The problem is that the newer buildings on Mulberry, Boal, etc., aren't very impressive.  Somehow those new row houses on Boal list for over $300,000.

 

One of the new-ish places on boal sold for a bit under 500k a month or so ago.

The problem is that the newer buildings on Mulberry, Boal, etc., aren't very impressive.  Somehow those new row houses on Boal list for over $300,000.

 

One of the new-ish places on boal sold for a bit under 500k a month or so ago.

 

That's ridiculous.  They're nice but not that nice.  The location is okay but not great. 

 

You're paying for the view too.  There's lots of crap in Mt. Adams, Fairview, and Price Hill that goes for a premium just because of the view. 

Well... you have to take into account that it's on a hillside. I bought one of those places when they were new (sold, just before the market crashed - whew!). The foundations are basically 10 foot deep heavily reinforced concrete that don't sit on the earth but rather on 18 reinforced poured piers that go 40 feet down to a stable layer. The whole foundation is basically a monolithic reinforced concrete beam bridging the piers. And there's structural steel at the front and rear walls framing the entire structure and providing shear support.

 

Basically, if these structures do move down the hill, they're going to move down it standing upright.

 

People buying homes on hillsides always need to pay attention to such things. It's a real advantage when selling to be able to tell people, there are no cracks or uneven settlement, and there won't be.

 

I was just at a friends home up on Ohio street who has the entire south side of her home moving laterally and downward towards OTR. It's sad.

I didn't know anything about the special engineering of those homes.  Concrete work of any kind is insanely expensive. But that does not explain such an extravagant price for one, unless there have been unusual interior improvements.  That said, I personally know someone who bought a house in Prospect Hill recently without even setting foot in the house.  When an area is attracting the money of people who have so much money it doesn't matter if they overpay by $50-100K, then prices can get out of control quickly. 

Demo on West 3rd is underway:

 

Today I learned that a twin building to 312 Elm Street (official building name, actually - home to the Cincinnati Enquirer) was proposed for these structures along West 3rd. It was never completed.

Yes.  I recall seeing a rendering but can't remember where.

It would have been a matching sterile tower.

Several row houses in the 2800 block of Euclid boarded up.  Appears that some developer is looking to put in apartments similar to the ones that destroyed the beautiful Victorian homes in 2011. 

Par course for corryville  :x

Mohawk, 4/21/14:

Look for those Moving Forward Ohio signs. Ed Cunningham has 250 building to demo this year!

 

This hasn’t been posted in a while so I’ll post it again - the list of historic buildings up for demolition review is published here each month:

 

http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/community-development/property-maintenance/condemned-buildings-for-review/

 

 

What a shame.  Mohawk will look so denuded when that intersection is missing those large buildings.  They haven't had roofs on them since hurricane Ike, and they were in bad shape before that too.

The southeast corner of Race and W McMicken (corner building and property just to the east on W McMicken) is on the chopping block according to the condemned building for review list posted. 1942 Race and 41 W McMicken

The southeast corner of Race and W McMicken (corner building and property just to the east on W McMicken) is on the chopping block according to the condemned building for review list posted. 1942 Race and 41 W McMicken

 

I noticed those because I walk by them all the time between Clifton and OTR. They don't look too bad from the street, but like most buildings in their shape they would require a few hundred thousand in renovations to be habitable. It's a shame because they're so close to Findlay Market and the northern end of the streetcar. Surely there will be a demand for buildings in that area within the next 5-10 years with the current pace.

Those buildings at the corner will not be demolished.  They are owned by the Romanini Brothers, and they are looking to sell them for a lot of money.  They are structurally sound and roofs are keeping water out.

So why are they on this list?

Because it is condemned.  Not because it is necessarily going to be demolished.  See the statement from the hearing in 2010:

DECISION- NOT A NUISANCE Based on the evidence received at the hearing and my personal observations, the building does not present a hazard to the community at this time. Vacant Building Maintenance License compliance is still required. 1.) The building in it's present condition does not constitute such a public nuisance that it is subject to demolition by the director of buildings and inspections at this time. 2.) The Condemnation orders remain in effect and the owner is required to promptly cause the building to comply with the CBC or to promptly raze the building and restore the site to a safe condition. Failure to comply with the condemnation order may result in criminal and or civil penalties. 3.) The building will not be demolished by governmental action at this time.

 

Maybe it will be demolished, but if the past is any guide, it will not, because the Historic Conservation Board will not approve it, and because it is not in imminent danger of collapse, plus they have a local owner who has a maintenance crew who will make repairs when requested.

