I still wish Crate & Barrel had located at Rookwood, and that the proposal had residential towers.

 

I don't think anyone can expect ANY proposal from 2008/9 to ever see the light of day.  The only one I can think of that actually moved forward was Kenwood Towne Place. 

 

Oakley Millworks and Roowood 3 had huge proposals a few years ago that in today's reality are just a joke. 

Capital Grille is a pretty good place to eat. The one I have been to in Michigan is pretty nice as well. I've never seen one that has been standalone..I have only seen them integrated into a building with other stuff (retail, etc)

Is there still going o be a movie theater at Oakley Millworks?

Yes

http://www.local12.com/news/local/story/Ground-Finally-Broken-on-Rookwood-Exchange/trAvi3ryd0CmxQospil7NA.cspx#.T4NyWkC7R4k.twitter

^ Appreciate the update, unusualfire.  We can only hope that the hype in the update ("...these should be the nicest office buildings built in greater Cincinnati") will soon become reality.  Needless to say, no one wishes this development to steer business away from the CBD (which could easily happen, sadly enough), but that embarrassing vacant Norwood fenced field has sat there long enough--about time for vital new infill!

really interested to see what they do with the traffic. If they don't do anything it will be a nightmare.

I don't think they are really going to do anything. The configuration of on and off ramps in that area is pretty confusing to someone who is not very familiar with it. If a new street lines up with the exit ramp from N71 (which I think it is) then traffic back-up could be contained in the development, at least in theory. Of course, this does not account for increased back up along Edwards Rd for access to N71 or backup along Edmonson Rd for going South on 71 after those lights turn and those cars pull out. They can retime the lights but it's still going to be a pain.  In short, it's going to be a traffic nightmare!

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/developingnow/2012/04/09/rookwood-exchange-construction-begins/

Rookwood Exchange construction begins

 

Construction began today on a 123-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel and 40,000 square feet of restaurants and retail at Rookwood Exchange, the third installment of the popular shopping destination in Norwood.

 

Developer Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate expects to open the $20 million hotel, two large stand-alone restaurants and a small building of retail tenants in March 2013.

 

[...] ...a new traffic light on Edwards Road. Anderson would add a new road from Edwards through the site, connecting to Edmonson at the traffic light that currently leads into Rookwood Commons.

Had WKRC 6PM news on last night and traffic was the concern of area (Cincinnati) residents. The developers want traffic.

 

"It will be a big change from the overgrown island tucked between I-71 and Anderson's other Rookwood projects. Across the street,some Oakley residents on Arbor, Hyde Park and Atlantic are worried about traffic cutting through their neighborhood. They are working on a plan. "We're looking at making dead ends that would be  instead of a cul-de-sac. Working with the city of Cincinnati Department of Transportation and city council to find the appropriate way to do that."

 

With the neighbors in Cincinnati and the development in Norwood, it will take some cooperation. That was promised today. "We all worked together to make this happen like we have on other projects. The fact of the matter is we've got to work together to make it work and it will."

 

Anderson says traffic is the name of the game. They want traffic to make it viable. But he says they've been doing traffic studies here for 10 years....and he's confident it will work."

 

 

Full report

Oh well theres not shortage of traffic in the area. I can see it being pure girdlock Friday's during rush hour and Saturday during peak hours.

Never, ever, ever dead end a perfectly good street. Given the power, some people would, and I mean this in all seriousness, dead-end every street that was important to them until they found that they couldn't actually get anywhere.

 

This is a perfect example of reacting to a problem and making it worse instead of better.

They just dead-ended a number of streets in Fairfax.  It has the effect of turning Wooster Pike into much more of a car sewer than it was before, despite the streetscape improvements going on. 

One of the arguments for this project was that the street grid (Dacey, Garland) became dead ends due to I71.

Oh well theres not shortage of traffic in the area. I can see it being pure girdlock Friday's during rush hour and Saturday during peak hours.

 

It already is.

 

Never, ever, ever dead end a perfectly good street. Given the power, some people would, and I mean this in all seriousness, dead-end every street that was important to them until they found that they couldn't actually get anywhere.

