Here's an update from the 12/1/04 Enquirer:

 

 

Butler revising plans for tower

By Mike Rutledge

Enquirer staff writer

 

COVINGTON - Corporex Cos. officials want to finalize details of a residential tower near the city's riverfront before they take their revised plans to the Kenton County Planning Commission.  The developers several months ago received the commission's approval for an earlier development plan, but now the proposed 18-story tower is taller, and the crescent-shaped building faces a different direction, said Mike Schwartz, deputy director of current planning.

 

The building was designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, who won the competition to design the new buildings at New York City's World Trade Center site.  It has generally won positive reviews locally, but not from Covington City Commissioner Bernie Moorman.  "You can quote me: It's ugly," Moorman said. "I don't give a damn if it was designed by the greatest architect of all time. It's ugly."

 

Moorman said the new tower will not match the other riverfront buildings built by Butler.  "It's going to be a sore thumb sticking out of the other things he's developed, which isn't great, but by the same token, it's inconsistent with - it's not part of a plan," Moorman said.  Butler responded: "I wouldn't want to comment on Bernie Moorman's taste."  Mayor Butch Callery sided with Butler. "I don't know if that's a good assessment, if he doesn't like it," Callery said. "He just doesn't like Bill, period."

 

Full article at http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041201/NEWS0103/412010370/1059/news01

 

I wonder how much taller???  :-)

 

It's starting to sound like it will be cov's tallest once built.

Moorman said the new tower will not match the other riverfront buildings built by Butler.

 

"It's going to be a sore thumb sticking out of the other things he's developed, which isn't great, but by the same token, it's inconsistent with - it's not part of a plan," Moorman said.

 

god forbid something stray from the bland brick that composes the covington skyline in its entirety.  this type of thinking is laughable.

^ Exactly.  I thought the whole idea was that the building was bold and that it stood out.

 

Apparently Moorman is a fan of "McSkyline".

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I have to say, the continuity of styles in Covington's skyline is extremely appealing to me.  Especially in context with Cincinnati - you've got a lot of variety on the north bank, and then this series of structures that almost look to be of a piece on the south bank.  I think it looks just lovely, especially near sunset - almost looks like bronze sometimes - and while that doesn't mean something new and striking should be rejected out of hand, I do think the consistent style is a special circumstance that should be considered...

You know, this is just like the Freedom Tower project that is now in the hands of another architect. If someone would just follow through with Libeskind's original designs WITHOUT changing them drastically, we will never really know how Libeskind's visions look when actually built the way he designed them. Shame on Covington. The might as well change it to another box...and Moorman is a doofus.

sounds like typical cincy thinking to me.  don't try to be different, don't stand out, don't take any risks.  it really wouldn't surprise me to see Liebeskind just drop the whole thing and this end up as another coulda, shoulda, woulda thing.  the majority of the people in this area really don't understand how lucky we are to have these type of things.  everyday i see a crap load of people from out of town walking through the daap building and the Vontz Center that aren't even from anywhere around this area not to mention we also have a pritzker prize winning building downtown.  when are we gonna wake up and realize that were not gonna see any growth or progress from sitting back and building cookie cutters.  Bilboa, Chicago, and Copenhagen have not become world tourist destinations over the last few years because of building structures that fit in with everything else, they took chances and built structures that cause controversy, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.  I think cincy has a choice, to continue at the rate we've been going over the last 50 years or so, or take some risks and get this thing done quick and use this as a center piece for a hopefully continued openess to all things different and unique in this city (besides just the architecture).

I couldn't resist this...what a disappointment that Mooron er I mean Moorman doesn't like it. I find the continuity of design appealing in Covington's skyline but cmon...

 

There needs to be arch. diversity in order to keep it interesting. Sounds like most of us feel this way.

 

Build it exactly as designed only 10 stories taller, I say!

>sounds like typical cincy thinking to me. 

 

Sounds like typical cincy criticism to me.

 

>which isn't necessarily a bad thing.  I think cincy has a choice, to continue at the rate we've been going over the last 50 years or so, or take some risks and get this thing done quick and use this as a center piece for a hopefully continued openess to all things different and unique in this city (besides just the architecture).

 

This condo tower looks like it might be the best of the buildings built by famous architects in the last ten years, although that's not saying much.  A similar tower on the opposite side of the bridge approach, where today there is some kind of low rise business, would go a long way toward downtown Covington achieving some semblence of credibility.  Meanwhile, plans for the parking lot between the garage and the Rivercenter towers, as well as the big development near the Clay Wade Baily Bridge, have been shelved for a half decade.  When that happens in Cincinnati people roll their eyes and say "here we go again".  But when the Millenium Tower failed to materialize, a few hundred public housing units are demolished for private development, and Newport-on-the-Lamey putters along four years after its opening with more than a dozen vacant storefronts, nobody notices. 

