July 1, 20222 yr This is a good start, but it's a bit disappointing that only one block of 4th Street is being converted back to two-way. With the removal of the I-75 ramps on 4th/5th street, it would be great to see them converted back to two-way for their entire lengths.
July 1, 20222 yr 24 minutes ago, taestell said: This is a good start, but it's a bit disappointing that only one block of 4th Street is being converted back to two-way. With the removal of the I-75 ramps on 4th/5th street, it would be great to see them converted back to two-way for their entire lengths. To be clear, this is not the official plan. This is a counter-proposal DGF is trying to promote. I am being told that right now, the state is set on building 4 lane bridge with no conversions and little intersection safety improvements for the Covington side of the river.
July 12, 20222 yr On 6/13/2022 at 11:43 AM, ucgrady said: The old courtyard kind of lines up with the planned park plaza so hopefully some mature trees survive the civil work necessary for the new street grid. Unfortunately, the trees were never going to be saved. I learned it was just impractical.
January 17, 20232 yr Did water/sewer lines pass underneath the mature trees? It really was an opportunity missed to do something interesting. There are no other mature trees in the area. Any area that looks good has a variety of tree types and a variety of tree ages. It's going to take until 2060 before new trees can achieve a similar maturity.
January 18, 20232 yr I’m really excited to see this get redeveloped, glad the site is ready to goSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
January 18, 20232 yr On 1/17/2023 at 3:03 PM, Lazarus said: Did water/sewer lines pass underneath the mature trees? It really was an opportunity missed to do something interesting. There are no other mature trees in the area. Any area that looks good has a variety of tree types and a variety of tree ages. It's going to take until 2060 before new trees can achieve a similar maturity. I had asked someone at the city about that. I was convinced they wanted to preserve them but couldn't.
February 28, 20232 yr Covington contracts with BusinessFlare to help it identify developers for former IRS site The city of Covington has selected an economic development consultant to help the city in its redevelopment of the 23-acre former IRS site. The Covington Board of Commissioners approved a contract last month with BusinessFlare Economic Development Solutions after the city sent out a public request for proposals. BusinessFlare, a Native American-owned firm based in North Miami, Fla., will help Covington in five areas: Marketing, including messaging, communications tools and tailored strategies for selling various parcels Policy guidance, including on the use of incentives and negotiating strategies Subdividing the site Developing marketing materials Oversight of the initial appraisals of the parcels. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/02/28/covington-contracts-with-businessflare-for-irs.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
March 15, 20232 yr 'An amazing historic district:' Covington looks at next steps for former IRS site By Abby Miller – Reporter, Cincinnati Business Courier Mar 15, 2023 As several massive infrastructure projects that will further shape Northern Kentucky advance in the region, panelists teased another upcoming project during a CREW of Greater Cincinnati luncheon Tuesday, along with a rough estimate on when requests for proposals for the transformative Covington project may go public. CREW of Greater Cincinnati’s March luncheon covered the Covington Central Riverfront development and the redevelopment of the former IRS site in the city. Panelists, including project partners and Covington’s economic development director, spoke to the site’s history, its recent developments and the path toward reintegrating the 23-acre site into Covington’s riverfront. MORE
May 31, 20232 yr Covington began soliciting proposals for the first 4 blocks of this district yesterday. Will start with blocks O, A, B, and N. Submissions due at the end of June and decisions likely to be made 2-3 months after. Edited May 31, 20232 yr by dnymck
May 31, 20232 yr Interesting that they are starting with the row houses along 4th first instead of building out around the new park / plaza first. I guess it's just a matter of site logistics, because in theory these four lots could be developed while the parking garage, park and levee connection are still being built without affecting that work; it just seems to me like no one would want to buy a single family house stuck between a busy street where people drive too fast and an active construction site.
June 1, 20232 yr 7 hours ago, dnymck said: Covington began soliciting proposals for the first 4 blocks of this district yesterday. Will start with blocks O, A, B, and N. Submissions due at the end of June and decisions likely to be made 2-3 months after. O Block gives me a feeling a limited service dual brand hotel property on that site.
