For those who don't know, Cedar Grove is roughly the area bounded by Eighth, Seton, Sunset and Glenway.  From the 4/27/05 Price Hill Press:

 

 

Man is ready to tackle housing

By Kurt Backscheider

Staff Reporter 

 

PRICE HILL - Matt Strauss said he is ready to roll up his sleeves and begin working with residents to develop housing in the neighborhood.

Strauss was recently hired as a housing developer by Price Hill Will to begin phase one of the group's housing strategy, which focuses on the Cedar Grove area near Elder and Seton high schools.

 

http://www.communitypress.com/PriceHillOH/News.asp?pageType=StoryCurrent&StoryArchiveID=12866&StoryID=794&Section=Main%20News&OnlineSection=Main%20News&SectionPubDate=Wednesday,%20April%2027,%202005&RefDate=4/29/2005

 

A related story from the 6/1/05 Pricel Hill Press:

 

 

Ring Place residents are uniting

By Kurt Backscheider

Staff Reporter 

 

PRICE HILL - Ring Place residents are united in an effort to improve and strengthen their street.

 

Jennifer Palanci, president of the Ring Place United Neighbors, said the neighborhood block club has been in existence for about a year and this summer the group's focus is on home improvement.

 

http://www.communitypress.com/PriceHillOH/News.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=14158&Section=Main%20News&OnlineSection=Main%20News&SectionPubDate=6/1/2005%209:53:56%20AM&RefDate=6/1/2005%209:53:56%20AM

 

From the 6/8/05 Price Hill Press:

 

 

Meeting to provide overview of Price Hill Will

By Kurt Backscheider

Staff Reporter    

 

PRICE HILL - Folks interested in learning about Price Hill Will's progress during the past year - or simply what the organization is - can do so tomorrow night.

 

The group is hosting a communitywide forum at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 9, in the cafeteria at Whittier School, 945 Hawthorne Ave.

 

http://www.communitypress.com/PriceHillOH/News.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=14529&Section=Main%20News&OnlineSection=Main%20News&SectionPubDate=6/8/2005%208:49:05%20AM&RefDate=6/8/2005%208:49:05%20AM

 

At its 6/29/05 council meeting, the city unanimously passed an ordinance releasing $300,000 to Price Hill Will for the rehabilitation (Buy-Improve-Sell) of 5 properties in the Cedar Grove area.  The acquisition for each property is not allowed to exceed $60K.

 

This is phase one of a multi-phase program, which will allow for fine-tuning of the program and evaluation of the program's administrative capacity.  The city will retain a mortgage on each property until rehab is complete and the property is sold to an owner.  The contract will be completed no more than 12 months after property acquisition.

 

Price Hill Will projects that it will eventually be able to rehabilitate 50 homes in the area.

 

Residents (owners) must agree to live in the house for three years.

 

Other news: Price Hill Will is also putting together an economic development grant request for a study of both the East Price Hill and the Price Hill business districts.  This will be in the form of the survey to determine where people go to shop when they go elsewhere and where they shop when they shop in the business districts.

 

Map:

 

Ordinance

City Manager Lemmie: Recommendation of ordinance and background

Funding Agreement

Funding Agreement, Part II

Statement of Work and Budget

Master Specifications (Rehab checklist)

From the 9/14/05 Price Hill Press:

 

 

Loan program helps residents fix homes

By Kurt Backscheider

Community Press Staff Writer 

 

PRICE HILL - The Home Ownership Center and Price Hill Will have teamed up to offer residents low-interest loans so they can repair their homes.

 

Matt Strauss, director of housing development for Price Hill Will, said only residents who live in Cedar Grove, Seminary Square or the Incline District are eligible for the 3 percent loan.

 

http://www.communitypress.com/PriceHillOH/News.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=17825&Section=Main%20News&OnlineSection=Main%20News&SectionPubDate=9/14/2005%203:04:23%20AM&RefDate=9/14/2005%203:04:23%20AM

 

From the 9/28/05 Price Hill Press:

 

 

Price Hill Will buys its first home in Cedar Grove

By Kurt Backscheider

Community Press Staff Writer 

 

PRICE HILL - Matt Strauss said the folks at Price Hill Will are excited about the organization closing on its first home in the neighborhood.

