While it is desirable to provide lower-incomed people units within the downtown, market forces do not necessarily work in that favor. Land values are too pricey, and no developer wants to build for the marginal buck when they can't get their return-on-investment.

 

This was hardly a project driven by market forces:

 

Cincinnati council committee OK's funds for Metropole conversion

 

Developers who want to turn the Metropole low-income/senior apartments downtown into a boutique hotel will get help from city taxpayers - $2.5 million, plus up to $4.6 million more in loans.

 

A majority of Cincinnati City Council on Monday approved the funding request from 21cCincinnati Inc., a company that operates a similar hotel in Louisville. They did so over the objections from the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless and tenants.

 

(More at: http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20100222/BIZ01/302220013/Funding+OK+ed+for+boutique+hotel)

 

This is a pretty good project, and the location is great for it, nevertheless,  BlackBengal's (and other's) criticism still stands.

And you believe subsidizing units by the Fed's is...?

 

Subsidizing units by HUD/Fed's doesn't provide a positive return-on-investment. Having the city funding a boutique hotel where the city stands to make a hefty bang-for-the-buck is, of course, desirable and sustainable.

 

There is never a completely free market. To clarify, what we have is a quasi free/socalistic system. Under the ideal conditions, government would hardly be an interference -- developers would have far fewer restrictions, the city would have form-based zoning, and non-necessary functions of the government would be trimmed or eliminated.

 

So yes, it is a project driven by market forces in a not-so-free market. The city receives extra tax revenues it didn't have before and we are all a little richer in the end.

And you believe subsidizing units by the Fed's is...?

 

Really dude?  How did you draw that conclusion from my post?

People who typically complain about capitalism or how the market works, often don't see or understand the massive subsidies the government hands-out on a daily basis. Some people readily enjoy the entitlements. If that's not you, then I apologize.

First visit to The Subway this past weekend... Sign inside say they will be closing 04/16 and relocating to 9th & Main under a new name (which I now forget). Interesting space. Figure 21c will use it for laundry or storage.

 

 

As I stood outside of the Metropole, I was trying to envision how their entry/valet parking will work once the Streetcar is put in.

 

 

First visit to The Subway this past weekend... Sign inside say they will be closing 04/16 and relocating to 9th & Main under a new name (which I now forget). Interesting space. Figure 21c will use it for laundry or storage.

 

 

As I stood outside of the Metropole, I was trying to envision how their entry/valet parking will work once the Streetcar is put in.

 

 

Streetcar will be in the left travel lane at that point.  No interference.

 

 

Thanks Thomas! Completely forgot about that...

 

I still think that drop-off/valet will have a real problem at this location. Especially if the Metro stop in front of Bootsy's/Righteous Room stays.

Thanks Thomas! Completely forgot about that...

 

I still think that drop-off/valet will have a real problem at this location. Especially if the Metro stop in front of Bootsy's/Righteous Room stays.

 

That metro stop now is only served by five express routes, so with the exception of right at rush hour, it shouldn't be much of an issue.

That's good new that The Subway is planning to relocate.  I had heard originally that they were just going to close.  I wonder if they are moving to the spot on 9th and Main that used to be a night club/bar.  That space has been vacant for at least two years.

Subway is moving to the old Lava space XUMelanie.

The Metropole won 5 million dollars in tax credits from the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit program.  Also intriguing is that the Federal Reserve building won 2.5 million in credits.  The article says the first five floors of the building will be turned into retail and commercial, and the rest of the floors will be turned into residential.  Is there a thread for this already?

 

Read more: http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2010/06/21/daily60.html?ana=from_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_cincinnati+%28Business+Courier+of+Cincinnati%29

Interesting.

Also intriguing is that the Federal Reserve building won 2.5 million in credits. The article says the first five floors of the building will be turned into retail and commercial, and the rest of the floors will be turned into residential. Is there a thread for this already?

 

Yup. Just recently started and can be found here

 

 

Suit challenges Metropole conversion

<a href="http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100818/NEWS010702/308180056/Metropole-plan-challenged">ENQUIRER.COM • AUGUST 18, 2010</a>

 

Cincinnati attorney Terence Brennan said he would file a lawsuit accusing the city, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and 3CDC of forcing out low-income tenants.

 

He said the suit claims the conversion of the Metropole reduces the housing stock in the city available to low-income people and minorities.

 

He said the suit also claims HUD failed to do a required analysis that would determine whether the conversion of the Metropole would create more segregation in the city.

 

“It’s an especially egregious violation of fair housing laws,” Brennan said.

