Totally off topic, but Bigg's should be in Pleasant Ridge but dumb rules about annexation and the useless existence of Columbia Township prevent that. Grocery is a tough business that will only get harder with the fluctuating gas prices.

I've heard he can't find financing. That the City backed about 90% of his project but that he's struggling to finance the remainder. Also heard he's going through a divorce, but who knows if any of it is true.

 

Back on topic:

 

Has everyone seen the plans for the new University village? They're online somewhere...

^ no, would love to see. Can you dig them up?

I found a bunch of info on Corryville's website.  It seems to be up to date- not sure if it's what Octo is talking about, but here it is:

 

http://corryville.org/ccc/devrend/shortvine2/3dboard.pdf

 

http://corryville.org/ccc/devrend/shortvine2/siteplan.pdf

 

Pretty much standard suburban crap.  Disappointed by rumors that the developer is not interested in having the Streetcar cross through his development- but I realize that's pretty difficult to manage.

 

 

It's July 2013, the demolition work was started last year then stopped. The Corryville Council's http://corryville.org  web site domain has been taken by a squatter, Rumor has it that one of the businesses in the plaza won't leave until their lease is done. That seems very anti-community minded ;  anybody know if that the case? 

Rent-a-center is printing money from that location. Won't close until their lease expires. .

Ah, that figures. RentaCenter was one of those businesses mentioned in "Broke USA" , Gary Rivlin's book about the profiteers of poverty.  Them, the Tax Refund shops and Payday Loan shops are referred to as "Poverty, Inc." - they never saw a slum that didn't make them salivate.

I absolutely hate that Rent-a-Center has taken that part of the community hostage. It's just a quick walk from my place. Going to Kroger is *not bad at all*. It's just the walk through the desolate war torn parking lot that makes me uneasy. Phase II of U Square will be finished even before RAC leaves.

Maybe this delay will give Corryville Community Council a chance to step up and demand a better site plan for the new University Village. No?

I absolutely hate that Rent-a-Center has taken that part of the community hostage. It's just a quick walk from my place. Going to Kroger is *not bad at all*. It's just the walk through the desolate war torn parking lot that makes me uneasy. Phase II of U Square will be finished even before RAC leaves.

 

It's sad, infuriating. Poverty, Inc. members are not community builders, they are predators.

Heard a rumor last weekend that the Kroger is moving completely out of University Plaza -- will move to a site in Avondale, possibly the big parking lot at Reading & MLK.  There might be a big shopping center in the works there since the MLK interchange will begin construction soon. 

I'm not sure how much that will benefit the area... Considering that Kroger is currently located at a walkable distance for students living in the dorms and around campus. I'm not sure that building on the east side of the medical campus will be a logical solution.

Well if they are in fact building a new store somewhere in or around Reading Rd., then they're probably planning to close both the Corryville and Walnut Hills stores. 

That little store in the athletic building would make more money.

Well if they are in fact building a new store somewhere in or around Reading Rd., then they're probably planning to close both the Corryville and Walnut Hills stores. 

Such a new store will also adversely affect the busy Surrey Square store, which draws heavily from Evanston and Avondale.  Add to this, the opening of a new Kroger flagship store at Oakley Station, which will affect every food store for miles around, including Hyde Park and Norwood.  Indeed, big changes seem imminent.

It might ultimately be for the best if Kroger moves out of that space in Corryville. They seem hell-bent on making it a completely suburban store with too much parking and blank walls facing Corry Street. If they were more open to an urban design, I would not want them to leave this space. The community still needs a grocery store in the area.

I'm not sure how much that will benefit the area... Considering that Kroger is currently located at a walkable distance for students living in the dorms and around campus. I'm not sure that building on the east side of the medical campus will be a logical solution.

I thought their solution for campuses was mega vending machines.

Is this where UC makes a ploy for the property to build a new basketball arena?

^ I hope so

So a Kroger Marketplace is going to be the "highest and best use" for a prime piece of real estate at a high exposure corner in the city? Are we taking our economic development cues from Newport?!

According to Beth Robinson of the Uptown Consortium, the contracts were signed Friday, Sept 26th. Kroger will be rebuilt at University Plaza. It sounds like they're still using the same plan which was posted on here last year (can't find it right now) but the front of Kroger would be right on Vine St if it were extended South from Corry. According to Beth, there will be "nice window-like things facing Corry St."  LMAO! I think we all know what she's talking about.

They're also rebuilding Walgreens as a standard box on the corner of Corry and Jefferson, but it won't face the streets because they're buildig a drive-thru.

