14 hours ago, Cygnus said:

Pure Romance / Moxy construction from QCS

 

Does anyone know buildings Pure Romance is going to occupy?

7 minutes ago, Miami-Erie said:

 

Does anyone know buildings Pure Romance is going to occupy?

Pure Romance's new headquarters will be in the cluster of buildings on the southwest corner of that block: https://wedge.hcauditor.org/view/re/0830003013200/2022/cagis_map

 

Most of the construction visible in that photo is from the Moxy hotel project, at 310-314 Main St: https://wedge.hcauditor.org/view/re/0830003013100/2022/cagis_map

 

 

I believe it is the 3-4 building on the corner.  You can see where the new ductwork and hvac are to the right of what looks to be a new elevator shaft.  Then the three buildings to the right of that along with the new addition behind them will be the hotel. 

The second national bank renovation is adding a new exterior stairwell so despite it not being obvious it must be progressing. I hope they do the addition as well but renovating the existing building is a good start. 

1 hour ago, ucgrady said:

The second national bank renovation is adding a new exterior stairwell so despite it not being obvious it must be progressing. I hope they do the addition as well but renovating the existing building is a good start. 

Their site has some updated photos of the renovation and the last photo is still showing the addition so hopefully it’s still going to happen. 
 

https://www.big.dev/project/830-main/

^ I think it may be dead. I thought someone told me recently that they were trying to sell the parking lot off to someone who may want that parcel for a development of some sort. Not sure though.

3CDC hopes Foundry's success will inspire new type of development in Cincinnati

By Abby Miller  –  Reporter, Cincinnati Business Courier

Jul 20, 2023 Updated Jul 20, 2023, 3:41pm EDT

 

When the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. (3CDC) eyed redeveloping the Fountain Place building in the heart of Cincinnati’s downtown, it wasn’t sure what reinvigorating the building would entail – just that it needed to get done.

 

Just three short years after the project was kickstarted in 2020, 3CDC’s vision has come to fruition. The Foundry, a $51 million undertaking at the 3.5-story, 200,000-square-foot building, is now a hub for about 1,100 downtown employees and a variety of businesses.

 

“Everything that we thought and more has happened down there,” Adam Gelter, 3CDC’s executive vice president of real estate, told the Business Courier. “We've been able to attract a ton of interest, so much interest that we're looking at alternate sites to do similar projects, because we know that there's demand.”

 

MORE

https://cincinnatidesignawards.com/entry/cincinnati-takes-on-mass-timber-construction/
 

Just a conceptual design by a student for the parking lots on Sycamore and 7th street, but would fit in nicely with the surrounding buildings and it’s cool that it’s a mass timber construction. 

^kinda odd that the design doesn't make any attempt to work around the 4 historic (and occupied) buildings at the corner of Main and 8th. From both an environmental as well as visual perspective, I think the design would be enhanced by incorporating those existing buildings. 

That won an award?  There are countless examples of useless urban plazas all around the country.  Let's build three more of them. 

19 hours ago, Lazarus said:

That won an award?  There are countless examples of useless urban plazas all around the country.  Let's build three more of them. 

 

Yep, if you put arbitrary colored orbs in an urban plaza people just wet themselves in excitement.  

Looks nice, but we were promised a fortune 100 Global HQ  from a new to market company in that building and by golly we need to hold out until we get that 

I do rather like it as far as student concepts go, but what is it with architects being allergic to corner buildings and street walls? The whole "this building is an object d'art so I can ignore how it interacts with the street and other buildings" is so tiring. 

i will add that it is often the client, not the architect, who wants to "make a statement" or "give a gesture to the community"  or "provide a place for their employees"  that also creates these wasted places.  preserving, reconnecting the streetwall is always my first goal with an urban project.

all those gaps are actually real. They are not murals of parking lots, they are actually parking lots. seems to me it would be better to have retail shops instead of all the forgotten streetwalls. google streetwalls images.

^streetwall refers to a continuous wall of building facades along the street holding the property line along the sidewalk.  not art installations, and not actual walls.

