Cleveland interloper here----has there been any renderings or massings on the casino yet?

 

I wouldn't mind seeing an actual design, either.  All I've seen so far are artists' conceptions of what it could look like.  Shouldn't there have been a revealing of the final design by now?

 

  "Anyone with an 8-5 job should be taking the bus."

 

  Tell that to the half a million workers who don't have jobs on the bus line. Only 14% of jobs in Hamilton County are downtown.

 

Last I checked SORTA did not just run buses "downtown."

    In Hamilton County, a HUGE number of jobs are in the Evendale / Sharonville / Woodlawn / Blue Ash area, which is pretty much inaccessible by bus. 

 

 

   

My comment comes from the endless complaints generated by people who park at the Broadway Commons lot.  I realize that the bus doesn't go everywhere, but when you're working downtown, you have over 85% of Metro's routes to choose from.  There is really no excuse to not take the bus.

 

  If you work downtown on a 8 to 5 schedule and you live in Cincinnati or the closer suburbs, then I agree with you; there is no reason not to take the bus most of the time. Outside of those locations and hours it is much, much harder.

 

 

^Yeah, but we're talking directly about spaces being eliminated by the Broadway Commons Casino, not in Evendale or Blue Ash.

Can Cincinnati casino revitalize downtown?

 

By Alexander Coolidge • [email protected] • November 12, 2010

 

The grounds are being cleared, and a glittering casino will soon take shape. Now, all bets are on the developers: Can they deliver a casino that revitalizes downtown and kicks up development, helping boost neighborhoods, restaurants, hotels, shops and bars?

 

Rock Gaming officials say that bet is as good today as it was last year when they sold voters on a casino at Broadway Commons. In the 12 months since, they've hired contractors and architects and partnered with Harrah's Entertainment to bring worldwide gambling cache to town.

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20101112/BIZ01/11140302/

At what point is downtown considered "revitalized"?  I think it's doing pretty damn good now

I don't think downtown has to be the dominant node to be revitalized, but the two keys are probably double the residential population we have today and a more competitive retail environment - w/out tax subsidies.

^What do you think is the node most in need to be revitalized?

 

I'm not sure if you can double the residential population outside of tax subsidies, but if you double the residential population, you could probably create a more competitive retail environment without the tax subsidies.

I'd rather subsidize residential than retail - companies go in and out of business and inevitably you'll make more bad bets than good. Residential (esp. when you are building on a good base is a much better use) brings other development in an urban area that can survive over a longer term.

 

Downtown is probably the most important, but I'd like to see Norwood/Bond Hill/Roselawn/Reading revitalized quite a bit more. I think that sector is probably the mostly likely to continue decline if we can't get more positive momentum, but they contain plenty of great assets that are underutilized.

The title of this article and the way the story is framed rubbed me the wrong way.  The answer to that question of course is "no", a casino alone will not revitalize downtown Cincinnati and anyone paying attention knows that 3CDC already IS revitalizing downtown Cincinnati.  Is there anyone really counting on this casino to be a panacea?  To pose the question in that manner and then go on to chronicle how casinos alone did not instantly transform Detroit's econcomy is ridiculous. 

 

What can the Casino do for downtown Cincinnati?  Provide an additional stream of tax revenue, sweeten Cincy's bid for conventions, bring additional investment to North Main St. & Pendelton, enhance existing entertainment options, put more guests into DT hotels, add a few jobs, etc.  Mark Mallory summed up my opinion when he said, "We've already seen a resurgence downtown. There's a lot going on, and a casino will just add to it". 

What can the Casino do for downtown Cincinnati?  Provide an additional stream of tax revenue, sweeten Cincy's bid for conventions, bring additional investment to North Main St. & Pendelton, enhance existing entertainment options, put more guests into DT hotels, add a few jobs, etc.  Mark Mallory summed up my opinion best when he said, "We've already seen a resurgence downtown. There's a lot going on, and a casino will just add to it".

 

100% agreed.

I'd rather subsidize residential than retail - companies go in and out of business and inevitably you'll make more bad bets than good. Residential (esp. when you are building on a good base is a much better use) brings other development in an urban area that can survive over a longer term.

 

I agree with this.  Also you don't want to subsidize something that the internet is inevitably replacing, though I don't think this is exactly the case for retail.

 

Downtown is probably the most important, but I'd like to see Norwood/Bond Hill/Roselawn/Reading revitalized quite a bit more. I think that sector is probably the mostly likely to continue decline if we can't get more positive momentum, but they contain plenty of great assets that are underutilized.