I couldn't figure out if they're starting construction on Walgreens right away but she stated that Kroger will start construction in January.

Well I'd be interested to see the drawings to see if it would still accomodate my Uptown Five idea...

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/70250228/The%20Uptown%20Five%2009302014.pdf

 

If not, oh well I guess.

It's going to be the SOS. But an enormous parking lot will still offer opportunities for development, and a tunnel in the vein of John Schneider's proposal could still make a transit node possible at that location. Technically, so could eminent domain, but it's doubtful if neighborhood leaders prefer the plan that was signed.

I wonder if this store will be similar to the one located in Short North area of Columbus.

 

Both in urban areas close to a large university with limited space in a developing area.

Looks like they're moving forward on the 2008 plan by CR Architects

 

http://www.uc.edu/cdc/images/community_projects/environment/univ_plaza/univ_plaza_redev_hist.pdf

 

There are some tiny elevations on the bottom of this page: http://www.uptowncincinnati.com/consortium/projects/projects

It never fails to amaze me that anything CR touches is a giant pile of shit in the end.

^^2008 is the worst design!  They got successively worse as time went on!

 

 

What a giant missed opportunity. Instead of an urban store, we'll be stuck with a generic big box for another 30 years.

This is probably the single biggest decision that Corryville Community Council had ahead of them for the next 30 years and they completely dropped the ball by rubber stamping a suburban grocery store design. Really sad. They could have made this thing 5 stories and sold condos or rented apartments on the top floors, really adding to the density of the area.

Looks like they're moving forward on the 2008 plan by CR Architects

 

http://www.uc.edu/cdc/images/community_projects/environment/univ_plaza/univ_plaza_redev_hist.pdf

 

There are some tiny elevations on the bottom of this page: http://www.uptowncincinnati.com/consortium/projects/projects

 

Sad to see how much that plan degraded :(.  This is suburban style bs.

What a giant missed opportunity. Instead of an urban store, we'll be stuck with a generic big box for another 30 years.

 

This is one of the reasons I've been advocating using eminent domain and sending the streetcar through there. It would take at least part of the opportunity to f*** things up away from the people who are bound to do just that. This is a very important site for setting the tone for development in Uptown and the city in general, and it's in the public's interest to take some control of the site's direction.

I thought the Uptown Consortium was really stressing better development in the uptown area in general? As opposed to all the parking lot crap that is along MLK today?

 

The 2005 plan is about 100x better than this Austin Landing kroger they are approving. What a shame.

I thought the Uptown Consortium was really stressing better development in the uptown area in general? As opposed to all the parking lot crap that is along MLK today?

 

The 2005 plan is about 100x better than this Austin Landing kroger they are approving. What a shame.

 

Where the heck did you hear that?  Their Master Plan for the MLK corridor is a suburban disaster.  Beth also mentioned that the developer building that massive suburban complex on the NW corner of Euclid and Corry is also building a similar project up the hillside on the SE corner.  That's why all of those houses on Taft are being demolished.

It never fails to amaze me that anything CR touches is a giant pile of shit in the end.

 

Couldn't agree more.  My favorite is the rendering on the last slide showing the horrific fortress-like view of Walgreens.  Is that really the best view of the complex they have to offer?  SMH

Speaking of MLK, why wouldn't Kroger want to be on that road with the new interchange coming?  MLK at Reading is perfect for something like this. 

I thought the Uptown Consortium was really stressing better development in the uptown area in general? As opposed to all the parking lot crap that is along MLK today?

 

The 2005 plan is about 100x better than this Austin Landing kroger they are approving. What a shame.

 

Where the heck did you hear that?  Their Master Plan for the MLK corridor is a suburban disaster.  Beth also mentioned that the developer building that massive suburban complex on the NW corner of Euclid and Corry is also building a similar project up the hillside on the SE corner.  That's why all of those houses on Taft are being demolished.

 

Maybe i was just mentally hoping for better with all the public money that is being used to build the MLK interchange.

 

All of uptown SHOULD be a great/walkable place to live. It has unlimited potential with UC and the Medical institutions employing tens of thousands of people in the area. But if the approach of "how can we get people in and out of here as fast as possible" is taken and not the approach of "how can we get people with families and young professionals to live here and want to stay here" then you get what you have along MLK today. massive under-utilization.