             

 

 

But when the Millenium Tower failed to materialize, a few hundred public housing units are demolished for private development, and Newport-on-the-Lamey putters along four years after its opening with more than a dozen vacant storefronts, nobody notices.

 

No, I think I've been on about those.  Dig through some threads and you'll see that they've come up.

 

So it really wouldn't be "nobody".

Except we are nobodies -- while in town last week for the holiday, I was blown away by the misinformation traded by my own relatives and on a segment I listened to on 700 WLW.  It wouldn't be such a problem if the general population simply had no idea about what is going on, but when complete lies are perpetrated by the media it's disastrous. 

UPDATE:

 

From the GBBN website...the name will be Rivercenter Scott Condominiums, and they are currently in the schematic design phase.  There will be 72 units in 13 stories, as well as plaza-level retail and amenities.  Structural parking will provide space for 2 cars per unit.

 

http://www.gbbn.com/index.lasso?pgID=74&pfID=274

 

thanks for the update, i've been wondering about the status of this.

So, they are actually going to build it....

^ It appears so!

Yes it appears that the area will have a new front runner for the "Most Ugly and Awkward" award.

^ so you dont like it eh?

It will take some getting used to it.

An update from the 3/4/05 Enquirer:

 

 

Kenton planners OK 'swoosh' roof, backup

By Mike Rutledge

Enquirer staff writer

 

COVINGTON - Corporex Cos.' proposed crescent-shaped condominium tower with a swooping roof won approval Thursday from the Kenton County Planning Commission.  In an unusual move, the commission also approved a far more conservative version for the site. 

 

On the one hand, the commission approved the Stage I development plan for a 21-story building designed by renowned architect Daniel Libeskind. His 80-condo building features what Corporex describes as a dramatic "swoop" to its roofline, which would soar upward several stories.  The commission also approved, at Corporex's request, a 17-story crescent-shaped tower with a much flatter roof.

 

The project now must receive approval from Covington: a development agreement must be struck, and the building's architecture will be reviewed.  "We don't want to go way downstream and spend a lot of time and money," Marty Butler said, only to have city officials say, " 'Hey, we've seen the first one (the more traditional building), we like it, but the second one? Eh. It's got issues,' " which would force the company to start all over.

 

Full article at http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050304/NEWS0103/503040378/1059/news01

 

ok, so basically the article reveals that we will not end up with the libeskind design, but a conservative run-of-the-mill tower that i'd bet $100 will be covered with the exact same brick facade as the rest of rivercenter.

 

not good.

God, I hope not.

You can bet your life it won't look anything like the original design.  As I predicted, this was just a marketing move to get people talking.  It will be a very conservative cheaped out design.  Butler cares about one thing - money. 

The latest from the 3/17/05 Enquirer:

 

The 21-story, 80-condominium, crescent-shaped building would transform the Covington skyline.  Photo provided

 

Riverside tower could make splash

Designer to meet with review panel

By Mike Rutledge

Enquirer staff writer

 

COVINGTON - Developer Bill Butler's proposed condominium tower near the riverfront here could "raise worldwide curiosity and interest in this region," a former dean of University of Cincinnati's College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning said Wednesday.  "There's no question this would be a very significant residential structure in Cincinnati, if not the most significant one, in terms of residential structures in the whole metropolitan region," said Jay Chatterjee, an architecture professor at UC.

 

Chatterjee called the vision worthy of the reputation of its designer, Polish-born architect Daniel Libeskind, who last year won the competition to design the new buildings at the site of New York City's World Trade Center.  The proposed 21-story, 80-condominium, crescent-shaped Covington building has a notable "swooshing" roofline that sweeps to the sky.  The Kenton County Planning Commission recently approved two versions proposed by Butler's Corporex Cos., but Corporex has made clear it prefers the Libeskind version over a plainer one with a flatter roof.

 

The view of the proposed tower from the Cincinnati side of the Ohio River.

 

Full article at http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050317/NEWS0103/503170359/1077/news01

 

If this fills up fast with only 80 units i'm sure you'll see another one or two will be built. Covington is looking more and more promising.

I like it.

I still like it a lot and hope it will not be "watered down" to suit provincial tastes.

i dont care what anybody thinks...thats hot

What an incredible design.  If it is built like this, it will be a true landmark. I hope the relevant decisionmakers realize what an opportunity this project is!

The design is horrid, I have never been a fan of his though.  It will be interesting to see how the design finally turns out.

lol ok we have incredible and horrid. I would rather have something unique than what everyone else already has.

I think Covington is getting something uniquely ugly but hell it'll probably sell well.  I think that the push to get more people on both sides of the river to live in the downtown vicinity is key to development.  Mt. Adams, Bellevue, Newport, Covington, OTR, Mt. Auburn, West End etc. are key to getting things moving on our riverfront especially.

