i saw there was some digging equipment and a dumptruck on site this morning.  but there was also half a parking lot full of cars so im not sure what exactly they were doing.  there was also a police car up there so maybe some people were going to get towed.

thats weird, usually middle earth sends around a notice when that lot is unavailable. i think there are some kinsey tenants that park there, as well as some tenants at the various apartments across the street. last time they were working there they had signs up days in advance and sent around notices. we'll see i guess

 

^I say bulldoze the cars.  Who needs them anyways....start taking Metro or walk, ride a bike, etc.  :lol:

i walked by the lot after work and it looks like all they did was punch a hole in the pavement close to one of the existing buildings.  i did see the filled in holes where the goetechnical engineers must have taken their core samples.  in any event...the backhoe is gone and so is the dumptruck.  all that remains is a hole filled with gravel and a temporary fence.

there was a bucket truck out there this morning, looked like they were taking the marketing poster down from the adjacent building. but i didnt stay to watch...they might have just been updating it or something.

I received an email today from Huff Realty.

 

Parker Flats Groundbreaking Ceremony

Friday, June 9th at 10:00

 

well its about time!

niiiccee

 

Any real pics of it besides a rendering? The building looks great from what I can tell. The price doesn't seem to be too bad either.

i noticed the "eviction" warning for the cars that still park in that lot for tomorrow....i guess it might be a reality after all

Yup, I got the email too.  If you want more information, you can contact Huff and I'm sure they can get it to you.  You'll want to talk to Casey Gilmore or Christine Schoonover. 

i've not found any decent renderings of this, but apparently part of the building will extend around the corner and take over the lot behind kinsey flats (runs up mcfarland a bit). they've had to relocate the rear parking for kinsey residents, but the few of us who have inside spaces under kinsey won't be blocked in. i'm not sure what part of the structure extends around our building, but i am guessing its parking. it won't be very high though, i'm thinking 1 or 2 stories at most. robyn @ MED said it wouldn't block any of the rear windows of kinsey.

 

since i will be living in the path of construction i'll try and take some shots as it goes on. should be interesting to watch.

greetings-

does anyone have suggestions on how i could start a career, or better yet at this dire moment, get a job with an urban/center city real estate development and management company? i spent the majority of March and April pursuing this concept: i've researched urban specialty companies/organizations ranging from (these are brief examples) Model Management to Middle Earth to Commercial groups, such as CBRE, CTMT, Belvedere, Corporex to Sales/Leasing (Huff, Comey);  i've sent electronic and US Postal mail -containing a cover letter, resume, and additional persona/professional information about myself - to the HR folks, VP's and even CEO/Presidents; two weeks, later i made follow up phone calls only to get connected to voice-mails.

 

While performing these functions, I have also pursued employment opportunities in sales, coordination, management, and administration in the following industries: publishing, clinical research, senior living communities, and any other job posting that appears relatively interesting.  If you've ever seen the Michael Douglas movie "Falling Down", that's how i feel, only not as drastic.....nonetheless, i also feel as if i'm a very good example of one of Cincinnati's urban living and population decline issues: Regional "Brain Drain."

 

Here's my background:

 

As a Cincinnati native, and perhaps ideologue, I was in a pathway to become a high school teacher in the Cincinnati Public School System.  Things change however, and I want to return to my original interests: urban RE/PM development and management.  Entry-level opportunities are very welcome at this time.

 

In addition to 19 years of customer service in retail fine dining and healthcare, here are my academic degrees (superb GPA's in all except high school):

 

-Walnut Hill High School graduate

1992-A.D. Real Estate / Property Management (think foundation/footprint)

1999-B.A. Psychology (think stats, analysis, and communication skills)

2002-B.S. Biology (think environmental fit & niche, structure & function)

2003-Alternative Educator License via CPS & UC

 

Recognizing all of you are extremely busy, any input you could provide would be a tremendous service to someone who is attempting to redevelop a career profession that contributes to the economic well-being of Cincinnati, USA.

 

Thank you very much for your time and allowing me to vent.  I really enjoy viewing this website and thought I might vent a little.  My apologies if anyone was off-put / put-off  by this posting.

 

Sincerely,

Tom Thaman

[email protected]    H:(513) 861-4425,  C:(513) 600-7484

Here is a blurb from the Business Courier.... 65% pre-sold seem like a pretty good number before groundbreaking!

 

Downtown condo development gets under way

Cincinnati Business Courier - 4:00 PM EDT Thursday

 

 

A condominium development that has been in the planning stages for two years will get under way Friday.

 

...

 

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2006/06/05/daily46.html

I attended the groundbreaking yesterday.  There wasn't much to it, mostly just reiterating how good this is for the city.  The lone highlight came when Berding and Monzel spoke at the meeting.  Christene Schoonover, Ms. Huff herself, introduced the two as Councilmen Berding and Manley having no clue that she got Monzel's name wrong. 

