February 23, 20241 yr Financing is complete for the 200 Million Dollar Convention Center renovation, Construction to commence in July. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2024/02/22/duke-energy-convention-center-rennovation-gets-final-funding/72700608007/ Now all eyes turn to the hotel.
February 23, 20241 yr Divided Hamilton County commission approves key convention center transformation agreements A divided Hamilton County commission approved three agreements needed to move the $209 million Duke Energy Convention Center transformation project forward, with one member, Commissioner Alicia Reece, abstaining. Reece has been critical or voted against other measures related to the project. On Thursday, Feb. 22, she cited the lack of an agreement on the planned new convention center hotel, which is set to be developed south of the convention center. “I’m going to abstain until we get the hotel. I’m concerned the hotel may be left behind,” Reece said. ... Reece also complained about the former Millennium Hotel property, which the county paid for the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority to purchase. It sits vacant but will be converted to a park-like setting for conventioneers to use as outdoor space. In the future, it is viewed as a potential expansion site for the convention center. “Obviously I would like to have a hotel over there. We lost 800 rooms. We paid $55 million. Let’s put something there that’s going to bring us back $55 million and rooms. Obviously I am outnumbered,” Reece said. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/02/23/duke-energy-convention-center-county-vote.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 27, 20241 yr If the Convention Center / Convention Hotel are Phase 1 of the Convention Center District, what could Phase 2 look like? What would be target infill sites? When could we expect a Convention Center Addition over Elm to the "park" that is currently planned?
February 28, 20241 yr 21 hours ago, Miami-Erie said: What would be target infill sites? For future expansions, my preference would be to wait until the Brent Spence Corridor project has opened up land to the west.
March 19, 20241 yr 26 minutes ago, Ucgrad2015 said: Any idea when we will have more information on the hotel? Im thinking details in April/May, things have been very tight lipped. Whats interesting is they are putting a financial stack together for a very expensive building that they haven’t really revealed much detail on.
March 19, 20241 yr 37 minutes ago, 646empire said: Im thinking details in April/May, things have been very tight lipped. Whats interesting is they are putting a financial stack together for a very expensive building that they haven’t really revealed much detail on. I’m wondering if the hotel brand they were wanting told them that they wouldn’t put their name on the building unless the convention center was also updated and now since we know that it’s going to be renovated they can proceed with the finalization of the hotel.
March 19, 20241 yr 41 minutes ago, Ucgrad2015 said: I’m wondering if the hotel brand they were wanting told them that they wouldn’t put their name on the building unless the convention center was also updated and now since we know that it’s going to be renovated they can proceed with the finalization of the hotel. Yes the convention center renovation became critical for the hotel project. There was a time when the hotel was thought to come first in the sequence followed by some kind of convention center project but then it flipped and the developers and others wanted it before/or basically at the same time. At this point it’s time for them to put up tho and I’m confident they will and soon.
April 16, 20241 yr Cincinnati Port to issue $330 million in bonds for convention center overhaul The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority has approved the financing package for the Duke Energy Convention Center renovations, which includes $330 million in bonds for the $209 million project as well as refinancing the debt the Port took on to buy the former Millennium Hotel and other tourism expenses. The Port’s governing board approved the plan last week. It frees up roughly $200 million from city and county hotel tax revenues to use toward the $209 million convention center project. The Port will issue a new set of $330 million in bonds in May backed by the hotel tax revenues to cover the convention center project’s costs. The bonds will mature in 40 years. The Port will receive an initial $375,000 fee and a recurring fee of $50,000. The outstanding $53 million in bonds on the Millennium Hotel purchase will be refunded and refinanced on May 30. The Port only has been paying interest on the initial debt. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/04/16/port-convention-center-bonds.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 16, 20241 yr Any word on the brand of the convention center hotel? Or expected announcement date?