 

 

1.  the base is terrible.  i understand that in this area, parking is an unquestionable necessity, but i feel it takes away from the design.

2.  too damn short.  if you want to go big, go big.  i understand market feasibility, but this just ends up looking stubby.

 

may i offer a suggestion?

 

Damn, there is something new every day that makes me glad I live in Downtown!

Condo building may start in June

By Bob Driehaus

Post staff reporter

 

A flurry of meetings -- held Friday and expected to continue Monday -- signal major progress in plans for Corporex Cos. to build a signature condominium high-rise near Covington's riverfront.  If financing falls into place for the building, construction could begin as early as June on the site near the foot of the Roebling Suspension Bridge.

 

World-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind will present two versions of his design for a landmark, 18-floor condo to Covington's architectural review committee Monday morning. That meeting will be followed by Libeskind presenting plans to the Licking-Riverside Neighborhood Association in an effort to seek input from the neighbors of the proposed landmark building.

 

Full article at http://www.kypost.com/2005/03/19/kyarchitect031905.html

I think the lower part of the building is too short relative to the upward "swoosh"; to echo others, I think it would look better if it were taller.  Nevertheless, I'd be happy to see this built, and starting in June would be super!

I like the new rendering.  Covington's "skyline" is awful and hopefully this will demand better for the rest of the potential high rise locations remaining on their riverfront.  I remember when that stuff was going up shaking my head in disbelief.  And that courthouse a few blocks back from the river is one of mankind's worst creations.

WCPO.com is running a poll on whether people like Libeskind's design and so far "love it" and "it's OK" are 60% vs. 40% who "hate it". 

Architect praises riverfront tower site

Libeskind envisions project in Covington

By Mike Rutledge

Enquirer staff writer

 

COVINGTON - Northern Kentucky's riverfront near the Roebling Suspension Bridge is "one of the best sites in the world" to build a tower, architect Daniel Libeskind said Monday.  Libeskind was in town to explain his modernistic, 21-story tower to Covington's Architectural Review Panel and residents of the city's Licking-Riverside neighborhood.  He calls the building, which would hold 80 condominiums, "the Ascent at Roebling's Bridge."

 

Polish-born Libeskind, 57, has some fondness for Covington and Cincinnati - places he visited while he worked three years during the late 1970s as a University of Kentucky assistant professor of architecture.  Libeskind also is the architect who beat out hundreds of his colleagues for the honor of designing the new World Trade Center buildings in New York City.  He has designed a modernistic park-filled neighborhood near the center of Milan, Italy.

 

The highly visible 1-acre site at the southeast corner of RiverCenter and Scott boulevards "has a relationship to new construction, to the riverfront, to the historical fabric (of Covington) and to the bridge," he explained.  His tower's roofline plays off the curves and colors of the bridge.

 

More at http://www.enquirer.com

 

Neighbors look kindly on design

By Mike Rutledge

Enquirer staff writer

 

COVINGTON - Polish-born, New York-based architect Daniel Libeskind wowed two Covington audiences with a combined attendance of about 75 Monday as he explained his vision for a modernistic, 21-story, 80-condominium tower he has designed for Corporex Cos.  "Love it," said Gina Estes of the Licking-Riverside neighborhood. "Nothin' but love." 

 

"I think it's an honor for you to be here and doing something in Covington," Jeff Stepner, also of Licking-Riverside, told Libeskind. But Stepner had one concern: He didn't want it to be the same color as the other towers Corporex has built.  "My concern was if it was going to be the same pink color of all the other buildings," Stepner said.

 

Libeskind assured him it will not: Instead, the crescent-shaped tower will have a bluish tint from its balconies and glass, and a sandy color on its other exterior surfaces, which may be made from precast or composite materials.  Those colors reflect the shades of the sky and the Roebling Suspension Bridge, Libeskind said.

 

More at http://www.enquirer.com

Great to read that Covingtonians are generally receptive.  The WCPO poll is now about 66% in favor and only 33% opposed.  I heard a bit of Libeskind's pitch on the news and it was good to hear his positive comments about the area.  I didn't know he had once taught architecture at UK.  I will be tempted to look into buying one of those condos if they are built as designed, though I'm not really very keen on the idea of moving to Kentucky (no offense Kentuckians, but I just don't want to have to change my licenses again and go through the moving process.  On the other hand those condos would have wonderful views of Cincinnati.) 

Wow, there's been a lot of press on this lately. Butler must have some sway with the editorial boards. From today's Cinci Post:

 

Design for condos earns praise

By Jeanne Houck

Post staff reporter

 

"Magnificent." "Inspirational." "Unique." "A work of art."  Those were words used by Covington residents, business leaders and city officials Monday after reviewing Corporex Cos.' plans for "The Ascent at Roebling's Bridge," a futuristic condominium high-rise on the riverfront.

