Oh yeah 13th is where I was thinking. I thought I had noticed them recently but wasn't sure. It's frustrating that a nice streetscaping project is marred by a company's laziness. I really wish there was more power for the city to force them to go through with their end of the deal faster.

Sorry, I should have been clearer.  I was referring to the 13th street rehab in OTR, stating it is even older than Walnut, and they haven't taken that crap down yet.

 

Those buildings meant for 14th street...are those still due for construction? Right now it's just this huge empty lot, and I was wondering what the status on that side of Mercer is?

That office building was removed from the scope of the current phase when 3CDC didn't receive new market tax credits. But now that they have received them for this year it's rumored that this and the 15th and Vine office buildings will move forward.

The buildings in the square on that picture with the "?????" have been built, though. 

I think that was just as a reference. He's referring to the buildings up on 14th. I believe when that image was originally made the person was putting a box around where the old purple building on Vine was because at the time we weren't sure whether or not that was going to stay.

14th St Vacant lot will be a new construction office building. There will also be an office building at 15th & Vine. And Urban Sites is putting in office space at 12th & Main as well.

There is a functional residential vacancy rate in the basin of 0% and 3CDC, in its history of existence, has delivered about 10% of the conservative estimated demand for housing. Industrial vacancy is pushing 4% (can you believe it?!), while commercial is sitting at about 15% vacancy.

 

Why they are building office on a residential side street in a 0% residential vacancy market is beyond speculation.

Because it's a mixed use neighborhood and having daytime population growth in OTR is vital to its long-term success. Yes, office vacancy might be the highest, but in OTR there is great demand for new office space. It's important to have 24 hour use out of development. Would residential be beneficial as well? Absolutely. But including office use brings a couple hundred office workers to that spot which helps increase demand for basic services which only betters the livability of OTR which helps further the demand for residential construction which has increased in recent years.

OTR needs to be a mixed-use neighborhood in order to be stable for the long term. Right now the neighborhood is mostly retail and residential. Adding office space will add more activity to the neighborhood M-F 9-5. The parking garages in the neighborhood fill up on weekend nights and for special events, but I bet there are a lot of empty spaces during the work week. Adding a few hundred office workers might also make it more likely we get amenities like quick/inexpensive restaurants, dry cleaners, a FedEx/UPS store, etc.

 

Also, consider what is happening downtown. When Great American Tower opened, most of the Class A tenants moved there, and many of the older office buildings were either modernized or converted to residential. When the new Western & Southern office building opens in a few years, the same thing will happen. We are moving away from a strictly business-oriented CBD and residential-oriented neighborhoods. We are moving towards mid-density neighborhoods that mix all uses.

If we're talking about "shoulds," then I guess the question becomes what "should" you prioritize? Mixed-use at the block level because mixed-use is good, or providing housing proximal to existing jobs at the district or even regional level? Is mixing a block more important than mixing a district (the basin)? That might actually be an interesting technical question.

 

It just seems odd. Commercial tenants usually like visibility.

I think what Civvik is getting at is that it's weird to put office on streets like Republic, 14th, and 15th. Office feels better suited for Vine, Walnut, Liberty, etc. The large arterial streets. Small streets seem to work better for residential. I don't know if Civvik is arguing against office in OTR, just the placement of it on smaller streets that typically welcome residents with the quiet setting.

I think when you get down to a closer view of the commercial market the types of companies looking for office space in OTR aren't the types of companies that would work or desire residing in large highrise office buildings. Most of the office tenants in OTR are creative type industries which work better in smaller scale buildings with smaller floor plates and better access to neighborhood amenities. Downtown is great for larger businesses but those aren't the types of tenants these office buildings will be attracting.

 

Though I agree it's super important for the entire basin to be mixed-use it is equally important to desegregate uses as much as possible. We have had to deal with segregated zoning code for half a century and it results in urban neighborhoods that suffer. Bringing as many uses into OTR and Downtown as possible will create the most sustainable versions of the neighborhoods possible.