 

Strauss, director of housing development for Price Hill Will, said the group recently bought the home at 1002 Seton Ave., which is in the Cedar Grove neighborhood surrounding Seton and Elder high schools.

 

http://www.communitypress.com/PriceHillOH/News.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=18299&Section=Main%20News&OnlineSection=Main%20News&SectionPubDate=9/28/2005%202:16:42%20AM&RefDate=9/28/2005%202:16:42%20AM

 

They are going to pay 50% more than they offered for it before it burned to the ground--maybe.

 

Warehouse burned down, price went up

City buys QC Barrel ruins for 50% over pre-fire offering

By Gregory Korte The Cincinnati Enquirer

 

Cincinnati City Council voted Wednesday to buy the Queen City Barrel properties in Lower Price Hill for $1.8 million - 50 percent more than the city was ready to pay on the day the company's warehouse was all but destroyed in a spectacular five-alarm fire in August 2004.

 

The city had offered $1.2 million for the property just hours before the fire at what's known as the "Old Lawson Building."  "The owner changed his mind. He thought it was worth more after the fire," said Michael Cervey, the director of the Cincinnati Department of Community Development and Planning. "That's the kind of guys we're dealing with."

 

Read full article here:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051117/NEWS01/511170345/1056

WTF i hope they cleaned up that mess the EPA cited QC barrel for.

Recent news....

 

Price Hill Will is looking to expand the project area.  On the map I posted earlier, the boundaries were shown running down the middle of Sunset, Eighth, Seton and Liberty.  PHW wants to include also the homes on the opposite side of those streets.

 

Also, the previous agreement required new owner-occupants to live in the property for three years.  If they sold before three years, any appreciation above the original purchase cost would be split 50/50 with Price Hill Will.  PHW wants to alter that to allow for an extra 5% on top of that for each year of occupancy (55% for 1 year, 60% for 2 years).  They believe that will give the homes more market appeal.

 

This has gone to the Finance Committee with no timetable for return.

 

   

The modification of the Cedar Grove redevelopment boundary that I mentioned in may last post passed unanimously on 11/30/05. 

---

From the 11/30/05 Community Press:

 

 

Loans help residents remodel, stay here

BY KURT BACKSCHEIDER | COMMUNITY PRESS STAFF WRITER

 

PRICE HILL -- The Home Ownership Center and Price Hill Will are working to make home improvement projects more affordable for Price Hill residents.

 

The organizations are offering homeowners three different home improvement loan programs to help them remodel their home or add onto it, and most importantly, stay in the neighborhood.

 

http://news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051130/NEWS01/511300769/1074/Local

 

I had been putting some Price Hill Will stuff in the Random thread, but I'll put it here from now on.

 

They are getting busy over there!'

 

* In late November, Price Hill Will closed on 850 Academy Ave., purchasing it for $45,000.  The house had been vacant for over a year, and the owner had lost the property in bankruptcy.

 

* In mid-December, Price Hill Will closed on 1023 Seton Ave., a property that's been blighted for years, for $40,000.  It's a nice enough looking house that probably needs a good deal of work.

 

* Price Hill Will has taken over 3419 Osage Ave. (in East Price Hill) through receivership.  The building has been falling apart for years, and the list of code violations is a mile long.  It cannot be saved.  It will be demolished and the property sold to one of the neighbors, who haven't been identified.

 

They are working on a similar arrangement for 2856 Sterrett Ave., also in East Price Hill, though that hasn't been finalized yet.  Trust me--there is a house in there somewhere:

---

An article on Price Hill Will appeared in the 1/4/06 CityBeat.  It also mentions a few of the other projects going on around the area:

 

 

Price Hill's Will

A neighborhood summons its talents to remake itself

By Margo Pierce

 

Price Hill has better views than Mount Adams at a fraction of the price. That's become a slogan in residents' efforts to revitalize their community.

 

Like many urban neighborhoods that have experienced a decline, Price Hill is attempting to remake its image, but they're going about it in a rather unconventional way.

 

---

And finally, a couple of things that were posted in the Random thread that I'll stick over here:

 

November 2

* Price Hill Will has rehabbed this former problem property at 1002 Seton Ave.

