Current design looks like Towers in the Park.

I don't think the design with the white towers is the current one. That was discarded and replaced with a different design that used to be displayed on their billboard that's now gone. It was more inline with what we'd want out of an urban neighborhood it seemed.

I don't understand the 6,200 parking spaces.

 

Anyone with me on project a few blocks east they recently finished with more of a historic architecture, I can't remember the name of it.  Those actually look pretty decent.  Why not build a neighborhood like that.  That would be very attractive IMO.  Paint them different types of colors, etc.

 

6,200 parking spaces would be just under the amount of public parking available at the Banks parking garages when it is fully built out!

^I'm guessing that is intended as "events parking", rather than demand from within Newport itself.  Corporex is probably using the Labor Day fireworks demand, then factoring backward from there.  If this is completed, I'd love to see a tally of the number of garage spaces in a half mile radius around Great American Ballpark.

I didn't know that part of this project included connecting Kentucky 9 with the Taylor Southgate bridge.  I've recently had some clients in NKY so I've been learning more about the area.  I tried taking KY9 as far north as possible, and it just kind of terminates abruptly into a run-down section of Newport, forcing heavy traffic to be diverted through neighborhood streets in Newport.  It goes from essentially a rural feeling to the middle of an urban neighborhood almost instantly...very strange.  Connecting to the riverfront seems like it would remove some of the traffic off residential streets, and also ease travel times from parts of NKY to Cincinnati.

What traffic?  KY 9 is already a needlessly large road.  I bike on it with some frequency between Newport and I-275 on my way out to the unspoiled countryside and there simply aren't many cars on it.  It was fine as a 2-lane road but they couldn't resist the temptation to widen it.

 

The whole problem with ovation is that it has bad interstate highway access.  If you don't like that, don't live there.  But I bet much of this is motivated by concerns from the banks that would finance this mega-development.  They probably are withholding their $'s until these road improvements aren't just planned and funded but actually built.  Butler is of course getting these multi-million roads built for free. 

Ok, admittedly the amount of traffic isn't that huge, but it is still a huge and drastic drop off from a highway-esque road to a neighborhood street.  I agree that the road is needlessly wide, but doesn't it essentially turn into the AA highway?  Either way, connecting KY9 to the riverfront makes sense, IMO.

^ But then you're just dumped from the "highway-esque" road to the neighborhood streets further in.  When a highway reaches a built-up area, a neighborhood, a "place" where people live, work, and play, they SHOULD become neighborhood streets with parked cars, stop signs, sidewalks, bikers, etc.  It's these "stroads" (street-road hybrids) that are the most dangerous because they take highway geometries and design criteria and overlay them onto streets with many intersections and where people cross and buildings affront, and that's what causes crashes and deaths.  By continuing the highway through the neighborhood it sends the signal "keep driving fast" when the message should be "slow down and pay attention to your surroundings."  It's not a rural location anymore, so rural highway design is wholly inappropriate.

KY 9 hugs the Licking River, passes under I-275, then heads up the hill to US 27 and becomes the AA Highway.  The gigantic 27/AA cloverleaf seems incredibly overblown, since the AA devolves into a Super 2, then just a marked local road about ten miles southeast.  The AA Highway has spurred zero development, and you could always get to Ashland on Ohio's 52 which was upgraded to a divided 4-lane a decade or two earlier.  The whole thing is pork.  The fact that so many reading this will be unfamiliar with where I'm talking about is because there is such a comically small amount of traffic on the AA.  There's probably less on the AA than on US 27 in that area. 

 

Again, this extension of KY 9 into Newport is about creating a continuous upgraded road from Ovation to I-75 via the recently widened 12th St. in Covington. 

 

 

KY 9 hugs the Licking River, passes under I-275, then heads up the hill to US 27 and becomes the AA Highway.  The gigantic 27/AA cloverleaf seems incredibly overblown, since the AA devolves into a Super 2, then just a marked local road about ten miles southeast.  The AA Highway has spurred zero development, and you could always get to Ashland on Ohio's 52 which was upgraded to a divided 4-lane a decade or two earlier.  The whole thing is pork.  The fact that so many reading this will be unfamiliar with where I'm talking about is because there is such a comically small amount of traffic on the AA.  There's probably less on the AA than on US 27 in that area. 

