A front view Friday of the former McAlpin's building on Fourth Street, downtown. Cincinnati Enquirer/JEFF SWINGER

 

Condos planned for old McAlpin's

Retail plan flopped; Council must OK new approach

By Ken Alltucker

The Cincinnati Enquirer

 

After three years of failing to recruit new shops and businesses to downtown's vacant McAlpin's building, developers are dangling a new idea in front of City Council: condos. Madison Marquette and JFP Properties are seeking the city's approval to again change plans to renovate the long-empty former department store and the abutting Newstedt-Loring-Andrews building on the south side of West Fourth Street, between Race and Vine Streets.

 

The latest plan would deliver 60 condos and street-level shops instead of an office building mixed with two floors of retail. Cincinnati's Planning Commission Friday approved the revised deal. The city will get $4 million for the two buildings, which it owns. City Council's Finance Committee is expected to debate the proposal Monday, which could yield a full council vote later next week.

 

Full Story: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051014/BIZ01/510140355/1002/BIZ

THANK THE LORD!!!

yesss..something

the downtown population should be on the rise!!!

These bad boys are going for $635,000 for 3300 SF!:

 

http://www.huff.com/web/search/SearchDetails.asp?mls=931222&prop=1084272

 

i walked by this building the other day and they have a little sales office setup with what looks to be a mock-up of some of the interiors. looks pretty high end

I walked by this building the other day and looked in the windows. It looks like they have done a lot of work and i saw atleast 5 people working on something/

^ Grasscat and I passed it today and the exterior looks exactly like it did during early December.

That building is an absolute wreck.  It is going to take years to get it ready.  Has anyone seen the back?  It is a mess!  Prediction - It will sit like this for years. 

I think we need to invite "the Donald" in to built Trump Tower Cincinnati. It will be an 1100 ft tower with a hotel, office tower, parking garage, shopping mall and luxury apartments. It will be the biggest and best in cincinnati because that is the way "the Donald" does things.

 

Hey, its fun to dream

no 1000 footers in Cincy, it will f*ck our skyline up as much as Clevelands.  I would be gave for a 700 footer to compliment the 630 foot Queen City Square.

If we did that we'd be inviting him back to where he started.  Remember his dealings in Bond Hill or how he screwed a guy over at the Maissonette.

I don't want any garish Trump crap in my city!

After McAlpin's closed, the city bought its building plus the Newstedt-Loring Andrews building and a third building in 2001 for $8.5 million. Last August, Madison Marquette bought the McAlpin's and Newstedt-Loring buildings from the city for $4 million.

 

While I want this developed, when is the city going to learn.  They just threw away $4,000,000 - terrible leaders

 

There was another somewhat longer article to the same effect in the Post today.  I hope they are actually going to do this thing.  They have only announced it about 20 times!  Monte has a good point about the absurdity of the loss the city is taking on the purchase price.  Remember not long ago that the county did the same thing with that building they bought on Main St. near 6th which had housed Hartford Insurance.  Somebody is getting very rich at taxpayers' expense.

I talked to a real estate agent that is working with the McAlpin the other day and they informed me that their ribbon cutting is going to be on Tuesday (April 12th).

On June 12 at 2:00 ARCHITREKS will feature an inside look at the McAlpin's block on West Fourth Street.  It is in their new newsletter but not yet on their website:  http://www.cincinnatipreservation.org/architreks.html

BTW...here is the rendering that appears on the listing (the link I posted way up there above):

1,400 Sq Ft, eh?  Not bad for 4th Street.  Tell me how much would it cost me to own a 1,400 sq ft. condo in the McAlphin?  Is their an abatement?  Parking included for one car?  What about monthly condo fees? 

 

This location would be one of the perfect spots to live in the CBD.

Hmm...I don't know, they don't give the square footage on the smallest units.  The smallest 2 BR units are selling in the $225-$250K range.  There are condo (HOA) fees of $325 on the $225K unit, and a "1-car garage" (I assume a dedicated space).  Under taxes it says "TBD", so I don't know anything about an abatement but it seems like they usually do that.

 

Hell, why don't I just give you the link?

http://www.huff.com/web/search/SearchDetails.asp?mls=928976&prop=1081474

 

It appears they're about to get in there and do $7M worth of structural work, modifying it for residential units.  4J Redevelopment applied for a permit nine days ago.

Bout time, this thing looks about the same as it did last year.

 

 

i was walking by there today and they were putting up a sign for an open house of some sort.  i didnt catch the date though

^ Hmm...didn't bother to put it on the website.  Maybe they'll get around to it.

extensive scaffolding going up today...looks like we'll finally see some action on those facades

'bout time!

 

 

Damn...I almost wish they had done the facades first.  It might have made people more excited about the project.

 

That part of Fourth looked like crap for way too long.

 

Good to hear that news, though.

McAlpin Building Facade

August 2004

 

 

Looks like they have changed the rendering slightly.  Can anyone attest to the level of work going on in the building?