 

What a jacka$$. First of all he is going to lose, second, there is such a thiing as private property rights. He needs to move into reality and let the project move forward.

“It’s an especially egregious violation of fair housing laws,” Brennan said.

 

I guess its unfair to give tenants up to a year to relocate?  Unfair to assist in that relocation process?  Unfair to help pay for the moving costs?  Wow.  Seems like he's reading from a different Landlord Tenant Act than the one I am familiar with.

It seems like HUD and 3CDC have gone above and beyond their legal reuirements.  Arent they only required to give residents 6 months to move and they are giving them a year?  I thought I read that somewhere.

Metropole plan challenged

By Dan Horn • [email protected] • August 18, 2010

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20100818/NEWS010702/308180056/

Nothing short of an ego pumping move by Terence Brennan...not to mention free publicity

From CincyBlog regarding the legal merits of the lawsuit:

Metropole Lawsuit: Not So Fast, 3CDC

Saturday, August 21, 2010

 

As the Enquirer reported  earlier this week, the Metropole Tenants Association filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to halt the efforts of 3CDC and others to turn the Metropole into a luxury hotel. The tenants are now represented by preeminent Cincinnati civil rights attorney Jennifer Kinsley, as well as Terrance Brennan (formerly Lead Organizer with the AMOS Project). And they've filed a lawsuit that is compelling. I thought many of our readers would be interested in an explanation of the allegations in the lawsuit, and why it could be a major impediment to 3CDC's plans for the Metropole.

 

 

More at: http://cincinnati.blogspot.com/2010/08/metropole-lawsuit-not-so-fast-3cdc.html

^ He explained the HUD issue and had me thinking 3CDC was in trouble for forgetting to get the prepayment of the mortgage approved.  He builds it up, but then says HUD approved it.  SO really it’s a done deal.  Again, this lawsuit has no tooth to it.  Everything about the process was done by-the-book.

I am really pulling for the redevelopment of Metropole.

21c Museum Hotel ranks No. 1 in U.S.

 

Posted by lahamilton October 15th, 2010, 11:22 am

 

 

For the second year in a row, the boutique art hotel 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville has been selected as the No. 1 hotel in the United States and No. 6 in the world, according to the prestigious Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards.

 

Owners of the Louisville hotel are planning a similar 21c Museum Hotel in downtown Cincinnati, at the current site of the Metropole building next to the Lois and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art and across the street from the Aronoff Center for the Arts. An opening is expected by 2012.

 

cont.

They can add that distinction to their 2nd place finish in the 2008 America's Best Bathroom competition sponsored by Cintas.  These pictures don't do it justice.    http://www.bestrestroom.com/us/Hall_of_Fame/2008/21c.asp

Cincy needs 21c

Waiting to hear some news on the construction...

^ I'm pretty sure they haven't even moved everyone out, and because of the lawsuit against HUD and 3CDC nothing will be happening for quite some time. Sigh.

Good news I guess,

 

Metropole renovation on track

By Lisa Bernard-Kuhn • [email protected] • December 20, 2010

 

Steve Wilson has a vision for the incoming 21c Museum Hotel on Walnut Street that would make the venue unlike any other in downtown Cincinnati.

 

A rooftop spa and bar, a contemporary art museum and a restaurant that promises fresh, locally grown foods are just a few of the perks that Wilson believes will position his boutique hotel as an anchor for Downtown’s continued renaissance.

 

Continued:

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20101220/BIZ01/312200022/Metropole-renovation-on-track

Metropole Renovation Still In Limbo

Delays Hamper Planned Renovation

CINCINNATI -- The renovation of the Metropole building was supposed to be well under way, but remaking it into a world-class hotel and arts venue might not start for many more months.

 

The Metropole was supposed to be empty three months ago, but the old downtown landmark, the last remaining spot undeveloped on the Walnut Street block, is still populated.

http://www.wlwt.com/news/26719020/detail.html

Metropole Renovation Still In Limbo

Delays Hamper Planned Renovation

CINCINNATI -- The renovation of the Metropole building was supposed to be well under way, but remaking it into a world-class hotel and arts venue might not start for many more months.

 

The Metropole was supposed to be empty three months ago, but the old downtown landmark, the last remaining spot undeveloped on the Walnut Street block, is still populated.

http://www.wlwt.com/news/26719020/detail.html

 

Josh SPring's heart may be in the right place but unfortunately for both him and the city, he has yet to figure out how to use his head and do the right thing

Walking by the Metropole this morning, I saw that they are putting up temporary fencing around the place.  Construction must apparently be beginning, which is great. 

