19 hours ago, taestell said:

 

Correct. Per the Business Courier article, GE has not met their promise of creating 1,800 jobs at The Banks so they do not (yet) qualify for the kickback.

 

The BizJournals in each city do an article once a year indicating which companies made their quotas for these economic development incentives and many of them don't make it these days.

Probably only going to get worse with more and more workers working form home. 

If they spend enough time at home, the work is going to be considered performed at the worker's houses and pull the taxes to their municipalities.

1 minute ago, GCrites80s said:

If they spend enough time at home, the work is going to be considered performed at the worker's houses and pull the taxes to their municipalities.

 

When the COVID lockdown first hit, Ohio passed a law stating that anyone working from home due to the pandemic was still to be considered as working from wherever their usual office was located, for income tax purposes. So downtown may be a ghost town because ~50,000 people are working at home, but Cincinnati is still collecting the income tax.

 

If work-from-home becomes permanent for any significant portion of the blue collar office workers, I'd expect push back against this in the coming years.

Ah, makes sense. If it goes long enough they repeal it.

Do people really hate their coworkers so much that they refuse to set foot in the building?  I like chatting with people I'm never going to socialize with outside of work about random stuff.  

 

And what are people doing during those precious 30 minutes they aren't in the car?  They're just scrolling through Instagram and Twitter.  

For all of the talk that everyone is just going to be working from home forever and downtowns are dead... the announcement of a new spec office building at The Banks leads me to believe that developers and banks are pretty confident that things will go somewhat "back to normal" in the relatively near future.

1 hour ago, taestell said:

For all of the talk that everyone is just going to be working from home forever and downtowns are dead... the announcement of a new spec office building at The Banks leads me to believe that developers and banks are pretty confident that things will go somewhat "back to normal" in the relatively near future.

 

Yeah there's a lot of sensationalism being floated around about this, but for any work that is collaborative and you are on a team, nothing beats face to face in the office.  There will always be a need for office space.  Maybe this results in 1 or 2 days from home being widely adopted, and office space will need to be more flexible, but there will have to be dedicated days in the office for most office jobs.

2 hours ago, jmecklenborg said:

Do people really hate their coworkers so much that they refuse to set foot in the building?  I like chatting with people I'm never going to socialize with outside of work about random stuff.  

 

And what are people doing during those precious 30 minutes they aren't in the car?  They're just scrolling through Instagram and Twitter.  

 

I like being in the office and I'm splitting my time between home and office now. But when I was on full work from home I used my extra 30 minutes per day to make sure I got a workout in. I usually workout 3 to 4 days per week but that went up to 7 days. I also like being able to clean the kitchen or sweep the floors during breaks from work. I enjoy chatting with my coworkers but I still do that through zoom and text message, and I've had many more spontaneous chats with neighbors. Personally, I think the 2-3 days per week from the office is ideal for my lifestyle. 

I had so much less anxiety when I was working from home. I didn't need to deal with the stress of commuting, putting on uncomfortable clothes, etc. I could make a healthy lunch more easily, go for a run or workout right at 5 instead of 6 or later. It was great. The only reason I'm back at work now is that my boss's boss is a single person in their 50s who couldn't deal with working from home so we all have to suffer.

I'd have to move or rent an office somewhere to work from home because there is so much commotion in my area (often multiple arguments per day outside neighboring buildings), plus four-legged distractions.  

1 hour ago, JaceTheAce41 said:

I had so much less anxiety when I was working from home. I didn't need to deal with the stress of commuting, putting on uncomfortable clothes, etc. I could make a healthy lunch more easily, go for a run or workout right at 5 instead of 6 or later. It was great. The only reason I'm back at work now is that my boss's boss is a single person in their 50s who couldn't deal with working from home so we all have to suffer.

 

And I found working from home to be quite stressful because of a lack of any meaningful personal interaction with other human beings, plus the intrusion of home life onto work and vice versa making both feel weird and unsatisfying.  Going out to lunch with friends and coworkers downtown and in OTR/Pendleton was a big deal for me.  I'm relatively introverted, but zero interaction with other people is still suffocating, and going out for lunch helps break up office time too.  I can certainly understand one person bringing back 30 people or whatever just to fix his own loneliness is a bit dickish, but his dissatisfaction with the situation is no less valid than yours or mine, nor is it likely that all the other employees feel the same as you do.  There's a middle ground compromise solution between everyone staying home and everyone going to the office.  

