March 17, 200520 yr An update on possible impacts from the 3/17/05 Enquirer: UC development plan in peril? $270M in campus-area projects threatened by resignation demand, councilman says By Gregory Korte and Lori Kurtzman Enquirer staff writers Efforts to oust the man responsible for $270 million in development happening around the University of Cincinnati's campus could put the city's support of the projects in jeopardy, Councilman John Cranley said. Cranley, chairman of City Council's Finance Committee, said Wednesday he didn't want to involve himself in the internal affairs of the Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corp. But he said the effort to force executive director Daniel W. Deering to resign effective Sept. 1 could set the development plan back to the beginning. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050317/NEWS01/503170363/1056/news01
March 17, 200520 yr Don't worry no way will this $270 MM development be stopped because of this, UC and the city both realize this project is necessary. Those Cranley comments are just rhetoric.
April 11, 200520 yr Clifton Heights land owners talk settlement The holdouts are losing their grip in the Calhoun corridor. That's where the Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corp. is planning McMillan Park, a 360-unit condominium project just south of the University of Cincinnati. Organizers hope to break ground on the project's $90 million first phase this summer. Land owners in the district have been fighting the city's attempt to take their property by eminent domain. In January, Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Crush refused to halt the city's acquisition. Attorney Bob Manley, who represents the land owners, said he would proceed with a federal case against the acquisition. In March, he indicated the owners were seeking $9.4 million for four restaurant sites -- roughly three times what the city was offering. But settlement talks have picked up in recent weeks. Several sources indicate an agreement could be reached by April 8 with the owners of Acropolis Chili. If approved, the deal would shut the restaurant down by June 20, said Kathy Kennedy, who owns the restaurant and is the daughter-in-law of the building's owner. The owners of Clif Cor Co., a real estate partnership that owns two fast-food restaurant sites in the district, also are said to be nearing a deal. One sign of that movement: Clif Cor's Arby's restaurant site closed down this week.
May 5, 200520 yr By the way, channel 5 reported that Acropolis, In the Wood and McDonalds have given up their legal battles. McDonald's is closed and demolition could start Monday. The other two businesses will stay open until late June. The old Prime Time garage should start demolition May 23. There's also talk of an IHOP for Short Vine.
May 5, 200520 yr I thought McDonald's had given up a while ago, and were just staying open a couple months, which time period ended this month. But Inn The Wood will be missed...I really wish UC would have worked with them...can't say I'll miss ICrapALot Chili much, though... Here's the online story you referenced: Campus-Area Development Picks Up Steam Safer Environment Would Make UC More Attractive POSTED: 6:50 pm EDT May 4, 2005 UPDATED: 7:18 pm EDT May 4, 2005 CINCINNATI -- After months of legal battles, plans to redevelop the area around the University of Cincinnati campus are picking up steam. News 5 learned Wednesday that both Acropolis Chili and In the Wood restaurant have given up their legal fight and settled with developers. They'll both be closing their doors in late June and the McDonald's across from old St. George has just dropped off its keys. Demolition could begin as soon as Monday, but the next spot for big changes will be the corner of Vine Street and Jefferson.
May 5, 200520 yr I thought McDonald's had given up a while ago, and were just staying open a couple months, which time period ended this month. Yeah...not sure when exactly they closed down, but they were obviously closed as of yesterday (as the spray paint told me).
May 18, 200520 yr ESPN Zone? House of Blues(not with Madison)? McDonald's demolition marks next step in redevelopment By Michael Rovito The closing of McDonald's on Calhoun Street last week marked the final day of fast food restaurants on the stretch of road, making way for the next phase of an area wide redevelopment. The block McDonald's sits on will begin a transformation into an entertainment district after demolition begins on the restaurant today, according to Dan Deering, executive director of the Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corp.
May 18, 200520 yr They definitely need to follow their original plan, which was to place the fast food restaurants in new digs, pedestrian/urban style, not the suburban model. Like the one person said, college kids need cheap fast food. As for ESPNZone and House of Blues, that stuff belongs downtown, with the ESPNZone on The Banks!
June 1, 200520 yr For an interesting read, I dug up the Clifton Hts. Facade Improvement Program guide. It gives guidelines for paint, windows, etc. and shows some examples: http://www.chcurc.org/PDF/2003%20FIP%20Packet.pdf Also, McMillan Park has a website that doesn't allow you to do anything except e-mail them. Maybe they'll add some content in the future: http://mcmillanpark.com/home.html
June 3, 200520 yr eh....this is wack so everything is gone from there now? taco bell, acropolis chilli, that small coffee shop, wendys, arby's (i assume thats what they meant by hardees)???? they tore down those houses too? that is weak. i suppose they are also gonna bulldoze mcmillan?? area is gonna be crap now. glad im not there anymore, it was a nice urban area with lots of good eatin, shops, entertainment. now they are going to ruin that whole neighborhood.
