsley’s attorneys wrote in their motion. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/06/01/435-elm-demolistion-paused.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
June 2, 20232 yr On 6/1/2023 at 1:44 PM, ColDayMan said: The thing is begging to be leveled, for God's sake.
June 7, 20232 yr Divisions Maintenance Group brings staff under one roof at Foundry HQ By Abby Miller – Reporter, Cincinnati Business Courier Jun 6, 2023 One of Greater Cincinnati’s largest private companies has started moving into its new headquarters in downtown Cincinnati, finally bringing its divided employee base under one roof. Divisions Maintenance Group, a fast-growing facilities maintenance company, moved about half of its employees into its headquarters at the Foundry on June 5. Its remaining employees will move into the nearly 100,000-square-foot space at 505 Vine St. on June 12. MORE
June 7, 20232 yr Cincinnati City Council has heartburn over restrictions on new downtown parking lots Cincinnati City Council is poised to extend a near-ban on new surface parking lots downtown and other portions of the urban core, but a key vote will come a day after members expressed concern in the face of opposition by a major parking lot owner and political donor. Council members approved a motion on June 7 to extend an interim development control (IDC) district set to expire Sept. 20 for another six months while Cincinnati’s planning staff studies a permanent ban. The study is unlikely to be complete before the current ban expires. Councilman Mark Jeffreys sponsored the initiative. Jeffreys wants to ban new surface parking lots because he believes they are an inefficient and environmentally unfriendly use of valuable and scarce urban real estate. Surface parking lots are a drain on the city’s tax base because buildings with residents or jobs produce earnings taxes, while surface parking lots generally do not, he added. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/06/07/cincinnati-city-council-parking-ban-vote.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
June 9, 20232 yr The I-Team: https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/i-team/it-could-be-devastating-downtown-businesses-worry-about-future-if-hamilton-county-moves-1-200-workers-out This is a typo - The Baldwin Building is now apartments. I believe they meant one of the neighboring buildings: Makes sense - easily accessible by bus riders: Please no:
June 12, 20232 yr This move will hopefully free up valuable real estate that has higher and better uses than as outdated county offices and cubicle farms.
June 16, 20231 yr Dayton renovator purchases Main Street building, opening apartments and yoga studio, Studio615 A Main Street building will soon transform into a yoga studio and apartments. The three-story property at 615 Main St. was purchased May 31 for $700,000 by Samaan Brothers LLC., according to the Hamilton County auditor. Wasfi Samaan, owner of Dayton-based GTG Renovations, was behind the purchase and is planning two different amenities within the property — an apartment lot and a one-of-a-kind yoga studio called Studio615. Studio615 will be a classic yoga studio, with a large, open room and group classes – but with a twist. The concept will serve a variety of fruit juices by day and will serve alcohol through its bar by night. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/06/16/studio-615-opening-soon.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
June 23, 20231 yr I got an ad on Instagram for a new “Downtown Cincinnati” apartment complex. The renderings didn’t look familiar so I clicked the link and found the website advertising a convenient location only “10 miles to downtown Cincinnati”. What a time to be alive. Developers in Anderson Township are trying to claim to be downtown. https://www.liveatskytop.com/
June 27, 20231 yr There's a construction hoist set up on the north side of the Garfield Suites tower. Anybody know an update on this project? Looks like it last transferred in January of 2022: https://wedge.hcauditor.org/view/re/0770003001300/2022/summary
June 27, 20231 yr Apartments from the business courier was the plan how many is unknown. https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2022/02/23/developer-buys-back-former-garfield-suites.html
June 27, 20231 yr The Shilito Annex building owned by Neyer is undergoing demo/remediation right now, so that looks like that might be finally moving forward as well. Can't remember if that was residential or office but I think the base is going to be mostly parking.
June 28, 20231 yr 19 hours ago, ucgrady said: The Shilito Annex building owned by Neyer is undergoing demo/remediation right now, so that looks like that might be finally moving forward as well. Can't remember if that was residential or office but I think the base is going to be mostly parking. This building has been an empty eyesore for awhile. I hope they pop windows into the facade or add murals or something architectural.
June 28, 20231 yr 20 hours ago, ucnum1 said: Apartments from the business courier was the plan how many is unknown. https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2022/02/23/developer-buys-back-former-garfield-suites.html Its about time something gets done there. That building is perfect and given its setup, not too difficult to renovate back into 1 bed apartments. Plus, they need to reactivate the street level retail on the block.
