I think there already is a skyscraper at 3rd and Walnut -- isn't that where the Scripps building is?

I

I think there already is a skyscraper at 3rd and Walnut -- isn't that where the Scripps building is?

 

Intersections have more than one side?

^lol

New Eatery Coming To The Banks

Frozen Yogurt Shop To Open In April

 

CINCINNATI -- Some members of the Cincinnati Bengals are opening shop at the newest addition to The Banks.

 

The frozen yogurt shop Orange Leaf announced that it will be opening a franchise on Walnut Street at the riverfront development.

 

The franchise will be controlled by Bengals defensive end Frostee Rucker, along with partners defensive end Robert Geathers, punter Kevin Huber and defensive tackle Pat Sims, among others.

 

Read more: http://www.wlwt.com/entertainment/30661961/detail.html#ixzz1ow9vFeiW

Am I correct in assuming Phase II will be more office and residential focused? While I'm glad more restaurants are coming in, there needs to be more residents in the area. I'd venture to guess that with the success of the Current apartments that residential property would fill up fast in Phase II

I assume, much like in Over-the-Rhine, the first developments will be restaurants and retail that make the area a "destination", and it will be some time later that more business pop up to service the residents.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120313/NEWS/303130085/Mahogany-s-owner-turns-herself-in

Mahogany's owner turns herself in

 

"Rogers and her husband, Trent, agreed to first invest their own $50,000 before the city money would kick in. [...] The proposed financing stirred controversy after revelations about financial issues involving the Rogers couple, including that they owe $49,000 in personal taxes. They also owed property taxes but paid them days before the deal was approved."

The next block to be built (immediately adjacent to the Freedom center between freedom way & 2nd street was described by the developer in the Enquirer as being 300 apartments with retail on the first floor.

^Are you talking in this area:

 

 

That was taken on Sunday and the sooner that's developed, the better.

Aww... at the end of all this, I'm going to really miss the endless sea of beautiful black asphalt with its luscious white stipes....

 

 

 

 

/sarcasm

Well, since we're all about the music venues (Toby Keith's, Tin Roof), there's this ...

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/mobile/denver/news/2012/03/12/gene-simmons-bringing-rock-themed.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_denver+%28Denver+Business+Journal%29

 

Wonder what the Toby Keith's crowd would think?

 

:evil:

Yet another industry for Gene to dabble.

Insert Kiss restaurant aftermath joke:

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120313/NEWS/303130085/Mahogany-s-owner-turns-herself-in

Mahogany's owner turns herself in

 

"Rogers and her husband, Trent, agreed to first invest their own $50,000 before the city money would kick in. [...] The proposed financing stirred controversy after revelations about financial issues involving the Rogers couple, including that they owe $49,000 in personal taxes. They also owed property taxes but paid them days before the deal was approved."

 

I like to stick up for our city council but this is getting crazy.  Way too many red flags to be giving this kind of money away.  Time to nix the deal.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120313/NEWS/303130085/Mahogany-s-owner-turns-herself-in

Mahogany's owner turns herself in

 

"Rogers and her husband, Trent, agreed to first invest their own $50,000 before the city money would kick in. [...] The proposed financing stirred controversy after revelations about financial issues involving the Rogers couple, including that they owe $49,000 in personal taxes. They also owed property taxes but paid them days before the deal was approved."

 

I like to stick up for our city council but this is getting crazy.  Way too many red flags to be giving this kind of money away.  Time to nix the deal.

 

So now are some of you starting to see why lots of people in the metro area can't stand our city's leaders and think our redevelopment efforts are just one big boondoggle?

 

Seriously. Ridiculous.

My take of it. They would have never came up with the 50k to complete the deal.

No. Would you like me to selectively list what i consider well executed projects and wise decisions and then ask you if you would now see the light?  See, it doesn't work that way.

No. Would you like me to selectively list what i consider well executed projects and wise decisions and then ask you if you would now see the light?  See, it doesn't work that way.