 

In separate hearings, world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind presented to the city's Architectural Review Board and then to civic leaders and Covington residents his plans for a 21-floor, crescent-shaped tower with expansive glass windows and an asymmetrical "swooshing" roof.  Even people with questions about the tower, proposed to be built just west of the Roebling Suspension Bridge, could not help praising the plans drawn up by Libeskind, who was chosen to design new buildings for the World Trade Center site in New York City.

 

On Monday, the city's architectural review board agreed to recommend the city commission approve plans for the tower, which is to include 80 upscale condominiums on 18 floors and a lobby, plaza, swimming pool, restaurant  and, perhaps, some retail space, on the other three floors.  Referring to the beauty and boldness of the design, architectural review board member Robert Lape said, "This would be a sculpture located next to the Suspension Bridge, basically."

 

More at http://www.cincypost.com

Seriously.  Fantastic.  Glad to see Covington loving it.

No Sir I don't like it.

Okay, the name of the project has been changed, so I altered the thread title to reflect that.  From the 3/23/05 Kentucky Post:

 

 

Covington's new jewel

Futuristic high-rise to boldly repaint skyline

By Jeanne Houck

Post staff reporter

 

In separate hearings, world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind presented the city's Architectural Review Board and then civic leaders and Covington residents his plans for a 21-floor, crescent-shaped tower with large glass windows and an asymmetrical "swooshing" roof. 

 

On Monday, the city's architectural review board agreed to recommend the City Commission approve plans for the tower, which is to include 80 upscale condominiums on 18 floors and a lobby, plaza, swimming pool, restaurant and, perhaps, some retail space, on the other three floors.  Next Monday, Covington's Urban Design Review Board will review plans for The Ascent at Roebling's Bridge and make a recommendation to the City Commission, which will have final say.

 

Full article at http://www.kypost.com/2005/03/22/butler032205.html

 

Editorial: Adding to the collection

Cincinnati Post 3/28/05

-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To explain more poetically the effect created by the crescent shape, sloping roof and glass front of the 21-floor condominium tower proposed in Covington near the Roebling Suspension Bridge, we're going to let the architect himself speak: "Through the vertical, non-repeating articulation of the facade, the building breaks from the repetitive, horizontal orientation of typical high-rise building. Its multiple layers blur the distinction between interior and exterior, both visually and experientially."

 

That's the description on the Web site of architect Daniel Libeskind, he who designed the new World Trade Center in New York. With projects from Denver to Dublin, Switzerland to South Korea, Libeskind is a player on the world's stage, and to have him here in Covington is a coup. The proposed Covington building is stunning, a virtual 300-foot-tall piece of art, and if developer Bill Butler is able to get it built (he says he hopes to start this summer), it would be a real jewel for the city both aesthetically and economically.

 

More at http://www.cincypost.com

But officials must be sensitive to spacing and mindful of not continuing the "canyon effect'' along RiverCenter Boulevard.

 

I disagree.

 

But in an ideal world, we would pick up the entire series of office buildings and hotels and move them one block south, where they would feature the same impressive views of the Cincinnati skyline but wouldn't cut the city off from its river.

 

Not in my ideal world.

 

can't say i'm a fan of this editorial.

 

 

 

CiNYC, you don't think the entire NKY riverfront would be better with a block of parkland across the whole thing?  Trees, bike trails. etc.  The entire RiverCenter complex is already totall disjointed from downtown Covington and blocks all the views, the same goes for the large buildings on the Newport riverfront.

Yeah Butler could've done better to recess the developments more that way expanding the pre-existing trail around that area.

Ky. tower passes hurdle

By Abby Slutsky

Enquirer contributor

 

COVINGTON - The city Urban Design Review Board on Monday unanimously approved plans for a 21-story condominium tower in downtown Covington and sent them onto the City Commission for approval.  The tower, which will be built by Corporex Cos., is called The Ascent at Roebling's Bridge.

 

Yama Karim, a project architect with Studio Daniel Libeskind, presented a slide show of projects that the architectural firm has been working on around the world, including the Liberty Tower to be built at the site of New York's World Trade Center.  Libeskind has said the modern design of The Ascent is based on shapes and colors that reflect both the Roebling Suspension Bridge and the history of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

 

The 80-unit tower would cost $40 million. It would be built at East RiverCenter Boulevard and Scott Street.  Unit sizes will range from 950 square feet to 7,000 square feet for the three-story penthouse.  Costs of the units were not available.

 

More at http://www.enquirer.com

It wasn't Butler's decision where to put the towers, the City of Covington is the party responsible for the basic building envelopes.  They own most of the land and the parking garages (which they paid for).  Butler only has the air rights above those garages.  The garage underneath the Madison Place development is owned by the State of Kentucky.