Damn.

 

"Poffenberger said the developer wanted to get an extension to buy the building, but the seller wasn’t willing to keep extending the closing date."

 

That is the most promising quote I have heard concerning development in this city.  Telling a potential buyer to beat it is a sure sign of strong demand!  Love it!

Maybe the other party interested is Western & Southern, not wanting competition for their boutique hotel at Lytle Park....

I think either way it seems Cincinnati could support more hotel space which in turn will help it generate more conventions, etc.  It is kind of a chicken and egg deal, what comes first?  I think they need to have the infrastructure in place and with the streetcar coming online soon, GE opening soon, the more hotels the better they can feel about accomodations and ramping up competition with say, the Millennium Hotel to reinvest, etc.

EXCLUSIVE: Downtown Cincinnati hotel converting to upscale apartments

 

The owner of Garfield Suites Hotel in downtown Cincinnati plans to convert the 153-unit, full-service all-suites hotel back to rental apartments in 2016. Hotel Capital LLC of Indianapolis informed hotel management recently of its decision to take advantage of the high demand for apartments in Cincinnati’s urban core.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/09/05/exclusive-downtown-cincinnati-hotel-converting-to.html

I think it's very telling that a building built as apartments couldn't make it as such and had to be turned into a hotel and is now converting back because supply can't keep up with demand. This is great news. This will add a lot of permanent people to the 7th-Central parkway area along Vine which is lacking in after-5pm activity at the moment.

Good news. This continues the ongoing trend of how development is happening in Downtown Cincinnati: as new hotels and office space are built, some of the existing buildings are converting to residential.

Back in April, there was speculation that it was going to be renovated into a Hilton: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2015/04/23/downtown-hotel-arms-race/26273277/

 

The Garfield Suites Hotel also is primed for a renovation. Indiana-based Hotel Capital bought out a partner in a joint venture and Douthat said renovations could begin this fall to turn the 16-story, 153-room property into Hilton's Collection Series DoubleTree Suites Hotel.

I wonder if another hotel will cater toward the extended stay hotel demographics. Does anyone know if there are other hotels that have kitchens and a separate bedroom/living room in town?

I wonder if another hotel will cater toward the extended stay hotel demographics. Does anyone know if there are other hotels that have kitchens and a separate bedroom/living room in town?

 

The new Homewood Suites in floors 4-8 of the recently converted old Enquirer building is catering to the extended stay crowd (http://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2015/04/10/modern-hotels-open-old-enquirer-building/25572681/).

One of the two hotels in the old Enquirer building is an extended stay, I believe.  There's also the Residence Inn on 4th St.  I suppose the development of this building into apartments is a good thing, especially because we have been seeing a lot of new hotels being developed/announced, but it's not as great as a building that was formerly vacant or underutilized being converted to residential.  The hotel brings a lot of life to the corner of 8th and Vine, and I doubt the residential building will have the same effect, though it's obviously a good thing to grow the residential population of the CBD.  In all the coverage of this announcement, I've not seen anything about the plans that were announced last year to convert the property to a Doubletree.  It's like that was never planned or announced- strange.

Maybe the Doubletree is going to happen elsewhere?

Maybe the Doubletree is going to happen elsewhere?

 

There is a noticeable lack of higher-end Hilton properties (Hilton, DoubleTree, or Embassy Suites) in the CBD.

Maybe the Doubletree is going to happen elsewhere?

 

There is a noticeable lack of higher-end Hilton properties (Hilton, DoubleTree, or Embassy Suites) in the CBD.

 

There is a Hilton in the CBD (a big one, too--the Netherland Plaza).  There is an Embassy Suites right across the river.  And I have stayed in many DoubleTrees (really like them actually) but I wouldn't call them higher-end.  Definitely full service, but I always think of it as a nice business hotel.  Squarely between a Hilton and an Embassy Suites. 

Maybe the Doubletree is going to happen elsewhere?

 

There is a noticeable lack of higher-end Hilton properties (Hilton, DoubleTree, or Embassy Suites) in the CBD.

 

The Netherlands Plaza is operated under the Hilton flag, and there is an Embassy Suites on the Covington riverfront. Not the CBD, but the Hilton real estate folks probably deem it as covering the downtown Cincinnati area.

Maybe the Doubletree is going to happen elsewhere?

 

There is a noticeable lack of higher-end Hilton properties (Hilton, DoubleTree, or Embassy Suites) in the CBD.

