^ maybe just a reaosn to get some free publicly to lease out the rest of the apartments

Here are some photos of the completed interiors: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2015/03/03/take-a-look-at-downtown-cincinnati-s-newest-luxury.html

 

I think they've finished enough that they can start marketing the finished units... hence the ribbon cutting, even though it'll be April 1st before the first residents can move in.

I assumed the exterior was going to be yellow. I personally liked the pop of color since most of the skyline from this side is very drab.

I generally like how this building turned out except for one glaring mistake. Not replacing the existing glass that was on the garage. There's such a noticeable difference between the coloring of the old and new glass that the whole "two buildings weaving themselves together" concept is completely lost. It's a shame they weren't a better match or that the old wasn't replaced to be the same as the new.

The apartments look very nice.  The views are nice.  But the trend towards huge, commercial-looking windows baffles me.  I can appreciate the aesthetic but wouldn't want to live in a building with them.  Is this such a narcissistic age that people don't need privacy in their own homes any longer?  I can't imagine the cost for window treatments in a place like that.  And the options would likely be limited to office-type vertical blinds or huge, heavy drapes -- if the landlord would even allow anything in the first place.  The windows are a pervert's dream come true.  At least this building is a bit out of the way.  Similar windows at The Mercer are worse because of the scale and density of its surroundings.  IMO these windows look great in an office building or empty residential building, but once they're filled with the clutter of peoples' things and any window treatments, the sleek look of the exterior is ruined unless the glazing is tinted or reflective.  I don't know, maybe that's the case with Seven on Broadway, but it's not the case at The Mercer.  When I walk past there the windows look kind of junky to me now that the building's filled up.  I guess the residents don't care so much how it all looks from the outside, as such large windows are admittedly dramatic from the inside.

 

Also, the apartment design coupled with the garage design lacks integrity.  I don't know if it was even possible to integrate the look of the two or just too costly to do a better job, but the exterior taken as a whole is unattractive.

 

Considering how high the rents are, I'd probably rather live at @580 which enjoys a much better location. 

 

In spite of my nitpicking I hope Seven at Broadway succeeds!  It sounds like it's well on its way with 50% of the units already leased, which is great news.

 

 

A lot of people really don't care about privacy in their highrise. I don't live in a highrise with walls of glass, but I don't own shades/curtains/blinds/etc. and have absolutely no plan on buying them for anything other than my bathroom. It would be no different if I was in a place like Seven at Broadway. If someone sees in it's whatever. That's a fact of life in urban locations. You sacrifice a little bit of privacy for dramatic views of the city.

A lot of people really don't care about privacy in their highrise. I don't live in a highrise with walls of glass, but I don't own shades/curtains/blinds/etc. and have absolutely no plan on buying them for anything other than my bathroom. It would be no different if I was in a place like Seven at Broadway. If someone sees in it's whatever. That's a fact of life in urban locations. You sacrifice a little bit of privacy for dramatic views of the city.

 

Don't they have glass now that allows people to see out but not people to see in?

Depends what you mean. Extremely reflective glass can achieve that during the day but not at night when the lights inside are on. There's smart glass that can be made translucent with a switch but you then can't see out of it and it's insanely expensive and not a realistic option except for specialty situations. There's fritted glass which can obscure the view in but again at night it stops doing so effectively.

 

Basically there's a trade off. If you want the view, you lose the privacy. There are plenty of options that don't include this much glass and are there for anyone who believes people are actually interested in watching their lives.

A lot of people really don't care about privacy in their highrise. I don't live in a highrise with walls of glass, but I don't own shades/curtains/blinds/etc. and have absolutely no plan on buying them for anything other than my bathroom. It would be no different if I was in a place like Seven at Broadway. If someone sees in it's whatever. That's a fact of life in urban locations. You sacrifice a little bit of privacy for dramatic views of the city.

 

Same here. I put drapes up on my windows because I like the look, but I ALWAYS leave them open. What's the point of living in a beautiful urban environment if I can't look out my windows and see it. If they can see me, so what. They don't have to look if they don't want to. This is one of those traits of urbanity that goes back centuries. I don't mind it one bit.

I have accordion blinds which go up and down.  I keep them covering the bottom 2 feet of my windows, but the top 4 feet are open.  This gives me privacy from below, but I can always have natural light and a great view.

A lot of people really don't care about privacy in their highrise. I don't live in a highrise with walls of glass, but I don't own shades/curtains/blinds/etc. and have absolutely no plan on buying them for anything other than my bathroom. It would be no different if I was in a place like Seven at Broadway. If someone sees in it's whatever. That's a fact of life in urban locations. You sacrifice a little bit of privacy for dramatic views of the city.

 

Same here. I put drapes up on my windows because I like the look, but I ALWAYS leave them open. What's the point of living in a beautiful urban environment if I can't look out my windows and see it. If they can see me, so what. They don't have to look if they don't want to. This is one of those traits of urbanity that goes back centuries. I don't mind it one bit.

 

My house faces south and I have to keep the front blinds open for the plants I keep inside during the winter.  I hate that people can see in, especially in a town where people are known to have their house plants stolen!   

 

Do any of you live in buildings with windows as large, and have installed window treatments at your own expense?  If so, were there any stipulations in your lease about what sort of window treatments were acceptable?  Or did your landlords offer to pay for window treatments?  Just wondering.  I recently bought wooden mini blinds for 10 large windows (though not nearly as large as those at Seven on Broadway), got them on sale at 25% off, and they still cost $4000.