June 3, 200520 yr I'm with ya! Seems like UC and OSU are losing the college experience. They are both going to look like Newport on the Levee or Easton Town Center. It's like going to college in a mall, not an urban neighborhood. Time to go to online college. There you can at least have a virtual urban campus. :)
June 3, 200520 yr Not everything is going to be bulldozed, but a lot is. For example, the block at the meeting of Clifton and Calhoun/Clifton and McMillan will be saved. Here's a map: http://www.chcurc.org/dream/site4Map.htm P.S> I kind of agree with both of you guys about the whole college experience thing. I mean, my God, they're talking about $500,000 condos! What about stuff for the average college kid?
June 3, 200520 yr I agree that losing the college experience is bad for a school, but since when has a UC student had the experience? The college experience is cool bars, bands, and restaurant/hangout spots, at least in my opinion. Not saying a $500,000 condo puts us on the path to that, but tearing down Taco Bell doesn't exactly ruin it either. At the very least, making the area a hot spot will help reduce serious crime.
June 3, 200520 yr ^ Well, there are some regular students who live in rental housing nearby and are not rich. There need to be restaurants, bars and stores that they can afford. I would've never been able to afford a $900/mo apartment or dinner at an upscale bistro when I was in college. Then there are the many commuter students. It would be cool if there was a wide variety of shops/restaurants to keep these people around after classes instead of having them all get in their cars, go home, and spend their money in West Chester or Colerain or Anderson Twp. Yeah, I know...maybe I'm not living in the real world and this type of large-scale planned built environment is the future.
June 11, 200520 yr This article appeared in the week's CityBeat: PHOTO: Inn the Wood has closed after accepting a settlement with the city. Owner Diana Wood (below, with her son Michael) says it could've been easier. Photo By Matt Borgerding PHOTO: Diana Wood with her son Michael Photo By Matt Borgerding PHOTO: Joe Kennedy of Acropolis Chili also closed after settling with the city. Photo By Matt Borgerding Designing Clifton Heights Holdouts accept deal in overhaul of business district near UC By Brian Ciesko The University of Cincinnati and the Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (CHCURC) increasingly dominate the changing landscapes of Calhoun and McMillan streets in the neighborhood immediately south of UC's main campus. With the recent decision of Bill and Diana Wood, owners of Inn The Wood Restaurant and Tavern, to settle their eminent domain battle with the city of Cincinnati, one of the last pieces in the redevelopment plans for the area falls into place. http://www.citybeat.com/current/news2.shtml
June 12, 200520 yr "Those types of restaurants are only designed to last 30 years or so," he says. Inn The Wood? That building was probably 120 years old. The fast food situation could have been avoided by zoning out drive-throughs. "Also, bad urban planning in the late 1960s and early 1970s destroyed any pedestrian friendly capacity this area might've once had. But without a roadmap you can't get somewhere else, and these (plans) provide that." Total bullshit. This whole plan, everything going on up there, is just outrageous. The new long dorm on Calhoun looks ridiculous, and students are just going to trash those new apartments on Clifton like they trashed Riverpark at OU. College students want cheap food, cheap beer, and cheap things to do. Nerds and resume padders are going to love this new crap though. But you'll still be able to pick up a quick gatorade or black & mild from the Shell station.
June 13, 200520 yr To call Inn The Wood a "blighted" property was an insult to the people who owned and ran it. Acropolis Chili was famously shady but didn't pose any threat to society. To witness Blight with a capital B look no further than Prime Time. Of UC's many problems a lot of them are tied to the disparate surrounding business strips as compared to Athens' iconic(?!) Court St. There is no one dominant strip but instead McMillan/Calhoun, Ludlow Ave., and Short Vine, with lonely outposts like Fries Cafe, Murphy's, and The Mad Frog in its orbit. They're all too far from one another to walk comfortably and not one of them really has everything. UC could have let Bishop St. or any of the other streets that used to run through its campus remain, had departmental offices in old houses, let private businesses open restaurants and bars in some of them (ala The Oasis), and had itself a lot more interesting campus. But it didn't. And its simply undeniable that the blocks between Calhoun and McMillan would have been more aesthetically and functionally interesting had the strips of row buildings, Inn The Wood, etc. been left standing. <img src="http://www.facilities.ohiou.edu/food/images/small-oasis.jpg"> The Oasis <img src="http://www.ohiou.edu/athens/bldgifs/arch-crt.jpg"> <img src="http://www.ohiou.edu/athens/bldgifs/athena.jpg"> <img src="http://www.ohiou.edu/athens/bldgifs/Parking_garage.jpg"> Our solitary parking garage. <img src="http://www.ohiou.edu/athens/bldgifs/ehillmaint.jpg"> <img src="http://www.ohiou.edu/athens/bldgifs/wgosjms.jpg"> <img src="http://www.ohiou.edu/athens/bldgifs/bicentennial.jpg"> Uh. <img src="http://www.athensmusician.net/redir/2005-04-14_miscblackout/misc_blackout_01211.JPG"> A typical night at an OU bar.