 

There is a Hilton in the CBD (a big one, too--the Netherland Plaza).  There is an Embassy Suites right across the river.  And I have stayed in many DoubleTrees (really like them actually) but I wouldn't call them higher-end.  Definitely full service, but I always think of it as a nice business hotel.  Squarely between a Hilton and an Embassy Suites. 

 

True, I forgot about Netherland Plaza being operated as a Hilton. (They call both Hilton and DoubleTree full-service hotels, which is definitely a bit confusing, and I have found some DoubleTrees to be nicer than Hiltons. Their business-oriented chain is Hilton Garden Inn which is similar to a Courtyard by Marriott.)

Place this in here just to stir the pot a bit...

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,28327.msg757210.html#msg757210

 

The building is on the market, with some interior photos and views from the rooftop terraces: https://www.cbremarketplace.com/listings/20875/default.aspx

 

More info from the Business Courier: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/09/21/exclusive-downtown-cincinnati-hotel-set-for.html

Man, they have a great aerial from that site!

 

Man, that's a great perspective.

 

Makes you realize that if the Macys, Fifth Third Bank, and P and G towers were all taller you'd have a baby Chicago on your hands. Never realized how dense Cincinnati is with corporate towers..just there all not that tall and aren't visibile/hidden from the skyline.

Not to wander OT, but that is a somewhat new perspective (at least to me.)  If it were a wider angle and included more of the west side of CBD, it could be even more impressive.  To me, this looks great because this angle does such a good job of concealing surface lots and focusing on the built up core.  8th and Sycamore fall off the left edge of this shot and will make a nice filler in the future.

 

Funny how this perspective also cuts Carew down to size.  It almost blends in!

I wouldn't be surprised if that photo was taken without permission from someone on this site. Seems to happen pretty often.

Question: What is that 4 layer rectangular decking rising above the SE corner of the CyrusOne(?) building?  I always wondered and would be great for my curiousity if one of you could tell me  :-D

So that picture is taken from a helicopter or plane, right?

So that picture is taken from a helicopter or plane, right?

That photo must have been taken from the air. Definitely NOT from the Garfield Suites (since you can see the Garfield Suites in the photo).

or a drone!

For comparison, here is an aerial photo of Baltimore, a city which Cincinnati is compared in built form though a bit larger:

 

http://darkroom.baltimoresun.com/2013/11/baltimore-skyline/#1

So that picture is taken from a helicopter or plane, right?

That photo must have been taken from the air. Definitely NOT from the Garfield Suites (since you can see the Garfield Suites in the photo).

 

Yeah, I could see that.  Was trying to figure the provenance since the posts kind of made it seem like it was connected to the Garfield Suites somehow. 

Question: What is that 4 layer rectangular decking rising above the SE corner of the CyrusOne(?) building?  I always wondered and would be great for my curiousity if one of you could tell me  :-D

 

I can't for the life of me find a photo, but I'm sure there were some sort of microwave or other radio transmitters/receivers stacked in there. 

^There definitely are. It's a multilayered telecommunications rig. And a very odd/ugly one at that.

Yep.  It's been there for probably 30+ years.

Baltimore's Skyline

 

Former Cincinnati resident currently residing in Baltimore here.

 

In response to IAGuy39's post of Baltimore's aerial photo, I want to point out that the picture of Baltimore show is old (circa 2002) and not representative of Baltimore's downtown today.

 

Since this picture, the area of picture containing a large swath of green (far middle left) has successfully been developed as Albermarle Square, a mixed-use, mixed income HOPE VI housing development. Further north of that, just before the water, (Inner) Harbor East has sprung out of the ground. Harbor East has become the most successful and affluent mixed-use neighborhood downtown. Harbor East is home to many hotels (Four Seasons Hotel & Residence, Marriott & Courtyard by Marriott, Hilton Garden Inn & Homewood Suites, Hyatt Place, and Fairfield Inn), multiple residential high-rises, restaurants (Roy's, Flemings, Oceanaire, Starbucks, and many local outposts), and retail outlets (Under Armour, Arhaus, Whole Foods, J Crew, Antropologie, etc). All of these businesses are housed in multiple towers that further expand downtown Baltimore and extend the skyline far more than the displayed picture.

 

Note: The parking lot in the front right corner is about to be redeveloped to house a much larger Whole Foods store, apartments and condos.

 

[imghttp://][/img]

Ah, I see exactly what you are saying.  Very nice and good for Baltimore on all of their urban development.