 

This is a perfect example of reacting to a problem and making it worse instead of better.

 

And the current gridlock is what has neighboring streets worried.  Even today traffic stuck on Edwards bails out onto Atlantic and Hyde Park Ave. to work over to Madison at Appleton.  While cul-de-sac'ing these streets might not be the best idea, a one-way with barrier like Arbor would be a useful solution.  Arbor is a quiet street at 5:30p on a Friday when Edwards is a zoo.  This even with Rookwood right across the street.

 

For another example of neighborhood preservation via cul-de-sac'ing, check out Eastwood Circle in Madisonville.  When the neighborhood was built 75 years ago Eastwood used to join Duck Creek and Madison.  When Stratford Manor was built in the 50s/60s the neighborhood lobbied to have the north end of Eastwood blocked off.  The neighborhood retained its quiet character despite being an island of residential properties surrounded by commercial uses, and in fact included this in its successful application for Historic District status in 2005.

What's bad about it is none of this stuff is taking on an urban character and so is going to discourage pedestrian activity and bicycling.  This development is only a 1/2 mile from Oakley Square, but nobody is ever going to walk between the two. 

What's bad about it is none of this stuff is taking on an urban character and so is going to discourage pedestrian activity and bicycling.  This development is only a 1/2 mile from Oakley Square, but nobody is ever going to walk between the two.

 

Agreed.  Crossing Edwards anywhere along that stretch rises to Evel Knievel-levels of daredevilism.  I do cycle along Madison, and if I need to get into Rookwood I'll go that back way behind Boston Market, et al., but I have better sense than to ride on Edwards.

 

Now, if they put a traffic light at Atlantic or Hyde Park Ave, one could use those streets as a quiet cut-through on foot or bike.  But there are already four lights in a half mile, five if you count Wasson.

^^ Agree with both jmecklenborg and OHSnap (above)--the entire quadrant of Rookwood has evolved into Kenwood Town Center II, unsafe for anyone who doesn't own an armored vehicle.  As for myself, I'm a retiree who often ventures forth, on foot, from my Norwood apt. near Surrey Square down Smith Rd. and up into one of the "two Rookwoods."  The walk is nothing really--that is, until one ventures across the I-71 South entrance...  It is THEN that a pedestrian needs to become truly watchful--that stretch of concrete ain't no place for the faint-hearted.

Wait, so the city of Cincinnati has to pay for roads because of a development in Norwood? That does't seem right.

I am all for getting a W Hotel in town, but downtown, not at Rookwood Commons!  But, if he can pull it off, kudos to him.

 

Rookwood developers setting sights on W Hotel

Business Courier by Dan Monk, Senior Staff Reporter

Date: Friday, June 1, 2012, 6:00am EDT

 

 

New York, Dubai, Barcelona and Norwood: Which one doesn’t belong?

 

“None of the above” could be the answer if developers of the Rookwood Exchange project get the hotel of their choice.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/print-edition/2012/06/01/rookwood-developers-setting-sights-on.html

bahahaha! this is truly laughable. They best they can hope for out there is an aloft (W's watered-down limited-service suburban brand)

 

I still maintain that a W would be absolutely perfect for the old Terrace Plaza building.

I still maintain that a W would be absolutely perfect for the old Terrace Plaza building.

 

Couldn't agree more, would love to see it done up in total 50s fashion!

bahahaha! this is truly laughable. They best they can hope for out there is an aloft (W's watered-down limited-service suburban brand)

 

I still maintain that a W would be absolutely perfect for the old Terrace Plaza building.

Aloft is not necessarily suburban.  What they are doing in downtown Detroit is pretty cool. The David Whitney Building is a long since shuttered Daniel Burnham classic on Woodward Ave and Grand Circus Park which Aloft is refurbishing into 136 rooms (not the entire building)  http://www.mlive.com/business/detroit/index.ssf/2011/12/report_aloft_hotels_signs_on_f.html.  Aloft might even be a good fit for the Terrace, given the smaller floor plates.  While I have always thought the Terrace would be an awesome fit for "W," I just can't see that happening given the current downtown hotel landscape and the economics of it all

bahahaha! this is truly laughable. They best they can hope for out there is an aloft (W's watered-down limited-service suburban brand)

 

I still maintain that a W would be absolutely perfect for the old Terrace Plaza building.