The location now, while not pedestrian oriented at all, seems to get a lot of customers who walk over from dorms and other housing adjacent UC near Short Vine. I see people walking from UPA and Ohio as well. Reading and MLK isn’t walkable from main campus. With the way Kroger tracks everything about everyone who buys anything in their stores, there must have been something about the current location they liked. If it was the walkability, I wish the design would reflect that. The latest design isn't much better than what is currently built. Even the second to last design, while far from perfect, still had Short Vine connecting over to Vine in a way that would work perfectly for a streetcar extension north up Short Vine and south on Jefferson.

I thought the Uptown Consortium was really stressing better development in the uptown area in general? As opposed to all the parking lot crap that is along MLK today?

 

The 2005 plan is about 100x better than this Austin Landing kroger they are approving. What a shame.

 

Where the heck did you hear that?  Their Master Plan for the MLK corridor is a suburban disaster.  Beth also mentioned that the developer building that massive suburban complex on the NW corner of Euclid and Corry is also building a similar project up the hillside on the SE corner.  That's why all of those houses on Taft are being demolished.

 

Maybe i was just mentally hoping for better with all the public money that is being used to build the MLK interchange.

 

All of uptown SHOULD be a great/walkable place to live. It has unlimited potential with UC and the Medical institutions employing tens of thousands of people in the area. But if the approach of "how can we get people in and out of here as fast as possible" is taken and not the approach of "how can we get people with families and young professionals to live here and want to stay here" then you get what you have along MLK today. massive under-utilization.

 

All of Uptown was originally perfectly walkable.  Unfortunately pretty much everything that has happened since about 1965 has been a gigantic mistake. MLK is bad, Jefferson is bad, WH Taft is bad.  The EPA is bad, the Nursing College is absolutely horrific, the Vontz Center is bad, the empty lot where Prime Time was is bad, the CVS that replaced the Circle K is bad, U Square totally sucks, and this new University Plaza will be zero improvement over the existing one. 

 

As much as I hate U-Square's design, it isn't too bad in terms of walkability, the only really shitty part is the giant parking garage.

As much as I hate U-Square's design, it isn't too bad in terms of walkability, the only really shitty part is the giant parking garage.

 

Which one?  Do you have a preference?

This University Plaza design is completely awful.  It's absolutely blowing a golden opportunity, putting any streetcar or transit of any sort aside.

 

When we talk about connectivity, a place can connect or disconnect two neighborhoods in terms of walkability as well.  This site sits where three neighborhoods meet:  Clifton Heights, Mt. Auburn and Corryville.  This plan creates a huge barrier for pedestrians traveling between them.  Someone coming from Calhoun would have to cross a huge sea of asphalt to get to the business district on Short Vine; someone coming from Auburn Ave. would have to walk around the blank side wall of the Kroger.  That's after crossing the 45 mph speedway that is WH Taft Rd.  In contrast, the Clancy plan from 2007 would have created a gateway for pedestrians coming from Calhoun or Auburn into the business district of Short Vine.  The Auburn Ave. corridor in particular could really use a game changer like that. 

 

This plan might has well been designed for a cornfield way out in the country for all the respect it gives to its surroundings.   

 

Can UrbanCincy do an editorial about this one?

 

Can UrbanCincy do an editorial about this one?

 

Last time we covered this was in 2013: http://www.urbancincy.com/2013/03/private-investment-continues-to-flow-uptown-to-corryville-and-short-vine/

Is it just me or do the new widened sidewalks on Short Vine look horrendous...

How so? They're still not finished. The utilities still have to be buried and the street still needs to be lowered to meet the new sidewalks and completely redone. They look like wide sidewalks that'll look great when filled with tables, seats, benches, people, etc.

I'm worried that Crossroads Church is going to buy Bogart's.  They've started having Sunday services there. 

There's several movie theaters around Columbus that rent out to churches on Sundays. I'm sure it's solid low-risk cash on a traditionally slow day, but of course those theaters aren't currently in a position where they would be interested in selling. Was that one theater that's now a church off 275 just north of 32 still open when the church bought it?

The thing is that Crossroads is sitting on tons of cash and is actively starting permanent branch locations around Cincinnati. 

There's several movie theaters around Columbus that rent out to churches on Sundays. I'm sure it's solid low-risk cash on a traditionally slow day, but of course those theaters aren't currently in a position where they would be interested in selling. Was that one theater that's now a church off 275 just north of 32 still open when the church bought it?

 

Very close, it's just north of OH-28.

That's the one.

I'm still suspicious that Crossroads is just a giant real estate scheme disguised as a non-denominational church.  Taking advantage of the property tax exemption to sit on prime property.