The kind of companies that locate in OTR are not going to be a Fifth Third or Kroger type of corporation that wants their name on the building. They are going to be smaller tech companies, marketing agencies, and law firms that would gladly locate on a side street as long as they have a cool office space and are walking distance to OTR's amenities.

 

I also just looked up the YMCA rehab on Central Parkway and saw that it is being converted to "65 affordable apartments for seniors, improved wellness facility, and over 25,000 SF office space" -- I did not realize that there was an office component to this project.

^I think the YMCA office space is just the headquarters for the Greater Cincinnati YMCA organization, not commercial office space.

^ That's how i understand it as well.

Mercer Commons Phase 2 townhomes:

 

I'm holding judgment until these are clad, but the scale is so much better than those across the street. I do with there was a little more variation though in height. But that being said, Mercer Street might have one of the most dramatic before/after in OTR. The street has a nice pedestrian scale and feel to it, even with the garage exit which is honestly not that obtrusive to the flow of people. It has gone from having a handful of crumbling buildings, a barn shaped fast food restaurant, and gigantic open lots to having decent new construction, great renovations, a new streetscape, etc. People have their opinions on the architecture (and rightfully so) but from a planning perspective it has turned out great. And the way they've handled the alleyways throughout the project has been nice. They serve as great pedestrian connections between streets and the various courtyard spaces are nicely done for the apartments.

One of the big issues facing the size of the town homes on the south side that are finished is that the garage directly behind them would have made an additional story very awkward for a rooftop patio. As it stands now, if you walk to the Mercer St side of the top floor of the garage, you can look down on the patio. If it was another story, they would be almost at the same level. No good way to fix that, I guess.

 

I'm a little disappointed the buildings between the rehab and Vine Street aren't another story taller. Also, variability is key. Hopefully the two buildings are a little different in color/massing so it doesn't look like they just forgot there was an existing building between them. I think it'll look weird if you have the two buildings identical on either side of a much taller historic building.

 

I walked past this the other day and was shocked. I didn't even realize phase 2 had started until then.

Mercer is my least favorite street in Over-the-Rhine now. Those townhouses are terribly monotonous and the long horizontal line cutting through the old Italianate of the new buildings is just jarring and completely out of place.

 

As far as urbanism is concerned, these buildings are a welcome addition to Cincinnati. As far as fitting into the massing of Over-the-Rhine, these buildings are a complete failure. I'd love to see this type of infill line streets in neighborhoods all over the city, but Over-the-Rhine deserves better.

^I'm going to disagree and you know this through our various conversations. OTR isn't only vertical buildings. There are plenty of historic examples of buildings that are much more horizontal than they are tall. I will agree that it would have been better if they varied a lot more since rowhomes that are all the same isn't something found in OTR historically, but the horizontal line argument is a romanticized one, not one based in the reality of the built form of OTR. The majority of buildings are of a vertical emphasis, but nowhere near all of them.

What are the odds that the owners of 1300 Vine would sell their giant parking lot (just south of One Mercer) to be developed? I know the owners have something to do with low income housing and tend to have anti-gentrification posters hanging up in their window. But if someone came along and offered the right amount, it would be hard for them to say no. Especially if it was someone like 3CDC who could offer them garage spaces to replace what they would lose by selling the lot.

3CDC tried and they only agreed to the strip they sold for Mercer Commons. 3CDC even offered designated parking in the garage with the intention of two different buildings fronting Vine to cover the garage but in the end the owners wouldn't listen to any further offers and what we ended up with is all they were willing to give up.

 

That gap isn't any bigger than some of the others, but it's especially bad because it opens up to the rear yards of several buildings that are less than maintained and therefore the effective size of the gap is greater than normal and then the view is of things that are literally falling apart. Honestly, an expansion of the low-income would be a great option. Fill that lot in, figure something out with parking, and complete that streetwall. And then we'd have more low-income units on Vine which will help keep the mix away from leaning too far towards the high end.

