March 13, 20196 yr ^ as far as the new tower, who knows what will happen. The whole plastic tree conservatory thing was just poking a little fun as one of the dumbest ideas from the 90s that was considered for that site. Don't worry, there will not be a plastic tree palace there.
March 13, 20196 yr It does appear that the 5/3 announcement on its HQ is just getting rid of the breezeway and Potbelly.
March 13, 20196 yr 8 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said: It does appear that the 5/3 announcement on its HQ is just getting rid of the breezeway and Potbelly. Ugh. Terrible for pedestrian connectivity and will reduce pedestrian activity in that corner of the square. www.cincinnatiideas.com
March 13, 20196 yr 10 minutes ago, thebillshark said: Ugh. Terrible for pedestrian connectivity and will reduce pedestrian activity in that corner of the square. I would imagine it would be like the connector to 6th street. It will be enclosed but open to the public to pass through. Still cuts the street off some since the general public does not know of it because it appears closed off. However, on the bright side, enclosing it will get rid of the wind tunnel that is currently there right now. Given that this is a museum and they want people to actually see it, it would make sense it is open to the public.
March 13, 20196 yr 4 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said: I would imagine it would be like the connector to 6th street. It will be enclosed but open to the public to pass through. Still cuts the street off some since the general public does not know of it because it appears closed off. However, on the bright side, enclosing it will get rid of the wind tunnel that is currently there right now. Given that this is a museum and they want people to actually see it, it would make sense it is open to the public. no will not be a connector. they plan on making a 2 story lobby extending the current lobby.
March 13, 20196 yr ^ Yes, but just because it is a 2 story lobby does not mean it will not connect through to Walnut street. It does mean that they will need to remove the Skywalk to Walnut if they are going to make it a 2 story lobby.
March 13, 20196 yr The Business Courier has a rendering of what the new two-story lobby will look like. It's a bigger change than what I was expecting.
March 13, 20196 yr 9 hours ago, jmecklenborg said: Reminded me of my idea to create a haunted house of famous rock star deaths. Elvis on the toilet. Mama Cass choking on that sandwich. Bon Scott freezing to death in his car
March 13, 20196 yr Fifth Third plans changes to Fountain Square HQ Fifth Third Bank will expand its lobby to create a new front door on its highly visible Fountain Square headquarters building. Downtown Cincinnati-based Fifth Third (Nasdaq: FITB), the largest locally based bank and the nation’s 17th biggest, said it will begin the lobby expansion in spring and plans to finish the project in 2020. The expanded lobby involves a renovation to the building’s first-floor retail space, a new two-story atrium and a new financial center, all of which will make the bank’s entrance on Fountain Square more prominent. The atrium will allow plenty of natural light into the space. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2019/03/13/fifth-third-plans-changes-to-fountain-square-hq.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
March 13, 20196 yr 5 minutes ago, ColDayMan said: Fifth Third plans changes to Fountain Square HQ Fifth Third Bank will expand its lobby to create a new front door on its highly visible Fountain Square headquarters building. Downtown Cincinnati-based Fifth Third (Nasdaq: FITB), the largest locally based bank and the nation’s 17th biggest, said it will begin the lobby expansion in spring and plans to finish the project in 2020. The expanded lobby involves a renovation to the building’s first-floor retail space, a new two-story atrium and a new financial center, all of which will make the bank’s entrance on Fountain Square more prominent. The atrium will allow plenty of natural light into the space. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2019/03/13/fifth-third-plans-changes-to-fountain-square-hq.html Hopefully potbelly will move into a new space downtown.
March 13, 20196 yr Does anyone know whether the enclosed walkway between the Square and 6th Street will remain open? I heard Potbelly is relocating into the former Mynt Martini/Jekyll space.
March 13, 20196 yr 1 hour ago, GCrites80s said: Bon Scott freezing to death in his car Malcom Young in a straight jacket.
March 14, 20196 yr @taestell - I don't know, but I sure hope they maintain some kind of public access to Walnut Street. As far as "front yards" for corporate headquarters go.... Fifth Third is pretty damn lucky to have Fountain Square. It wasn't always such an asset, but it has really grown into its own over the last 5-10 years, and I think this renovation/addition has to potential to even further enhance it.
March 14, 20196 yr The 5/3 building had always lacked the type of modern atrium that most modern office towers have. For example, the Atrium buildings, old Chiquita building, First Financial Center, PNC, all have large atrium spaces that are open for people to gather and meet before going up the elevators. The 5/3 building was a giant elevator banc. I think for security, this created a problem. It also is not really in line with those who consider class A office buildings in today's times. The downside is that I wish the construction were facing the Walnut street side because architecturally, I think the lines of the bullding look quite nice from the Ftn Sq side. Less people would notice it on the Walnut side.