June 14, 200520 yr More news....the city is releasing monies for infrastructure improvements: June 8, 2005 To: Mayor and Members of City Council From: Valerie A. Lemmie, City Manager Subject: Calhoun Street Marketplace Development Agreement Transmitted here within is the following emergency ordinance captioned: AUTHORIZING the City Manager to execute an Agreement for Phase I Calhoun Street Marketplace Development-Construction of Public Improvements (the “Agreement”) providing the Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation, (the “CHCURC”), with a conditional grant in an amount of up to Three Million 00/100 Dollars ($3,000,000.00) to assist in financing the construction of public infrastructure improvements to support the development of the Calhoun Street Marketplace Development. ... The Project will bring approximately $188 million in investment to the neighborhood. The University of Cincinnati is a major funding partner for this project. The City previously entered into an agreement (Ordinance No. 263-2002) with CHCURC to acquire the property for this development to be used in accordance with the Clifton Heights Urban Renewal Plan. In addition, City Council previously authorized a financing mechanism for this project in the amount of approximately $3.0 million (Ordinance No. 214-2003). See attached FYI memo for more details. The Project is the first phase of a larger scale development in the Clifton Heights neighborhood. PROPOSAL OVERVIEW CHCURC has requested City funding for the public improvements associated with the Project. The City would fund the construction of public improvements in the right-of-way up to maximum of $3.0 million. The type of improvements to be funded include new sewers, water mains, sidewalks, curbs, street repaving and restoration, street lighting, street trees, street signs and parking meters and the creation of two newly constructed streets. FINANCIAL ANALYSIS The sources and uses for the Project are described below. These figures are estimates and will continue to be refined. Uses of Funds Land $11,330,000 Infrastructure Improvements $4,484,000 Construction Costs $101,113,000 Soft Costs $24,740,000 Contingency $6,287,000 Total Uses of Funds: $147,954,000 Sources of Funds CHCURC Bond Issuance $54,000,000 UC Line of Credit $18,000,000 Home Sales/UC Revolving Loan $58,800,000 Equity - CHCURC Land $10,660,000 City Funding $3,000,000 New Market Tax Credits / Gap $3,494,000 Total Sources of Funds: $147,954,000 In addition to the $148 million project cost, UC has invested another $40 million in building the garage on their property. This brings the total investment to $188 million. See the attached Project Summary for a more detailed analysis. PROJECT BENEFITS The project will revitalize the Clifton Heights area. It will increase the market rate housing supply in the area both for sale and for rent. It will create 120 new jobs and entails over $200 million in new investment, for the development of the following: • 232 For Sale Condominiums • 291 Student Apartments • 1,337 of new Parking Spaces • 78,000 square feet of Retail Space This project represents a 63 to 1 private to City Funding ratio. It generates approximately $1.2 million annually in revenue for the TIF district and it approximately $440,000 in revenue annually for the Cincinnati Schools. TRANSFER ORDINANCE The funding for this project will be transferred from the Neighborhood Investment Repayment account. This account is restricted to public infrastructure improvements. The transfer of funds emergency ordinance is detailed in a separate transmittal. PROJECT TIMING The public infrastructure improvements funded by this agreement are anticipated to start in June 2005. CHCURC is in the process of constructing the buildings on the north side of Calhoun Street. The construction of buildings on the south side of Calhoun Street is anticipated to take approximately two years and occur within one year of the resolution of outstanding land title issues. RECOMMENDATION The City Administration recommends approval of the ordinance. The reason for emergency is to allow CHCURC to commence construction on the City funded public improvements so the project can remain on schedule. http://city-egov.rcc.org/BASISCGI/BASIS/council/public/child/DDD/13223.pdf Economic Development Impact (PDF, 3 pages) Phase I Calhoun Street Marketplace Development: Construction of Infrastructure Public Improvements (PDF, 24 pages)
June 19, 200519 yr And its simply undeniable that the blocks between Calhoun and McMillan would have been more aesthetically and functionally interesting had the strips of row buildings, Inn The Wood, etc. been left standing. amen
July 8, 200519 yr I've heard a very disconcerting rumor that there are those that would like to tear down Old St. George.