EXCLUSIVE: Former P&G office building gets second chance at hotel deal

Oct 26, 2015, 4:50pm EDT

Tom Demeropolis Senior Staff Reporter Cincinnati Business Courier

 

 

After a deal to convert a former Procter & Gamble Co. office building into a boutique luxury hotel died, a different developer has the building under contract with plans to renovate it into a 160-room hotel.

 

NewcrestImage LLC, a Lewisville, Texas-based company, has the building at 299 E. Sixth St. under contract for purchase. Gary Mills, vice president of real estate for NewcrestImage, said the company plans to convert the building into a full-service hotel with a major brand.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/10/26/exclusive-former-p-g-office-building-gets-second.html

Downtown Cincinnati hotel deal falls through, again

For the second time, a deal to convert a former Procter & Gamble office building into a hotel fell through.

 

NewcrestImage LLC, a Lewisville, Texas-based company, had the downtown Cincinnati property under contract in October. However, Bill Poffenberger, executive vice president with JLL in Cincinnati and the listing agent for the building, said it’s back on the market again.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/12/22/exclusive-downtown-cincinnati-hotel-deal-falls.html

It's a sign it should be residential instead.

Agreed.

$70M redevelopment planned for historic downtown Cincinnati office building

 

 

A Florida developer purchased a historic downtown Cincinnati office building and plans to redevelop it into a mixed-use property.

 

Hudson Holdings, headquartered in Delray Beach, Fla., purchased the Textile Building from Hertz Investment Group for $12 million. Andrew Greenbaum, principal and co-founder of Hudson Holdings, said the company plans to turn the office building into a mixed-use project. He estimates the redevelopment would be a $70 million project.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/03/14/exclusive-70m-redevelopment-planned-for-historic.html

Over $250,000,000 in development news in 5 days in just the CBD. We're on a roll.

 

Over $250,000,000 in development news in 5 days in just the CBD. We're on a roll.

 

I'm curious, does anyone know the 7 day record for CBD development?

Other than giant multi-phase developments like The Banks being announced I'd imagine it was when Queen City Square's $322 million price tag was announced.

Wow!  Awesome news.

That seems like a huge price tag. I was just inside this building a few months ago - it's pretty dated but seemed to be functional and relatively full of tenants (article says 70%). It seemed like Class B office space to me - not exactly decrepit. The vertical transportation was definitely lacking.

For those of you scoring at home, each new $1m of development generates $4,617 a year in VTICA funding for commercial, office or apartments (does not apply to single family homes or condos without a commercial element).

This is the same developer who is leading the $200+ million redevelopment of the former Huntington Building in Cleveland.

For those of you scoring at home, each new $1m of development generates $4,617 a year in VTICA funding for commercial, office or apartments (does not apply to single family homes or condos without a commercial element).

 

Explain VTICA please

I love the Textile Building and those similar in style to it.  Is it what would be considered "Chicago school"?

Great news and a beautiful building!

For those of you scoring at home, each new $1m of development generates $4,617 a year in VTICA funding for commercial, office or apartments (does not apply to single family homes or condos without a commercial element).

 

Explain VTICA please

 

We have been giving out tax abatements for new development. Each new development doesn't have to pay a percentage of their property taxes to the city, but property owners, including those with abatements, have always had to pay property taxes for local school funding even if getting an abatement from the city. With VTICA, the developer in a certain zone (CBD+OTR) also has to now pay a portion of their property taxes for streetcar operations. VTICA (and i don't know the acronym) is this new "tax".

 

Essentially, taxabatement deals in CBD/OTR include a carve out for local schools and streetcar operations now.

That's great news.

 

I selfishly hope it is a hotel.  I know people are thinking we may be oversaturated, but if it's feasible, a hotel really adds a ton to the street life in my opinion, and tourist people spend a lot of money and create a great street presence in downtown.

 

This is also kitty-corner from the new development of Fourth and Race.  Still hoping to hear something soon on this...

 

Lastly, I wonder if the administration is still saving up all the TIF Funds.  When was the last time TIF Funds were used on a project downtown?

 

I love the Textile Building and those similar in style to it.  Is it what would be considered "Chicago school"?

 

Yes, though late Chicago school. The influence of Itallian architecture is very evident and more in the style of Daniel Burnham - after the death of his partner JW Root.  Burnham furthered ideas of European flair in the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago and while this building was finished in 1905 (12 years after the Exhibition) it is almost too heavily Itallainate for the early interpretation of Chicago School architecture, which often does not have as heavy horizontals as is present at the lintel or between the 8th and 9th floors.

But thats taking it a bit far ;)