Aloft is not necessarily suburban.  What they are doing in downtown Detroit is pretty cool. The David Whitney Building is a long since shuttered Daniel Burnham classic on Woodward Ave and Grand Circus Park which Aloft is refurbishing into 136 rooms (not the entire building)  http://www.mlive.com/business/detroit/index.ssf/2011/12/report_aloft_hotels_signs_on_f.html.  Aloft might even be a good fit for the Terrace, given the smaller floor plates.  While I have always thought the Terrace would be an awesome fit for "W," I just can't see that happening given the current downtown hotel landscape and the economics of it all

 

What if W Hotel goes into the Terrace Hotel building and the Millennium is sold or refit? The Millennium isn't exactly the most up-to-date, popular hotel downtown (they can't even replace those hideous, sun-faded, ripped, worn-out Bengals, Reds, UC and X flags flying at the Fifth Street entrance.). Could the Millennium buildings be repurposed into condos? Or more convention center space?

bahahaha! this is truly laughable. They best they can hope for out there is an aloft (W's watered-down limited-service suburban brand)

 

I still maintain that a W would be absolutely perfect for the old Terrace Plaza building.

Aloft is not necessarily suburban.  What they are doing in downtown Detroit is pretty cool. The David Whitney Building is a long since shuttered Daniel Burnham classic on Woodward Ave and Grand Circus Park which Aloft is refurbishing into 136 rooms (not the entire building)  http://www.mlive.com/business/detroit/index.ssf/2011/12/report_aloft_hotels_signs_on_f.html.  Aloft might even be a good fit for the Terrace, given the smaller floor plates.  While I have always thought the Terrace would be an awesome fit for "W," I just can't see that happening given the current downtown hotel landscape and the economics of it all

 

What if W Hotel goes into the Terrace Hotel building and the Millennium is sold or refit? The Millennium isn't exactly the most up-to-date, popular hotel downtown (they can't even replace those hideous, sun-faded, ripped, worn-out Bengals, Reds, UC and X flags flying at the Fifth Street entrance.). Could the Millennium buildings be repurposed into condos? Or more convention center space?

 

I think the investors for the Millennium building are just going to let it sit there and rot.  They are the worst kind of investors, they'll just suck the property dry until it just dies.  They put absolutely no money into the place. 

^ I would agree. It's incredibly outdated and in such disrepair it is truly an embarrassment for the city. I shudder to think of all the World Choir Games people this summer that are going to have to put up with that place for a week, eeeek. The group the owns it is Singapore based and clearly gives no f*cks about the place. I think demolition is more likely than an extensive remodel there at this point.

 

I agree though that the economics for a W in the Terrace Plaza probably are not there, but the building would be perfect for it as W makes much of their revenue off their bars/restaurants and meeting space rather than guest rooms - the TP has some FANTASTIC space.

 

I also have a feeling that the hotel to be announced for the Banks will be an Aloft. They have shown real interest in urban expansion, but favor new construction. Cleveland is getting one in the Flats redevelopment, so it would make sense if they came to Cincy too.

Oakley committee seeks immediate traffic changes

http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2012/09/oakley-committee-seeks-immediate.html

 

In anticipation of increased traffic from the Rookwood Exchange and Mercy Health medical office developments in neighboring Norwood, an Oakley committee has produced a list of immediate action items that it hopes the City of Cincinnati will implement.

 

The list proposed changes to the City's plans to close off Atlantic, Arbor, and Hyde Park avenues at Edwards Road by proposing solutions that result in less loss of property and sidewalk space. It also proposes changes to Millsbrae Avenue, including the elimination of the continuous turn lane from Madison Road, installation of a traffic light at Markbreit Avenue, street calming measures, and the replacement of missing "no parking" signs.