June 1, 20232 yr Covington releases first RFPs for massive IRS site redevelopment The city of Covington is seeking developers and real estate brokers to transform the first parcels of the former IRS site along the Ohio River. The city put out four requests for proposals (RFPs) May 30, for the Covington Central Riverfront, the 23-acre former IRS tax-processing facility located just west of Madison Avenue and north of Fourth Street. The four parcels line the western edge of the property along Fourth Street and will help set the tone for the reintegration of the massive site into Covington’s riverfront. Covington is serving as the master developer for the project, and it’s taking a creative development approach. Each parcel of land at the site will have a separate RFP and individual developer. In total, the site includes 17 pieces of land ranging from 2.6 acres to just under one-third of an acre. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2023/05/31/covington-releases-first-rfps-for-irs-site.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
June 1, 20232 yr 14 hours ago, savadams13 said: O Block gives me a feeling a limited service dual brand hotel property on that site. The land use diagram shows that site as office, and the article says “office, commercial and/or parking facilities as well as a small amount of open/park space" but I agree that a hotel would work there too. The land use diagram shows lots of office, which in the current commercial real estate market I would be surprised if that comes to fruition.
June 1, 20232 yr 51 minutes ago, ucgrady said: The land use diagram shows that site as office, and the article says “office, commercial and/or parking facilities as well as a small amount of open/park space" but I agree that a hotel would work there too. The land use diagram shows lots of office, which in the current commercial real estate market I would be surprised if that comes to fruition. Yea reading through all the docs seems like Covington is overvaluing this project in the eyes of private developers. No way spec office gets built here, and given the other options currently on the market I'm not sure why a company would want to be the first mover on a site which is surrounded by gas stations and liquor stores. Think they will ultimately need to offer some nice incentives for hotel and multifamily, at least to get some vertical development going. Also, it's baffling to me that they've set aside Block A for detached single family homes. I get that they will match what exists across the street (although I'd argue that what exists across the street is an inappropriate form along a major arterial), but this is the entry way into the development, why would you not put a major commercial use to entice the public towards the rest of the district?
December 27, 20231 yr The aerial released earlier showed an addition (of some kind) on the south side of the convention center to fill in all the way to the new 3rd street so it's certainly something the city has planned for and considered. I like the idea of a new crime lab too, the fact that all the autopsies in the state of Kentucky, with 4.5 million people, have to go to Franfort is crazy to me. Edited December 27, 20231 yr by ucgrady
January 3, 20241 yr The City released the current development plats for the Central Riverfront site and claim that they are already getting interested developers on the sites. The announcement says they will start work in earnest this spring, with the contractor being selected after the RFP on Feb 7th. The site is being bid in two phases with Phase 1 between 3rd street and 4th street, and the second phase including the underground garage and other connections north of 3rd street.
January 4, 20241 yr On 6/1/2023 at 11:44 AM, dnymck said: but this is the entry way into the development, why would you not put a major commercial use to entice the public towards the rest of the district? Maybe the city wants the appearance of momentum and knows that single-family homes can go up quickly as compared to multi-story mixed-use buildings.
January 4, 20241 yr 10 hours ago, Lazarus said: Maybe the city wants the appearance of momentum and knows that single-family homes can go up quickly as compared to multi-story mixed-use buildings. Momentum, and the later phases require infrastructure that is both time and cost prohibitive. The townhomes are on grade, later faces are on a banks-esque parking garage platform
January 4, 20241 yr It's probably the bank wants proof of an RoI more than the city wanting the project to be perceived as successful sooner
January 4, 20241 yr As mentioned, it's also the existing condition across 4th street and in the overall Mutter Gottes neighborhood, so I think the city sees this as a transition to the existing neighborhood. As for it being a "major thoroughfare", it's mirror street 5th goes through a similar scale of residential between the train tracks and Madison. With some good sidewalk redesign, street trees and traffic calming I don't think it's an issue. On 5th for instance there is street parking on both sides of the street that helps make people slow down.