 

What would be a nice outcome here is more flexible working arrangements rather than simply swinging the pendulum one way or another.  In urban environments like The Banks or OTR, having some more people at home during the day can better support lunch options versus the apartments being empty from 9-5 and relying only on office workers for that timeframe.  It might be able to even out the peakienss that lunch and rush hours cause, reducing strain on the roads, transit, and restaurants that all have to (try to) accommodate peak times while sitting nearly empty for much of the day.  That's very inefficient, but everyone staying home or decanting out to the exurbs isn't a solution either.  

3 hours ago, jmecklenborg said:

I'd have to move or rent an office somewhere to work from home because there is so much commotion in my area (often multiple arguments per day outside neighboring buildings), plus four-legged distractions.  

 

I just got a bird feeder and put it right outside the window by my desk. It distracted me from the distractions and sort-of neutralized it all. It also kept the cat occupied for the full 6 hours a day he isn't sleeping.

The metal panel is starting to be installed on the ICON music venue. It's not quite the color changing metal on the Encore, but it has a purple kind-of iridescence to it in person. I think this project will look nice when finished, though it looks pretty opaque. In related news, I can't wait to see live music again.

 

^When they were building it and you could see in it was obvious how small the place is going to be.  Like Memorial Hall or something.  

4 minutes ago, jmecklenborg said:

^When they were building it and you could see in it was obvious how small the place is going to be.  Like Memorial Hall or something.  

Memorial Hall Capacity: 550

 

ICON: 4,500

^It's hard to believe that they're going to pack 4,000 paying customers into this fire trap:

 

^ I think you may be underestimating  ICON’s size. If you go see it in person it’s clearly much larger than Memorial Hall. I’m not saying it’s gigantic either. Besides capacity isn’t just made up, there is a legal limit/formula on how may people you can have in these facilities based on square footage.

Edited October 23, 20204 yr by 646empire

I don't think there will be any seats at ICON, all just standing room so it can fit a lot more people.  Memorial Hall may look big from the outside but the actual performance hall is very small

 

Edited October 23, 20204 yr by Cincy513

1 hour ago, Cincy513 said:

I don't think there will be any seats at ICON, all just standing room so it can fit a lot more people.  Memorial Hall may look big from the outside but the actual performance hall is very small

 

Agreed. Either way your not getting even a thousand people standing room only in a building the size of Memorial Hall, it really is small.

Edited October 23, 20204 yr by 646empire

On 10/23/2020 at 5:34 PM, jmecklenborg said:

^It's hard to believe that they're going to pack 4,000 paying customers into this fire trap:

 

You think they are just lying about the planned capacity?? You think nobody will ever check? 
 

On 10/23/2020 at 5:34 PM, jmecklenborg said:

^It's hard to believe that they're going to pack 4,000 paying customers into this fire trap:

 

 

Lol it actually looks pretty big? But Jake knows all.

4 hours ago, DEPACincy said:

 

Lol it actually looks pretty big? But Jake knows all.

 

I did some googling and somebody created this 3-D rendering of the interior:

https://api2.enscape3d.com/v3/view/6bc666ec-7cb5-4b40-97dd-b679653b30ac

 

Apparently there are zero seats.  It seems like they kept this major detail out of the press because people would have gotten a bit pissed, especially short women. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

18 minutes ago, jmecklenborg said:

especially short women.

Should have posted the video for Short Unhappy People, instead.

1 hour ago, zsnyder said:

Should have posted the video for Short Unhappy People, instead.

 

Turn around and look at the drummer on the 3-D rendering.  Looks like they found one of those 9 year-old prodigies on youtube. 

5 hours ago, jmecklenborg said:

Apparently there are zero seats.  It seems like they kept this major detail out of the press because people would have gotten a bit pissed, especially short women. 

 

In other words, it's a standard concert venue. 

It does look pretty steep inside, like Cleveland Browns Stadium or the top bowl at Nationwide. I freaked out a bit the last time I was in the top bowl at Nationwide even though Roger Waters hadn't even started yet.