March 14, 20196 yr 5 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said: I think the lines of the bullding look quite nice from the Ftn Sq side. Less people would notice it on the Walnut side. Yeah, I had the same thought about the vertical lines of the tower being disrupted by this addition at the base. I also worry a bit about Fountain Square looking more like a corporate plaza with all the proposed new 5/3 signage than a true civic gathering space. Perhaps it will be renamed 5/3 Square in coming years ?
March 14, 20196 yr 13 minutes ago, edale said: Perhaps it will be renamed 5/3 Square in coming years ? Even if they did, real actual people would say Fountain Square. Just like real actual Chicagoans still say Sears Tower.
March 14, 20196 yr 1 hour ago, jjakucyk said: Even if they did, real actual people would say Fountain Square. Just like real actual Chicagoans still say Sears Tower. I know, I was just saying that this new lobby/atrium/whatever further blurs the line between a privately owned corporate plaza and a true public gathering space. Of course 3CDC started the blurring of the lines when they took 'ownership' of the square, but they have done a good job at keeping it open as a place for celebrations, protests, concerts-- the usual activities that happen in public squares.
March 15, 20196 yr A year or two ago, I saw a concert at Fountain Square and before the band came on the local radio station personality acting as the MC that night came out to thank all of the sponsors which included 3CDC. Some girl near me in the crowd immediately shouted "Boo 3CDC! Boo gentrification!" How clueless do you have to be to boo 3CDC while attending a concert presented by 3CDC on a square managed by 3CDC while drinking a beer you bought from 3CDC?
March 15, 20196 yr 17 minutes ago, taestell said: A year or two ago, I saw a concert at Fountain Square and before the band came on the local radio station personality acting as the MC that night came out to thank all of the sponsors which included 3CDC. Some girl near me in the crowd immediately shouted "Boo 3CDC! Boo gentrification!" How clueless do you have to be to boo 3CDC while attending a concert presented by 3CDC on a square managed by 3CDC while drinking a beer you bought from 3CDC? Hot take: 3cdc is the most likely medium-to-large sized developer to listen to neighborhood concerns and also to have and use the resources to act on them. Edited March 15, 20196 yr by thebillshark www.cincinnatiideas.com
March 19, 20196 yr Its a shame the new design will remove the glass rainscreen along the annex building. I was an intern working on that project back in the day. It was not a cheap design, or implementation. To be removed with only a life of 12 years is just insane. I really enjoyed the vertical light bars. It helped bring attention to the square at night.
March 19, 20196 yr The area around fountain square is becoming even more depressing. Boi Na Braza the long time Brazilian steakhouse house announced it's closing at it's fountain square location. Hopefully 3cdc is hard at work...
March 19, 20196 yr Yeah for as well as the restaurant scene is doing in OTR it is doing just horrible around fountain square. That area needs a lot of work. At least 4th and Race is already under construction, that should provide a lot more foot traffic for the area. 3CDC has a big task remaking this area.
March 19, 20196 yr 1 hour ago, troeros said: The area around fountain square is becoming even more depressing. Boi Na Braza the long time Brazilian steakhouse house announced it's closing at it's fountain square location. Hopefully 3cdc is hard at work... What is the reason for closing? I have a lot of coworkers who really enjoyed that restaurant.
March 19, 20196 yr 16 minutes ago, Ucgrad2015 said: What is the reason for closing? I have a lot of coworkers who really enjoyed that restaurant. They are relocating, but haven't given details yet.
March 19, 20196 yr Perhaps an unpopular opinion, and certainly a biased one coming from a vegetarian, but I get sick just walking past Boi Na Braza, and I'm not entirely upset its closing. Even Jeff Ruby's has an inviting exterior. The way Boi Na Braza looks from the outside, I would imagine they hook you up to pumps that feed you the beef intravenously... or, at any rate, something just a bit less grotesque. Another restaurant should do well there. Like The Anchor's space, this is one of the prime spots in Cincinnati, and it can likely be better utilized.
March 19, 20196 yr I never went to Boi Na Braza, and the few times it was suggested as a work dinner location it was quickly shot down for being so incredibly meat-centric, so I think your opinion is not that uncommon. Perhaps in another location this will do well, but in downtown the only people looking to spend $50+ for a ton of meat are out of town conventioneers who can expense their meal, and they have many locations to choose from (Morton's, Ruth's Chris, Jeff Ruby's, Prime etc). to spend their steak money. On another note, 10 years ago there weren't any other South American dining options downtown, making this Brazilian steak house more of an option for foodies. Today foodies looking for somewhere nice to eat with South American flavors have multiple options from Mita's a block away to Maize or Che in OTR. This space will get filled, hopefully with something more lunch and visitor friendly due to it's prime corner location.