 

December 25

* Price Hill Will has purchased the foreclosed house at 3824 W. Eighth St. for rehabilitation.

 

Here's an older article detailing some of the things that the EPHIA is doing along with PHW, from the 1/18/06 Price Hill Press:

 

 

PHOTO: East Price Hill Improvement Association's housing court watch program has been successful in getting the city to address problem properties. Group members are monitoring the court case against the owner of the building at the corner of W. Eighth St. and Elberon Avenue.  KURT BACKSCHEIDER/COMMUNITY PRESS STAFF

 

Court watch helps combat Price Hill problem properties

BY KURT BACKSCHEIDER | COMMUNITY PRESS STAFF WRITER

 

EAST PRICE HILL -- Members of the East Price Hill Improvement Association are making strides in ridding the neighborhood of eyesore properties.

 

For the past several years, association members have been working through the group's problem properties committee to help refer abandoned or neglected properties to the Hamilton County Municipal Court's housing docket.

 

http://news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060118/NEWS01/601180321/1074/Local

 

I think this deal is in Finance Committee now.  I did run across this map that shows the site:

 

 

(The labels may be hard to read.  The striped area is additional property to be acquired by the city.  The outlined and numbered properties are the Queen City Barrel buildings.  The solid purple line is the Queen City Barrel "Phase I" boundary, which is the area the city plans to have demolished, cleaned up and redeveloped.)

 

This whole deal stinks.  The fire happened in a building that had a sprinkler system.  The sprinkler system valve was turned off!  The fire department had not inspected the building for 5 years!  And the owner gets 1.8 million.

It could have been handled better, that's for sure.  The owner should get nothing.  He already has a facility in Northside that's been exposed as being dangerous.

 

The plus is that the city is taking the lead on this, because private developers aren't going to tackle a property like this one that has so many variables and risks involved.  So the city will take a hit, for sure, but it will get done--much like Carthage Mills and the property on Red Bank.

 

A little more on the development...it will be "Queensgate"-ish light industrial.  A lot of those old factory buildings will be gone.  They're great to look at, but I would understand the locals not missing them.

 

Anyway, a contract for purchase has been drawn up, pending environmental assessments.  If the assessments are deemed "acceptable" (City's words), they expect to close on the property in April. 

 

The contract includes a year lease back to Queen City Barrel to let them pack up their shit, secure the buildings, and get out.  Though I'm not sure I'd rely on QCB to adequately secure the buildings....

How many buildings are left to secure?  Several were compleatly destroyed in the fire last year.

Price Hill Will currently has five projects going.

 

They've put 3824 W Eighth on the market for $69,900.  They are currently rehabbing it.

 

They have 850 Academy Ave on the market for $109,900.  A rehab is in progress there as well.

 

Work is progressing on 1023 Seton Ave.  They're asking $79,900.

 

1002 Seton Ave is still on the market for cheap.

 

They have also purchased 1132 Seton Ave, a bank owned property that had been vacant for several months.  They should be starting work on that one.

 

Also, the Price Hill Press had an article a few weeks back regarding the demolition of 3419 Osage Ave.  It's an interesting look at how Price Hill Will acquires properties through the city's receivership program:

http://news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060308/NEWS01/603080717/1074/Local

 

There was some recent action on this by city council.

 

Price Hill Will (PHW) has asked the city to up its subsidy agreement from $60,000 per unit for the first five units in phase one to $75,000 per unit.  (Over the life of the agreement, the city subsidy would end up averaging out to $12,600 per home for 50 homes.)

 

PHW is doing this because:

1) They are finding that the Cedar Grove housing stock is more deteriorated than expected.  (Heavy property flipping left exteriors nice, but interiors were a mess.)

2) Inspections of the interiors show far more problems than anticipated when this plan was presented to council.  (The plan was presented to council without PHW even bothering to check out the interiors first.)

3) The cost to mitigate lead-based paint was much higher than expected.

4) PHW did not fully understand the time involved in meeting the contractual obligations of the city.  (Six months elapsed between the time the funding was okayed and the time the contract with the city was completed.  Also, PHW was new to the Buy-Improve-Sell program and all of the bureaucracy it came up against.)