11 hours ago, jmecklenborg said:

 

I did some googling and somebody created this 3-D rendering of the interior:

https://api2.enscape3d.com/v3/view/6bc666ec-7cb5-4b40-97dd-b679653b30ac

 

Apparently there are zero seats.  It seems like they kept this major detail out of the press because people would have gotten a bit pissed, especially short women. 

 

I was searching for an official rendering of the inside of the venue on Sunday and couldn't find anything. Not sure why they wouldn't share that with the public. It's hard to tell, but it looks like the balconies might have seats. I'm glad the ground floor is standing room only, but they will probably bring in rented seats for certain types of events. They likely want to build a venue that can be used as a rock venue but also be used for some CSO events and private events.

 

Meanwhile, I would imagine that the PromoWest venue in Newport will be just like their Columbus venue -- one level (no balconies) and standing room only. Pretty much just for rock shows, nothing else.

Express Live! (have to include the exclamation point) in Columbus does have a balcony with limited seats on the indoor venue. Much like the Madison Theater in Covington, but with less seating and upstairs bar. 

 

I would be shocked if the balconies at ICON didn't have seating on them, if the plan was for standing room they wouldn't have stepped the concrete like they did, it would be flat balconies like the Woodward or 9:30 club. 

54 minutes ago, ucgrady said:

Express Live! (have to include the exclamation point) in Columbus does have a balcony with limited seats on the indoor venue. Much like the Madison Theater in Covington, but with less seating and upstairs bar. 

 

I would be shocked if the balconies at ICON didn't have seating on them, if the plan was for standing room they wouldn't have stepped the concrete like they did, it would be flat balconies like the Woodward or 9:30 club. 

I think your exactly right. I believe I read before they started construction that the balconies would have some sort of seating. Beyond that I do know they are planning on doing all kinds of events in this building and really focused on flexibility with its design, So it wouldn’t make sense to install permanent seats on the main floor. Overall this venue is gonna be VERY nice compared to its competitors.

Below is a link to GBBN Architects page for the venue.

 

https://www.gbbn.com/work/music-event-management-inc-new-music-venue-at-the-banks/ 

Edited October 26, 20204 yr by 646empire

23 minutes ago, 646empire said:

https://www.gbbn.com/work/music-event-management-inc-new-music-venue-at-the-banks/ 

 

Mick Jagger looks a lot different:

2 hours ago, ucgrady said:

Express Live! (have to include the exclamation point) in Columbus does have a balcony with limited seats on the indoor venue.

 

Yeah, you're right. It has been several years since I've seen an indoor show there, but after looking up pictures, I do remember the balcony. Still, it's much smaller than what ICON will have.

Just now, taestell said:

 

Yeah, you're right. It has been several years since I've seen an indoor show there, but after looking up pictures, I do remember the balcony. Still, it's much smaller than what ICON will have.

I had to double check photos, I think I've been to every decent sized music venue in a 300 mile radius so they do start to run together. Especially when over imbibing at most of said venues. Did I mention I miss live music? Every time I walk or drive past MOTR and see it still boarded up I get sad, I really hope MOTR and Woodward make it to the other side of all this. 

On 10/23/2020 at 2:19 PM, ucgrady said:

The metal panel is starting to be installed on the ICON music venue. It's not quite the color changing metal on the Encore, but it has a purple kind-of iridescence to it in person. I think this project will look nice when finished, though it looks pretty opaque. In related news, I can't wait to see live music again.

 

 

 

Does the panel feel similar to the product used at the Shakespeare? The overlapping transparent panel over solid and glass gives me the same vibes as that project.

I assumed (maybe naively) that they could be similar since GBBN is designer on both.

I do think the panels will be similar to the Shakespeare theater but there is less glass on this project. It does have lighting built into the facade though so at night it will definitely look better than day, again similar to the Shakespeare which looks much more translucent at night.

I rode my bike on Mehring Way this past Sunday, when it was 80F, and was met with crazy waves of cold air coming out of the GABP and Banks parking garages.  It literally felt like I was riding past the entrance to a cave or a bunch of open refrigerated trucks.  

I once tried to cool off by some AC exhaust vent thing in an alley by P&G then some ominous voice came over a speaker and told me it was private property. 