 

I also talked with Jay Voss, one of the developers, and he seemed confident that the building will only take a year to go up.  I obviously take this with a grain of salt but this was the first time Middle Earth committed themselves to a solid date or time schedule.  Plus, Vector, not Middle Earth, will be doing the actual construction and from what I understand they have a good reputation for getting things done.  According to their website, they built the Lindner Tennis Stadium in Mason and one of the buildings next to the N.Ky. Convention Center, among other buildings.  If it gets done in 18 months I'll be happy.

 

Finally, if Middle Earth can get their foundation permit, digging will begin next week.  They thought it would probably be Wednesday before actual earthmoving would begin. 

Good to hear, I think this thing is going to give that corner of downtown a really sweet look, especially for passers-by on the interstate.

^ agreed.  it will visually clean up that corner quite nicely.  who knows, maybe some of the vacant buildings there and empty lots will get a shot in the arm with some development of their own.  they are down there doing steetscape improvements to central as wee speak.

I attended the groundbreaking yesterday.  There wasn't much to it, mostly just reiterating how good this is for the city.  The lone highlight came when Berding and Monzel spoke at the meeting.  Christene Schoonover, Ms. Huff herself, introduced the two as Councilmen Berding and Manley having no clue that she got Monzel's name wrong. 

 

That is funny, yet embarrassing at the same time.  :laugh:

 

 

I also talked with Jay Voss, one of the developers, and he seemed confident that the building will only take a year to go up.  I obviously take this with a grain of salt but this was the first time Middle Earth committed themselves to a solid date or time schedule.  Plus, Vector, not Middle Earth, will be doing the actual construction and from what I understand they have a good reputation for getting things done.

 

Hopefully this will only take a year.  I have heard that new contruction usually goes faster than rehabbing a very old building. 

...Christene Schoonover, Ms. Huff herself

 

Hmm.  I know the actual Ms. Huff.  She might come after you for that comment.

 

;-)

^ agreed.  it will visually clean up that corner quite nicely.  who knows, maybe some of the vacant buildings there and empty lots will get a shot in the arm with some development of their own.  they are down there doing steetscape improvements to central as wee speak.

 

ME actually owns/operates many of the neighboring bldgs.  They have mostly apts, but I believe the abandon bldgs you're talking about (on 4th) are actually occupied.  Their street levels look miserable, however they are chuck full of residents above.  I wonder why a little market hasn't opened up in that area yet...maybe Parker will help to fill some of the vacant store fronts in this area.

ready for action

 

^ i guess i was refering more to the properties on mcfarland.  i know there is a vacant poperty (well there is a dry wall or paper hanging company on the ground floor) that sits right next to the red fourth & plum building. 

^ agreed.  it will visually clean up that corner quite nicely.  who knows, maybe some of the vacant buildings there and empty lots will get a shot in the arm with some development of their own.  they are down there doing steetscape improvements to central as wee speak.

 

ME actually owns/operates many of the neighboring bldgs.  They have mostly apts, but I believe the abandon bldgs you're talking about (on 4th) are actually occupied.  Their street levels look miserable, however they are chuck full of residents above.  I wonder why a little market hasn't opened up in that area yet...maybe Parker will help to fill some of the vacant store fronts in this area.

 

Hopefully it will pick up the interest on all the vacant properties on 5th St. facing the convention center.  There are several, and they are all eyesores.  I am sure they are overpriced as well.

^those properties you speak of on 5th are also under some of the control of ME I think.  I remember touring a number of buildings looking at apts last year and the leasing agent said that they have had some trouble with those spaces.  The residents living above them had been complaining about the construction noise and the undesireability of that part of 5th st.  I think that the construction for the convention center is nearing its utmost completion you might see some activity in these locales....or so I hope.

MED has empty storefront spaces on 4th, 5th, and on Walnut (those 2 spaces across from the Aronoff). 

 

I don't think the retail component is a priority for them... 

I wish something would start filling in the retail along 4th, the entire stretch of Kinsey's retail is empty (except for a single remax office). The spaces are pretty cool too. I did notice this weekend that a realtor (West Shell i think) had taken over marketing for these spaces and put up some signs and covered the interior windows with craft paper so they didn't look like abandoned spaces.

 

We'll see, I wish the entire 4th/5th historic area would get some more stuff going

dirt is a-movin' down here too

 

About time!  Glad to see it though, this should really add some punch to a highly visible corner of downtown.

That area in the West Fourt Historic District is great..  I lived on West 5th.  You already have Tina's and Plum Street Tavern and the old Spy Club space.  Back in the day, there were two gay bars - one on Plum and one of 5th (the Levinson Bros. Building I believe) - in the neighborhood.  I think the parking lot across from 4th & Plum would be great for a small park and then a hotel with some restaurant/bar space as well as residential condo/apartments and it becomes one of the best "neighborhoods" of downtown.

 

Sorry if this was off topic of Parker Flats.

New housing coming to downtown

 

 

Cincinnati developer Middle Earth has broken ground on new residential construction downtown, at West Fourth Street and Central Avenue.

