Damn.  When I read the headline this morning, I was hoping it was the Bear Creek group that had dropped out.

 

I wish we could take a peek at what was proposed by these groups.

If their designs are different from the original renderings, I'd like to see what they look like.

i bet we will see them when they select a developer.... news about that is here...

 

The Banks could be in business

Developer for $600 million project may be named by August

BY KIMBALL PERRY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

A company could be selected to build The Banks as early as next month, Hamilton County Commissioner Pat DeWine said Tuesday.

 

The five-member Banks Working Group, appointed to recommend a developer, will make that recommendation next month, DeWine said. "I would expect the commissioners to follow the recommendation of the Banks Working Group," DeWine said.

 

Full story text is available at

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060719/NEWS01/607190355/1056/rss02

 

I would prefer that the development team have at least one local partner.  They would have a vested interest in doing a good job in their hometown with their rep on the line.

 

I too would like the developer to have some local ties, this was done in Baltimore with their Inner Harbor (a more fitting comparison than Atlantic Station).  Some of the companies actually moved into the spaces in the Inner Harbor area as a result.  Design Collective worked extensively on the project and now has their offices located in the middle of their prized piece of work!

 

I would think the same would go for the local companies here...they would want to be part of the neighborhood, and work to ensure its vitality long after the final brick is laid.

I just want them to move forward on the banks as soon as possible. The region and city needs this project to happen. Also, if the project doesn't get started soon the downturn in the economy, housing, retail and cheap interest rates my halt or slow the project down for several years to come. The city and county has almost let the 'window of development' pass by and may find that this project will be stuck in slow mode until the next national and regional building boom. In other words, cash flow for construction projects is slowing down. Even the Bank of Japan is starting to increase rates.

There's an online interview with the Banks Working Group including Bob Castellini courtesy of WVXU.

 

http://www.wvxu.org/news/audio/WVXU_Banks.mp3

Just get corporate sponsorship to provide some financing...The "USBanks" could be done in no time ;)

well. listening to that clip, its great to hear them talking about who they want to live there and how they want young people there.  They went on to say they need to put their price points so they get those types of residences.

^ Music to my ears.  I want a condo on the Banks.

 

So do you think city views or river views would cost more?

 

Don't forget nothing can start until after Cirque Du Soleil leaves.

Just get corporate sponsorship to provide some financing...The "USBanks" could be done in no time ;)

 

That's extremely funny...

There's an online interview with the Banks Working Group including Bob Castellini courtesy of WVXU.

 

http://www.wvxu.org/news/audio/WVXU_Banks.mp3

 

How much did Tom Gabelman get paid by the county to do that interview?  Your tax dollars at work!

^ Music to my ears.  I want a condo on the Banks.

 

Me too. Seriously. Maybe we will become neighbors.  :|

Banks to get developer

Local officials recently toured Atlanta site

BY DAN KLEPAL AND KIMBALL PERRY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

 

A master developer to guide construction of The Banks - the $600 million riverfront development long proposed for downtown Cincinnati - will be selected next month.

 

That revelation came from Hamilton County Commission President Phil Heimlich on Wednesday, just three days after he and others who will be involved in the selection returned from an unannounced trip to Atlanta, where they toured a similar development there led by AIG/Carter, one of the developers still in the running to lead The Banks.

 

Full story text is available at

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060824/NEWS01/608240359

I should be at the meeting, as long as it is before sept 16th...that is when my co-op ends and i will not longer be working in the office  :-(

Key decision on Banks nears

Agreement on developer possible by Sept. 15; plans revised for Cincinnati Riverfront Park

BY JON NEWBERRY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

The city-county panel charged with selecting a master developer for the long-stalled Banks project on Cincinnati's downtown riverfront hopes to have a signed preliminary agreement with one of the remaining candidates by Sept. 15.

 

Full story text is available at

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060830/BIZ01/608300339/1076/BIZ

Dubbed Cincinnati Riverfront Park, it will eventually include large stairways at the ends of Vine and Walnut streets, fountains, a playground and walkways along Ted Berry Way and the river.

 

That stair idea sounds pretty cool!  But 2 years to construct part of the park?!?!?!?!? :-o

Banks panel to name developer soon

Chair: 'Nobody wants to delay'

 

By Joe Wessels

Post contributor

 

 

Some say it might be the circus tent.

 

With the Cirque du Soleil yellow and blue big top pitched on what once was - and in some places still is - a muddy pit, the circus between the politicians feuding over what to put between the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and the Great American Ball Park might be drawing to an end.