July 8, 200519 yr ^ true, but a lot of money has been spent to preserve it. if that church got torn down, i'd pack my bags tomorrow. even if it's not viable in its current use (whether it is or not i don't know), it's not like they have to look far to see a shining example of adaptive reuse of a church.
July 8, 200519 yr ^ I can't imagine that destruction of Old St. George would ever actually come to pass. When I heard that there were some rumblings to that effect, I nearly lost it. I'm sure that the community would rally to save it.
August 23, 200519 yr Here are some more Calhoun St. pics from today Former Prime Time site from Calhoun and Vine Former Prime Time site from McMillan and Vine Acropolis Chili finally bit the dust
September 5, 200519 yr From the 9/5/05 Cincinnati Business Courier: Nonprofit hopes shake-up puts sizzle in condo plan CHCURC replacing architect, brokerage firm, director Dan Monk Senior Staff Reporter A Clifton Heights nonprofit is shaking up the management team for a 360-unit condominium development south of the University of Cincinnati, prompting critics of the project to conclude McMillan Park is in trouble. "They're in chaos," said Bob Manley, an attorney who sued to prevent the city of Cincinnati from acquiring land by eminent domain. Manley, who lost the court case, calls the project "a grand folly" that will cost its major backer, UC's endowment fund, millions. http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2005/09/05/story2.html
October 10, 200519 yr An article from the News Record Clifton change for the worse University should keep area's uniqueness intact By Jeff Miller Published: Monday, October 10, 2005 Article Tools: Page 1 of 1 This fall has marked my fourth year at the University of Cincinnati. Anywhere else I would be considered a senior, but at good old UC one's never really sure what year will be the last. Starting here four years ago, our campus was so much different than it is now. We had an Arby's, a Boston Market, a UDF on Calhoun Street and a sorely missed Taco Bell. Now what we're left with are the shells of late-night food runs and the ghosts of gorditas floating around W. McMillan Street. http://www.newsrecord.org/media/paper693/news/2005/10/10/Opinion/Clifton.Change.For.The.Worse-1014648.shtml
October 11, 200519 yr BTW...the editorial from two posts ago was great. I agree on almost every point Miller makes. I worry about the future funkiness of the University area.
October 13, 200519 yr Here's an article about the new DuBois Bookstore from the 10/12/05 Enquirer: DuBois Bookstore no longer dog-eared Student landmark undergoes renovation By John Eckberg Enquirer staff writer CLIFTON HEIGHTS - Bucking a trend in the business of selling books is nothing new for the family owned DuBois Book Store, which unveiled in August a multimillion-dollar renovation of its flagship store near the University of Cincinnati campus. When J. Harold DuBois created the company out of the back of a truck at Kent State University in the 1930s, most universities sold the books that students had to buy for classes. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051012/BIZ01/510120329/1076/rss01
October 25, 200519 yr This editorial is from the 10/24/05 UC News Record. Normally their editorials are sh!te, but I agree with this guy: Local businesses matter more UC should focus on non-corporate By Bobby Bitzenhofer Published: Monday, October 24, 2005 The University of Cincinnati is misspending your money and the Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation is helping them do it. With overpriced property values and bloated rent payments, the new developments on Calhoun and McMillan streets have chased away all traces of local business. This is continuing the economic decline of Clifton Heights. National retailers and restaurants take our money and send it off to their corporate headquarters where it is circulated throughout that city's economy. http://www.newsrecord.org/media/paper693/news/2005/10/24/Opinion/Local.Businesses.Matter.More-1030774.shtml
October 25, 200519 yr >We need more places like Bagel Brothers, Thai Express, Uncle Woody's, Lance's and Papa Dino's. These restaurants provide the best foundation for Clifton Heights. Well they just tore down a half dozen of them while you guys were watching DVD's in your dorm rooms. That your parents paid for (the room and the DVD's). This is the fundamental problem -- as the number of wealthy people grow the number of people going to college who get everything paid for and big allowances from their parents grow. Females especially get a lot of money from their parents because their parents want them to live in a safe apartment and have a car so that they can get around at night. Many college students carry around a copy of their dad's credit card for "emergencies". What the hell kind of emergencies really arise? Having to buy a airline ticket to got to a funeral, maybe. I know a lot of people with $200-300 monthly "allowances" -- if they spend more than that on their dad's card they have to call and say why. It's all this money to throw away that is driving up real estate prices around all college campuses.