 

The 55 condos are 65 percent sold, said Christine Schoonover of Huff Realty, Parker Flats' sales manager.

 

...

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060702/BIZ01/607020379/1076/BIZ

Still pissed at MED.  MED never finished our building and we're 3 years in.  Best of luck to those purchasing, however. It looks like a cool project.

Still pissed at MED.  MED never finished our building and we're 3 years in.  Best of luck to those purchasing, however. It looks like a cool project.

 

Please explain further, what didn't they finish and in which building?

It looks like they got a really good deal from the city.

back to parker flats - seems like work stopped up there just as soon as it started.  they are about halfway through demolition of the planting beds on central and fourth and only about half of the paving has been ripped up. 

back to parker flats - seems like work stopped up there just as soon as it started.  they are about halfway through demolition of the planting beds on central and fourth and only about half of the paving has been ripped up. 

 

Yup - sorry about changing the topic - the mods can feel free to move my comments to a different thread if they like. 

 

*************************

 

Thread has been split, to see Mark's photos from Graydon Place go here: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=9596.0

 

montecarloss

they haven't been on site at parker for the past week, wonder what the hold up is?

as i left this am a handful of workers were on site, maybe they will finish digging up the lot today. i wonder what the new eta is for completion? i know originally the newspaper was saying this fall. they probably have 2-3 months worth of garage structure to build first

as i left this am a handful of workers were on site, maybe they will finish digging up the lot today. i wonder what the new eta is for completion? i know originally the newspaper was saying this fall. they probably have 2-3 months worth of garage structure to build first

 

The ETA for our garage was Oct of '05.  I'm still waiting :).

for those of you that dont walk by this site every day.  work has progressed very slowly.  they are still in preliminary stages of excavation.  it seems that when they uncovered the foundations of the adjacent building they needed to do some substantial repair/fill/patching....something.  there is a whole lot of loose brick from whatever building was there before the site became a glorious parking lot.  they had heavy machinery back on site today though and seemed to be moving on with the digging.

Good to hear that it is moving on again.

if work has resumed, i am assuming the whole wage/union dispute is cleared up? i think this was the project that was held up b/c of some union/prevailing wage argument?

 

either way, its good its back on track. i'm still kinda suspect of MED though, hopefully their involvement is mostly in name and the buyers at Parker get what they paid for. hopefully it adds some life to the empty retail space on 4th as well..

I drove by the site today, there is a ton of rebar there, but not much else.  It did look though as if they had to do some substantial foundation work on the building abutting their project on 4th St.  The foundation was exposed, and there is plenty of new concrete work that had been done to the adjacent building.  Perhaps this may explain some of the slow progress.

Parker Flats battles problems

BY JON NEWBERRY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

October 22, 2006

 

CINCINNATI - Construction is expected to resume soon on the Parker Flats condominium project at West Fourth Street and Central Avenue downtown following a three-month work stoppage while Middle Earth Developers Inc. worked on getting an easement from the city, according to developer Jay Voss.

 

Meanwhile an unrelated dispute over the need to pay union-scale wages remains unresolved but so far hasn't affected the progress of construction, Voss said.

 

...

 

E-mail [email protected]

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061022/BIZ01/610220328

finally some official explanation

there is heavy equipment back on site a boring machine which im assuming is to be used to dig for foundation piers.  they were working last week but were not out there today.  probably nothing more will happen until after thanksgiving but things are back in action

I don't know if this website has been posted here, but there's a potential buyer who has been taking regular picture updates of the construction. Still mostly pushing dirt. Progress is slow going.

 

http://parkerflats.blogspot.com/

 

 

look once the first shovel of dirt is turned, the chances of a project being complete increase exponentially.  Huff seems to be pushing this project, I know at least one of their agents as already pre-purchased a unit.

ummm....im pretty sure this project is a "go".

Wow, I was wondering why the traffic to my blog quadrupled. That was interesting to see. Unfortunately MED is making it very challenging to update the website with new material on a regular basis. I purchased the southeast unit, on McFarland but opposite Central. it should have an awesome view of the Stadium when completed. I've met or talked to via email about a dozen people who have also purchased units and everyone is frustrated and wants this done. But, in talking to people from bigger cities, one guy who has a son in real estate in California who had one of these projects stretch out for 5 years I guess we should be happy its moving at all. I just can't figure out why they would shoulder the expense of bring equipment in for a couple days and hauling it back out. But I guess thats why I not in construction.

I think this is going to be an incredible place once complete, and hopefully another 55 to 100 people plus the people from McAlpins will spur more development on 4th.

 

The last I heard the union said if MED wanted to give the city its money back they wouldn't pursue the prevailing wage issue. So the judge gave MED more time to decide if they want to pay prevailing wage or give the money back.

 

I also post about downtown Cincinnati in general here;

http://5chw4r7z.com

^Small World. ;-) I enjoy the updates as I'm sure others do. Keep it up.

...if I had a nickel for each time I heard a complaint about MED...