April 22, 20241 yr https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/planning/planning-projects-and-studies/active-ongoing/proposed-notwithstanding-ordinance-for-525-elm-street-in-the-central-business-district/ Layout out the outdoor portion of the convention center.
April 22, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, ryanlammi said: Here's a screenshot of the overall plan. What type of events could we expect on the lawn? Wonder if they would do events kind of like city flea.
April 22, 20241 yr I love the berms and number of trees, the combination should help to create some nice tucked away feeling spaces. I still wish just one lane of traffic was kept open where they show the fire access lane for normal daytime use. The curviness, narrowness and change of material would calm the traffic but still allow people to get north of the convention center without having to go all the way to Vine street and clogging up traffic at fountain square. For events you could raise the bollards and close it off completely. Where's the traffic report though? You have to submit a traffic impact study for a small apartment building in this town but shutting down a block in downtown and there's nothing to show where traffic and bus lines will be diverted? None of this would be as hard to navigate if more streets downtown were two-way streets, and maybe the silver lining of this street being vacated is that as it cuts off more blocks from each other the city will look into two way conversions of some other downtown streets to make things more navigable (and safer, most of the one way streets that end in highway ramps are like drag strips)
April 23, 20241 yr Great to see Hargreaves doing the landscape design. The same firm did UC's campus masterplan.
April 24, 20241 yr On 4/23/2024 at 10:30 AM, Chas Wiederhold said: Great to see Hargreaves doing the landscape design. The same firm did UC's campus masterplan. Great to see Hargreaves back in Cincinnati... but I have a beef with whoever designed this hill with a path that only makes it half way to the top, without anticipating the irresistible human drive to climb to the top.
April 24, 20241 yr 32 minutes ago, jwulsin said: Great to see Hargreaves back in Cincinnati... but I have a beef with whoever designed this hill with a path that only makes it half way to the top, without anticipating the irresistible human drive to climb to the top. Been there, done that
April 24, 20241 yr 52 minutes ago, jwulsin said: Great to see Hargreaves back in Cincinnati... but I have a beef with whoever designed this hill with a path that only makes it half way to the top, without anticipating the irresistible human drive to climb to the top. Looks like the humans solved that!
April 24, 20241 yr ^ they are still making unresolved curved sidewalks that dead end into... other curved sidewalks at weird spots or seemingly, right into the side of buildings on this convention center design. and there are inner loop sidewalks that do not connect to outer loop sidewalks. Going to end up with more foot paths there as well. not a fan.
May 8, 20241 yr Plan to permanently close part of Elm Street for Cincinnati convention center draws questions, criticism By Chris Wetterich – Staff reporter and columnist, Cincinnati Business Courier May 8, 2024 Updated May 8, 2024 3:57pm EDT The city and 3CDC’s plan to close Elm Street in front of the Duke Energy Convention Center, creating a massive amount of new pedestrian space, recently drew questions and criticism. MORE
May 12, 20241 yr Kind of hilarious how the urban designer and planner are citing concerns that this would not "connect people" downtown or worries about creating "superblocks" where "you can't get through at all..." Are they missing the part where pedestrians, cyclists, scooters, etc. still have free reign to travel along Elm Street as they please? They forgot that cars are not the same as people! 😆 I've also heard that 3CDC is trying to make Race into a two-way street (perhaps Plum or Vine as well?) to accommodate the closure of Elm. Edited May 12, 20241 yr by Largue
May 13, 20241 yr Closing Elm St. and creating an outdoor dog park for people is the mark of desperation. We've already got the "local" mural designed by some well-qualified outsider - next come the food trucks and string lights and social media posts. As I remarked earlier in this thread, we have seen no proof that there will be any effort to remedy the fundamental problems with the existing building. There are only two valid strategies: 1. Keep the existing building for low-level events (gymnastics meets, volleyball meets, Victory of Light w/Elvira, etc.) in anticipation of an all-new modern hall built immediately west of Central Ave. 2. Bulldoze it all and start over - new center built 20 feet above ground level so as to restore Plum St., parking on ground level and possibly below ground.