^Yep. Construction has started!

 

21c Museum Hotels begin work on Metropole

 

Work is officially under way to transform the former Metropole Hotel apartment building on Walnut Street downtown into a 90-room boutique hotel operated by 21c Museum Hotels.

 

Dubbed The 21c Cincinnati, the hotel is slated to open in late 2012 and will include a contemporary art museum and restaurant modeled after the 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville. Cincinnati-based Messer Construction is managing the 18-month project, officials said Wednesday.

 

In November 2009, non-profit developer Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. purchased the Metropole and announced plans to renovate it from low-income housing into a hotel.  Over the last two years the developer has worked to relocate more than 200 residents into new housing.  To oversee the relocations, 3CDC tapped Brickstone Property Management.

Good to see.  With luck they will be open by Christmas 2012, it sounds like. 

This is going to become the preppiest block in downtown.  It took 15 years, but the Aronoff Center *did* motivate redevelopment of the entire block facing it. 

^I was thinking about that last night.  I also don't think it's a coincidence that when more shows started coming to the Aronoff instead of Music Hall, more development picked up in the district.  If we could just get the old Maisonette and La Normandie spaces filled, that whole area would really be great I think.

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/print-edition/2011/03/25/vacant-for-years-maisonette-block.html

 

Already on it!

Has anyone actually been in the Metropole?  I'm wondering if there are any great gems/details in the building that will be brought out as part of this rehab. 

I went to the barbershop  a number of times.  The lobby had been renovated sometime after WWII and had nothing visible remaining.  That doesn't mean there isn't wood paneling or something behind wallpaper. 

Has anyone actually been in the Metropole?  I'm wondering if there are any great gems/details in the building that will be brought out as part of this rehab. 

 

There are a few places that will be restored as conditions of receiving the historic tax credits.  The main entry will keep its original tiled floors, much of which was covered up by carpet or an additional layer of tile for many years.  They look rough but it is rumored that the owner is in love with them so they're staying at any cost.  Also, the ballroom is surprisingly in good shape.  The floors are terrazzo that is still intact and the ceiling (hidden by a drop ceiling for years) needs some work but will be amazing when restored.  Other than those two big items, I believe due to lead paint and asbestos they are gutting the entire place down to its shell.

 

I have seen the plans for this hotel.  They are incorporating a little bit of Rookwood Tile into every guest shower (an expense so great I still don't believe that they'll go through with it), a rooftop bar with spa inside the top level, and another bar in the subbasement.  That is in addition to the already reported Proof restaurant and gallery spaces.

 

I think the Cincinnatian will have to refresh their rooms or easily fall to a distant second in the local hotel rankings behind 21c. 

^You haven't seen the restrooms and bathrooms in Louisville's 21C :)

Sounds great. 

I found this today in an old scrapbook.  Based on other items, it's from around the mid-fifties.

I used to work with a couple of guys who lived there. They were always trying to get me to come over. I should have taken them up on it so that I could experience it before the redevelopment.

Zac Humphries from Messer Construction will be presenting on the construction plan/schedule for the 21c Hotel at tomorrow's Downtown Residents Council Membership meeting (see http://www.ilivedowntown.com under the "calendar" section for meeting time/place/agenda).

 

Note: He will only be speaking on the construction.  He is not an architect nor associated with the owner/operator of the hotel.

Zac Humphries from Messer Construction will be presenting on the construction plan/schedule for the 21c Hotel at tomorrow's Downtown Residents Council Membership meeting (see http://www.ilivedowntown.com under the "calendar" section for meeting time/place/agenda).

 

Note: He will only be speaking on the construction.  He is not an architect nor associated with the owner/operator of the hotel.

 

I hung out with one of the architects yesterday, this place is going to be pretty awesome when completed.

Most of the presentation from Zac Humphries from Messer Construction on the 21c hotel was directed at downtown residents concerns/questions.  The only thing I think people may care about here is:

1) the permit to block the sidewalk and one lane of traffic in front of the hotel on Walnut Street is one year from start of construction

2) no blocking of the alley behind the building will be necessary (and trucks will be instructed to park as to not block traffic through the alleys)

3) the construction schedule is for 18 months from their start last month

 

The City of Cincinnati Economic Development Division is now posting photos of the renovation work going on:

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/choosecincy/sets/72157626898477449/

Should this thread by renamed?

^ I've been waiting for that myself. haha

Will Metropole be incorporated into the hotel name? Maybe: 21c at the Metropole