Boozy Banks: City to create open container area to boost businesses

 

 

The city plans to close a portion of East Freedom Way just west of Great American Ballpark to vehicle traffic and make the Banks a place where people can openly drink on the streets by the Reds Opening Day on April 1.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2020/12/15/banks-entertainment-district.html

5 minutes ago, ColDayMan said:

Boozy Banks: City to create open container area to boost businesses

 

 

The city plans to close a portion of East Freedom Way just west of Great American Ballpark to vehicle traffic and make the Banks a place where people can openly drink on the streets by the Reds Opening Day on April 1.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2020/12/15/banks-entertainment-district.html

 

They’ve been saying this for years. Hopefully they actually start it.

The City Beat article shows the design for the space. Looks great if executed the right way. Is that paint that they plan to use on the street? If so I hope they maintain it properly. All that foot traffic will make it look really dirty fast. 

 

https://www.citybeat.com/news/blog/21147309/mayor-cranley-announces-plans-to-turn-the-banks-into-a-dora-district?utm_source=featurefollow&utm_medium=home&utm_campaign=hpfeatures

^If they did the same thing somewhere in OTR, the community council and Josh Spring would complain that they weren't respecting nearby low-income residents. 

 

I think the larger issue is that OTR wasn't thought of as a competitor to The Banks when The Banks was planned 20 years ago, so now it needs something that OTR doesn't have. 

State law added the DORAs 5 years ago because of the All-Star Game coming to Cincinnati. Anyone remember why they never set one up, until now? I don't remember anyone on Council being an advocate for it at the time but it seemed like such an obvious move.

1 hour ago, Dev said:

State law added the DORAs 5 years ago because of the All-Star Game coming to Cincinnati. Anyone remember why they never set one up, until now? I don't remember anyone on Council being an advocate for it at the time but it seemed like such an obvious move.

I always wondered the same question. I suspect there was some (misguided) opposition from bar/restaurant owners who worried about losing captive customers, and/or from business owners NOT in the Open Container area who worried about losing business to the Open Container zone. I think COVID provides additional pressure both politically and business-wise to implement outdoor options. 

^ Maybe the residents in the apartments above opposed it?

2 minutes ago, Dev said:

^ Maybe the residents in the apartments above opposed it?

Are there residents at The Banks? (I jest.)

It became it's own DORA plenty of time throughout the year.  Reds opening day, every Bengals home game, World Cup games, blink, ect.  Anytime they wanted to close that single block and make it open container they were allowed, so I think they probably just thought it wasn't needed year round.  Covid and the desire for more outdoor seating probably brought it up again and they rightfully decided to just make it full time.  There's really no reason cars need to drive down that one block other then deliveries in the mornings. 

Edited December 16, 20204 yr by Cincy513

What's going on with the ferris wheel replacement? I miss having it in our skyline...

44 minutes ago, Cincy513 said:

It became it's own DORA plenty of time throughout the year.  Reds opening day, every Bengals home game, World Cup games, blink, ect.  Anytime they wanted to close that single block and make it open container they were allowed, so I think they probably just thought it wasn't needed year round.  Covid and the desire for more outdoor seating probably brought it up again and they rightfully decided to just make it full time.  There's really no reason cars need to drive down that one block other then deliveries in the mornings. 

For those block parties, a sponsoring non-profit (looks like typically the Reds Community fund or the Chamber) would get an F (beer only) or F2 (full bar) temporary liquor license and close down the street. All of the alcohol sales would go to that sponsoring non-profit and drinks from the bars couldn't be taken out or drinks from the block party couldn't be taken into the bars. The DORA allows the bars and restaurants to make money on the alcohol sales. 

 

Also under Ohio Law, only the Mayor can propose a DORA to Council. Council can't do it independently. 

 

2 hours ago, Dev said:

I don't remember anyone on Council being an advocate for it at the time but it seemed like such an obvious move.

 

That way that the law was written in Ohio, DORAs can only be requested by the Mayor of a city/village or the financial officer of a township. So it doesn't matter how much anyone on council wanted one, it had to be requested by the Mayor.

Oh, Cranley wants private drinking. Another thing that can be covered up