 

Full story text is available at

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060830/NEWS01/608300342

GRRRRR why won't the 15th hurry up. I want a devloper announced so they can start talking about what they plan to put there. I thyink we need a hard rock on the banks. and a virgin mega store lol

GRRRRR why won't the 15th hurry up. I want a devloper announced so they can start talking about what they plan to put there. I thyink we need a hard rock on the banks. and a virgin mega store lol

 

no hard rock... we have enough crap in Cincinnati for "old" people. Hard Rock is so "80s" and is no better than hooters. If we go commercial, a ESPN Zone, Barnes and Nobles, all upscale retail from Crate and Barrel, William Sonoma to "flagship" local eateries like a SUPER Skyline, Mega Graeters, UDF MAX... or a NEW Maisonette.... a LaRossas Pizza and Deli, Montgomery in Express for quick ribs for Bengal/Reds games.  Make it as local as possible. Make the non local businesses UNIQUE draws to the region...

yeah but theres a barnes and noble right across the bridge at the already established levee so maybe another chain. I hope they don't try to make this like a downtown version of millworks though (not bashing millworks AT ALL but you get my drift) I hope theres more than JUST shopping. it would be kind of cool if we had another museum beside the freedom center like some kind of anthropology museum or even something like a cosi. for the park portions we really need good art like millenium park in chicago has, maybe let daap students design it or somebody local like that. and personally I think there should be another fountain with the lady in a different pose. sort of like how we have at the corner of ludlow and clifton ave. it could become a kind of cross-city theme. and for god sakes no starbucks...please if a coffee shop goes in anywhere in this OR the fountain square project let it be carribou or even a private one just because seattle roast is disgustingly dark. they really need something the suburbs lack (which the suburbs definitely do not lack shopping) in order to make people frequent the banks.

GRRRRR why won't the 15th hurry up. I want a devloper announced so they can start talking about what they plan to put there. I thyink we need a hard rock on the banks. and a virgin mega store lol

no hard rock... we have enough crap in Cincinnati for "old" people. Hard Rock is so "80s" and is no better than hooters. If we go commercial, a ESPN Zone, Barnes and Nobles, all upscale retail from Crate and Barrel, William Sonoma to "flagship" local eateries like a SUPER Skyline, Mega Graeters, UDF MAX... or a NEW Maisonette.... a LaRossas Pizza and Deli, Montgomery in Express for quick ribs for Bengal/Reds games.  Make it as local as possible. Make the non local businesses UNIQUE draws to the region...

 

I like how this guy thinks although I prefer the "mega" Graeters to be in Fountain Square so I can get some ice cream downtown after I eat.  It would be nice to not have to drive to Hyde Park after dinner.

GRRRRR why won't the 15th hurry up. I want a devloper announced so they can start talking about what they plan to put there. I thyink we need a hard rock on the banks. and a virgin mega store lol

 

no hard rock... we have enough crap in Cincinnati for "old" people.

 

Same goes for Joseph A. Bank. Not everyone is a 55 year old P&G executive.

 

Downtown has enouh skylines...I think theres three. But emphasis on Cincinnati-born businesses seems like the way to go. Gives people a way to identify us. Even if they're chains.

 

it would be kind of cool if we had another museum beside the freedom center like some kind of anthropology museum or even something like a cosi. .

 

We can always move the "MUSEUM OF CREATION" there....

 

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I like how this guy thinks although I prefer the "mega" Graeters to be in Fountain Square so I can get some ice cream downtown after I eat.  It would be nice to not have to drive to Hyde Park after dinner.

 

The problem is that you just eat dinner too late.  If you'd eat at, say, 4pm, finish by 5:30, then you would still have time to hit the Mt. Auburn Graeters before they closed...of course, on Saturday you'd have to eat dinner around 2:00, finish by 3:30, because they close at 4...

oh jesus (no pun intended) thats just what we need. then maybe the nice people with the aborted fetus flag on their plane can open up shop next door.  :bang: they should open up a gay bar on the banks just to get buress and his lackies going again. hehehehehe :evil:

They should build a combined Cincinnati sports museum, combining the Reds Hall of Fame with the Bengals, UC, Xavier, minor league and defunct teams, and whatever high schools wish to add anything.

They should build a combined Cincinnati sports museum, combining the Reds Hall of Fame with the Bengals, UC, Xavier, minor league and defunct teams, and whatever high schools wish to add anything.

 

...what about a Jerry Springer, Hustler etc type of thing.... something edgier but tasteful. We already have a reds museum. Downtown needs some edge. Maybe a "Scores Cincinnati" Can't see an interest in a sports museum.