On 8/2/2023 at 8:56 AM, savadams13 said:

 

Yep, if you put arbitrary colored orbs in an urban plaza people just wet themselves in excitement.  

 

A pair of pretty bad metal sculptures were just installed along WH Taft at the entrance to the new apartment complex at Woodburn Ave. 

 

On one hand, the sculptures are objectively bad.  On the other, it made me realize that these developers hardly ever install any artwork at all in these doughnut apartment complexes.  The best we usually get is just printed advertising for the "lifestyle" the complex affords. 

 

 

Definition of streetwall in English Dictionary

(architecture) One of the long side boundaries of a street, formed by buildings, hedges, etc.

 

your dictionary

architecture) One of the long side boundaries of a street, formed by buildings, hedges, etc.

 

Streetwall means the wall of a building or portion of a wall facing a streetline that is below the height of a specified stepback or angular plane, excluding minor recesses for elements such as doorways or intrusions such as bay windows;

 

Streetwall means any exterior wall of a building abutting a public street.

 

Streetwall means the building wall that faces the front of a lot.

 

streetwall: streetwall (English) Origin & history street + wall Noun streetwall (pl. streetwalls) architecture - One of the long side boundaries of a street, formed by buildings, hedges, etc.

 

MASSING and STREET WALL: The street is often described by urban designers as “a large outdoor room.” The ability to shape this room exists on every street, and its walls are defined by the primary façades of its buildings, which create a street wall. How building mass is distributed on a site usually has the greatest impact on a project’s overall appearance and on the strength of the street wall. Breaking down large floor plates and varying a building’s height through the creation of smaller structures or façades is a valuable concept when designing large projects that consume half a block or more. Sculpting a building’s massing can also help avoid big bulky structures, which provide more visual monotony than variety. It is the well-balanced variety of building massing and textures of shadow, light and materials that in total adds to the richness of Downtown’s built environment.

 

Hadid's Urban Carpet.

 

Can an Urban Carpet transistion into a streetwall? Here is an excerpt: Which is not to say that Hadid’s work has no political and theoretical depth, only that she does not talk about it much. Hadid’s image of the city is radically new. It suggests a layering of social complexities, where cultures move and interact with remarkable fluidity, while the public forum retains the energy and vitality of the dense, towering cities that artist-renderer Hugh Ferris drew in the 1920s. 

 

The CINCINNATI Contemporary Art Center could not be better suited to that vision. The building will sit on a 10,000-square-foot corner lot downtown, across the street from the Aronoff Center, a performing arts complex designed by Peter Eisenman, an American architect who is also a key figure in the contemporary avant-garde. Although the arts center’s lobby will be sheathed in glass, conceptually it is intended to be part of the urban street, what Hadid beautifully terms “the urban carpet.” Hadid’s design lifts the galleries 28 feet off the ground, allowing the city to sweep right in underneath.

The lobby will function as an immense public forum, a place for performance and installation artworks, an active extension of the street life outside. The performance hall will be tucked underground, its roof puncturing the lobby with a narrow, knife-like stair leading down along the hall’s outer edge and slightly detaching the hall and the lobby floor, as if the hall were a ship’s prow carving through a sheet of ice.

 

But the design’s most radical feature is in the way that circulation is used to unite art and the street. The museum’s lobby is conceived as a large floating plane that slopes gently upward toward the back of the building, where it becomes a series of ramps that lead up to the galleries. From the ramps, openings are cut through the building’s structural wall, offering unexpected views of the art in the galleries. It is as if Hadid’s urban carpet has been wrapped right into the building. On the upper floors, Hadid has created a compressed landscape of shifting volumes and planes. Galleries, offices, light--all interlock like parts of an intricate 3-D puzzle. Taking advantage of the rooms’ differing heights--typical gallery spaces will be 20 feet high, the offices half that--Hadid is able to create a remarkably complex and compact building: The roof of an office becomes a balcony overlooking a gallery, a floor bends up to become a partition. Even light has physical substance here. The entire building is pierced by three voids--enormous light wells that cut vertically through the structure, illuminating the galleries on each floor. In the Un-Museum, at the top, these voids become giant jewel-like skylights.

