bortz

I had heard rumors that former council member Jim Tarbell would lurk around these parts.

bortz

 

??

Chris Bortz (councilman and scion of the Towne Properties family of developers) was commenting in the uber-streetcar thread a couple days ago.

I am all for councilmen being involved and up on things, but if everyone and their brother starts getting a vote on things like design, we are just adding up more and more red tape to the development process in the City.  Also, this is what the Urban Design Review Board was created to do, since it is made up of architects and design professionals.  There is a track record of bad news when council (or county for that matter) gets too involved in the details of a project (see FSW, Banks, etc.). 

 

Rant over....

The new design may have less square footage, so maybe this could justify adding a few more floors.

the Queen City finally gets her first sleek glass skyscraper.

21st century, a work of art

LETS BUILD IT BABY!

Ronnie's design is more beautiful (but the original design is also attractive), and expecially accentuates the crown. I wonder how much W&S paid for the original design, and how many months it took the designer to come up with the design. And Ronnie practically did it overnight!

Thanks for the compliment guys! But I just hacked up the original concept. This is just my idea of a "possible" revision the URD may have suggested to make QCS appear thinner as suggested in the last news article. I am in no way trying to take credit or taking anything away from the original architect's design. Any which way QCS gets finalized is more than good enough for me. :-)

Ronnie lives in this thread.  He has all his 1224 posts in the Queen City Square thread :D

^--- :lol: :lol:

 

I think it's actually 1223. There's a couple in the Caresource thread somewhere ;-)

Take this as a grain of salt ... but ...

 

 

I met someone today that lives in Florence and obviously doesn't cross the river, that is an iron worker that told me he was going to start on "some big project in Downtown Cincinnati" ... After gathering a little more info and hearing him state that it was supposed to be Cincy's new tallest tower, it was obvious ... He said their company is supposed to start work in October.

 

Just thought I'd share! ;)

Take this as a grain of salt ... but ...

 

 

I met someone today that lives in Florence and obviously doesn't cross the river, that is an iron worker that told me he was going to start on "some big project in Downtown Cincinnati" ... After gathering a little more info and hearing him state that it was supposed to be Cincy's new tallest tower, it was obvious ... He said their company is supposed to start work in October.

 

Just thought I'd share! ;)

Nice

I met someone today that lives in Florence and obviously doesn't cross the river, that is an iron worker that told me he was going to start on "some big project in Downtown Cincinnati" ... After gathering a little more info and hearing him state that it was supposed to be Cincy's new tallest tower, it was obvious ... He said their company is supposed to start work in October.

 

Does this mean demolition of the old garage would be sooner?

 

^ Yes - it is somewhere in the thread, but I think it is supposed to begin in June.

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/03/17/daily24.html?surround=lfn

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - 1:29 PM EDT

Updated Queen City Square designs 'humanize the street'Business Courier of Cincinnati - by Laura Baverman Courier staff reporter

 

 

The latest designs for Western & Southern Financial Group's Queen City Square tower met the approval of the city's urban design review board in a public meeting Tuesday morning.

 

The developer, Western & Southern subsidiary Eagle Realty Group, and its architect Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum International Ltd., addressed board concerns over landscaping, friendliness to pedestrians, accessibility and lighting. The updated plan includes an additional 50 feet of retail along Fourth Street, a more open and accessible rotunda at the building's main entrance at the corner of Fourth and Sycamore, an outdoor dining area on the rotunda, expanded garage entrances, landscaping and additional retail along Sycamore and Third streets. A promenade and winter garden will sit inside the building along Sycamore Street.

 

^---Good lord. No more skywalks, please. So when do we get to see the final rendering of this thing??

Good to hear they are listening to public input.

Skywalks are soooo 30 years ago!

 

But seriously, aren't we past the point of where skywalks seem useful?  Is there really that much business that would interact btw the Atria and QCS???

I have to admit, as an anti-sky-walk guy, they are nice to have on a day like today. 

Of all the parts of town where a Skywalk wouldn't make much difference this is probably it. I mean there is a very nice skywalk connecting the two P&G towers.  :-P

According to R. Alpern demolition of the existing garage will begin in June - not in April as some newspaper reporter said.

>The 40-story building, at 3rd and Sycamore, could be open by 2011, if everything goes smoothly.  Among the changes: more parking.  A total of 2,400 spaces.

 

 

Okay...2,400 parking spaces for a 40-floor building.  The World Trade Center had 2,000 spaces for 220 floors of office space.  Suck on that Cranley. 

parking at what 20 or 30k a space? explain again why streetcars and public transportation are evil?

The reason WTC had less spaces is because more people in downtown NYC DON'T NEED CARS IN THE FIRST PLACE.  That's the beauty of big city living with great transportation...something people just don't quite get.

Well now that we have the groundbreaking for THE BANKS.I'm sure now it will  be only a matter of time when they will break ground on phase II of qcs.

June for the garage demolition! it's going to take a while to get used to seeing a new tower.

I asked the internet and the internet confirmed my hunch.  The new Bank of America tower in New York City was built with no parking garage whatsoever:

 

 

It's 54 floors and 2 million sq feet of office, double Queen City Square. 

I wake up some days and wish I was in the BK.  Well anyway I kind of wish we'd just get this thing on light rail moving so that we too could get some more new structures downtown.  Like I've said before there is no reason why we should have the same skyline we have now in 2015.

Agreed.  The good thing is we have the cheapest land for fortune 500 companies to build their HQ's.  We have good momentum now with all the developments, now all we need is companies to want to move here and fill up all the surface parking lots...EHEM BROADWAY COMMONS!