 

now on a more serious note, what about an elevated conservetory and botanical gardens like the one that was once proposed for Fountain Square West??

High School Hall of Fames are for the loser Al Bundy's of the world. 

High School Hall of Fames are for the loser Al Bundy's of the world. 

 

Elder's obsessive alumni comes to mind...

I really hope these guys don't make a carbon-copy of Atlantic Station.  That site is not really like the Banks site at all.  About the only thing worth taking from that place is how to best build public spaces and streetscapes on top of a parking garage.  But the thing that everyone constantly touts as being the biggest asset of the Banks, it's riverfront location, has nothing in common with Atlantic Station.  Also, the Banks is right next to the old downtown/central business district of Cincinnati, whereas Atlantic Station is not, and Atlanta doesn't have a central business district a la Lower Manhattan, the Chicago Loop, or even 4th  Street.  The architecture must speak to these neighbors, whereas Atlantic Station has essentially no significant next-door neighborhoods or architecture.

 

I don't quite know how these developers go about their projects.  I suspect that they come up with a certain design (outdoor mall anchored by __ number of big box stores, indoor mall anchored by __ number of big box stores, etc.) and then retweak it as often as they can.  I hope, though I'm highly skeptical, that they'll take some design inspiration from the riverfront of Cincinnati in the 19th century, and that they build with the smaller retailer in mind.

 

Also, does anyone know if the highways are ever going to get capped?

I honestly don't care what The Banks looks like. Whatever design they go with...great. Anything is better than a pile of dirt in the most expensive parcel of land in the city. Anything! I'm sure it will look great regardless. It just needs to get done.

I honestly don't care what The Banks looks like. Whatever design they go with...great. Anything is better than a pile of dirt in the most expensive parcel of land in the city. Anything! I'm sure it will look great regardless. It just needs to get done.

 

This was originally a quote from Shah Jahan, yelling at the architect of the Taj Mahal.  Or am I confusing it with the Honorable Richard J. Daley yelling at the guy who built Cabrini Green?  Anyway... f it, that was sarcastic enough.

I don't have a problem with parts of the Banks being occupied by cheesy chains.  Just as long as that's not all it is.  I think a downtown LaRosa's with outdoor dining in the urban setting of the Banks would be great.

I really hope these guys don't make a carbon-copy of Atlantic Station. 

 

I grew up in Cincy, and lived in Orange County for 10 years (home of cheesy fake downtowns). Personally OTR is the #1 jewell in the US. BUT... Atlantic Station as cheesy as it is ROCKS. The urban set up surrounded by residential... a major draw like IKEA etc etc... think the Carew Tower over six blocks... all self contained... movies, groceries, retail...

 

Atlantic station has major SHOPPING, major Entertainment... and most of all PEOPLE...

 

I hate cheesy shit like this, but I find myself there a few times a month... and I live 45 minutes away...

I really hope these guys don't make a carbon-copy of Atlantic Station.  That site is not really like the Banks site at all.  About the only thing worth taking from that place is how to best build public spaces and streetscapes on top of a parking garage.  But the thing that everyone constantly touts as being the biggest asset of the Banks, it's riverfront location, has nothing in common with Atlantic Station.  Also, the Banks is right next to the old downtown/central business district of Cincinnati, whereas Atlantic Station is not, and Atlanta doesn't have a central business district a la Lower Manhattan, the Chicago Loop, or even 4th  Street.  The architecture must speak to these neighbors, whereas Atlantic Station has essentially no significant next-door neighborhoods or architecture.

 

Also, does anyone know if the highways are ever going to get capped?

 

A-FREAKIN-MEN!!!!  This is what I have been saying for some time!!

 

As for the highway cap: I believe the plan would be to work on that once the master development has started.  It is not like the riverfront park that can progress on its own (I guess it could), but I think it is included in the master development aspect of the Banks.

I've said it before on this thread, somewhere around page 8, it doesn't really matter what is there in the beginning, half of it will be gone and replaced by something else in 10 years. 

 

By including high schools in the hall of fame, my intention is to include all the Cincinnati natives who never played for Cincinnati pro or college teams like David Justice, Roger Staubach, and DON ZIMMER.  There would also be room for olympic athletes like the gymnastics girls, Joey Hudepohl, and whoever that skeet shooter guy was.     

By including high schools in the hall of fame, my intention is to include all the Cincinnati natives who never played for Cincinnati pro or college teams like David Justice, Roger Staubach, and DON ZIMMER.  There would also be room for olympic athletes like the gymnastics girls, Joey Hudepohl, and whoever that skeet shooter guy was.     