That interlocking of forms continues on the building’s exterior as well, where the activity inside is expressed as a collage of various materials: The concrete shell and metal cladding of the galleries, the glass windows of the offices and various electronic displays will all be woven together like a high-tech quilt. As such, the building will read as a perfect expression of the various activities it contains.

Hadid is erasing boundaries--between inside and out, between a controlled and private inner world and the chaotic energy of public life. Crowds will spill into the lobby and down into the performance space below, or sweep up into the galleries above. After hours, the gallery ramp can be closed off, allowing the lobby, cafe and performance hall to remain an active part of the public realm.

Henry James once wrote of a museum high up on a hill, “from whose doors and windows, open to grateful, thirsty millions, the higher, the highest, knowledge, would shine out to bless the land.”  Art and the public now spill through in both directions, the ultimate expression of a democratic egalitarianism. Since the early part of this century, museums have struggled uneasily with their shifting role vis-a-vis the common man. 

 

With a little manipulation or usage of the word streetwall, becomes an urban carpet. and maybe includes art. Anyway, seems there are several definitions of streetwall. In many of the definitions "hedges and etc." fall within the definitions of streetwall. 

 

 

where did that hadid bit come from?

Eisenman designed the aronoff at UC...not the aronoff downtown. That was Pelli.
 

. 

21 hours ago, zsnyder said:

where did that hadid bit come from?

Eisenman designed the aronoff at UC...not the aronoff downtown. That was Pelli

here is the title for the article I quoted: A mix of the urban and urbane: Zaha Hadid’s remarkable Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center

if I left important information out it was merely a mistake. If you decide to google the article above and it says something different than I quoted, I stand corrected. If you read it and you find that it makes since then whoever wrote the article is responsible for the naming and claiming to your question. 

 

I copied or tried to copy "parts" of the article to explain why "streetwall" is a term that has more than one definition and usage. Since i live near the CAC downtown I thought that creative architects could take a word and be creative with it. In this case Hadid's "urban carpet". The article explains how hadid was attempting to blur the line between outside/inside and street/floor vs. wall. She claimed that the street scape continued under the feet of the pedistrians into the building then curved up the entire height of the building becoming a wall. A 'streetwall" if you will.

 

When the first ziggurat was designed it had what some would call a street wall. But, when some architect decided to stack ziggurats one on the other the ziggurats became pyramids. In effect, they were just streetwalls stacked on each other.  ziggurat 1, zigguart 2, etc. If creativity and word play is allowed in the architectural language, then Hadid's use of a new term "urban carpet" blurs the definition of streetwall. 

The north side of the Aronoff Center is probably the best postwar block-long streetwall in the city:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1039635,-84.5117625,3a,75y,121.36h,107.52t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNDb7AT9mZrNyHijE6QYgdQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

 

It's now pushing 30 years old but looks new. 

3 hours ago, RJohnson said:

 Hadid's "urban carpet".

 

In no way does anyone think of the back wall of the museum as being a continuation of the ground or sidewalk.  But those in charge love to talk about the "urban carpet", which is pretty much a figment of their resume-padding imaginations. 

 

When you're in the CAC, you feel like you're underground.  Like you're in the underground lobby of the Louvre, or any other underground connection between the new and old section of a museum. 

 

 

34 minutes ago, Lazarus said:

 

 "urban carpet"

 

 

 

 

Carpets aren't concrete.  If they actually want an urban carpet, they ought to lay carpet in the lobby and up the back wall. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Lazarus said:

 

In no way does anyone think of the back wall of the museum as being a continuation of the ground or sidewalk.  But those in charge love to talk about the "urban carpet", which is pretty much a figment of their resume-padding imaginations. 

 

When you're in the CAC, you feel like you're underground.  Like you're in the underground lobby of the Louvre, or any other underground connection between the new and old section of a museum. 