 

In order to raise the subsidy to $75,000 per unit, PHW proposed to lower the number of rehabbed houses in this phase from five to four.

 

The city unanimously voted for this request.

 

PHW still plans on doing 50 homes and building momentum from this initial slow period.  They're really being squeezed to make any kind of profit now that they can roll over into future projects.  And they're going to focus on homes that take less money to rehab, meaning that some of the shabbiest of houses will not be rehabbed at all, somewhat damaging their efforts to turn the neighborhood around.  Their goal is to attract homeowners--people who have a choice in where they live.  To do that there are serious problems that they may not be able to address--even with $75,000 subsidies.

 

 

Queen City Barrel site could become industrial park

Cincinnati Business Courier - by Dan Monk

 

Two years after a five-alarm fire broke out at the Queen City Barrel storage facility in Lower Price Hill, city of Cincinnati officials are detailing plans for a new industrial park on the site of the now-demolished building.

 

The MetroWest park would use the 14-acre Queen City Barrel site as the foundation for a 20- to 25-acre "urban industrial park" at the intersection of Evans Street and the Eighth Street Viaduct, according to a memo to Cincinnati City Council from Milton Dohoney, Cincinnati's new city manager.

 

Read full article here:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2006/08/14/daily47.html

It woulda been nice if they could've put IKEA on that site. 

Price Hill industrial park planned

By Joe Wessels Post contributor

 

From the ashes of the Queen City Barrel warehouse will rise something not often seen in the city of Cincinnati: new industrial space.  The site of a five-alarm fire in August 2004 that destroyed the company's 400,000 square-foot warehouse in Lower Price Hill will be turned into a light industrial park of 20 to 25 acres over the next several years under a plan announced by city officials Friday.

 

Bill Fischer, the city's development manager, said the city bought the property from Queen City and is in negotiations to buy several more buildings in an area starting south of the Eighth Street Viaduct to the railroad tracks along Evans Street to Gest Street, with two additional properties across Gest along Summer Street.

 

Read full article here:

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060819/NEWS01/608190347

^ Agreed.  The city cannot afford to lose developable industrial land if it wants to keep its tax base stable.  Industrial uses bring the most bang for the buck, tax-wise.

This could become an important catalyst in turning around LPH.  Many of the people who live their lack the education to get a decent paying job....they also tend to lack the means to get to a good paying job (cycle of poverty in action).  Hopefully this redevelopment will bring a influx of new manufacturing jobs to the community.  Offering decent paying, good benefit jobs to a community that sorely needs it.

 

This is a great effort by the city, and could potentially begin a snowball effect in the neighboring industrial properties nearby.

From the 10/18/06 Price Hill Press:

 

 

PHOTO: Price Hill's newest resident, Michael Kane, center in white, is surrounded by representatives from the city and neighborhood organizations, including Matt Strauss of Price Hill Will, Mayor Mark Mallory, Sister Kathryn Ann Connelly of Seton High School and State Rep. Steve Driehaus as he cuts the ribbon on his new home.  KURT BACKSCHEIDER/COMMUNITY PRESS STAFF

 

Price Hill Will's first home occupied

Group bought and renovated Cedar Grove home

BY KURT BACKSCHEIDER | COMMUNITY PRESS STAFF WRITER

 

PRICE HILL -- When Michael Kane bought a home in the city he didn't expect the mayor to welcome him to the neighborhood.

 

But last Tuesday, Kane was welcomed as a Price Hill homeowner by Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, Councilman David Crowley, State Rep. Steve Driehaus, Price Hill Civic Club president Pete Witte and representatives from Price Hill Will and the Home Ownership Center.

 

http://news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061018/NEWS01/610180731/1002/RSS01

 

At the November 22, 2006 meeting, City Council approved a zoning change for the former Queen City Barrel property within PD-15 from PD-15 (Planned Development District) to MG Manufacturing General.  (PD-15 can be seen in the post near the top of this thread.  It includes all of the area within the purple boundary, minus the highlighted area east of Evans St.)