 

That skeet shooter guy?  He's probably everyone who posts on this blog.  Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

Anyway, I think the Cincinnati sports Hall of Fame is really good idea, let's hope someone pursues it as a possibiity.  I think that these people should be focusing more on the residential potential and let the storefronts take care of themselves.  With the exception of perhaps a hotel or jmeck's sports museum, I don't see how a large anchor store like IKEA will meld with the site.  It would be better if they looked to Michigan Avenue in Chicago as a model for the potential of retail combined with residential/office space.

 

In closing: I like Atlantic Station.  I've shopped there on at least three seperate occasions, and I've seen a movie there as well.  I've even been to that IKEA down the road from it (and found it very amusing that all their products have proper names.  I particularly liked the chair named "David").  But I don't see how anyone who has actually walked through either site can say, that with the exception of building everything on top of a massive parking garage, that they are similar.  Doing the Banks right is much more important to Cincinnati than doing Atlantic Station well was for Atlanta.

why not build some kind of theme attraction like a theatre that shows classic movies instead of new ones. and don't say thats for "old people", I'm a 22 year old guy so if I think it sounds cool lots of other young people probably would too.  I mean retail and food are great but who wants to come downtown to shop when they can go out their suburban door and have 10 times better shopping anyway already complete with a graeters, skyline, etc.?

I mean retail and food are great but who wants to come downtown to shop when they can go out their suburban door and have 10 times better shopping anyway already complete with a graeters, skyline, etc.?

 

:x :x :x :x :x :x :x :x

I'm just being honest. everybody's solution to business today is "add retail" but why should we make our urban core more suburban by just making it one of 100 retail centers in the area. the whole point of a truly urban setting is to use their central location to attract people by offering what suburbia can't because their center of population isn't like ours. you can go anywhere and shop but things that wouldn't have enough business in sharonville or kenwood to succeed because nobody wants to drive there from florence is what the downtown needs. things that aren't feasible in the burbs that ARE feasible downtown to draw from the entire metropolitan population. I wouldn't go to ikea if it was at the banks because I could find better deals on the same thing in kenwood towne centre or rookwood commons. so frowny face all you want but even though some of my ideas are a little far fetched at least their not the "McTargetsonomabody works and fitch" solution to urbinization that just keeps failing cities time and time again.

I'm just being honest. everybody's solution to business today is "add retail" but why should we make our urban core more suburban by just making it one of 100 retail centers in the area. the whole point of a truly urban setting is to use their central location to attract people by offering what suburbia can't because their center of population isn't like ours. you can go anywhere and shop but things that wouldn't have enough business in sharonville or kenwood to succeed because nobody wants to drive there from florence is what the downtown needs. things that aren't feasible in the burbs that ARE feasible downtown to draw from the entire metropolitan population. I wouldn't go to ikea if it was at the banks because I could find better deals on the same thing in kenwood towne centre or rookwood commons. so frowny face all you want but even though some of my ideas are a little far fetched at least their not the "McTargetsonomabody works and fitch" solution to urbinization that just keeps failing cities time and time again.

what part of "unique" shopping did you miss... if it's not in the burbs, put it downtown. Hell, somebody put the Bloomingdales flag back up... THAT would be great...

no I agree I'm just not sure if skyline, and graeters and such warrant unique considering they're all around the tristate and nobody would venture downtown for them. they should be there but the banks needs more than just retail it needs things to do that you can't do anywhere else in the area if you tried.

^I would hope that the main purpose of the Banks is to create a viable urban neighborhood.  You cannot simply make it all destination based.  Some things like: Skyline, LaRosas, clothing stores, markets, etc.  If you do not provide these types of things, as well as, some destination pieces the neighborhood will not be successful, it will be Disney Land.  IMO, most of the destination pieces are already there....not too many more are neccessary.  We need service based retailers that will meet the needs of nearly 2,500 new residents.

I never said it should be disneyland I just don't see why people would want to oversaturate the market with food places when that would just compete with the new fountain square restaurants. and theres a difference between disneyland and wanting something downtown at all which we don't really have. seriously think about it. if you want to get drunk you can go to main street...thats about it, and personally I'd just stay in clifton for that. unless you consider it fun to go grocery shopping at findlay market or ride a greyhound or play the "lets try to find parking during a business day" game that we all love so much why even go downtown? I understand that the banks has to be a mixed use space to function but its an opportunity to put things there that actually make people WANT to go downtown is all I mean. basically I just think that trying to build convenience to attract people or trying to build housing to attract business are both the wrong routes to go when trying to spark life back into the downtown and make it livable which I hope would be the whole point of the banks. I just don't think when there so much unused space (i.e. surface lots) downtown that we should put a minimall on our riverfront property.