 

All I can say is that the poor decisions always speak louder than the good decisions, and this is certainly one of those cases. And I wouldn't even be on here in the first place if I did not have faith in the city and its leadership. So there you have it.

All administrations make mistakes. This decision just keeps dragging on as "new" revelations keep cropping up that question the integrity of this process and the judgement of our elected officials. If it wasn't for the small problem that kept getting bigger, this would have been dusted under the rug.

^Are you talking in this area:

 

 

That was taken on Sunday and the sooner that's developed, the better.

 

I think he meant the area between 2nd and freedom way-  so where they built the underground garage.  That's where the next Banks building is supposedly going up.

 

 

The area in your photo won't get any Banks development until the County approves about another $20 million to build a parking garage.  Probably won't happen till late 2013 at the soonest due to county politics & major money problems.  County is in way worse shape financially than the City, which is actually on the up and up.

 

 

My incredibly loosely predicted Banks timeline:

 

November 2012:    Construction starts for new Banks Block (above parking garage).  Based on last time, it will be about 16 months of construction. 

 

<b>Fall 2013:</b>                County begins construction of new garage south of Freedom Way (~18 months of construction- nearly twice as large as last garage which took just under 1 year)  If this is delayed because of pressures by the Bengals the whole plan gets put another 4-6 months behind.

 

April 2014:               New Banks block opens with around 300 apartments.

 

<b>Spring 2015:</b>          Garage south of Freedom Way completed. 

 

<b>Summer 2015: </b>      The Banks South of Freedom Way begins another block (fourth block). 18 months of construction.

 

<b>Spring 2017:</b>            4 of the Banks 6 blocks built out. 

 

 

Original goal for the Banks & Riverfront Park was to have all phases done by 2018. 

I think the real date will be closer to <b>2021 or 2023</b>and the majority of the delay will be because the County will delay the next phase of garage construction.

I would be interested to know who pushed for them behind the scenes. However, as long as the deal doesn't go through (which it definitely now looks like it won't), I won't hold it against the administration.

^ The deal was voted on about 2 weeks ago.  It's a done deal.  6 yes votes, 3 no votes.  No's were Qualls, Seelbach & Smitherman. 

^So you predict Mahogany will open at the Banks?

^ Since it passed, all they need to do is get $50,000 and they can have access to $1 million.  If they can't find someone to loan them $50,000 for a cut of their profits they are idiots.  I'm confident they will find $50,000 (if someone who was backing them hasn't already provided it for them) and then the City money can be accessed.

Tonight I was down at The Banks and it looked like some homeless people broke into the unused storefront with the Gap Girls on it right at the Schmidlapp Event Lawn.  As for this space, it's definitely the prime remaining restaurant space.  It has an outdoor patio that will overlook the lawn's stage. 

Yesterday I was driving from northern Indiana and was so bored that I turned on 700WLW - about 6PM.  Don't know who was on cause I'm not a normal listener, but he was broadcasting from Holy Grail at the Banks.  I had to double check my hearing but he said that if you haven't been to "downtown" Cincinnati lately, you're really missing something.  He specifically mentioned The Banks, of course, but also "what's happening up on Vine street in OTR."  Said he travelled quite a bit and, based on what he's seen, Cincinnati has a chance to have one of the top 10 or so downtown areas in the Nation.  I mean he was effusive with praise.  I couldn't quite believe my ears.

 

One thing he didn't mention was Fountain square, and what a supreme act of foresight it was for our City Council to devise a streetcar system to connect all of the things he loves about downtown together, so that he and his suburban listeners only have to endure the pain of parking downtown once, whilst they travel from Toby Keith's to Bakersfield for nachos.

 

The experience of parking in Kenwood or Tri-county is more "painful" than parking downtown, as far as I'm concerned.