June 28, 20231 yr 15 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said: Its about time something gets done there. That building is perfect and given its setup, not too difficult to renovate back into 1 bed apartments. Plus, they need to reactivate the street level retail on the block. I agree. It’s one of the surprising buildings that’s sat empty for a long time
June 28, 20231 yr 2 hours ago, 646empire said: I agree. It’s one of the surprising buildings that’s sat empty for a long time Whomever originally owned it and wanted to do a conversion clearly had no idea what they were doing. Yes, it was dated in an 80s motif on the inside but the rooms were fairly big, each one was a suite with a kitchen area which could have easily been converted into 1 bed apartments without having to move any walls, etc. This is the type of hotel to apartment conversion that should have been an easy thing.
June 28, 20231 yr On 6/27/2023 at 1:51 PM, ucgrady said: The Shilito Annex building owned by Neyer is undergoing demo/remediation right now, so that looks like that might be finally moving forward as well. Can't remember if that was residential or office but I think the base is going to be mostly parking. I assume this is still the plan, all garage and office: Shillito's West Redevelopment : KZF Design ▪ Designing Better Futures
June 29, 20231 yr I can't imagine who is financing new office right now with everyone just waiting for the pending commercial real estate crash, but if they already have a tenant lined up I guess it's possible.
June 30, 20231 yr This article mentions a few downtown projects that applied for state historic tax credits, and didn't receive them: https://www.fox19.com/2023/06/29/17-southwest-ohio-projects-win-millions-state-tax-credits/ Quote But multiple huge projects in Downtown Cincinnati lost out. The Carew Tower, whose new owners plan to convert it into apartments and condos, asked for $10 million (the largest a project can receive) and was denied. The Gwynne Building, which received $7.3 million across two previous OHTC funding rounds for conversion into a boutique hotel at a total cost of $163 million, applied to increase its total credits to the $10 million threshold. It was denied as well. The Fourth and Walnut Center, formerly called the First National Bank Building, also applied for $10 million in OHTC credits without success. The vacant building sits prominently one block south of the Mercantile Building and Mercantile Center, which are currently undergoing a $130 million residential conversion. Plans to turn the Fourth and Walnut Center into a hotel surfaced in 2016 and appeared in motion as recently as 2021, when the building was marketed for sale. The Cincinnati Club, which is slated for a $45 million conversion into 45 apartments, failed to receive the $5 million credits for which it asked. 3CDC requested and was denied $5 million for the renovation of the Chong building on Race Street, where brick removal uncovered a Victorian edifice in 2021.
June 30, 20231 yr Very cool to see this building painted as the affordable housing project moves forward. Lived in the power building a block south for a number of years and this area of 9th was always such an eyesore. Edited June 30, 20231 yr by Pdrome513
June 30, 20231 yr On 6/29/2023 at 9:40 AM, ucgrady said: I can't imagine who is financing new office right now with everyone just waiting for the pending commercial real estate crash, but if they already have a tenant lined up I guess it's possible. The demand is still really high for Class A space. It's the glut of dated Class B space that is causing headaches.
July 3, 20231 yr On 6/30/2023 at 2:08 PM, DEPACincy said: The demand is still really high for Class A space. It's the glut of dated Class B space that is causing headaches. I wonder when W&S will try and push their tower project or even the project at the Banks will be revisited as to your point, the local market has a shortage of top Class A space in the urban core. I get interest rates right now make financing such a project untenable, but it would be nice to see the planning move ahead to take advanage of market conditions in a few years when they arrive.
July 3, 20231 yr 1 hour ago, Brutus_buckeye said: I wonder when W&S will try and push their tower project or even the project at the Banks will be revisited as to your point, the local market has a shortage of top Class A space in the urban core. I get interest rates right now make financing such a project untenable, but it would be nice to see the planning move ahead to take advanage of market conditions in a few years when they arrive. I am holding out hope with Crawford Hoying being involved in the banks now. My only concern if they are stretching themselves too thin. They do good work and could be a great asset to the banks. Any of the quality buildings they developed at the Bridge Park development would look leaps and bounds better than most of the crap at the Banks now.