March 19, 20196 yr 39 minutes ago, Pdrome513 said: Perhaps an unpopular opinion, and certainly a biased one coming from a vegetarian, but I get sick just walking past Boi Na Braza, and I'm not entirely upset its closing. Even Jeff Ruby's has an inviting exterior. The way Boi Na Braza looks from the outside, I would imagine they hook you up to pumps that feed you the beef intravenously... or, at any rate, something just a bit less grotesque. Another restaurant should do well there. Like The Anchor's space, this is one of the prime spots in Cincinnati, and it can likely be better utilized. You can not like a place all you want but to say you got sick walking past it is pretty laughable.
March 19, 20196 yr 1 minute ago, Cincy513 said: You can not like a place all you want but to say you got sick walking past it is pretty laughable. Be that as it may.
March 19, 20196 yr National chains like Boi Na Braza (and the McCormick & Schmidt's across the street) are fighting an uphill battle, and I'm personally fine if they lose. At that price point, there is a lot of competition from local restaurants that most people would prefer. If you're going to drop that kind of money on a nice meal, why go to a generic, national chain? Go to Mita's, or Jean Robert's Table, or Boca, or Metropole. I'm not opposed to all chains, but a chain has to make a really strong argument if I'm going to spend top dollar on it over an individually owned/managed restaurant.
March 19, 20196 yr Just now, jwulsin said: National chains like Boi Na Braza (and the McCormick & Schmidt's across the street) are fighting an uphill battle, and I'm personally fine if they lose. At that price point, there is a lot of competition from local restaurants that most people would prefer. If you're going to drop that kind of money on a nice meal, why go to a generic, national chain? Go to Mita's, or Jean Robert's Table, or Boca, or Metropole. I'm not opposed to all chains, but a chain has to make a really strong argument if I'm going to spend top dollar on it over an individually owned/managed restaurant. In fairness, I wouldn't call Boi Na Braza a national chain. They have three locations total. The other two are in Texas.
March 19, 20196 yr It sort of seems like Carew Tower owners want to go in a different direction with this space? As Boi Na Braza indicated they will be announcing a new location.
March 19, 20196 yr 10 minutes ago, DEPACincy said: In fairness, I wouldn't call Boi Na Braza a national chain. They have three locations total. The other two are in Texas. That's fair. My point still stands that any restaurant (chain or otherwise) at that price point has to work really hard to justify itself when there are so many other good options.
March 19, 20196 yr 1 minute ago, jwulsin said: That's fair. My point still stands that any restaurant (chain or otherwise) at that price point has to work really hard to justify itself when there are so many other good options. Yea, I think a lot of people would be surprised to learn it isn't a national chain. It definitely has the feel of one.
March 19, 20196 yr I wasn't aware that Mitas and Boca were Brazilian steakhouses. Boi Na Braza was a unique concept in Cincinnati- it's not like there's a Fogo de Chau down the street or something. Fwiw, I'm not really a fan of Brazilian steakhouses, but I'd probably go to BnB over Metropole. Just because a place is independently owned and operated doesn't make it good.
March 19, 20196 yr It's all about preference obviously, but Metropole, Mitas and Boca have varied menus with ever changing items and enough diversity that multiple people in a group can be happy. Boi Na Braza has meats, and focuses on those meats. I know "they have a good salad bar too", but seriously people go there to eat their money's worth of meats.
March 27, 20196 yr Graeter's expanding Fountain Square ice cream parlor The ice cream parlor synonymous with Cincinnati is undergoing an upgrade and expansion at its Fountain Square location starting this summer. Graeter's Fountain Square location at 511 Walnut St. will undergo a renovation and expansion, which will see it closed from just after Labor Day until it reopens around the holidays, the company's chief of retail operations, Chip Graeter, told me. "Fountain Square has always been a great store for us." Graeter said. "It's had some challenges because it's a little smaller, but Fifth-Third came to us with their new lobby concept and it allowed for us to expand our store." Cont "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
April 1, 20196 yr 3CDC signs year-round corporate sponsor for Fountain Square events Fifth Third Bancorp has signed a sponsorship deal with the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. to provide free programming at Fountain Square throughout the year. The multi-year agreement, which is the first of its kind, includes sponsorship of a variety of events including markets in the spring, concerts in the summer and the ice rink in the winter. Previous sponsorships had been focused solely on individual events at the Square. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2019/04/01/3cdc-signs-year-round-corporate-sponsor-for.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 1, 20196 yr On 3/14/2019 at 2:44 PM, edale said: I also worry a bit about Fountain Square looking more like a corporate plaza with all the proposed new 5/3 signage than a true civic gathering space. Perhaps it will be renamed 5/3 Square in coming years ? Now featuring the Fifth Third Bank concert series!