 

This was only a matter of law.  Due to the lack of a formal, site-specific development plan for PD-15, zoning code would require the three-year-old zoning designation to expire on February 13, 2007.  Since it is expected to take two to five years to continue cleaning up the site and to select a developer, having a site plan in place by February 2007 is impossible.  Because of that, a new zoning designation would have to be assigned before that date.

 

Elimination of the PD designation removes oversight from the City Planning Commission.  However, the City will maintain control of the development through its contracts, and a PD could be set up in the future if the situation warrants it.

 

The rezoning of the area, now considered part of the future 20-25 acre Metro West industrial park development, had been approved in Economic Development Committee the day before and by the City Planning Commission on September 1, 2006.  A public hearing was held in July 2006.

 

The city is still in the process of acquiring property and doing site reclamation.

 

Neyer wins MetroWest bid

$25M plan includes four LEED-certified buildings, greenspace

Cincinnati Business Courier - January 5, 2007 by Dan Monk

 

Al Neyer Inc. and Resurgence Group LLC have won the city of Cincinnati's bidding competition for MetroWest, an 18-acre industrial park planned for Lower Price Hill.  Neyer and Resurgence proposed a $25 million development for MetroWest. Their site plan calls for four new buildings that would attract companies employing up to 400 people. Neyer would target service companies, small businesses and printing and HVAC contractors to fill an estimated 250,000 square feet of new office space on the site of the old Queen City Barrel plant.

 

Read full article here:

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2007/01/08/story4.html

Wow...this sounds great!!!  There seems to be a lot of positives in this announcement: LEED certified bldgs, streetscape plantings, gateway feature, brownfield redevelopment, 400 new jobs!!!!  GREAT, GREAT, & GREAT!  Not to mention the timeline for this project seems to be moving along quite nicely and I believe there is a hurry to get this thing done (these types of jobs are priceless for both the city and its residents)!

The City and the developer, MetroWest I, LLC (Neyer), are close to formalizing a development agreement and will now add the plans for the development of MetroWest into the existing planning document for Lower Price Hill.

 

At the March 28 City Council meeting, an ordinance allowing for the City to enter into a contract for sale with MetroWest I passed unanimously.

 

Having a formalized development plan in place would improve the chances of receiving a Clean Ohio Fund grant, which would provide $3,000,000 for remediation of the Queen City Barrel site and its surrounding blocks.

 

The deadline for submission of the Clean Ohio Fund application was Monday.  (I was unable to verify if an agreement had been struck.)

 

City Council also passed an ordinance altering the official planning document of the Lower Price Hill community, with Monzel and Cole voting against it.

 

Because of the deadline for the Clean Ohio Fund grant, on January 3, the City of Cincinnati's SPUR team requested that the Lower Price Hill Industrial Area Urban Renewal Plan (2003) be amended to include particulars of the proposed development.

 

City staff and the developer presented the proposed plan amendment to the Lower Price Hill Community Council (LPHCC) on February 5.  A proposal of the amendment was sent to the LPHCC on February 13 for comment.  On February 28, Robert Rainey, president of the LPHCC, alerted Adrienne Cowden of the Department of Community Development and Planning (DCDP) that the LPHCC would not support the amended Plan until it addressed the dangerous conditions at Bodycote Metal Treating, 724 Evans St.  This property is across from the Oyler Community Learning Center and outside of the redevelopment area.

 

Despite this--and not wanting to miss out on the grant money--the City Planning Commission approved the amendment at their March 2 meeting.  The status of the Bodycote property and the possibility of CPS buying the property were discussed but left for a later date.

 

The Economic Development Committee approved the Plan amendment on March 27.

 

City Council authorized the grant application at its March 28 meeting.

 

If the grant is not received, the sale and redevelopment agreement will be terminated and the deal is dead.  If the grant comes through, MetroWest I, LLC, will commence environmental remediation of the site, which could take at least two years.

 

Meanwhile, the City is still assembling land within the project area.  On March 14, City Council passed an ordinance allowing the Division of Facilities Management to reimburse the Department of Community Development and planning for land at the northwest corner of Hamilton and Llanfair, which will be the site of a new fire station.  This funding will be used to consolidate more parcels, which may aid in getting the Clean Ohio application accepted.