May 13, 20241 yr 9 hours ago, Lazarus said: next come the food trucks and string lights and social media posts I know those are annoying to you, but those are core amenities/features for businesses that want to have conventions. Edited May 13, 20241 yr by 10albersa
May 13, 20241 yr 15 hours ago, Largue said: Kind of hilarious how the urban designer and planner are citing concerns that this would not "connect people" downtown or worries about creating "superblocks" where "you can't get through at all..." Are they missing the part where pedestrians, cyclists, scooters, etc. still have free reign to travel along Elm Street as they please? They forgot that cars are not the same as people! 😆 I've also heard that 3CDC is trying to make Race into a two-way street (perhaps Plum or Vine as well?) to accommodate the closure of Elm. I hope you're right about some two way conversions because I've yet to see a traffic impact study of closing this road but all the traffic coming from the BSB, and the new BSB someday, can't turn north on Central Ave, won't be able to turn north on Elm, can't turn north on Race, and finally will be able to turn north all the way at Vine. That's just dumb design. They need to rework the ramps and intersection at Central to allow left turns along with shrinking the footprint of the ramps and incorporating more of the Bridge Forward design concepts, but until then Elm still carries cars and busses from further south that will need to be re-routed as well. The section of Court Street between Vine and Walnut gets closed down for events quite often with the use of removeable bollards but allows access on normal days and provides important street parking to the restaurants/shops along court. I've yet to see why this kind of removable bollard set up can't be used with success at Elm and it NEEDS to be shut down permanently?
May 13, 20241 yr 2 hours ago, ucgrady said: The section of Court Street between Vine and Walnut gets closed down for events quite often with the use of removeable bollards but allows access on normal days and provides important street parking to the restaurants/shops along court. I've yet to see why this kind of removable bollard set up can't be used with success at Elm and it NEEDS to be shut down permanently? The Design and Landscaping that is planned for this project if far more expensive and elaborate than that of court street. They want this to have a true park like grand patio feel that compliments the architecture and new big garage doors on the renovated center, it can’t be achieved with what was done with court street. Court street as nice as it is still looks and feels like an active street (which it is) even when it’s closed for events. Thats not what they want at the convention center, the center and the green space is being designed to feel like one. Edited May 13, 20241 yr by 646empire
May 13, 20241 yr 7 minutes ago, 646empire said: The Design and Landscaping that is planned for this project if far more expensive and elaborate than that of court street. They want this to have a true park like grand patio feel that compliments the architecture and new big garage doors on the renovated center, it can’t be achieved with what was done with court street. Court street as nice as it is still looks and feels like an active street (which it is) even when it’s closed for events. Thats not what they want at the convention center, the center and the green space is being designed to feel like one. Also for example I’m sure entities like Metro would rather have a new permanent route for its busses that use elm rather than having to re-route its busses every time the center needed to use the space, Court street doesn’t have that problem. People just aren’t looking deeper into these things. I’ve worked in event planning a lot, as a coordinator I would want to sell the outdoor area to clients without busses, trucks etc zipping past, on the flip side it’s not practical to close elm every time I’m touring a perspective client. Elm needs to be closed or the outdoor space investment/design would need to be cancelled or scaled backed.
May 13, 20241 yr 1 hour ago, Ucgrad2015 said: Assuming we should be hearing something soon about the hotel right? I would say so.
May 14, 20241 yr 21 hours ago, Lazarus said: next come the food trucks and string lights and social media posts. Oh, the horror! It’d be a real shame to have something going on over there. Edited May 14, 20241 yr by Gordon Bombay
May 14, 20241 yr 21 hours ago, Lazarus said: We've already got the "local" mural designed by some well-qualified outsider Yeah. Should’ve just left that wall blank.