 

I have a better solution to traffic problems in the area: stop approving so many auto-oriented developments in the middle of a dense, urban neighborhood. Between Rookwood Commons/Pavilion/Exchange, Hyde Park Plaza, all the office buildings along I-71, and the Center of Cincinnati/Oakley Station monstrosity, that entire area is flooded with strip malls, massive parking lots, and parking garages.

What are they building right off of the entrance ramp on 71?  It is not the same site as Rookwood exchnage but is closer to the ramp.  Anyone know?

It's the Courtyard by Marriott.

 

>that entire area is flooded with strip malls, massive parking lots, and parking garages.

 

Norwood is broke in part because of this development.  They spent a lot of money buying all these homes a decade ago and weren't even getting residential property tax this whole time to pay back those bonds. That's why they took whatever they could get, to get the money coming in, rather than holding out for a higher quality development. 

What are they building right off of the entrance ramp on 71?  It is not the same site as Rookwood exchnage but is closer to the ramp.  Anyone know?

 

You might be talking about some medical office space being wedged along the triangle of land on the 71 Northbound ramp?

Mercy Hospital is opening a 2-3 story building on the site that was formerly Gold Star + some of the land sloping down towards 71. Certainly seems like an odd/challenging development site, but it should be interesting to see it from 71. 

 

Also, has anyone noticed that the Mariott Courtyard looks like it is being built out of styrofoam blocks? It's also pushed as far as possible from Edwards, and directly next to the highway. I really fear that there is going to be a sea of surface parking between the hotel and the new restaurant that is taking shape closer to Edwards.

"close off Atlantic, Arbor, and Hyde Park avenues at Edwards Road"

 

Yes, because the solution to traffic problems is to eliminate alternate routes by clipping the grid and forcing all traffic onto the already congested arterial streets.  Brilliant!

 

The styrofoam blocks are just that.  They're stay-in-place concrete forms that get stuccoed or bricked over and provide a sandwich of insulation for the exterior walls. 

I drove by Rookwood Exchange two days ago and was shocked at how shitty this development looks. Nothing like the renderings that were proposed.

You mean you don't like the storefronts that don't face the street, the one-story styrofoam-cladded restaurant surrounded by surface lots, the hotel that overlooks an overpass for Interstate 71...

I drove by Rookwood Exchange two days ago and was shocked at how sh!tty this development looks. Nothing like the renderings that were proposed.

...agreed.  After driving past "Rookwood Exchange" just yesterday, I realized how similar the ruination between it and "Oakley Station" to the northeast actually are.  Both so disappointing, considering what could have emerged at these two prime locations.  (Honest-to-gawd,  I think that Dillonvale Shopping Center was the model for each!)  :cry: :laugh:   

I drove by Rookwood Exchange two days ago and was shocked at how sh!tty this development looks. Nothing like the renderings that were proposed.

...agreed.  After driving past "Rookwood Exchange" just yesterday, I realized how similar the ruination between it and "Oakley Station" to the northeast actually are.  Both so disappointing, considering what could have emerged at these two prime locations.  (Honest-to-gawd,  I think that Dillonvale Shopping Center was the model for each!)  :cry: :laugh:   

Dillonvale is more compact and faces the street so these are actually worse.  Go back and look at an older aerial shot if you really want to be depressed. 

>the hotel that overlooks an overpass for overlooking the beautiful scenic vistas of Interstate 71...

 

FTFY

 

 

Yes, Rookwood Exchange and Oakley Station look exactly like the often quoted and maligned suburban sprawl planked right down in the middle of Cincinnati. So why do you expect this is true? May it have something to do with the high-paid business analysts the corporations have working for them to determine where people actually spend their money?

 

Expressing what should be versus what is can be a daunting situation. Those who abhor these developments simply have to organize their collective purchasing power and make it be known what kind of establishments they will patronize compared to those they will not. Apparently the collective word is not yet quite out.

 

But maybe if you install a light rail from downtown to Oakley everything will change.