 

The $25 million MetroWest project will consist of light industrial, flex and office space and will likely include existing businesses and buildings at 911 Evans St, 1910/1911 South St and 1908 W Eighth St.  Four or more LEED certified buildings will likely be constructed.  Buildings will be constructed along street frontages and parking will be screened and shared.  (Look at the site plan below and tell me if that is what you see!) 

 

The developer estimates that the redevelopment of the 18 acres could create a minimum of 400 jobs.

 

Buildout is expected in 7 to 10 years.

 

(Preliminary site plan.  North is to the right side of the drawing.)

 

Price Hill: Cedar Grove Phase II

Building Cincinnati, 6/1/07

 

1002 Seton Avenue

 

City Council has agreed unanimously to extend a $300,000 conditional loan to Price Hill Will (PHW) for Phase II of their Cedar Grove project.

 

The money will be spent on the Buy-Improve-Sell program to rehab four homes within the boundaries of Glenway, Seton, W Eighth and Sunset. PHW is allowed $75,000 per home for the purchase and rehab work. (Any costs above that are borne by PHW.)

 

The rehabbed homes are then sold to owner-occupiers, who are required to live there for at least three years. If the owner sells before the three years have elapsed, half of any profit from the sale goes back to PHW. Those funds would then be channeled into future projects.

 

Part of the subsidy from the city is meant to help keep prices low enough that the homes will become more attractive to those seeking to own a home.

 

PHW is undertaking this project because of fears of deteriorating housing stock, lowering homeownership rates, blight and crime in the neighborhood.

 

Phase I included the rehab of four homes, two of which have been purchased. Their first house, 1002 Seton Ave, sold for $60,500 last July.

 

The properties for Phase II have not yet been decided.

 

PHW expects that it can rehab and resell 50 homes over the life of this program.

 

WINDOWS LIVE BIRD'S EYE VIEW

GOOGLE AERIAL MAP

 

http://buildingcincinnati.blogspot.com/2007/06/price-hill-cedar-grove-phase-ii-funded.html

 

City frees $413,000 for land at MetroWest site

Building Cincinnati, 6/28/07

 

Cincinnati City Council has identified two sources of funding to help purchase the last four properties in the future MetroWest Commerce Park.

 

The City had to acquire these four parcels to be eligible to receive $3 million in Clean Ohio Revitalization (CORF) funds for demolition and environmental remediation of the site.

 

The City's sale of the former Phoenix International Life Sciences property in College Hill (5642 Hamilton Ave) to Children's Hospital has brought in $400,000.

 

An additional $13,657.59 was transferred to the Strategic Program for Urban Revitalization ’07 (SPUR) capital project account from the Columbia Square capital project account, which had a surplus due to project development costs being less than expected.

 

To date the Department of Community Development and Planning has spent $2.615 million on property acquisition in the project site and has paid $373,505 for tenant relocation.

 

The $25 million MetroWest project will consist of light industrial, flex and office space and will likely include existing businesses and buildings at 911 Evans St, 1910/1911 South St and 1908 W Eighth St. Four or more LEED certified buildings will likely be constructed. Buildings will be constructed along street frontages and parking will be screened and shared. (Look at the site plan below and tell me if that is what you see!)

 

The developer estimates that the redevelopment of the 18 acres could create a minimum of 400 jobs.

 

Buildout is expected in 7 to 10 years.

 

Winning CORF applicants will be announced at the Clean Ohio Council meeting on July 25.

 

The CORF's Round 4 has been budgeted $43 million.

 

http://buildingcincinnati.blogspot.com/2007/06/city-frees-413000-for-land-at-metrowest.html

 

I would say that much of the parking appears to be shared as it crosses parcel lines with any breakage, but the buildings to the street part is a definite stretch from what that site plan illustrates.

Price Hill Will receives housing funds

Building Cincinnati, 6/29/07

 

The Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) has awarded Price Hill Will a $500,000 grant for housing rehabilitation.

 

The grant will be used to improve up to 15 homes in the Incline District and Whittier Gardens sections of East Price Hill.

 

The homes to be rehabilitated have not been specified.

 

The rehabilitated homes will be affordable to households at or below 80 percent of the area median gross income.