^^ Real talk. Kenwood is a disaster....you MIGHT have a chance of finding a decent parking spot if you go on a Tuesday morning or some other random time but that entire exit is to be avoided like the plague on the weekends.

Yesterday I was driving from northern Indiana and was so bored that I turned on 700WLW - about 6PM.  Don't know who was on cause I'm not a normal listener, but he was broadcasting from Holy Grail at the Banks.

 

That was Thom Brennaman, Reds and Fox Sports broadcaster doing the Reds Hot Stove League show.

Tonight I was down at The Banks and it looked like some homeless people broke into the unused storefront with the Gap Girls on it right at the Schmidlapp Event Lawn.  As for this space, it's definitely the prime remaining restaurant space.  It has an outdoor patio that will overlook the lawn's stage. 

 

I called this in this morning- amazingly they called me back (surprisingly!) to say there was no sign of a break in.

^^ Real talk. Kenwood is a disaster....you MIGHT have a chance of finding a decent parking spot if you go on a Tuesday morning or some other random time but that entire exit is to be avoided like the plague on the weekends.

 

Outside of the Holidays and rush hour times, I really don't think Kenwood is that bad.  Park on the side off Kenwood road, in either one of the garages, and there's almost always plenty of places to park.  Traffic on Montgomery actually moves pretty well, imo.

Tonight I was down at The Banks and it looked like some homeless people broke into the unused storefront with the Gap Girls on it right at the Schmidlapp Event Lawn.  As for this space, it's definitely the prime remaining restaurant space.  It has an outdoor patio that will overlook the lawn's stage. 

 

I called this in this morning- amazingly they called me back (surprisingly!) to say there was no sign of a break in.

You called something in to the police based on a message board post?

^ uh, ya. It's not like I called 911. I called the Banks police welcome center and they had someone walk around (its across the street) and look and then come back.  5 minutes of work or ignore the possibility that scrappers or homeless people moved into a vacant store front and potentially caused damage.

I find the easiest parking at Kenwood is in that fairly-new garage attached to Macy's.  Easiest access is off of Galbraith.

^ No one is ever parked in the lowest level of the Nordstrom garage.  This has absolutely nothing to do with The Banks, though.

 

I actually find it easier to park downtown/The Banks on any given evening.  There is plenty of free on-street parking along 3rd Street, especially if you are arriving right around 6:00 when the rush hour parking restriction is lifted.

Frostee Rucker, one of the investors in the Orange Leaf at the Banks, has been signed by the Browns. I doubt that changes anything, but I'm gonna miss the amusement of having a guy named Frostee owning a frozen yogurt shop.

Just walked past the supposed broken in storefront. Door is clearly broken open. Way to go Cincy PD! #Fail

^Why blame Cincinnati police and not the criminal? The police can't be everywhere and see everything.

^Why blame Cincinnati police and not the criminal? The police can't be everywhere and see everything.

 

But they can be honest when they say they went and checked something out...or do more than whatever they did. I don't think they're being blamed for the break-in. Maybe you missed this post:

 

Tonight I was down at The Banks and it looked like some homeless people broke into the unused storefront with the Gap Girls on it right at the Schmidlapp Event Lawn.  As for this space, it's definitely the prime remaining restaurant space.  It has an outdoor patio that will overlook the lawn's stage. 

 

I called this in this morning- amazingly they called me back (surprisingly!) to say there was no sign of a break in.

 

Edit: I should phrase that better. The "fail" is that the police were alerted to a specific problem in a specific location, ostensibly went to check it out, and falsely reported to OC that there was no such problem -- when apparently there was.

It was funny to just read all this, being the person who spotted the open/broken door last night.  I poked my head in but didn't go in because I didn't want the police to see me walk out, aside from there being nothing around a corner to see.  I didn't see any blankets or anything, and of course there's no way to access the rest of the building, but it's just the sort of thing the local city-haters could blow up in the media if they actually walked around the city they hate so much.  I forgot that the police substation was right there or else I would have walked over and told them about it.