It's the same issue with the Peaslee Center.  They were offered nearly $1 million for their parking lot, plus free parking in a new garage, and said no. Very foolish.

Regarding the variability or lack there-of of the new construction on mercer, couldn't there been some variation in height at the very top? Even if it's a foot or two, it would make a difference because the buildings aren't that tall.

Am I crazy for actually liking the design of the town homes being built? I always thought the contrast of modern versus historical was something that was very neat. It's hard to find urban districts in America that incorporate the old with the new. Typically that lone historic structure would be demolished. Instead its sort of a memorial center piece.

 

But that's just me. I hate having archecticture be built in otr with the sole purpose of blending. The more we can celebrate modern 21st century structures in otr, the more otr will create a unique identity of past versus future.

 

Instead of crap faux historic buildings that try to blend in but rather stick out like a sore thumh

3CDC tried and they only agreed to the strip they sold for Mercer Commons. 3CDC even offered designated parking in the garage with the intention of two different buildings fronting Vine to cover the garage but in the end the owners wouldn't listen to any further offers and what we ended up with is all they were willing to give up.

 

That gap isn't any bigger than some of the others, but it's especially bad because it opens up to the rear yards of several buildings that are less than maintained and therefore the effective size of the gap is greater than normal and then the view is of things that are literally falling apart. Honestly, an expansion of the low-income would be a great option. Fill that lot in, figure something out with parking, and complete that streetwall. And then we'd have more low-income units on Vine which will help keep the mix away from leaning too far towards the high end.

 

Yeah that lot just seems like a ball set up on a tee ready for an infill project. Would be neat to have a new building edge form an alley abutting the Mercer garage with the alley extending from Vine St. back into the rest of the Mercer development. It looks like this lot could fit a building a lot more logically than the lot down the street by the Trideca lofts for example.

From what I gather there should be some more height added with that gazebo type structure there building on some of the condos and should add some height difference between structures

 

 

 

http://www.3cdc.org/files/2014/10/Mercer-HCB_9.22.1413-e1412604133616.jpg

I am glad to see that the east side of Walnut is being streetscaped as well (across from Mercer Commons Phase 2), but what's the logic behind removing the existing street trees? Also, it's not clear whether the utilities are being buried (unless that's what the white line is indicating.)

 

 

Update:

 

 

 

Making some progress... The utility poles have had their tops chopped off:

 

So it looks like Duke removed the power but cable and telephone still have not been switched over and removed.

I'm guessing the eventual goal is to bury all of the power lines on all of the streets in OTR?

 

Don't streets like Clay and Republic still have overhead wires? Really destroys the streetscape imo, the quicker there gone the better.

Essentially, yeah. Some of the smaller side streets might take awhile but as development spreads more overhead lines for cable, lights, and power have been buried. In some cases they've annoyingly been left up for various reasons. Like Race Street still having gooseneck lights because burying them would have added 300k to the streetcar budget. Which was the time to do it so now we may need to wait awhile before we see them buried.

 

Overhead wires are one of the best ways to cheapen an area and make it feel run down. Doesn't matter what's happening with the building stock. Even nice neighborhoods look bad when the overhead tangle of wires still exists. They wouldn't be so bad if the poles were nice and the wires were all organized neatly, but that's not the case. Dormant lines are left up, buildings connect into lines haphazardly, power lines have their insulation hanging down and falling off in pieces, etc. It looks like crap and is an insult to the people who live underneath them. We're one of the only first world countries that doesn't bury all of our utilities and it's something visitors notice.

I'm guessing the eventual goal is to bury all of the power lines on all of the streets in OTR?

 

Don't streets like Clay and Republic still have overhead wires? Really destroys the streetscape imo, the quicker there gone the better.