I know I'm going to get jack-slapped again for daring to open my mouth and expressing my opinion about this subject....but what the heck.

 

I was under the impression that the Banks was supposed to be predominantly a destination place that gets people back down to the riverfront.  So far, the stadiums and Freedom Center have not done that for me.  If they want to put condos down there, that's fine.  And if they want to put a smattering of service-based retailers down there, that's fine as well.  But this is the most prime piece of real estate in the area, and they need to make sure that there are also unique attractions for everyone - not just sports fans and the people who live there.  I can go to Sawyer Point whenever I want to visit a riverfront park - yet, I haven't done that in years.  Now, build a couple of unique museums - perhaps a COSI and a Ripley's - throw in a Hard Rock cafe', a live-show theater, unique retailers, chic outdoor bistros, a truly top-notch hotel, and build a towering monument down there.....THEN I'll come down.  THAT would truly be something the city could then be proud of.  Or course, as long as the city keeps sitting on it's ass, there won't be any reason to build any of that stuff, because Ovation will probably be opened before the Banks even gets started. 

 

And of course, the park would be nice also - even though there are already mass acres of parkland along the riverfront.  But I will NOT go down there for things that I can already find here in the suburbs.

why not build some kind of theme attraction like a theatre that shows classic movies instead of new ones. and don't say thats for "old people", I'm a 22 year old guy so if I think it sounds cool lots of other young people probably would too.   I mean retail and food are great but who wants to come downtown to shop when they can go out their suburban door and have 10 times better shopping anyway already complete with a graeters, skyline, etc.?

See...thats why it takes a smart entrepreneur. Obviously it's hard to compete with these huge corporations that invest in the suburbs and destroy communities but you have to learn how to work your way around it. The fact remains: even though these places make great money, they're not necessarily for everybody.

 

Take the Ridge Market situation for example. It use to be an IGA. IGA left, and it turned into an independent grocery store. Center of Cincinnati came along not too long after and completely buried it. Many people lost a lot of money. People that had faith in the community and wanted to invest in it. That's a great concept but you have to do it right. If they did it right they would have turned it into an ORGANIC food store. You have to find your niche. Had it been an organic food store I believe that place would have never went under and would still be thriving--becuase that would have made it a destination. People would have came from a larger radius to go there, especially if it was cheaper than Wild Oats.

 

Downtown is a great place to do business, you just have to know what the hell you're doing.

 

 

>why even go downtown?

 

Court appearances.

Ovation, in its current incarnation, is a horse's ass and is not a threat to the Banks, if the Banks looks anything like the "old standby" renderings.  The Banks, in those plans, is a human-scale urban neighborhood, interwoven with some of the biggest attractions in the region.  Ovation is 762 condos in monolithic, identical highrises with no-mans-land in between.

>why even go downtown?

 

Court appearances.

 

...wow...he channels the pope!  Flawless smart-assitude!  Nicely done!

 

I was under the impression that the Banks was supposed to be predominantly a destination place that gets people back down to the riverfront.  So far, the stadiums and Freedom Center have not done that for me.  If they want to put condos down there, that's fine.  And if they want to put a smattering of service-based retailers down there, that's fine as well.  But this is the most prime piece of real estate in the area, and they need to make sure that there are also unique attractions for everyone - not just sports fans and the people who live there.  I can go to Sawyer Point whenever I want to visit a riverfront park - yet, I haven't done that in years.  Now, build a couple of unique museums - perhaps a COSI and a Ripley's - throw in a Hard Rock cafe', a live-show theater, unique retailers, chic outdoor bistros, a truly top-notch hotel, and build a towering monument down there.....THEN I'll come down.  THAT would truly be something the city could then be proud of.  Or course, as long as the city keeps sitting on it's ass, there won't be any reason to build any of that stuff, because Ovation will probably be opened before the Banks even gets started. 

 

And of course, the park would be nice also - even though there are already mass acres of parkland along the riverfront.  But I will NOT go down there for things that I can already find here in the suburbs.

 

It already is a destination....like you said.  But, to say that ovation will be done before the Banks is just stupid!  You sound, all throughout this post, that you are one of those damn idiots from WC!  Yes the Banks will be a destination, but it will not rely on morons from WC making it an outing to come down.....when you have nearly 3,500 residents living within the project it will sustain itself with suburbanites coming down on the weekend.  Those suburbanites will just be icing on the cake!