 

 

I wish you wouldn't use "you" in your assessment.  

 

40 minutes ago, Lazarus said:

 

 

Carpets aren't concrete. 

 

 

sometimes words aren't, either.

Far be it from me to define words but i do try to use them.

 

1 hour ago, Lazarus said:

Carpets aren't concrete.  If they actually want an urban carpet, they ought to lay carpet in the lobby and up the back wall. 

 

from a dictionary definition:

a layer of something that covers the ground:

a carpet of snow

Our lawn is a carpet of daisies.

 

 

2 hours ago, Lazarus said:

 

In no way does anyone think of the back wall of the museum as being a continuation of the ground or sidewalk.  But those in charge love to talk about the "urban carpet", which is pretty much a figment of their resume-padding imaginations. 

 

When you're in the CAC, you feel like you're underground.  Like you're in the underground lobby of the Louvre, or any other underground connection between the new and old section of a museum

 

Personally the CAC is not a great piece of architecture for me. In fact, it doesn't rank in the top ten buildings in Cincy. That is one of the biggest reasons I rarely visit CAC. But, Ms. Hadid, designed the building with the idea that urbanites preceive the big city as a place to experiment. And she used and defined the term "urban carpet". There are articles written about Hadid and her conceptual designs. The drawings,3D models and computer generated images were fascinating when the old CAC exhibited them. I remember Time Mag. did a article on the new museum. Calling it something like a transparent building you could look thru. There was a 3D model of that idea. I left the exhibit wondering how they were going to pull that model off. Well they didn't. so way.  take it up with her. 

 

On 8/5/2023 at 5:53 PM, RJohnson said:

Personally the CAC is not a great piece of architecture for me.

 

 

It padded a lot of resumes, and therefore performed its central function. 

 

 

 

Starchitecture is rarely worth the effort long-term. Is the CAC better off for that design than before? Also, why have they made the CAC so discreet to anyone passing by it on the street? Other than that giant banner draping on the side of the building about recent events, there is nothing on the street level to indicate what the building is.

10 hours ago, seicer said:

Starchitecture is rarely worth the effort long-term. Is the CAC better off for that design than before? Also, why have they made the CAC so discreet to anyone passing by it on the street? Other than that giant banner draping on the side of the building about recent events, there is nothing on the street level to indicate what the building is.

 

True, if you're not from here, it doesn't look like it's a museum or something that is open to the public.  I don't know that visitors necessarily connect Metrobot's message board with the building it stands in front of. 

 

I also don't think the lack of front steps is a good feature.  People like to sit on museum steps but this museum doesn't have any.  The layout of the CAC entrance and lobby doesn't have "stable" points where you can wait for people either to come in or come out. 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8, 20231 yr by Lazarus

3CDC proposes $23 million redevelopment of former Saks Fifth Avenue store

 

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/08/07/3cdc-saks-fifth-avenue-redevelopment.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_6&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s

 

I’ve heard they have a office tenant “in mind”

21 minutes ago, 646empire said:

3CDC proposes $23 million redevelopment of former Saks Fifth Avenue store

 

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/08/07/3cdc-saks-fifth-avenue-redevelopment.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_6&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s

 

I’ve heard they have a office tenant “in mind”

Can this building hold additional floors? Even though it doesn’t sound like it’s (sounds more like the Macys redevelopment)  id love to see some additional floors with some apartments. 

1 hour ago, Ucgrad2015 said:

Can this building hold additional floors? Even though it doesn’t sound like it’s (sounds more like the Macys redevelopment)  id love to see some additional floors with some apartments. 

I don’t think additional floors can be added to this building but I could be wrong, and yes from was I understand it’s an extensive renovation that will really transform the building. 23 Million is not a bad price tag at all. Next year is going to be quite the construction scene along west 5th Street with this project, the convention center renovation and new hotel all underway at the same time.