 

Again, this extension of KY 9 into Newport is about creating a continuous upgraded road from Ovation to I-75 via the recently widened 12th St. in Covington. 

 

 

 

I still can't believe the 12th street project got through without scrutiny, I thought this was the 2010s not the 1950s.

It's an ugly streetscape, just a notch or two less-worse than Libery St.  It is mainly just between I-75 and Madison Ave., where they tried to Band-Aid it with brick in the street, but it ended up looking fake.  There is still a section that hasn't been widened between the Cathedral and the Licking River bridge. 

KY 9 hugs the Licking River, passes under I-275, then heads up the hill to US 27 and becomes the AA Highway.  The gigantic 27/AA cloverleaf seems incredibly overblown, since the AA devolves into a Super 2, then just a marked local road about ten miles southeast.  The AA Highway has spurred zero development, and you could always get to Ashland on Ohio's 52 which was upgraded to a divided 4-lane a decade or two earlier.  The whole thing is pork. The fact that so many reading this will be unfamiliar with where I'm talking about is because there is such a comically small amount of traffic on the AA.  There's probably less on the AA than on US 27 in that area. 

 

Again, this extension of KY 9 into Newport is about creating a continuous upgraded road from Ovation to I-75 via the recently widened 12th St. in Covington. 

 

 

 

my thoughts when reading this were 'what is he talking about?'

^ But then you're just dumped from the "highway-esque" road to the neighborhood streets further in.  When a highway reaches a built-up area, a neighborhood, a "place" where people live, work, and play, they SHOULD become neighborhood streets with parked cars, stop signs, sidewalks, bikers, etc.  It's these "stroads" (street-road hybrids) that are the most dangerous because they take highway geometries and design criteria and overlay them onto streets with many intersections and where people cross and buildings affront, and that's what causes crashes and deaths.  By continuing the highway through the neighborhood it sends the signal "keep driving fast" when the message should be "slow down and pay attention to your surroundings."  It's not a rural location anymore, so rural highway design is wholly inappropriate.

 

I generally agree with this, but it's my understanding that KY9 would be rerouted away from the neighborhood, not transform these narrow residential streets into overly wide highway-lite roads.  Instead of turning abruptly to the right, it will continue straight along the river and eventually connect to the TS bridge.  Is that correct? If the plan is to simply increase the capacity of the current route and then connect through the vacant Ovation site, than I'm definitely against that.

 

Land for Ovation might signal start of mega project

City Manager Tom Fromme said the city will pay Newport on the Levee $2 million to buy the parking lot at the intersection of Fourth and Columbia streets, the former site of Riverside Ford dealership. The city will then sell the land for the same price to Ovation's developer, Corporex, Fromme said.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/10/06/land-ovation-might-signal-start-mega-project/73440626/

Just gonna leave this here...

 

So has that hotel topped out? What a missed opportunity to add some diversity in height. I mean, I don't think we wanted something 15 stories but a couple higher than its neighbor, yes.

Its got that Soviet appeal.

They are going to have a rooftop bar so I guess it will be a little higher then that.

 

On a more related note I've always thought the Ovation site would be such a great location for a stadium that looks into the city.  Too bad it's a different state.  Jealous of how the Pittsburgh stadiums look into the city skyline since it's all the same city across their three rivers. 

They are going to have a rooftop bar so I guess it will be a little higher then that.

 

On a more related note I've always thought the Ovation site would be such a great location for a stadium that looks into the city.  Too bad it's a different state.  Jealous of how the Pittsburgh stadiums look into the city skyline since it's all the same city across their three rivers.

 

I've always wished Great American and Paul Brown were built facing the opposite direction, which would have made for a much more interesting view for TV.

Corporex buys nearly 3 acres for massive riverfront development

 

 

Corporex Cos. LLC closed on its purchase of nearly 3 acres of land next to the real estate development company’s long-planned Ovation development in Newport.

 

An affiliate of Corporex, C.P.X. Newport Commercial Development LLC, purchased the 2.75-acre parking lot at the northwest corner of Fourth and Columbia streets from the city of Newport for $2 million. The city had purchased the property from Newport on the Levee for the same amount earlier this year.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/08/17/corporex-buys-nearly-3-acres-for-massive.html

Whoever owns the surly Riverchase Apts right behind the flood wall is holding out for top, top dollar...all the while raking in that rent. 