April 1, 20196 yr I heard boi na braza didn't choose to leave their location but was forced to by carew tower leasing management. I can't imagine why that could have happened though?
April 1, 20196 yr 24 minutes ago, troeros said: I heard boi na braza didn't choose to leave their location but was forced to by carew tower leasing management. I can't imagine why that could have happened though? I feel like that corner of Carew Tower has something missing. It's one of the busiest corners in the city, directly opposite Fountain Square, but there's little activity. The restaurant has dark windows, vinyl covering most of them, and one small entrance on Vine. It's hard to tell if it's open or not (for example, I've worked downtown for 8 years and walk by daily yet I couldn't tell you if they do lunch or not without looking it up). If that corner of the building was opened up to both the street and arcade with a few fast-casual places or even an open seating food court area it would be an amazing asset.
April 1, 20196 yr 12 minutes ago, Ram23 said: I feel like that corner of Carew Tower has something missing. It's one of the busiest corners in the city, directly opposite Fountain Square, but there's little activity. The restaurant has dark windows, vinyl covering most of them, and one small entrance on Vine. It's hard to tell if it's open or not (for example, I've worked downtown for 8 years and walk by daily yet I couldn't tell you if they do lunch or not without looking it up). If that corner of the building was opened up to both the street and arcade with a few fast-casual places or even an open seating food court area it would be an amazing asset. They had really limited hours to, they would open at like 5pm and close at 10 on the weekdays. I don't really understand how a restaurant can stay profitable staying open for such a minimal amount of hours like that?
April 1, 20196 yr 48 minutes ago, troeros said: They had really limited hours to, they would open at like 5pm and close at 10 on the weekdays. I don't really understand how a restaurant can stay profitable staying open for such a minimal amount of hours like that? A lot of people in the restaurant business are really dumb. It's surprisingly easy to pry large sums of money from investors to open a restaurant and then build a chain. The guy organizing the whole thing is like a real estate syndicator - he puts none of his own money in but the deal is structured so that he has equity and can get out. After he leaves, the investors are left holding the bag and everything falls apart because none of them know anything about restaurants and are scammed by a sweet-talking GM.
April 2, 20196 yr 2 hours ago, troeros said: I heard boi na braza didn't choose to leave their location but was forced to by carew tower leasing management. I can't imagine why that could have happened though? It's interesting you say that because Hathaway's was going to close as well, but apparently they worked something out and is going to stay open for now. Edited April 2, 20196 yr by LAW 21
April 2, 20196 yr Landlords and tenants decide not to renew leases for all sorts of reasons. Remember when Servatii closed their Fountain Square location and everyone started reading too much into it, and then a few months later we learned that Fifth Third was renovating their lobby and Greater's was expanding into the old Servatii space? About two years ago, Carew Tower was divided into three condominiums, meaning that the office, retail, and hotel portions of the building are now separate units that can be more easily bought/sold/redeveloped. I would imagine they are now taking a fresh look at the retail space and figuring out what the right mix of businesses should be. Maybe they have a new tenant in mind for the Boi Na Braza space already, or maybe they just felt that it wasn't a good fit for what they want Carew to become.
April 2, 20196 yr 1 hour ago, LAW 21 said: It's interesting you say that because Hathaway's was going to close as well, but apparently they worked something out and is going to stay open for now. Yeah except Hathaway's is nasty anymore. I wasn't sad to see them go even though I grew up going there as a kid.
April 2, 20196 yr 2 hours ago, savadams13 said: Yeah except Hathaway's is nasty anymore. I wasn't sad to see them go even though I grew up going there as a kid. Is it? I've never been there, but it seems to get generally good reviews.
April 2, 20196 yr 8 hours ago, LAW 21 said: Is it? I've never been there, but it seems to get generally good reviews. I wouldn't say it is nasty, but the quality is typical diner. There is nothing special about it in my opinion.
April 2, 20196 yr 15 minutes ago, DEPACincy said: I wouldn't say it is nasty, but the quality is typical diner. There is nothing special about it in my opinion. It used to be much better around say 20 years ago. I agree though, there is something about it that has gone down in quality. I would never have called the food great, it was a greasy diner after all, but overall quality has gone down
April 2, 20196 yr Hathaway's is still open. Stopped in Friday for a Pink Cloud (milkshake). The lady running the counter was mum on closing/staying open. Auntie Anne's just opened next door to them... "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
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