From WCPO, 11/4/04:

 

 

New Housing Construction Underway Within City Limits

Reported by: Tom McKee

Web produced by: Neil Relyea

11/4/04 5:25:46 PM

 

The city of Cincinnati continues to take small steps in the giant struggle to keep residents from moving to the suburbs.

 

Evidence of that came in yet another groundbreaking for dozens of new homes within city limits.

 

...

 

http://www.wcpo.com/news/2004/local/11/04/city_housing.html

This has been rather quiet, but site grading is underway and the heavy equipment has the site mostly cleared.  Signs are up, and it's progressing.

Look for action in Sonoma Hill.  Construction is set to begin one one home (approx. $160K).  Drees is the builder.

i'd take pics, but it's mostly dirt

I forgot that this thread even existed, and I've been posting stuff about this in the Random Cincinnati Developments Thread.  So I'll go ahead and update this one with stuff I posted in there.  Hopefully as this project begins to take shape I will add quite a few pics.

 

 

8/12/05:

* The Sonoma Hill subdivision now has some retaining walls built and foundations poured.

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=333.msg45400#msg45400

 

11/12/05:

* All of this time, and only one house to show for it at Sonoma Hill.  I betting that this is the model.

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=333.msg60490#msg60490

 

11/17/05:

* Sonoma Hill: A second home should be starting soon at 3701 Sonoma Ct.

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=333.msg61304#msg61304

 

It looks like this thing's about to get cranking.  Building permits are in route for 3704, 3708, 3717, 3780, 3784 and 3792 Sonoma Ct.

 

EDIT (12/2/05):  Add 3728 Sonoma to that list as well.

 

EDIT (12/16/05):  Add 3705, 3721, 3725 and 3732 Sonoma to the list.

 

EDIT (12/25/05):  3713 Sonoma.

 

EDIT (4/3/06):  Add 3724 Sonoma.

 

EDIT (4/18/06):  Add 3716 and 3788 Sonoma.

You can find the floorplans at dreeshomes.com

 

They are uninspiring, but it's good to see new construction sub-$250k inside the city limits. 

The subdivision looks largely built out.

 

All I can say is that this is bland, so very bland.  It's a completely uninspiring non-place.

 

The only positive about it is that it's new housing inside of the city limits.

 

Here are some pics I got the other day.

 

I just love the seamless transition between foundation and siding!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miller-Valentine Group has a huge mixed-use project they're doing in Madisonville...or..well...Red Bank area... Looks like the area is going to be changing a lot.

This subdivision sprung up virtually overnight once they started building the first home (I know there was a couple years of planning, acquisition, site prep, etc.).  It shares a driveway with a 70s era brick apartment building and is walking distance to nothing. Some of the lots back up to properties worth a third the selling price of these homes.  And yet they sold incredibly fast during what was a very slow year for builders in most areas of the country.  The pace of sales on this development really shows how much demand there is for new (and presumably like-new rehab) construction within the city limits.  Unfortunately, most new construction must take place as infill and for some reason the price points on most other new construction far exceed the $230k or so that these homes started at.  Villages of Daybreak would be one exception, and that seems to be doing pretty well too.