 

I wouldn't say it's the "eventual goal". A lot of people on this forum would like to see it happen. But usually it can only be done a few blocks at a time, typically when there's a lot of new development happening on that same block. For example, the burying of utilities on Walnut from 12th to 14th was prompted by the development of Mercer Commons which included nearly every building on the west side of those two blocks. The odds that utilities will be buried on side streets like Clay or Republic seems very low at this point in time.

I'm guessing the eventual goal is to bury all of the power lines on all of the streets in OTR?

 

Don't streets like Clay and Republic still have overhead wires? Really destroys the streetscape imo, the quicker there gone the better.

 

I wouldn't say it's the "eventual goal". A lot of people on this forum would like to see it happen. But usually it can only be done a few blocks at a time, typically when there's a lot of new development happening on that same block. For example, the burying of utilities on Walnut from 12th to 14th was prompted by the development of Mercer Commons which included nearly every building on the west side of those two blocks. The odds that utilities will be buried on side streets like Clay or Republic seems very low at this point in time.

 

Aren't overhead wires a safety issue though? Especially during storms and high winds? You would think, besides just the general goal of streetscaping, that having the utility wires buried would be a safety priority for the residents of OTR as well,.

Still very few blocks in OTR and the West End have underground utilities. I put together a map that - to the best of my knowledge - reflects where utilities have been buried. You can see how it is slowly creeping north from Central Parkway.

 

There are a bunch of blocks in the West End that got underground utilities when they did the full block redevelopments.

Overhead wires are much cheaper to maintain, but often need maintenance more often because of the elements.

 

Underground wires cost a lot to maintain when maintenance is needed and might result in seriously disturbing the streetscape and possibly a loss of trees.

I would bet that the maintenance of overhead utilities in highly urban neighborhoods where there's little to no mature tree canopy is surprisingly low.  It's long suburban runs through wooded neighborhoods that are always having trouble with fallen tree limbs.  Of course, the urban wiring is much more exposed to view and cluttered up by much more closely-spaced service drops and other appurtenances, which only makes it look worse in such an environment.   

^You'd be surprised actually since a lot of urban neighborhoods planted trees 15-20 years ago that are now mature and in the wires. Add the fact that many trees planted in the 80's and 90's were Bradford Pears which are prone to limb failure on windy days.

On a side note... I installed a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) about two months ago to protect my computer, router, etc. from power surges and power outages. It keeps a counter of how many times the battery backup has to kick on due to power outages, and it is already up to 9! In two months, the power has gone out 9 times! Maybe only for a split second at a time, but that's a lot more than I would have guessed.

^You'd be surprised actually since a lot of urban neighborhoods planted trees 15-20 years ago that are now mature and in the wires. Add the fact that many trees planted in the 80's and 90's were Bradford Pears which are prone to limb failure on windy days.

 

You mean like these:

 

 

 

 

^You'd be surprised actually since a lot of urban neighborhoods planted trees 15-20 years ago that are now mature and in the wires. Add the fact that many trees planted in the 80's and 90's were Bradford Pears which are prone to limb failure on windy days.

 

You mean like these:

 

 

 

 

 

Above ground wires are awful for street trees. Street trees tend to have a life span of 15-20 years because they are simply cut down (and maybe replaced) when they start to grow into the wires. The trees in front of my house are a prime example, they were probably replaced about 5 years ago, whereas the rest of my street has trees that are much older (because the wires are higher).

A store called MADD CASA which was located in Mercer Commons at 1333 Walnut Street is closing. They have sent out the following press release:

 

OTR: Over The Racism

 

Yet another BLACK-OWNED BUSINESS closes their doors in OTR due to overwhelming racial tensions and remarks in Cincinnati’s Over-The Rhine district

 

Cincinnati, Ohio, August 24, 2016 – On August 31, 2016 , MADD CASA  will be closing their doors and relocating to Los Angeles California, to carry-on their known legacy of  creative and innovative, Eco-conscious clothing.