It was funny to just read all this, being the person who spotted the open/broken door last night.  I poked my head in but didn't go in because I didn't want the police to see me walk out, aside from there being nothing around a corner to see.  I didn't see any blankets or anything, and of course there's no way to access the rest of the building, but it's just the sort of thing the local city-haters could blow up in the media if they actually walked around the city they hate so much.  I forgot that the police substation was right there or else I would have walked over and told them about it.

 

Go talk about it on city data.  :-)

 

 

City Data -- where the moderators freely admit they haven't been downtown in 15 years. 

City Data -- where the moderators freely admit they haven't been downtown in 15 years. 

 

Then shouldn't it be "city-outdated-data"?

^Why blame Cincinnati police and not the criminal? The police can't be everywhere and see everything.

 

As Natininja said-- I think he was referring to the fact that they called him back and said - no break in... then he supposedly went down and found a broken door into an open empty storefront.

Mahogany's owner fires back at critics

 

The owner of Mahogany’s restaurant, whose financing deal with the city of Cincinnati has stirred controversy, said on Wednesday she feels picked on.

 

...

 

On Tuesday, Rogers turned herself in on a year-old warrant issued because she failed to show up in court regarding a debt that Queen City Computer Press Inc. is trying to collect from her.  Queen City had designed a website for her now-defunct Forest Park business, Brooklyn Spa & Salon.

 

Rogers asserted “there may be no merit to the case.” But a Hamilton County judge ruled she owes Welch’s company $3,000 plus interest. The case has been pending since 2009.

 

(http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120314/NEWS/303140149)

"Rogers was recently named one of The Enquirer’s “20 Women to Watch in 2012.”"

 

Seriously? She can't pay her taxes, can't pay her bills, and is somehow looked up to by the Enquirer? I guess I'll miss that when it goes behind a paywall soon. The comments are good, though:

 

Andrew Weiss

I think it is great that the city tries to support a business owner whose enterprise will help create diversity at the Banks. However, as a business owner in Cincinnati myself for over 20 years, I well remember the times I had to put my house on the line to get bank loans, and the years I didn't take a salary for weeks so that I could pay my taxes when they were due. It really irks me that the city leaders would back an individual who has a history of not complying with the tax code, not to mention the ethical problem of failing to pay legitimate bills for services she received from another business. Could they not find another more qualified and upstanding entrepreneur to put their mouths and our money behind?

 

Dawn Harsley

The issue is that she owes the IRS $49K, she was delinquent in her property taxes until recently and she owes a private business $3K plus interest, a debt the court determined she had to pay. She didn't show up for her court appearance; she was arrested and she feels she is being "picked on". This woman has some nerve.

 

Kevin Austin

This type of behavior led to the mortgage crisis. The city has to give these people cash to pay for startup and operating costs. No bank in the world would make this loan.

 

Andrew Miller

and who would have thunk it that Smitherman would be the sane voice on council?!

Dawn summed it up best but Andrew had me LOLing

Pretty sure the Enquirer made those designations earlier in the year, before this all came out.

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/print-edition/2012/03/16/on-banks-project-city-county-ahead.html?page=all

On Banks project, city, county ahead of inclusion goals

End-game: Growing companies, adding jobs

Premium content from Business Courier by Lucy May, Senior Staff Reporter/Associate Editor

 

Small and disadvantaged businesses have won contracts worth $11 million for the public portion of the Banks riverfront development project.

 

Of that, nearly $7 million has gone to small businesses that are mostly local. The rest has gone to companies certified as disadvantaged businesses for the purposes of state and federal contracting.

 

[...]

 

The results put Hamilton County and the city of Cincinnati at 36 percent economic inclusion for the project, ahead of their goal to spend 30 percent of local dollars with small business enterprises.

Has anyone heard anything about Tin Roof or the Wine guy!? Neither have started construction.