January 5, 20241 yr Has there been any conversation about converting 4th and 5th to two-way? I think there has been some back-and-forth about whether or not the I-75 ramps on 4th/5th will remain in place once the additional bridge is built, possibly leaning towards "keep", so there might be some opposition from traffic engineers about converting those to two-way. But even if it could be done just east of Main Street, that would seem to be a huge quality of life improvement to the Mutter Gottes neighborhood.
January 5, 20241 yr Not really (unlike Greenup and Scott which are planned to be converted to two way streets between 12th and 20th) and with the city's push to make the new Licking river bridge 4 lanes I don't think that's going to change anytime soon because both cities seem to want it with 4 lanes. They are however looking at restriping 4th street as two lanes, a bike lane and a wider sidewalk. I still think street parking would help slow people down but striping isn't expensive and is hopefully just a first step towards a better traffic calming project.
January 5, 20241 yr 2 hours ago, ucgrady said: Not really (unlike Greenup and Scott which are planned to be converted to two way streets between 12th and 20th) and with the city's push to make the new Licking river bridge 4 lanes I don't think that's going to change anytime soon because both cities seem to want it with 4 lanes. They are however looking at restriping 4th street as two lanes, a bike lane and a wider sidewalk. I still think street parking would help slow people down but striping isn't expensive and is hopefully just a first step towards a better traffic calming project. The recent closure of the Brent Spence Bridge on-ramp might have motivated engineers to over-engineer the new Licking River bridge since fewer cars are now traveling from Covington to Newport via Fort Washington Way.
January 5, 20241 yr ^ You're not wrong, many Covingtonians use FWW to get to the Newport Kroger/Target and Google typically tells you to do that. With the Texas Turnaround it still often does, but depending on where you are in the city it instead tells you to use MLK to 11th, either way the traffic across 4th is minimal and the decision to make that bridge 4 lanes I fear will keep 4th as a one way drag strip for the foreseeable future. KYTC has a vague notion that people get off I75/I71 on 5th and cross Covington to get to Newport on the Levee and the aquarium and vice versa people use 4th to get back to the highway.
January 5, 20241 yr 55 minutes ago, ucgrady said: KYTC has a vague notion that people get off I75/I71 on 5th and cross Covington to get to Newport on the Levee and the aquarium and vice versa people use 4th to get back to the highway. I think that the 4-lane thing is also to handle local traffic surges from events (concerts, sports) as well as traffic accidents on the interstates. They are are trying to reduce gridlock events in Covington and Newport, but those things aren't very common and they don't last very long. Traffic engineers never seem to be interested in adding more small connections, only routing everything into domineering "systems". For example, we're getting a new monster bridge over the Ohio River, not a new small bridge between Race/Madison. Also, we're not getting a new, small 2-lane bridge somewhere between the two existing Licking River bridges - just an expansion of an existing crossing. No doubt Kentucky's engineers lost sleep over not having a way to directly link the 12th St. bridge with the new KY 9 extension (which, incidentally, appears to attract almost zero traffic).