 

Funding is supplied by HOME funds and the Ohio Housing Trust Fund and is administered by the OHFA through the Housing Development Assistance Program. This program provides financial assistance for the development and rehabilitation of affordable housing.

 

http://buildingcincinnati.blogspot.com/2007/06/price-hill-will-receives-housing-funds.html

 

City wins funds for Queen City Barrel site

BY LAURA BAVERMAN | July 25, 2007

 

Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher on Wednesday awarded the city of Cincinnati and a pair of developers $3 million from the state's Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund to begin redevelopment of the former Queen City Barrel site into the $25 million MetroWest Commerce Park.

 

The city awarded Al Neyer Inc. and Resurgence Group LLC the development rights to the Lower Price Hill site in December 2006, pending the receipt of the state funds. Initial plans included construction of 250,000 square feet of light industrial, service and office space that would create more than 400 new jobs.

 

Read full article here:

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2007/07/23/daily35.html

COOL.  I assumed they'd get the CORF funds...they have a pretty strong plan.

 

Vertus bringing 'clean coal' technology to Cincinnati

Business Courier of Cincinnati - by Lucy May

 

Vertus Technologies Ohio will open its first commercial coal-scrubbing operation in the U.S. at Cincinnati Bulk Terminals in Queensgate, launching a new green industry for Cincinnati and unlocking broader opportunities for Ohio coal.

 

Vertus, a subsidiary of Nviro Cleantech plc, inked a 25-year deal with Cincinnati Bulk Terminals, which will help Vertus procure and handle raw coal and then transport the clean coal fuels to clients in the region.  Vertus expects to start operations here by year's end with seven employees and grow to between 25 and 30 people within five years, said President Kenneth Hughes.

 

Read full article here:

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/04/28/daily37.html

Great news! Is this the beginning of the green industrial corridor imagined along Mill Creek?

Queensgate coal plant set

BY LISA BERNARD-KUHN | [email protected]

 

A London-based company that specializes in clean coal technology is planning to build it first U.S. facility along the banks of the Ohio River here.  Vertus Technologies Limited, a subsidiary of London-based Nviro Cleantech, has signed a 25-year contract with Cincinnati Bulk Terminals, LLC, to install and operate a facility designed to remove pollutants from coal prior to its combustion.

 

Read full article here:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20080430/BIZ01/304300106/

MSD breaks ground on new Wastewater Engineering Center

BY KEVIN LEMASTER | SOAPBOX CINCINNATI

May 6, 2008

 

*Images and hyperlinks can be found with the above link.

 

LOWER PRICE HILL - The Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati (MSD) broke ground on the largest public works project in their history on Saturday, one that they hope will be the public face of their agency's move towards sustainability and emerging technology.

 

The three-story, 54,000-square-foot Wastewater Engineering Center, along the north side of Gest Street between Summer and Woodrow streets in Lower Price Hill, will house approximately 200 employees of MSD's engineering group.

 

The $12.5 million "design-build" construction will be built with the goal of achieving LEED Gold certification, was designed by Burgess & Niple to fit in with the city's strategy to develop 18 adjacent acres as the MetroWest Commerce Park.

 

"We didn't have anyone who believed that we could pull it off," MSD executive director James Parrott says.  "By George, we're going to be all over Hamilton County making this investment."

 

The project is expected to bring 30 new jobs to the area when completed between July and October 2009.

 

Mayor Mark Mallory's GO Cincinnati initiative identified the Lower Mill Creek Valley as a prime area for economic development, particularly green development.

 

"Queensgate and Lower Price Hill are ripe for growth and opportunity," says Dohoney.  "We can go in a new direction and reinvest, reinvent what our city is - a city of growth," Dohoney says.

 

Because the MSD is celebrating its 40th anniversary as a city-county partnership managed by the City of Cincinnati, both the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County proclaimed May 1, 2008 "Metropolitan Sewer District Day".

so why is all of our industry along millcreek anyway? is it so they can wash toxic waste easliy away from their companies jk. I'm assuming theres some reason why the county built it that way to allow easily accesible water for the industries to access for free straight from the creek for industrial reasons? never thought about it beofre till now, who has some answers

 

From my understanding a lot of early industries located along the Mill Creek so that they had access to water for water turbines.  This kind of energy was extremely important in the 19th Century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_turbine

I'm assuming theres some reason why the county built it that way

 

Um, the county didn't build the Mill Creek. It's a creek. Those 19th century industries needed water, both for their processes and for transport of their goods.