 

“The focus is primarily keeping the dream fulfilled while transitioning the next MADD CASA to California, and another in New York. We want to promote greatness within an artistic and innovative fashion platform” – Joney Fields, Madd Casa Owner

 

Madd Casa is not moving out of necessity, they are leaving by choice. Unfortunately, the OTR community is not living up to its “Think big” image and it was obviously not built with Local Black Business owners in mind. OTR has done nothing to create unity in the Cincinnati downtown district. The gentrification of OTR is pretty obvious, and so is the racism. “You can cut the tension with a knife” Says Dawn Flanigan, PR Rep for MADD CASA. “It is nearly impossible to create great art work when you are surrounded by negative energy and people that do not appreciate you” – Joney Fields.

 

Madd Casa officially opened their doors June 6, 2015 with the goal of creating the first eco-friendly, edgy, artistic California inspired boutique. While opening the gallery, the owners looked forward to not only showcasing their art work, but they loved the thought of being able to give back to the community by creating apprenticeships, and education based incentive programs. For example, they would offer large discounts and free products to students who received A’s and B’s on their report card. Moreover, the opportunity to create jobs was especially exciting to MADD CASA. However, after experiencing all of the racially charged comments from white people, they feared that if they hired any non-white staffers, they would endure the same despicable behaviors. "I'm embarrassed by the level of ignorance in the city and cannot employ anyone who will be disrespected because of the color of their skin.  It’s just not fair... and because of that…. we cannot create employment opportunities at this time"-Joney Fields

 

Madd Casa has received overwhelming support and recognition around the nation. The majority of support, in the city of Cincinnati has come from tourist and, unfortunately, was rejected by a large percentage of racially biased Cincinnati residents. Cincinnati as a whole, failed to see past the exterior appearance of the MADD CASA creators and went out of their way to spew racially disgusting comments to them for no apparent reason other than the fact that they were not the "right and excepted race".  “It’s sad, and so 1900’s, and we are OTR: Over the Racism”- Dawn Flanigan, MADD CASA PR Rep

 

The farewell of MADD CASA is bitter sweet. MADD CASA hopes that Cincinnati will begin to understand that art has no boundaries and racism does. Our city has lost some great people. We all need to take responsibility for the growth, development, and open mindedness of the city. If we continue to focus so much on our racial differences, we will never begin to see the potential in all that we can do together.

I've bought a few things from them. They were really nice people. I'm wondering what the "white people" said to them that was racially charged. I think their shop would have done much better if it was on Vine or Main. It was always empty whenever I went in.

Sad to see this and can only assume that their grievances are valid. But a press release like this is truly odd.

You can't just insult an entire city and call us a bunch of racist white people because your business failed. It was in a bad location and according to their website their basic t-shirts run $40. There's just not a huge demand for that type of clothing in Cincinnati and stores like this one turnover all the time because of it.

 

I don't know what exactly the owners wanted in OTR because it is not clearly presented in the tirade of a press release, but if they didn't care enough to help create it than who cares that they're leaving? Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

This seems very strange to me.  I wouldn't know one person to ever say or even think the term "right and respected race"

 

Not saying some things didn't go on, but it sounds like sour grapes they couldn't get their business model moving and their price points were too high for this market.  Maybe they can make it work in LA.

Yeah, I would love to know what type of "racially charged comments from white people" they got. I feel like they would've done better if they were located on Main Street where the rent is probably lower and foot traffic is higher. Walnut Street doesn't have much going on north of Mercer right now, except for maybe a few people parking on the street and walking to 16 Bit.

Che is there as well. But honestly taestell[/member] is right. There is barely any real retail presence on Walnut and the storefronts besides what is listed above contain offices. Any apparel store is going to struggle on this street until the 1400 block of Walnut is improved and/or the offices convert to retail (which is doubtful.)

I had never heard of or noticed this place despite walking or biking by dozens of times.  Many businesses come and go from this area without anyone having heard of them because they don't allow illuminated signs. 

^ 3CDC wouldn't even allow an external sign for Queen City Tours. They were only allowed to have a window cling!