January 17, 20241 yr Covington eyes start of infrastructure work at former IRS site this spring By Abby Miller – Reporter, Cincinnati Business Courier Jan 17, 2024 The city of Covington released the first round of requests for proposals (RFPs) in spring 2023 for the former IRS site along the Ohio River. Now, in the new year, it’s eyeing a similar spring timeframe for getting contractors out and working on the site. The city is serving as the master developer for Covington Central Riverfront, a redevelopment of the 23-acre site of the former IRS tax-processing facility located just west of Madison Avenue and north of Fourth Street. The city has divided the property into a load of parcels, each with its own RFP. One of the first parcels that had an RFP released was Block O, a 2.5-acre site at the western edge of Covington Central Riverfront. It was formerly a surface parking lot for the facility. MORE
February 6, 20241 yr Northern Kentucky Convention Center needs renovation, possible expansion, study says While Cincinnati moves forward with a revamped convention center and a new hotel, communities across the river are mulling a similar undertaking that could incorporate acreage from Covington’s sprawling former IRS site. Julie Kirkpatrick, president and CEO of MeetNKY, Northern Kentucky's tourism and convention services bureau, appeared before the Boone County Fiscal Court Feb. 6 to present a study on the future of the Northern Kentucky Convention Center. “Our No. 1 challenge is that it’s an outdated facility in appearance and features,” Kirkpatrick said. “This is noted by meeting planners when they come to Northern Kentucky and look at this region, that this building needs money put into it.” More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/02/06/northern-kentucky-convention-center-irs-site-hotel.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 6, 20241 yr 2 hours ago, ColDayMan said: Northern Kentucky Convention Center needs renovation, possible expansion, study says While Cincinnati moves forward with a revamped convention center and a new hotel, communities across the river are mulling a similar undertaking that could incorporate acreage from Covington’s sprawling former IRS site. Julie Kirkpatrick, president and CEO of MeetNKY, Northern Kentucky's tourism and convention services bureau, appeared before the Boone County Fiscal Court Feb. 6 to present a study on the future of the Northern Kentucky Convention Center. “Our No. 1 challenge is that it’s an outdated facility in appearance and features,” Kirkpatrick said. “This is noted by meeting planners when they come to Northern Kentucky and look at this region, that this building needs money put into it.” More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/02/06/northern-kentucky-convention-center-irs-site-hotel.html A 450 room hotel would be a nice addition to Covington’s skyline.
February 7, 20241 yr Why do they need a new convention hotel when the RiverCenter Marriott is already connected to it?
February 7, 20241 yr All this convention, hotel, music venue and arena saber-rattling is getting to "Let's Build a Monorail" levels. No one's stepped back and asked whether we need this. OKI or some other regional entity needs to make sure funding projects makes sense for the entire region. Seems like everyone's just trying to find the easiest way to get some juicy gov't money.
February 7, 20241 yr It's really a shame that we "need" giant convention centers in Downtown Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky instead of thinking about this in a more regional way.
February 7, 20241 yr 15 minutes ago, taestell said: It's really a shame that we "need" giant convention centers in Downtown Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky instead of thinking about this in a more regional way. "No we don't want to prioritize the streetcar expansion to NKY" (same breath) "We need more convention space!" Edited February 7, 20241 yr by tonyt3524
February 7, 20241 yr Actually, having another convention center expanding across the river would be beneficial. Haven't you ever noticed all over this country that places like drug stores all show up next to each other. Walgreens on one side and CVS on the other, restaurants forming in pockets, etc... That's because even though they are in competition, they still feed off each other and do well next to each other. The same can be said of a convention center. What's good for Covington expanding is good for Cincinnati, vise-versa. The Covington convention center would want more hotels around them, which helps with the number of hotels rooms for the downtown area when the really big conventions come in or other events that require large amounts of hotel rooms. I hope they do this expansion properly and get serious and build out enough space and allow for enough room to grow. Hope they also build a nice HQ convention hotel for Covington as well. The synergy of the two convention centers has a multitude of benefits.
March 18, 20241 yr NKU College of Law, UK College of Medicine plan $150M riverfront facility in Covington Northern Kentucky University and the University of Kentucky want to bring a $150 million facility and 600 graduate students, faculty and staff to Covington’s former IRS site, now the Covington Central Riverfront project. The so-called Commonwealth Center for Biomedical Excellence would house NKU’s Chase College of Law and UK’s College of Medicine Northern Kentucky Campus – each relocated from their existing facilities in Highland Heights – on an 0.88-acre riverfront block at the northwest corner of the 23-acre site, dubbed block G. The facility would be funded entirely with a direct appropriation from Kentucky’s biennial 2024-2026 budget. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/03/18/nku-law-school-uk-medical-college-covington-irs.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
March 19, 20241 yr ^The article linked to this map, which is dated "01.31.2024": https://thecovky.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CCR-Land-Use-Map.pdf
March 19, 20241 yr 780 Units would be a big boost for Covington and downtown Covington. I wonder how many people worked at the IRS facility?