Whoever owns the surly Riverchase Apts right behind the flood wall is holding out for top, top dollar...all the while raking in that rent.

 

Not exactly top dollar rental apartments I think 2 bedroom units going for 750. None the less its Brown Properties that owns the complex.

Corporex still working on Ovation

 

 

On hold since 2008, Corporex continues to work on plans for its Newport riverfront development, Ovation.

 

Tom Banta, managing director of Corporex Cos., mentioned the project on Thursday morning at the Business Courier’s Forty Minutes, a program that catches up with past Forty Under 40 honorees. Banta is a 2000 Forty Under 40 winner.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2016/12/08/corporex-still-working-on-ovation.html

^Last night I heard the streetcar from the NKY waterfront. 

Dec 23 2016:

 

 

 

 

Sewer work at Ovation:

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/01/15/whats-going-newport-site-suggested-fc-cincinnati-stadium/1007172001/

The remaining public housing near the Ovation site is being gutted and demolished.  Not a peep from the gentrification crowd:

^ Newport's been doing this since the late 1990s. Where Newport Pavllion currently is was once Cote Brindle neighborhood (or something along those lines). There was a small church where Kroger is now that had a pool that was open to the public.

There was a meeting yesterday morning with the Newport Business Association called "Invest in the West" talking about the developable land and buildings on the Westside of Newport. The owner of New Riff Distillery was there, as well as a few others. I couldn't make it, during work hours, but there is a push for smaller developers to start investing in the land and housing stock over there as Ovation sits around awaiting the possibility of FC Cincinnati. The housing stock isn't nearly as nice or large as the East Side, but there is a lot more room for new construction so it should provide a nice opportunity for large size new construction that isn't available in most of the rest of the urban core (very similar situation to Cincinnati's West End).

 

Newport likes to talk about decentralizing poverty, and they were fierce adopters of Hope VI and other section 8 opportunities. For whatever reason, there isn't nearly as much talk or worry about gentrification in Newport. I'm not sure if it's because the poor is primarily white compared to Cincinnati and Covington, or if it's because the more conservative Kentuckians don't have the same compassion for the poor being helped by what they see as government handouts and entitlement programs. I think it's a mixture, but either way NKY is almost always pro-development with little to no thought on how it will affect the residents.

There was a meeting yesterday morning with the Newport Business Association called "Invest in the West" talking about the developable land and buildings on the Westside of Newport. The owner of New Riff Distillery was there, as well as a few others. I couldn't make it, during work hours, but there is a push for smaller developers to start investing in the land and housing stock over there as Ovation sits around awaiting the possibility of FC Cincinnati. The housing stock isn't nearly as nice or large as the East Side, but there is a lot more room for new construction so it should provide a nice opportunity for large size new construction that isn't available in most of the rest of the urban core (very similar situation to Cincinnati's West End).

 

Newport likes to talk about decentralizing poverty, and they were fierce adopters of Hope VI and other section 8 opportunities. For whatever reason, there isn't nearly as much talk or worry about gentrification in Newport. I'm not sure if it's because the poor is primarily white compared to Cincinnati and Covington, or if it's because the more conservative Kentuckians don't have the same compassion for the poor being helped by what they see as government handouts and entitlement programs. I think it's a mixture, but either way NKY is almost always pro-development with little to no thought on how it will affect the residents.

 

Is there anything like neighborhood Community Councils in NKY? On the Cincinnati side, those Community Councils tend to be where a lot of the opposition comes from (at least these days).

I can only speak to Newport, which has an East end, Clifton, Cote Brilliante, etc. neighborhood groups that meet monthly. Mostly they talk about community events, parking issues, and sometimes developments. I think the West End doesn't have much of a community presence, and therefore not as much leadership for opposition. There is also a smaller percentage of home ownership in the West Side, which I think creates apathy in the residents.

I can only speak to Newport, which has an East end, Clifton, Cote Brilliante, etc. neighborhood groups that meet monthly. Mostly they talk about community events, parking issues, and sometimes developments. I think the West End doesn't have much of a community presence, and therefore not as much leadership for opposition. There is also a smaller percentage of home ownership in the West Side, which I think creates apathy in the residents.