 

Not sure how you do that without rapid transit between these places and the places that currently are large office centers, particularly since those areas have plenty of space that is underutilized.  Also why would a private company build offices at Swifton Commons when they can do it easier in Deerfield or Liberty townships?  That's the crux of the problem.

Casino seeks to swap parking for land

By Alexander Coolidge • [email protected] • December 15, 2010

 

 

DOWNTOWN - Developers of Cincinnati's future casino have offered Hamilton County employees the daytime use of 300 parking spaces in their garage in exchange for a 160-spot parking lot in front of their building site.

 

Rock Gaming plans to redevelop the triangle-shaped land - between Broadway, Eggleston Avenue and Reading Road - into a park-like area open to the public that would host outdoor events and provide some green space in front of the casino's main entrance. Casino officials say it would improve the visual appeal around the casino in place of a parking lot and serve as a buffer between the casino and the county jail.

 

"We want to incorporate that space into the development footprint by transforming it into an urban plaza," said spokeswoman Jennifer Kulczycki. "It would also be a good entry point into the casino's main entrance on Broadway."

 

Casino officials have also asked the city to consider closing Broadway between Reading and Eggleston to improve pedestrian access between the 0.8-acre-plot and the casino.

^ That was an idea I heard tossed around quite a bit during the charrette a few months ago.  That site acts as a terminus of sorts for Central Parkway, and has some great potential.

I totally agree with the Casino's overall idea- but I don't think Broadway should be closed It's a pretty crucial intersection.

 

I love triangle plots of land haha, and to use a beautiful triangle as a parking lot is so sad--

^ It could be an opportunity put to use a bunch of traffic calming tactics to make it not feel like a barrier for pedestrians. Maybe I'm just being over-optimistic, but these casino people keep coming out with good ideas.

 

It could be a good future streetcar stop, closed or not. CUT-Casino, maybe then extended up Gilbert. They did talk about potentially contributing streetcar money, after all.

It could actually work if done right.  I just moved to LA and in Santa Monica, they have 3rd Street Promenade where its completely blocked off from vehicles and the place is bustling like you wouldn't believe.  Ofcourse we're talking stores everywhere lining the street but you get the idea.  Ha, its atually too bad they couldn't erect a revolving restaurant tower on that traingular piece of land and have a park under it.

Casino signs lease for offices

 

 

Developers of the new Cincinnati casino have agreed to rent out the entire first floor of the Flatiron Building for their construction offices for the project across Court Street at Broadway Commons.

 

General contractor Messer Construction decided to lease the 6,500-square to house between 30 and 40 construction officials for the project, employees of Rock Ohio Caesar's LLC - the joint venture formed by casino property owner Rock Gaming and future casino operator Caesar's Entertainment Corp. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Noticing a front loader and a backhoe moving around onsite today. Finally some activity!

Those buildings on Reading are all being demolished in early February.

Nooooo, not the Family Dollar!

I thought the Family Dollar and the building next to it were staying?

I thought the Family Dollar and the building next to it were staying?

 

Oh, I'm wrong...which ones are coming down?

Oh, all that closed up Ram23 a while back.

 

All of the buildings -south- of Reading Road, including the ones that front the south side of the street, will come down. That includes the remains of the buildings near I-471, the Dollar General, and that three-story industrial building (they finally moved everything out by Jan. 7). It's all fenced in.

Interesting.  I remember during the design charrette last year that we were told to assume those buildings were staying.  It made that end of the casino really awkward.  I'm glad they were ultimately able to buy them out, so long as they make for a nice streetscape along Reading, and not just a giant parking garage.

Wait, I missed something.  Where is the Greyhound station moving to and when?

I'm glad the Reading buildings are coming down.  They're disgusting looking except that really cool old one (don't know the name) but everytime I drove down Liberty to get on 471, I'd see that gross fenced in lot with ugly trees on the corner and old machinary.  Good riddance!

It's not.

The Greyhound station is staying, although some politican (?) made the mention of moving it.

I was at the second of three community dialogs on the casino (albeit briefly since I had to leave early to take a turn watching lil' Gavin) and they announced that groundbreaking was officially starting February 4th.

The Greyhound station is staying, although some politican (?) made the mention of moving it.

Rep Mallory

^ Riverfront Transit Center should be where it's relocated.  It would need a little bit of work to fit the mold of your typical greyhound station, but it'd be a perfect location.  It works just fine for the charter buses during Reds/Bengals games.

Agreed.  RTC would be a perfect location for it.

I've made that suggestion before in this thread and others only to meet a lot of resistance....