 

Are you talking about the canalization? The Army Corps of Engineers did that to prevent flooding.

 

 

I wish all planning resulted in major projects being announced a couple of months later that followed the goals of the plan. Great news all around!

I'm assuming theres some reason why the county built it that way

 

Um, the county didn't build the Mill Creek. It's a creek. Those 19th century industries needed water, both for their processes and for transport of their goods.

 

Are you talking about the canalization? The Army Corps of Engineers did that to prevent flooding.

 

 

I thought there has been talk about undoing the canalization. Putting the Mill Creek back to it's natural state. I know people canoe parts of it. The creek is pretty unpleasant the closer to the city it is.

I thought there has been talk about undoing the canalization. Putting the Mill Creek back to it's natural state. I know people canoe parts of it. The creek is pretty unpleasant the closer to the city it is.

 

http://www.millcreekrestoration.org/

^ Good Site!        The before & after pictures are really encouraging for that paticular stretch of waterway.

 

 

^^That was a big mistake!!!     Who came up with that kind of L.A. crap for the midwest.     

 

Nature will keep taking the creek back!!    There is nowhere (or will ever be) industry along that creek like the turn of the 19th century.   

Group Working To Rehab Price Hill

http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=5ed81d3f-f177-45e4-b186-d19716b2729b

Last Update: 5:59 pm 

Web produced by: Alyssa Bunn

http://pricehillwill.org/

 

A local group has completed another successful rehab project on an old dilapidated house in Price Hill.

 

The home in the 400 block of Purcell Avenue is the latest renovation project completed by Price Hill Will.

 

Price Hill Will is a comprehensive community development corporation serving Price Hill, in the City of Cincinnati.

 

The rehabbed home on Purcell Avenue is now ready to go on the market for $80,000 through the group's "Buy-Improve-Sell" program.

 

Price Hill Will has so far sold all seven homes it purchased with the help of grants and volunteers.

 

The success of PHW has been paying off for the new owners and their neighbors.

 

"Almost all of them, first time home buyers," explained Matt Strauss of Price Hill Will. "Almost all of our houses have sold to people from outside of the city who decided they wanted to move back into the city. We're selling them great houses that don't need any maintenance for years to come because everything's brand new."

 

The group's goal is to purchase, rehab and sell a dozen homes every year.

 

 

The creek was an open sewer for the meat packing, tanneries, and other stinky polluting industries that formed the core of Cincinnati's industrial economy. The Mill Creek Valley was Cincinnati's industrial heart long before there was such thing as urban planning.

Construction process begins for $25 million MetroWest Commerce Park

 

Construction will begin this week on the $25 million MetroWest Commerce Park in Lower Price Hill.  The project will transform 18 acres of contaminated, underutilized land in Lower Price Hill into 250,000 square feet of new light manufacturing, flexible warehouse and office space, according to a news release from the City of Cincinnati.

 

Read full article here:

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/05/26/daily5.html

Price Hill Will starts grant program

http://news.communitypress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/NEWS/805210484/1140/RSS1129

 

PRICE HILL - Price Hill Will is launching a new grant program - Building Blocks - to help neighbors in East and West Price Hill work together to improve their immediate area.

 

The Community Improvement Micro Grant Program offers small groups up to $2,000 to improve the physical conditions of a block, a series of blocks or other contiguous or definable area.

City says commerce park will net $400K in wage tax

BY LISA BERNARD-KUHN | [email protected]

 

The transformation of the former Queen City Barrel site into a $25 million commerce park is under way.  Over the next year, the site - which once was primarily used for the reconditioning of waste drums - will undergo a more than $3.5 million environmental clean-up.

 

The work will pave the way for developers Al. Neyer Inc. and Resurgence Group to build an 18-acre light industrial campus known as MetroWest Commerce Park.  A $25 million project, the park will include 250,000 square feet of manufacturing, warehousing and office space spread among four buildings.

 

Read full article here:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080611/BIZ01/806110372/1076/BIZ