 

Luxury apartments coming to Rookwood Exchange: EXCLUSIVE

Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate Inc., the developer of Rookwood Exchange, is adding 127 luxury apartments to the 13-acre project.

Tom Demeropolis Reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier

 

 

Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate Inc., the developer of Rookwood Exchange, is adding 127 luxury apartments to the 13-acre project.

 

J.R. Anderson, vice president of development for Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate, told me the apartments at Rookwood Exchange will include a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2013/07/16/luxury-apartments-coming-to-rookwood.html

Anybody want to grab some pictures of the site for us out of towners?

 

Upscale apartments next for Rookwood Exchange

More restaurants, second hotel to fill out Norwood development

Jul. 24, 2013 6:16 AM 

Written by Cindi Andrews

 

The final phase of Norwood’s most popular shopping area is coming into focus, with a new Marriott opening at the Rookwood Exchange and plans in the works for apartments and a second hotel there.

 

Marriott’s Courtyard Cincinnati Midtown welcomed its first guests Tuesday with its 123 rooms already fully booked for this weekend, according to developer Jeff Anderson, chief executive of Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate. Fresh off that success, Anderson Real Estate is also planning 127 upscale apartments and an extended-stay hotel at Rookwood Exchange. Those pieces will finish the puzzle when added to the office building already under construction and a smattering of retail.

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130724/BIZ01/307240044/Upscale-apartments-next-Rookwood-Exchange?nclick_check=1

 

The office building is surprisingly decent looking.

 

 

The apartment building is predictably awful.

 

This whole development is just terrible and depressing.  This used to be a walkable neighborhood. 

^You're not kidding. I drove by the other day and literally laughed out loud at the amount of parking. It's hideous.

 

That being said, I certainly wouldn't have minded that office building somewhere Downtown. Decent design, decent massing (although the low wings on either side wouldn't work so well Downtown) and what appears to be a decent ground floor interaction with the 'street.' But alas, it's not Downtown and is instead in one of the ugliest developments in the area.

 

I feel that Norwood really screws itself with the style of development it chooses to pursue. I'm not a fan of them, but a lifestyle center would have been more appropriate if they were going to pursue some sort of suburban model. Structure the parking and do something somewhat more in fitting with a small town. Instead they got this garbage. Unfortunate.

^I've never thought that Norwood actually cares what goes in to these developments.  Since they're cut off by I-71 from the rest of Norwood, it seems like they're just treated as revenue generators for that city.  Any issues with traffic or visual appeal are "Oakley's problems", unfortunately. 

Just drove down Edwards for the first time in months. The streetscape is utterly, totally destroyed. They couldn't have ruined it more if they tried.

 

Good job, Anderson.

 

Well it's Norwood. They would approve anything, like that ugly medical center to get more tax revenue.

Just drove down Edwards for the first time in months. The streetscape is utterly, totally destroyed. They couldn't have ruined it more if they tried....

I couldn't agree with you more--what a disaster of a development!  Out of sheer curiosity, a week or so ago I took a walking tour through this third Rookwood installment, and can thus assure anyone who might have been disappointed by either of the other two "Rookwoods" that they ain't experienced visual/visceral pain until they've experienced this place--truly a car-centric icon that best be shrouded in tears.  Just try walking across it and see if you live to tell anyone about your experience.  (Seriously.)  :x :-(

>Just drove down Edwards for the first time in months. The streetscape is utterly, totally destroyed. They couldn't have ruined it more if they tried.

 

Yeah I photographed it about a month ago.  It's one of the worst developments I've ever seen.  The absolute worst is how that restaurant at the corner backs up to it, with its dumpster virtually facing the very busy intersection of Edwards. 

It is right off of I-71. What did you expect, a beautiful urban pedestrian friendly atmosphere? They are trying to maximize the exposure to people from downtown not desiring to drive all the way to Kenwood. And I believe they will succeed.

^ That's the spirit, it sucks already so that means it's ok to just make things worse rather than working harder to overcome the location's inherent flaws.  This is why we can't have nice things.