I think the city should lease the RTC to Greyhound with the stipulation that if/when the RTC can be used by commuter rail or other city transit, Greyhound has to move out or share the space. The downtown location would have better access to bus service and is a more central location. Its a win-win-win for Greyhound, riders, and the city. The city would get some revenue from it.

If I recall, the issue with RTC for Greyhound is that there's no facilities that are needed for long-distance travel.  Namely, there's no waiting rooms or space for baggage handling, and there might not be any bathrooms for all I know.  The fact that the RTC (and any possible expansion into adjacent parking garages for the aforementioned additional space) is on the river side of the flood wall that's buried between it and the highway is another problem.  I won't say that those are insurmountable issues, but they're issues nonetheless.

 

The big problem with the current Greyhound location is that it's in a very dumpy and isolated area, which is even more creepy at night.  The thing is, with the casino there it will be much more active, and for 24 hours of the day at that.  While the station might not be much of a benefit to the casino, the casino is a great thing for the station.  For anyone whose bus is late or rescheduled, it'll be much nicer to wait in the casino than the drab waiting rooms at Greyhound.  That's not something a RTC location, even with The Banks fully built out, can offer.  I will say though that it would be nice if the station could be incorporated into the casino's design, as part of the new building, rather than the casino simply being built around it.

That's not something a RTC location, even with The Banks fully built out, can offer.

 

I disagree. I think I could easily get on board with milling around The Banks for a little bit while I wait for my bus. Bars, restaurants, park, etc.

That's not something a RTC location, even with The Banks fully built out, can offer.

 

I disagree. I think I could easily get on board with milling around The Banks for a little bit while I wait for my bus. Bars, restaurants, park, etc.

 

But at 3:00 AM? 

That's not something a RTC location, even with The Banks fully built out, can offer.

 

I disagree. I think I could easily get on board with milling around The Banks for a little bit while I wait for my bus. Bars, restaurants, park, etc.

 

But at 3:00 AM?

 

Huey’s 24/7 Diner

^ ha!

 

Either way, it won't happen and would take some major reconstruction of the RTC.  but neat idea. 

 

Is there any news on the triangle parking lot that Rock Ventures wants to turn into an open green site. 

I think the city should lease the RTC to Greyhound with the stipulation that if/when the RTC can be used by commuter rail or other city transit, Greyhound has to move out or share the space. The downtown location would have better access to bus service and is a more central location. Its a win-win-win for Greyhound, riders, and the city. The city would get some revenue from it.

 

This has been suggested more than once.  Greyhound cant just use the space- they have to "fit-out" the space for their needs... Driver services, offices, tele-data rooms, etc.  RTC was not constructed with these extra spaces in mind so even if Greyhound can streamline their bus services to fit into the RTC space the question becomes who pays for the fit-out, especially if it is temporary, because Greyhound won't want to pay twice, and will counter the suggestion with a response that the City should pay for it because Greyhound provides a tourism service for the city as well as a PR service in using space that the City has under-utilized...

The City does not have the money to bend over backwards for Greyhound and modify a public service center which could see a lot more use in the coming year as SORTA/METRO aim to open proper neighborhood bus stations.

Things should start to heat up in this thread what with tomorrow's "groundbreaking" and today's announcment that Cleveland's casino will be branded Horseshoe.

They tore down the auto garage this week so heavy equipment is on site. 

I will be at the groundbreaking ceremony.  They're expecting 165 local dignitaries and whatnot, so we will be in a heated tent at the corner of Broadway and Court.

^ Pass out some streetcar buttons!  :lol:

Anyone willing to guess what the brand will be?  I am going for the "River City" Connection that is alrady being fostered by the banks, and guess it will be Harrah's.  I think the owners have more to gain from multiple destination casinos of different names that can possibly encourage visits from other Ohio cities, than a consistent brand throughout the state.  Not to mention that Cincinnati is as "southern" as Ohio gets.  All that, and I REALLY don't want a Horseshoe.

Horseshoe it is...  :x

 

 

Cincinnati gets Horseshoe casino

Cincinnati’s casino, which opens in late 2012 at Broadway Commons, will be called the Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati.

 

 

 

Developer Rock Gaming and its partner, gambling giant Caesars Entertainment, will break ground this morning on the $400 million project. They have tapped casino veteran Kevin Kline to become the casino’s general manager. He will will oversee day-to-day operations and play a significant role in the property’s development.

 

The Horseshoe concept is marketed toward more serious gamblers with higher betting limits.

 

Heavy construction is expected to begin within weeks on the site for the planned 350,000-square-foot complex that will also have a 2,500-spot parking garage.

 

Cont

So why are you guys opposed to the Horseshoe brand?  Apparently, it is the high stakes brand from the article...but I know very little about casino segmentation.