July 3, 20231 yr 3 minutes ago, savadams13 said: I am holding out hope with Crawford Hoying being involved in the banks now. My only concern if they are stretching themselves too thin. They do good work and could be a great asset to the banks. Any of the quality buildings they developed at the Bridge Park development would look leaps and bounds better than most of the crap at the Banks now. I really would love to see W&S move ahead on their new building too.
July 3, 20231 yr 25 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said: I really would love to see W&S move ahead on their new building too. They are waiting for the Recession to hit. They will wait til material prices fall, labor is more abundant. Contractors and suppliers need work then they will break ground. That's how they typically operate.
July 3, 20231 yr 44 minutes ago, savadams13 said: They are waiting for the Recession to hit. They will wait til material prices fall, labor is more abundant. Contractors and suppliers need work then they will break ground. That's how they typically operate. 44 minutes ago, savadams13 said: They are waiting for the Recession to hit. They will wait til material prices fall, labor is more abundant. Contractors and suppliers need work then they will break ground. That's how they typically operate. True, but just with QCS, they had at least released renderings and were pushing the project with an unknown groundbreaking date for about 5 years prior to building it. You would think they would have started that process now to try and build some momentum.
July 3, 20231 yr On 6/30/2023 at 9:12 AM, jwulsin said: This article mentions a few downtown projects that applied for state historic tax credits, and didn't receive them: https://www.fox19.com/2023/06/29/17-southwest-ohio-projects-win-millions-state-tax-credits/ One thing to note on all these projects is that the state historic tax credits awards are competitive (due to limited funding by the state) while federal historic tax credits are not. All of these projects are still able to utilize the federal credits since they were reviewed by SHPO (state historic preservation office) and the feds. State credits are 25% of project costs (hard and soft costs) and federal are 20%. So none of them are entirely shut out.
July 4, 20231 yr 9 hours ago, Brutus_buckeye said: True, but just with QCS, they had at least released renderings and were pushing the project with an unknown groundbreaking date for about 5 years prior to building it. You would think they would have started that process now to try and build some momentum. We could always get this for W&S 🙄
July 4, 20231 yr Quote Posted 19 hours ago 20 hours ago, savadams13 said: They are waiting for the Recession to hit. They will wait til material prices fall, labor is more abundant. Contractors and suppliers need work then they will break ground. That's how they typically operate. 20 hours ago, savadams13 said: They are waiting for the Recession to hit. They will wait til material prices fall, labor is more abundant. Contractors and suppliers need work then they will break ground. That's how they typically operate. True, but just with QCS, they had at least released renderings and were pushing the project with an unknown groundbreaking date for about 5 years prior to building it. You would think they would have started that process now to try and build some momentum. The earliest renderings I remember for Queen City Square were in the mid to late 1980s. The concept changed dramatically over time, it was once two twin towers, one big square building in the middle of the block, and then different variations on what we have today.
July 5, 20231 yr On 7/3/2023 at 10:49 PM, seicer said: We could always get this for W&S 🙄 Not the worst building in the world. Reminds me of more a suburban pharma HQ but it is better than the parking lot. Maybe the Joseph family can build their own corporate HQ on that site and do something semi inspiring with it.
July 5, 20231 yr 59 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said: Not the worst building in the world. Reminds me of more a suburban pharma HQ but it is better than the parking lot. Maybe the Joseph family can build their own corporate HQ on that site and do something semi inspiring with it. I remember this rendering floating around a number of years ago. Reminds me of a modern 580 building. short, squatty with a 50/50 set back
July 5, 20231 yr 6 minutes ago, savadams13 said: I remember this rendering floating around a number of years ago. Reminds me of a modern 580 building. short, squatty with a 50/50 set back I would have liked it better if they stacked each side of the building on top of each other creating a 25-30 story building and then left the area on Sycamore a lot for future development or built a parking garage or something there with street level retail to fill in that corner.
July 5, 20231 yr 8 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said: I would have liked it better if they stacked each side of the building on top of each other creating a 25-30 story building and then left the area on Sycamore a lot for future development or built a parking garage or something there with street level retail to fill in that corner. I think Cincinnati's days of taller structures are a thing of the past. Hell I had hope for the convention center hotel, and yet we get another "squatty body" building as i like to call them.
July 5, 20231 yr 3 hours ago, savadams13 said: I remember this rendering floating around a number of years ago. Reminds me of a modern 580 building. short, squatty with a 50/50 set back It was something proposed for the Dennison Hotel site. That rendering was generic - no details on the "Fortune 100 Headquarters" proposal .