Edited August 7, 20231 yr by 646empire

4 hours ago, seicer said:

Starchitecture is rarely worth the effort long-term. Is the CAC better off for that design than before? Also, why have they made the CAC so discreet to anyone passing by it on the street? Other than that giant banner draping on the side of the building about recent events, there is nothing on the street level to indicate what the building is.

in my opinion the older CAC had better shows. And the construction/presentation quantity was better. But things change and different ideas become the trend or norm. I believe the entrance is suppose to be discreet and has to do with Hadid's "urban carpet".  The entrance is supposed get lost and blend in street. I believe Frank Lloyd Wright hide is entrances in the praire houses. So the street side is no different than the museum side. The building is about concepts. Who knows what people will call our efforts in the future. 

4 hours ago, 646empire said:

I don’t think additional floors can be added to this building but I could be wrong, and yes from was I understand it’s an extensive renovation that will really transform the building. 23 Million is not a bad price tag at all. Next year is going to be quite the construction scene along west 5th Street with this project, the convention center renovation and new hotel all underway at the same time.

 

It was designed to hold a skyscraper atop. I have the plans/proposals in a box somewhere, but all that was built was the base.

8 hours ago, seicer said:

 

It was designed to hold a skyscraper atop. I have the plans/proposals in a box somewhere, but all that was built was the base.

Really?! Very interesting. I couldn’t imagine what that would look like. The Saks building seems like a rather small building to be a base of a skyscraper. Anyway 3CDC from what I have heard has no plans for such a thing. I assumed they would add to The Foundry if they wanted to dip into those kind of waters.

15 hours ago, 646empire said:

3CDC proposes $23 million redevelopment of former Saks Fifth Avenue store

 

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/08/07/3cdc-saks-fifth-avenue-redevelopment.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_6&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s

 

This proposal should be more ambitious IMO.
 

I understand they are trying to repeat the Foundry success, which was a relatively “quick win” on a Cincinnati development timescale, but that building was larger and better looking to start with. There’s no reason to preserve the Saks building unless there are major complications because it houses the Hyatt ballroom.  But, perhaps they want to complete a renovation quickly so that it’s not a construction site or vacant lot when the updated convention center debuts. 
 

IMO A new building should go there. Doesn’t have to be a skyscraper but should have at least 12 stories of residential. It could connect somehow to the Fourth and Race garage.

Edited August 8, 20231 yr by thebillshark

13 minutes ago, thebillshark said:

This proposal should be more ambitious IMO.
 

I understand they are trying to repeat the Foundry success, which was a relatively “quick win” on a Cincinnati development timescale, but that building was larger and better looking to start with. There’s no reason to preserve the Saks building unless there are major complications because it houses the Hyatt ballroom.  But, perhaps they want to complete a renovation quickly so that it’s not a construction site or vacant lot when the updated convention center debuts. 
 

IMO A new building should go there. Doesn’t have to be a skyscraper but should have at least 12 stories of residential. It could connect somehow to the Fourth and Race garage.

Just going to assume that 3CDC has a company that wants to move there quickly and would back out if they decided to add additional floors on top since it would take longer to occupy the space. 

We also have to keep in mind economics are king. Everyone including 3CDC would love to demolish buildings like Saks and construct 12+ story new buildings but it’s just not financially in the cards. I love this proposal and am thrilled they decided against demolishing the building and renovating instead. We don’t need more empty lots waiting 10years for a ground breaking. We also don’t need prominent corners like Saks to sit empty while we wait years and years for a new building to be built. 

As part of this renovation, will they be creating outdoor rooftop space for the Hyatt ballroom? I vaguely remember something but I might be getting it confused with new convention hotel proposal. 

On 8/7/2023 at 5:49 PM, 646empire said:

3CDC proposes $23 million redevelopment of former Saks Fifth Avenue store

 

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/08/07/3cdc-saks-fifth-avenue-redevelopment.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_6&cx_artPos=0#cxrecs_s

 

I’ve heard they have a office tenant “in mind”

Will be interesting to see what they do with both the Hyatt Ballroom on the top floor and the skywalk that runs along the interior second floor. I guess the skywalk will come down here as well. 