 

there is a whole lot going on inside...saws and hamers and things falling can be heard from outside.  the exterior doesnt seem to have been touched since the scaffolding went up.  just some light scraping to get loose paint chips off i think. 

Friday Focus: Real Estate

Unmasking McAlpin's

 

Visitors to the McAlpin's building on Fourth Street downtown can see this model of the condominiums being built there. The homes range in price from $239,000 to $750,000.

 

The facade of the old McAlpin's building on Fourth Street between Vine and Race streets downtown has been hidden under scaffolding in recent weeks, as workmen restore and update it as part of the building's conversion to condominiums ranging in price from $239,000 to $750,000.

 

Full Story: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051014/BIZ01/510140355/1002/BIZ

looks fantastic.

My husband and I are buying one of the small units in the McAlpin.  We can't wait to move down town.  We are losing about 120 square feet when we move, but I'm sure that we can manage.

 

The picture posted above is what the outside should look like when they are finished with it.  They were hoping to have the outside painted by the beginning of October, but obviously, they are a little behind on that.  We have been told that the first units will be ready for move-in by March. 

looks like they are moving along pretty well.  not too much has changed on the exterior yet but i did notice a majority of the upper floor windows have been removed and they were beginning to paint the bay windows on the easternmost building

looks like they are moving along pretty well.  not too much has changed on the exterior yet but i did notice a majority of the upper floor windows have been removed and they were beginning to paint the bay windows on the easternmost building

 

OMG! If you have a chance to go by, you should check out the process of this! This thing is going to be bad-ass! I really like the color of the outside as well. Goes great with the rest of it's surroundings!

I need to go down there soon.  Maybe Sunday.

Take pics!

They now have a lot more painted. The beautiful woman statue in the middle is now painted. I will take pics this weekend sometime.  :clap:

Yeah the paint looks freaking awesome! I can get some pics tommorow on my morning walk.

I have some pics and I promise I'll put them up soon.  It really is looking really nice in spots.

I am so jealous xumelanie.  I went to the showroom last week and spoke with one of the sales ladies.  The cheapest one right now is $266,000 for a 4th street view and it was around 1198 sq ft.  4th street would be a great place to move but I have another half that doesn't want to move into the city :(.  Right now I can only dream.

The 4th street views are more expensive.  Our view will be of Ogden Alley.  :)  My husband and I checked out the alley the other day.  We noticed that they have cut more windows in the back. 

 

The scaffolding is supposed to come down by the end of this week.  I'm going to try to get pictures of this.  Also, they have told us that we are still on schedule for March.  They will still be working on the upper floors after we move in.

My fiancee and I are buying one of the units on the third floor...we were told May 1st for the completion date of our unit, but I think others are still on schedule to be done in March.  We are both really excited about joining the downtown community.  Xumelanie, perhaps we will be neighbors!

My fiancee and I are buying one of the units on the third floor...we were told May 1st for the completion date of our unit, but I think others are still on schedule to be done in March.  We are both really excited about joining the downtown community.  Xumelanie, perhaps we will be neighbors!

 

How cool!  We will be on the second floor.  We are also excited about moving downtown.  Have you worked with Kenya yet?  We finished our selections about a month ago.

How cool!  We will be on the second floor.  We are also excited about moving downtown.  Have you worked with Kenya yet?  We finished our selections about a month ago.

 

Just curious, how much selection do they give you on finishes? Are the developers worried about the resale value after you? Would they let you install orange tile and purple water closets in the bathroom? Do you know what I mean?

 

The options are somewhat limited.  For example, we had about 10-15 choices for carpeting, maybe 3 shades of bamboo flooring to select, etc.  If someone really wanted an orange and purple bathroom, I don't see why they wouldn't do it.  If anyone is concerned about the resale, it would be the actual condo owner.  I doubt the developer would be involved with resale.

Here are a couple of pics I snapped a couple of days ago.  I would have gotten more, but I only had 20 cents on me and could only pay for 16 minutes of parking....

 

 

 

 

 

This project is looks like it is finally really moving along, and congratulations to both of you on your new condos and a big thanks for moving downtown!

I would have gotten more, but I only had 20 cents on me and could only pay for 16 minutes of parking

....

You should have pushed the free 10 minute button on the meter.then add .20  thanks for some  pics my battery was dead couldn't snap any :oops:

 

I would have gotten more, but I only had 20 cents on me and could only pay for 16 minutes of parking

....

You should have pushed the free 10 minute button on the meter.then add .20  thanks for some  pics my battery was dead couldn't snap any :oops:

 

I realized that after I had already put in the money.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

So can the board set fees? Lets say you get a bunch of the wealthier people elected, and they all vote to do some renovation. Do you have to pay? Who sets the initial rate? Sounds like you could get into trouble if you have a bunch of wacko neighbors.

 

The COA board sets the budget, and the board is elected by all members of the COA (in otherwords, all of the Condo Owners).  Any special assessment that would be required to do major renovations must be approved by a vote of all owners.  The initial rate is estimated by the developers.  In my case, it was horribly mis-calculated and we've been forced to raise it almost immediately - but that was due to the developers incompetence.