July 6, 20231 yr On 7/5/2023 at 3:00 PM, seicer said: It was something proposed for the Dennison Hotel site. That rendering was generic - no details on the "Fortune 100 Headquarters" proposal . R.I.P.
July 9, 20231 yr On 7/5/2023 at 3:00 PM, seicer said: It was something proposed for the Dennison Hotel site. That rendering was generic - no details on the "Fortune 100 Headquarters" proposal . I remember thinking at the time about what Fortune 100 company would be relocating to that area. Of the local companies at the time, Macy's had their own building (smaller than Fortune 100), P&G was not looking to build and had their site, 5/3 was content in their space, W&S had their HQ site set. Maybe Kroger, or AK Steel at the time, but no Fortune 100 companies were moving to town. Maybe now GE (not being serious here) could have been an option but realistically, what Fortune 100 company would have built a campus there? IT was a joke of a proposal back then
July 17, 20231 yr The Queen City Club did it a few years back... now the University Club is adding an outdoor deck. "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
July 17, 20231 yr On 7/9/2023 at 11:31 AM, Brutus_buckeye said: I remember thinking at the time about what Fortune 100 company would be relocating to that area. Of the local companies at the time, Macy's had their own building (smaller than Fortune 100), P&G was not looking to build and had their site, 5/3 was content in their space, W&S had their HQ site set. Maybe Kroger, or AK Steel at the time, but no Fortune 100 companies were moving to town. Maybe now GE (not being serious here) could have been an option but realistically, what Fortune 100 company would have built a campus there? IT was a joke of a proposal back then It was literally a joke that they floated out as reason to tear down the Dennison.
July 17, 20231 yr 7 minutes ago, TheCOV said: It was literally a joke that they floated out as reason to tear down the Dennison. I understood it was not a serious proposal. It was also a bit of a joke that there was such a fight to tear down that blighted building.
July 18, 20231 yr 21 hours ago, Brutus_buckeye said: I understood it was not a serious proposal. It was also a bit of a joke that there was such a fight to tear down that blighted building. IKR.....instead of trying to figure out the utterly impossible task of redeveloping that derelict old nasty crumbling eyesore into something wonderful, we got nothing. Nothing that adds to the tax base, or contributes to the housing issues in our city. Totally cool!!
July 18, 20231 yr 1 minute ago, TheCOV said: IKR.....instead of trying to figure out the utterly impossible task of redeveloping that derelict old nasty crumbling eyesore into something wonderful, we got nothing. Nothing that adds to the tax base, or contributes to the housing issues in our city. Totally cool!! In the case of the Denison, that may be true at this time. I would argue that if it were a large enough parcel, adding parking for the short term would be beneficial (short term use only). However, they should have a greater plan than just banking the space as a parking lot or greenspace for the indefinite future. As far as the Denison is concerned, IMO it is better in its current condition than a run down eyesore. It is closer to being developed into another place like the Blonde (or dare we say Fortune 100 HQ, LOL) and the developer does not need to deal with the demo costs (and court costs from upset neighbors about demolishing the property)
July 18, 20231 yr There was a very short-lived proposal to renovate the building by 3CDC. Then the Joseph Auto Group (a well-connected family) essentially got the building days later from 3CDC because they didn't want their proposal to happen. It could have been redeveloped, but Joseph Auto Group wanted more of the land adjacent to theirs, so they forced their way into getting the property and demolishing the structure. Pretending the building couldn't have been redeveloped is not true.
July 18, 20231 yr 2 minutes ago, ryanlammi said: There was a very short-lived proposal to renovate the building by 3CDC. Then the Joseph Auto Group (a well-connected family) essentially got the building days later from 3CDC because they didn't want their proposal to happen. It could have been redeveloped, but Joseph Auto Group wanted more of the land adjacent to theirs, so they forced their way into getting the property and demolition the structure. Pretending the building couldn't have been redeveloped is not true. All of this. I remember well. I even believe it was sold under pretense that it would be redeveloped. But it was likely a case of the well connected folks in Cincinnati using a quasi public/private entity to gain control of what was otherwise unobtainable. The whole thing was shady as 'F", and orchestrated by non residents who don't even live in the city or care about it all that much.
July 19, 20231 yr Pure Romance / Moxy construction from QCS "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
July 19, 20231 yr Lytle Park construction from QCS "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
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