October 26, 200519 yr I drove by yesterday and noticed the Inn The Wood building was being gutted for demolition.
October 27, 200519 yr If you like new urbanism this project combined with McMillan Park project across the street is for you. I know I sure like the idea of mixed-use, pedestrian only streets, outdoor cafes, and new/young vibrant residents. Not to mention the density of the project Calhoun St. (6-7 stories)......McMillan Park (8-10 stories). Something else to remember this project is also being teamed with a new entertainment district just down the street near Vine. The plan call for a reworked Short Vine and new building east of the two current projects. Possible tennants that have been thrown out there as interested include as House of Blues and an ESPN Zone. These would be located near the Bearcat Hall of Fame Restaurant. I say WOW!!
October 27, 200519 yr >If you like new urbanism this project combined with McMillan Park project across the street is for you. I liked the dozen + 100 year old row buildings they tore down better than crap that they're going to build that's supposed to look historic. > I know I sure like the idea of mixed-use, pedestrian only streets, outdoor cafes, and new/young vibrant residents. Utopic! All we need now are some hair braiders and mimes and the vibrancy will possibly cause world peace. >The plan call for a reworked Short Vine and new building east of the two current projects. Possible tennants that have been thrown out there as interested include as House of Blues and an ESPN Zone. These would be located near the Bearcat Hall of Fame Restaurant. Some themed restaurants left over from 1997. Let the good times roll! >I say WOW!! Yeah this is going to cause about as big of a sensation as Wow potato chips did a few years back.
October 27, 200519 yr I'm sorry but you must not know what you're talking about. The buildings that previously filled the site were, for the most part, not 100 year old beatiful buildings. The area had an Arby's, Taco Bell, Burger King, a former dorm building, McDonalds, Acropolis Chili, a gas station, and many more craptacular species. Not to mention that many of these buildings were blighted, as ruled in court, and were havens for drugs and gang activity. So please spare me with your historic masterpiece bullcrap. The buildings that are significant are staying.....those that are not are going....as the should. Review the plan some more and maybe some pics from what was really there 5-10 years ago....it sure was not worth preserving!!!!
October 27, 200519 yr And for Zimpfer....she had nothing to do with any of new constuction on the universities campus...that would be Joseph Steger. Not to mention that the Calhoun and McMillan developments are not controlled by the university, they are controlled by the Uptown Consortium (which is advised by the City of Cincinnati, the Health Alliance, Cincinnati Zoo, University of Cincinnati, and the Environmental Protection Agency). It was also not Zimpfer who ran Huggins out of town, it was Huggins himself. He did not fit in with the plans of the Board of Trustees and therefore had to go. The Board is ultimately who is responsible for everything seeing as how they hired and can fire Zimpfer if they choose. So once again you filled your response with incorrect and misguided information......GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT!!!!
November 1, 200519 yr I know the facts. I've been arguing this exact argument with people on the internet for two years now. I was on the UC campus weekly in the 1980's. Then as now UC is a disaster zone. They can talk all the talk they want but what it comes down to is people who will be rewarded financially for "improving" UC's image, physical and otherwise, and its academic ranking are doing so even though they are quite often being hypocritical, continue wasting state and private money on trophy projects, assault the surrounding neighborhoods with an arrogant modernist imperialism, and further alienate Cincinnati natives. College in general is a joke. A necessary evil, but nevertheless a joke. It's a big racket, there's tons of talk, but when it comes down to it most students who weren't born skeptics and active don't become the critical thinkers and active citizens after four years of college and another few in grad school. It's all about kissing ass and padding resumes. Those that can't teach and failed businessmen end up college administrators. I've sat in on several selection processes at my place for these people. It's all about kissing ass and presenting an image. It's about critiquing, not doing. You claim college is a joke like you are somehow above it or know the guise that is college yet you post pictures from OU's drunkfest's and proudly tell people that you're an OU student. Does this mean you are part of the people who just use college to pad your resume?
November 2, 200519 yr The buildings that previously filled the site were, for the most part, not 100 year old beatiful buildings. The area had an Arby's, Taco Bell, Burger King, a former dorm building, McDonalds, Acropolis Chili, a gas station, and many more craptacular species. Thanks for reminding me why I was happy this development happened and all that suburban shit is gone. I am glad to see the Calhoun Street Project is moving forward, I just wish that rent was more affordable for some businesses but then again that happens everywhere. Places like Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco have been around for decades, they didn't tear buildings down and redevelop the area and I bet rent is through the roof there and yet they have local eclectic shops for people.
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