38 minutes ago, savadams13 said:

Will be interesting to see what they do with both the Hyatt Ballroom on the top floor and the skywalk that runs along the interior second floor. I guess the skywalk will come down here as well. 

Yes, I heard that the skywalk is definitely coming down and they'll be removing the Wendy's sunroom-inspired glass.

The project is growing on me. Having something to activate the street level with retail and restaurant in that area is needed. Wish the office part could be more dynamic and taller but in the current environment, it is a cheap way to get Class A office space in a city that really needs a reboot of much of that level. 

 

Still would love to see another pure Class A office tower in the future but obviously the market has changed. 

 

I hope it ends up looking better than the rendering in the article!

 

3CDC unveils more details about its plan to redevelop ex-Saks building in downtown Cincinnati

By Chris Wetterich – Staff reporter and columnist, Cincinnati Business Courier

Aug 10, 2023

Updated Aug 10, 2023 9:46am EDT

 

The Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. unveiled images of its plan to overhaul the former Saks Fifth Avenue building downtown, as well as a financing plan at a community engagement session held by the city.

 

Some residents and business owners questioned whether the city-owned site should be subjected to a request for proposals so other developers could bid on it, with one wondering whether a bigger project could be constructed.

 

3CDC plans a $23 million redevelopment of Saks, taking the 75,000-square-foot building at 101 W. Fifth St. and turning it into 66,496 square feet of office space and 8,654 square feet of commercial space. It has asked the city, which paid nearly $3 million for the building, to sell it for $1.

 

MORE

 

I’m hearing a lease is in the works for the old Panera Bread Space at 6th and Vine. Unsure who or what tho, will keep you posted.

3 hours ago, The_Cincinnati_Kid said:

 

I hope it ends up looking better than the rendering in the article!

 

3CDC unveils more details about its plan to redevelop ex-Saks building in downtown Cincinnati

By Chris Wetterich – Staff reporter and columnist, Cincinnati Business Courier

Aug 10, 2023

Updated Aug 10, 2023 9:46am EDT

 

The Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. unveiled images of its plan to overhaul the former Saks Fifth Avenue building downtown, as well as a financing plan at a community engagement session held by the city.

 

Some residents and business owners questioned whether the city-owned site should be subjected to a request for proposals so other developers could bid on it, with one wondering whether a bigger project could be constructed.

 

3CDC plans a $23 million redevelopment of Saks, taking the 75,000-square-foot building at 101 W. Fifth St. and turning it into 66,496 square feet of office space and 8,654 square feet of commercial space. It has asked the city, which paid nearly $3 million for the building, to sell it for $1.

 

MORE

 

 

This said it's a big improvement IMO (I'm just a lay person!) but also in the article mentions removing the skywalks and remaking the streetscape which will also be a huge improvement for the area.

2 hours ago, 646empire said:

I’m hearing a lease is in the works for the old Panera Bread ARBY's Space at 6th and Vine. Unsure who or what tho, will keep you posted.

 

FTFY. 

Gòooooooood mooooooooood fooooooooooood

11 minutes ago, GCrites said:

Gòooooooood mooooooooood fooooooooooood

 

I went to high school with this guy.  Recently his dad died and he invited people to come over and take his furniture. I thought about trading him some roast beef for a lamp but didn't. 

 

58 minutes ago, Lazarus said:

 

I went to high school with this guy.  Recently his dad died and he invited people to come over and take his furniture. I thought about trading him some roast beef for a lamp but didn't. 

 

I enjoyed watching him as the spokesman for Arby's but he just cant quite stack up to Ving Rhames voice of Arby's now

Something small is u/c on Reedy St. in this spot:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1067098,-84.5053578,3a,75y,72.84h,103.94t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLrqSoL7ksJcgDVKj1paW0g!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

5 hours ago, Lazarus said:

Something small is u/c on Reedy St. in this spot:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1067098,-84.5053578,3a,75y,72.84h,103.94t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLrqSoL7ksJcgDVKj1paW0g!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

If I remember correctly it will be a marijuana dispensary.