March 19, 20241 yr 3 hours ago, IAGuy39 said: 780 Units would be a big boost for Covington and downtown Covington. I wonder how many people worked at the IRS facility? I think it was around 1800-2000.
March 20, 20241 yr Covington to tap Bray Construction to build infrastructure at massive former IRS site By Brian Planalp – Staff reporter, Cincinnati Business Courier Mar 20, 2024 Construction is expected to begin soon at Covington’s Central Riverfront development as two new contracts are set to be awarded this month. MORE
March 21, 20241 yr Covington selects Drees Homes for first project in Central Riverfront site By Brian Planalp – Staff reporter, Cincinnati Business Courier Mar 21, 2024 One of Greater Cincinnati’s largest homebuilders will be the first developer to foray into Covington’s massive Central Riverfront project. Drees Homes will build 16 townhomes fronting Fourth Street, four each in four rear alley-loaded buildings with private garages, balconies, front courtyards and brick masonry fully covering the front and sides. The townhomes will be two stories with an option for a third. Drees, the region’s second-largest homebuilder, will buy the 0.91-acre site, dubbed block B, from the city of Covington for around $2 million, to be paid in four successive installments of $504,000 as each building begins construction. MORE
March 21, 20241 yr ^The article mentions the "proposed Fourth Street road diet": Quote He also referenced the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's proposed Fourth Street road diet. "That's going to make these homes even more desirable, with the bike lanes in front and the reduced traffic speed through there," West said. Anybody know details of the proposed street design?
March 21, 20241 yr 9 minutes ago, jwulsin said: ^The article mentions the "proposed Fourth Street road diet": Anybody know details of the proposed street design? On 1/5/2024 at 10:30 AM, ucgrady said: Not really (unlike Greenup and Scott which are planned to be converted to two way streets between 12th and 20th) and with the city's push to make the new Licking river bridge 4 lanes I don't think that's going to change anytime soon because both cities seem to want it with 4 lanes. They are however looking at restriping 4th street as two lanes, a bike lane and a wider sidewalk. I still think street parking would help slow people down but striping isn't expensive and is hopefully just a first step towards a better traffic calming project. As far as I can tell this is still the most recent plan
April 7, 20241 yr https://www.fox19.com/2024/04/07/frischs-big-boy-covington-shuts-down/ Big Boy in Covington has shut down. Would be nice to see this start the redevelopment of this section of Covington.
April 10, 20241 yr Covington officials break ground on Central Riverfront project at former IRS site By Brian Planalp – Staff reporter, Cincinnati Business Courier Apr 10, 2024 Updated Apr 10, 2024 10:45am EDT Shovels are officially in the ground at the Covington Central Riverfront site, marking the start of construction at one of the largest real-estate projects in the Cincinnati area. Covington Mayor Joe Meyer was on hand for the April 9 groundbreaking, which took place at 4:30 p.m., just moments before Gov. Andy Beshear effectively granted passage to Kentucky House Bill 1, a spending bill using the state’s budget reserves for one-time investments in infrastructure and economic development. Among the appropriations in HB 1 is $125 million over the next two fiscal years to plan, design and build the Commonwealth Center for Biomedical Excellence at the Central Riverfront site. Beshear issued a veto message with four minor, technical changes to the bill that left the balance of it intact, bringing the project one step closer to reality. MORE
April 10, 20241 yr On 4/7/2024 at 7:30 PM, Ucgrad2015 said: https://www.fox19.com/2024/04/07/frischs-big-boy-covington-shuts-down/ Big Boy in Covington has shut down. Would be nice to see this start the redevelopment of this section of Covington. Skyline is taking over the Frisches location.
April 10, 20241 yr 58 minutes ago, Ucgrad2015 said: Skyline is taking over the Frisches location. Isnt there already a Skyline right around there? I assuming they are closing the other one
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