The buildings cladding is completly up on one side of the buidling, I couldn't get a picuture. It doesn't really look like the renderings (it is grey) and has large grooves in it. Looks pretty good.

3/21/15

Jake - two words, Airplane photos

Jake - two words, Airplane photos

 

Here is Jake's most recent aerial photo where this building is visible, from May 2013:

 

The footprint of the casino is sickening!

^ compared to what? the empty parking lot that sat there for the previous 25 years?

Or the rail yard before that.

 

The casino makes poor use of its land when compared to urban development elsewhere, but compared to what used to reside there it's a big improvement, as ugly as it is.

I hate that surface lot in the corner. Very strange. Also, I wish their roof was covered in solar panels

The grade separation is such that you can't even really see that parking lot from Reading.  I do wonder which way the casino will expand when they choose to either build a hotel or expand the gaming floor.

The casino is pitiful. I would almost rather a surface lot. At least then we have hope. We're stuck with this monstrosity for a while now.

 

Google the crown casino in Melbourne. Study it's integration into the urban fabric. It makes this casino's "urbanism" look like a sick joke.

Forget about the crown. Just look at the Horseshoe Casino in Cleveland. Way cooler:

 

They should have put the Casino in the Terrace Plaza. That would have been the perfect use for the windowless portion plus there is already a hotel integrated right into the building.

I think the Casino is a great addition. It may be ugly, but it is better than what was once there, and it has opened up that corner of OTR for additional development. Look at what it has done to the other blocks in the area, it has all been good

^Yeah.  For all its faults, the casino has taken a stretch that felt abandoned and given it a sense of value by adding a year-round destination and outdoor events like concerts.  It will be interesting to see if a hotel is built onsite in the future and whether that will improve things.

The casino area will improve dramatically when the parking lot adjacent to it (between eggleston and court) becomes a large 6-7 story apartment building with some retail space.

Yeah that casino was not urban at all.  I think that plays into one of Cincinnati's biggest problems - it has no image on the national consciousness other than being a backwards Midwestern town.  People don't think neighborhood that looks like Boston or Brooklyn, so I'm sure the guys who were out of state who designed this had no idea what Cincinnati is really like.

I think the jail is the real issue in that area.  Bad from an urbanist/street activity perspective and mars the view from other buildings for blocks around. 

The Casino doesn't offend me when veiwed from Central or Broadway. But the Reading road side is awful, I wish there could be building with retail built along the road there.

I think I object to any idea of building a new jail mostly because the existing jail is still very new.  It would be quite wasteful to demolish a relatively young building built at great public expense unless a private developer paid the county a truly huge sum of money to demolish and rebuild elsewhere.  And whatever would be developed there would have to be extraordinary in order to justify the expense and controversy.   

Though hideous and an awful building, I agree. It would be extremely wasteful to demolish such a new, functional building. And with the number of other opportunities still available elsewhere it makes less sense. Develop all the other land first and maybe by that time the building will be at a point where it needs major work and therefore the idea of relocating makes more sense both financially and politically.

Though hideous and an awful building, I agree. It would be extremely wasteful to demolish such a new, functional building. And with the number of other opportunities still available elsewhere it makes less sense. Develop all the other land first and maybe by that time the building will be at a point where it needs major work and therefore the idea of relocating makes more sense both financially and politically.

 

That's also how I feel about capping FWW. We have so many other vacant buildings and empty lots downtown that need to be developed first. Once that's done, we can worry about capping FWW, relocating the jail, etc.

The other objection to moving the jail is that the jail is downtown... but every proposal to move it moves it to another neighborhood.  Voters who weren't in Camp Washington voted against that because if a crappy downtown service (JFS, jail, etc.) could be moved to Camp Washington, their neighborhood could be next. 

 

And it's true, it's ugly, but its in good shape and does its job.  There's no need to move it other than it's a little small (But things like ankle monitoring are more efficient for low level crimes anyway)

The other objection to moving the jail is that the jail is downtown... but every proposal to move it moves it to another neighborhood.  Voters who weren't in Camp Washington voted against that because if a crappy downtown service (JFS, jail, etc.) could be moved to Camp Washington, their neighborhood could be next. 

 

And it's true, it's ugly, but its in good shape and does its job.  There's no need to move it other than it's a little small (But things like ankle monitoring are more efficient for low level crimes anyway)

 

I thought Camp Washington supported the move because of the jobs it was bringing to the area.

As seen from the Renaissance at the Power Building rooftop:

 

Are they going to put the "Seven" sign back at the top corner? It was up for a week or so then came down and hasn't been seen since.

Website for the apartments that includes photos, floor plans, etc: sevenatbroadway.com

 

Moving this topic to Completed Projects

Over 11 years later.  I don't even want to admit to everything that has happened in my life since.

Over 11 years later.  I don't even want to admit to everything that has happened in my life since.

 

The demolitions for this site were in 2002.  So it's been 13 years.  13 years ago news that a new parking garage was being built downtown was big news.  Newcomers have no idea how rough things were here then!

A guy made a video of himself moving out of this building:

 

6 hours ago, jmecklenborg said:

A guy made a video of himself moving out of this building:

 

 

A certain Joe Jackson song comes to mind watching this video.  ?

 

(Not really dogging him, I heard the same more than once...)