This was posted a month ago. Good lord we are slacking! Check out the new rendering! Sorry it's so big, but damn is that awesome or what! :clap:

 

 

 

HOK-Designed Office Tower In Downtown Cincinnati Will Be Iconic Landmark In The ‘Queen City’

 

41-story Great American Building at Queen City Square will be city’s tallest tower, crowned by a distinctive tiara.

 

Cincinnati (Vocus/PRWeb) April 17, 2008-- The crown jewel of Cincinnati’s skyline – the Great American Building at Queen City Square – is moving toward reality following approval by the city’s Urban Design Review Board.

 

This world-class, signature office building will complete our one-million-square-foot Queen City Square master-planned development

 

Designed by HOK, the 41-story, 800,000 square-foot office tower awaits final approval from the City Council before taking shape as the city’s tallest and most iconic structure.

 

HOK Founding Partner Gyo Obata designed the building and its unique tiara top to serve as a distinctive landmark for Cincinnati, the “Queen City.”

 

“This building will redefine the Cincinnati skyline and serve as an instantly recognizable beacon to the city,” Obata said. “There isn’t another building in the world that resembles this.”

 

The façade of the building will include a contemporary look, constructed with glass and aluminum. The building will include numerous environmentally sustainable features and is expected to be the “greenest” office tower in downtown Cincinnati.

 

Construction of the Great American Building at Queen City Square is anticipated to begin in mid-2008, with completion expected in 2011.

 

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/HOK/Queen_City_Square/prweb867734.htm

 

 

...and I noticed it the article is saying 41 stories...up from 40. Does this mean a little additional height?

...or crown shrunk.

I like it!

I HATE CORPORATE LOGOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like it as well ... classy!

The logo at the top completely ruins this building. It makes the "crown" look like a party hat, since it disrupts the vertical "rythym lines" that make the column flow into the crown.

 

Kind of like when you put a belt around an evening gown. All of a sudden you have a top and a bottom, when you want one tall, flowing element.

The logo at the top completely ruins this building. It makes the "crown" look like a party hat, since it disrupts the vertical "rythym lines" that make the column flow into the crown.

 

Kind of like when you put a belt around an evening gown. All of a sudden you have a top and a bottom, when you want one tall, flowing element.

 

Agreed, but it's not enough for me to completely dislike the building.  It still has a classic look to it and should be a nice addition to the skyline.  Oh and when it opens in 2011, its office workers should be able to hop right on the streetcar from there and ride up to Findlay Market, Gateway Quarter, and the rest of OTR/Northern Downtown with ease.  :wink2:

^Funny, a year or two ago I would have said that is a pipe dream!    There are more things happening ALL AT ONCE than I have ever seen in 28 years.      This is pretty sweet!

That logo is midget sized compared to what the human eyes will really notice.  It will be a mammoth building and I don't think any passer-by will really give a crap about the logo on top.  Anyways, party hat or not, WE have the skyscraper with the crown and no other city does.  Let's be proud of that and the fact we get a new skyscraper!

^---I agree. I think people are nitpicking the logo a little too much. Let's not forget that the Kendel logo going on Carew will probably be much much worse IMHO. :roll:

Lol I forgot about that.  When is that going up?

Can't wait!!!!!

 

 

:drunk:

 

 

See that doesnt look bad at all, don't know why everyones panties are in a bunch.

I like it a lot.  I just like buildings with cool colors on them in general and we have some pretty sweet buildings.  It definitely gives this giant brown turd some life LOL.

Let's be proud of that and the fact we get a new skyscraper!

 

Well unfortunately someone has to be the asshole and stand up against ugly things, even if it means giving developers a hard time. You can count your blessings in your own life and settle for not quite what you wanted, but when it comes to your community and the lasting monuments you build, you shouldn't settle for "good enough." This is an unhealthy relationship that American cities have with private developers, especially in the rust belt where people are desperate for any kind of activity. You don't see anything plastered on the Sears Tower, for instance. Carew did fine without one for an entire human lifetime.

 

It's a very handsome building and Ronnie's previous photoshop prediction of the "slimming" was pretty much spot-on. I wouldn't bemoan it being ruined by a sign if I thought it was so ugly that it didn't matter.

 

And Carew is, structurally, a very elegant building. The fact that they had to finish it in mud bricks was a casualty of the great depression.

 

Maybe someday I'll do a rendering of it in a higher quality finish...I always thought it would look cool in glass and aluminum, or granite, if you want to stick to roots.

Let's be proud of that and the fact we get a new skyscraper!

 

Well unfortunately someone has to be the asshole and stand up against ugly things, even if it means giving developers a hard time. You can count your blessings in your own life and settle for not quite what you wanted, but when it comes to your community and the lasting monuments you build, you shouldn't settle for "good enough." This is an unhealthy relationship that American cities have with private developers, especially in the rust belt where people are desperate for any kind of activity. You don't see anything plastered on the Sears Tower, for instance. Carew did fine without one for an entire human lifetime.

 

It's a very handsome building and Ronnie's previous photoshop prediction of the "slimming" was pretty much spot-on. I wouldn't bemoan it being ruined by a sign if I thought it was so ugly that it didn't matter.

 

 

I understand where you're coming from, but imagine you were in a executive position at GA and you and your crew were moving into this new tower ... would you have any interest with the lease and signage on the exterior of this building?

I don't understand your question...  :/

I don't understand your question...   :/

 

I guess I'm asking you to put yourself in GA's shoes.