Just out of the city, but demolition machines are in the lot at the old Hollywood Motel on 42/Reading Rd in Evendale. Never much to look at and cool parts (the neon and signage) are already gone but it is a bit of the past that we will never see again.

Found a photo of the Hollywood Motel back in its prime. Far more of a rural feel back then, it's surrounded by manufacturing and office buildings now.

Columbus still has 5,000 of these -- down from 15,000.

5000?!!? Wow. Is that 5000 individual rooms or 5000 little motor lodges scattered throughout the city? If here is only like 4000 walmarts in the entire country and it seems like they are everywhere, they must be one motor lodge every few hundred feet up there in Columbus. :-o

^ ...my lips are sealed.  :roll:

This pales to the loss of the El Rancho Rankin.

 

Also, I noticed that Mahketewah Hall, the last remaining building that abutted the 8th St. Viaduct, was demolished sometime over the winter.  Some might remember that this was the second-oldest active bar in Cincinnati until it closed sometime around 2004, then stood there stubbornly as everything around it was demo'd for new development that has yet to appear.  I'm here to let everyone know that I actually went to this bar, which was about as intimidating from the outside as a biker clubhouse, back around 2000 or 2001. 

 

Here are some photos of it I took in 1999:

 

Here is the entrance...obviously the bar predated the viaduct by some 50 years:

 

Really was the last vestige in that vast wasteland that showed what we stupidly wiped off the map.  I loved that building.  It seemed to defy reality for so long.  Didn't it lose the cornice in the big winds of hurricane Ike?

 

Yeah that area in some other cities would have become a redeveloped warehouse area.  Instead it's all been torn down except for 2 or 3 of them. 

 

Yeah it might have had some damage from the hurricane but I can't remember, there were a lot bigger issues at that time like the Grammar's fire. 

Someone salvaged the big 'Mahketewah Hall' carving from the top and it is along the bike trail in Northside now. I'm glad someone save it. I'll admit I was hovering around myself when I saw the demo equipment, but it was knocked down very quickly and I never saw anyone to ask before it disappeared.

The "Liberty Tire" building with the mural of the Indian at Spring Grove and Elmore was coming down when I passed by the other day.

As was the building across the street. Both were in poor condition, but the "Liberty Tire" building had structural issues that went back two decades. Someone at the Northside community watch page was commenting a while back about the times he was a worker there, and kept putting his floor through the floor on the upper two floors (storage)!

This building on Hamer St collapsed recently, but I can't really tell if they're rebuilding it or not.  The building on the corner of Benton and Hamer is being rehabbed as well, so I'm not sure if the equipment is for that building or the collapsed one.  For refererence, the collapsed building is the back of the Barr's Loans building on Vine St.

 

The owner is Elm Street Acquisition, LLC, an arm of OTR Holdings (3CDC)

Noticed last night that 824 Reedy Street, formerly T.J. Homan, Inc. Scrap Metals, was being demolished. Per Hamilton County Auditor website, sold by the Homan family 07/03/14 for $80,000 to Robert L Adleta II, owner of Adleta Construction.

 

Also, 830 Reedy, the lot in between 824 and 834 (green building) was purchased by Bansal Construction Inc. in November 2013.

From this afternoon:

They weren't much, but those are probably the last buildings left over from what was the notorious Bucktown neighborhood.  Now all expressways and surface lots.

They weren't much, but those are probably the last buildings left over from what was the notorious Bucktown neighborhood.  Now all expressways and surface lots.

 

Speaking of Bucktown, from the inimitable, P. Casey Coston:

 

But in the nineteenth century, this downtown neighborhood east of Broadway and south of 7th was known as "Bucktown." An early, integrated neighborhood, the area was considered one of the "rowdiest" of Cincinnati's inner-city locales. According to the 1943 WPA guide, the neighborhood was then described as follows: "Here lived the lowest whites and blacks - pimps, prostitutes, thieves, pig rackers, levee hands and their mistresses, and white women with colored lovers, in a buttery, evil fellowship. The decayed shacks and foul odors of this wretched bottom were no worse than the inhabitants, who stole, fought, made love, and got drunk with unfailing regularity."