 

Does it? I was a community council trustee when I was a renter and largely don't attend community council meetings as a home owner.

I just think that when so many of the buildings are owned by people who don't live in the neighborhood, or even the city of Newport, that there is less 'community stakeholder' attitude. The apathy might also be related to years of public housing getting leveled to the point where attrition has weeded out most of the opposition. This isn't an indictment on any lower income residents, who are often too busy working multiple jobs, raising kids and trying to make ends meet to have time or flexibility to attend community meetings.

 

I just hope that Newport isn't putting all of it's eggs in the FCC basket because I still feel like it's Linder's last choice. The city or county needs to work on brownfield remediation to make all the lots along the new AA highway shovel ready, and they need to pressure Corporex that if FCC chooses another site besides Newport that it's time to shit or get off the pot and divide the land between multiple developers.

My guess is that they don't really want the stadium because it would upset all of the plans they have already had, not the least being roads.  The roads were just rebuilt.  I have a hard time believing that the situation over there is going to be anything less than traffic hell.  A much smaller venue than Paul Brown but with a fraction of the road capacity. 

Corporex takes another step to get Ovation started

By Tom Demeropolis  – Senior Staff Reporter, Cincinnati Business Courier

 

 

Ovation, the long-planned $1 billion mixed-use development along the Ohio River in Newport, could get started in early 2019.

 

Corporex Cos. LLC, the developer that has been working on the 30-acre property for a decade, received a five-year extension of the original tax increment finance district from Newport City Commission. Tom Banta, managing director of Corporex, said the shift of the TIF timing is a “housekeeping” issue that just shifts the time period back. Under the original agreement, the 30-year TIF would have ended in 2042. Now it will expire in September 2047.

 

More

https://www.nkytribune.com/2018/11/newport-receives-good-news-from-corporex-work-to-begin-at-ovation-site-in-2019/  

 

What would be phase 1 of the Ovation site?

First announced 2006

 

Groundbreaking in 2010?- https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/blog/2010/05/ovations_could_break_ground_in_a_year.html

 

If this project were on the Cincinnati side, it would have constant negative media. 

Edited November 21, 20186 yr by thomasbw

^Plus, they tore down public housing for this luxury development.  In Cincinnati, no public housing was demolished for FC Cincinnati, yet the gentrification Nazis were whipped into a frenzy. 

Are those drawings still the site plan? 

I’ve never seen a site plan with the current traffic layout. All the old plans show a different road configuration so they must be out of date. I’m also not sure what phase 1 would be used as or where it would be. For a publicly backed project there is surprisingly little public information. 

Apparently there will be an announcement about the first phase of Ovation on Thursday, May 9.

I'll be damned.

I wonder if this ties in with North Americans 100 million dollar plan for Newport in the Levee.

I'm expecting something terrible.  

I wonder if they feel like they need to get something going before the Covington IRS land becomes available.

7 hours ago, jmecklenborg said:

I'm expecting something terrible.  

 

Parking garages. 

46 minutes ago, Rabbit Hash said:

 

Parking garages. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cincinnati.com/amp/1117668001

 

in all seriousness it does read like roads and parking garages... let’s hope it’s not one 35 race surface lot. 

Parking garages will support the development, absent that the area receives a mass transit system that's worthy of removing such requirements. But in every rendering, those garages were tucked underneath buildings and there was no iteration of any surface lot. Judging from their other projects, and the length of time this has taken to come to fruition, I highly doubt this will be a slapdash project.

Wow, this is huge and unexpected news. PromoWest is building an indoor/outdoor venue at Ovation. You know... the venue PromoWest wanted to build at The Banks before the Cincy Blue Bloods got involved, stole that project, and handed it to MEMI instead...

 

 

4 minutes ago, taestell said:

Wow, this is huge and unexpected news. PromoWest is building an indoor/outdoor venue at Ovation. You know... the venue PromoWest wanted to build at The Banks before the Cincy Blue Bloods got involved, stole that project, and handed it to MEMI instead...

 

 

 

Can our city support 3 music venues? (The banks, Riverbend, Ovation among the various other concert venues in Cincy)...

 

I wasn't aware our city was experiencing such massive unexpected growth in the music scene.