May 23, 20241 yr City Council approves Elm Closure. https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/cincinnati/downtown/plan-to-close-block-of-elm-street-for-convention-center-plaza-gets-city-council-approval
May 23, 20241 yr Sorry, I'm a bit behind... if this plaza is going where the Millennium was, where is the new hotel going? “To an Ohio resident - wherever he lives - some other part of his state seems unreal.”
May 23, 20241 yr 22 minutes ago, BigDipper 80 said: Sorry, I'm a bit behind... if this plaza is going where the Millennium was, where is the new hotel going? Just south of the convention center
May 23, 20241 yr 10 minutes ago, 10albersa said: For a “party boss” this mysterious shadowy figure sure is doing some pretty mundane things with all this newfound power. A renovated convention center and outdoor programming space? Closing down Elm St. (especially with Plum St. closed nearby) is a total and complete violation of new urbanist principals. But I guess it's okay because...people on Twitter approve???
May 23, 20241 yr Further mangling the street grid on the west side of the CBD is a bad idea. If they were actually moving forward with the proposals to convert Vine Street and some of the east-west streets to two-way it would be fine, but that doesn't appear to be a top priority at the moment.
June 28, 2024Jun 28 The Convention Center Project starts next week. Elm street closes on Monday. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2024/06/28/cincinnatis-elm-street-closes-forever-part-of-convention-center-re-do/74244935007/ Edited June 28, 2024Jun 28 by 646empire
June 29, 2024Jun 29 22 hours ago, 646empire said: The Convention Center Project starts next week. Elm street closes on Monday. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2024/06/28/cincinnatis-elm-street-closes-forever-part-of-convention-center-re-do/74244935007/ And still no word on a hotel brand. Smh
June 30, 2024Jun 30 11 hours ago, Ucgrad2015 said: And still no word on a hotel brand. Smh It’s coming.
June 30, 2024Jun 30 Who knew that the whole problem with this part of town for so long was vehicular traffic on the 500 block of Elm St.
July 16, 2024Jul 16 Todays Groundbreaking! https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/07/16/duke-energy-convention-center-overhaul-begins.html
July 16, 2024Jul 16 I asked this a number of months ago, but now that the project has started, has anyone found out what is happening to the Albee marquee?
July 22, 2024Jul 22 Is it just me, or does it seem odd that they installed a semi-permanent looking new fence around the former Convention Place rather than just putting up a temporary chain link fence?
July 22, 2024Jul 22 1 hour ago, taestell said: Is it just me, or does it seem odd that they installed a semi-permanent looking new fence around the former Convention Place rather than just putting up a temporary chain link fence? Not really odd to me, I don’t think a project on that corner is going to break ground for years. 3CDC has a lot happening with The Center, Hotel and Saks all at once. Putting up a temp ugly chain fence wouldn’t be a good look for multiple years, this looks better. Edited July 23, 2024Jul 23 by 646empire
July 22, 2024Jul 22 I guess I had not looked closely at the renderings because I assumed that the hotel would wrap the existing garage and take up the former Convention Place lot as well. Is there any plan for what this lot would become in the long run?
July 23, 2024Jul 23 1 hour ago, taestell said: I guess I had not looked closely at the renderings because I assumed that the hotel would wrap the existing garage and take up the former Convention Place lot as well. Is there any plan for what this lot would become in the long run? last I heard was mix use even another hotel, who knows tho.
July 23, 2024Jul 23 More info on the design. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2024/07/22/cincinnatis-future-convention-center-design-nod-to-local-history/74407855007/ Edited July 23, 2024Jul 23 by 646empire
July 23, 2024Jul 23 13 hours ago, 646empire said: last I heard was mix use even another hotel, who knows tho. Just frustrating to see that there is no solid plan for this lot. It seems like every aspect of this project has been so chaotic. Even with a nice mural painted here, it just screams "temporary" and I don't think will give a great first impression of our city to visitors attending conventions here.
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