 

 

It was also, however, home to many black churches, schools and civic organizations, providing key supporters for the local Underground Railroad efforts.  And nearby at the northwest corner of 5th and Broadway, the historic Wesley Chapel, erected in 1831, stood until 1974. A Georgian structure modeled after the founder of the English Methodist movement, John Wesley's own chapel at 47 City Road, London.  The chapel was Cincinnati's largest structure when originally constructed, its 1,200 seats providing the largest assembly hall west of the Alleghenies. It was here that William "Old Tippecanoe" Henry Harrison's funeral occurred (he of the ignominious 32 day presidential term).  The chapel also provided the venue for John Quincy Adams' address on the virtues of supporting an astronomical observatory in Cincinnati, in the process changing the nomenclature of one of our more distinctive neighborhoods (look out Mt. Ida…make way for Mt. Adams!). [/img]

 

Read the rest here- http://www.soapboxmedia.com/features/0126bucktown.aspx

I didn't get a picture, but the building at 1706 Lang Street has had a major collapse, and a big chunk of the top right facade and roof is now laying in the street. It's owned by Tom Vin LLC, they own one other building at 314 West McMicken. Both have a huge list of code violations on CAGIS.

 

Here's a link to the Google Streetview, it was a beautiful building.

 

 

Yeah I have very little hope for that building. The entire right side of the front wall on the second and third floors has fallen into the street. It's been in really bad shape for a really long time. It's a shame, but I don't know if anyone can fix it at this point.

Built in 1855.  This crap pisses me off.  Demolition by neglect. The city is just as much to blame as the owners.  NO enforcement of laws on the books.

 

A brick structure of similar age and style on Mulberry street had a corner section collapse a couple of years ago. (same issue-damaged gutters that allowed water to erode the mortar and weaken the wall) The city actually kicked in some funds to help get the collapsed section rebuilt. Maybe that precedent could be replicated here? This building was probably once in a solid row of similar buildings and the loss of it will further erode the historical context. But given the code violation history the city will probably be glad to get rid of it. There always seems to be an unlimited supply of "emergency" demolition funds and eager lines of contractors ready to power up their heavy demo equipment. Stabilization funds seem much harder to come by.

1706 Lang Street from earlier today:

 

That looks pretty bad. Braces would have to be set up from the basement to the top floor and the structure looks too fragile to do that safely. One might be able to work from a lift but again it doesn't look like it would take too much for a lot more to come down.  A structural engineer familiar with historic buildings needs to evaluate the structure-if cracks are forming on the sides, the building is toast; however, I don't see that from looking at the side. My gut feeling looking at this one is not very good but if the owner was cooperative and the city was willing, it could probably be stabilized. (but given the recent history of the property, that's not likely to happen) I suspect the cause is more a failing roof than a leaky gutter.

I've rebuilt much worse.  It can be stabilized for less than the demo would cost,... if the owner wants.

 

"A building that used to house the Liberty Lounge bar in the West End collapsed this morning. No one was inside at the time of the collapse, though several people had been working on it earlier, according to a fire official: http://cin.ci/1lrMyDj"

Well....that sucks.

I've rebuilt much worse.  It can be stabilized for less than the demo would cost,... if the owner wants.

 

The owner lives in the city.  Pressure can be applied if there's the will.

Can the city apply a lien on the owner's actual home if they do repair work on the Lang Street property?

I was inside the Liberty Lounge building in December 2012.  The owner was a WWII vet, very old who had no ability to take care of the building properly.  They did some stabilization at the time, but obviously not enough.  Water was still pouring from the roof down into the brick walls. The soaking rains we had this past week led to both of these walls collapsing. 

Can the city apply a lien on the owner's actual home if they do repair work on the Lang Street property?

 

I don't think so, because the Lang Street building is owned by two guys through an LLC. I'm fairly certain the first L protects their own homes. They clearly don't care about these buildings, I'm always curious why people like this own buildings in the first place. Even if they were sitting on them hoping to turn around and sell for a profit in 5-10 years, what good are they if they collapse?

City can do the stabilization work.  They would then send the bill to the LLC.  When no one pays they add it to the property tax bill for this property.  When the LLC pays their regular taxes but don't pay the lien (if they didn't pay the bill they probably won't pay the tax bill in full either), the property can be tax foreclosed upon (soonest this would be possible would be 9 months to a year after work happens).  However: City can't tax foreclose. Only County treasurer can and he doesn't care about this crap.  BUT. The LandBank 2 years ago also got the ability to tax foreclose with Treasurer's permission (he usually says sure, not my problem).  But they only take properties if someone is seriously ready to accept it immediately and rehab the building.  If you have the money, contact the Land Bank ASAP about beginning the entire (over 1 year) process.  That is essentially what is happening to the Moerlein mansion on Mulberry.