Middle Earth will be developing in Camp Washington at 1326 Monmouth.  They received tax credits for 8 years for their $8.6M project involving 60 units of market-rate housing, a parking garage, gated surface parking and light industrial.

 

EDIT: I was just looking around and I noticed that Middle Earth owns a ton of properties on Colerain Ave. in Camp Washington, mostly around the Marshall Ave. area.

UPDATE on Middle Earth's Camp Washington plan, from the 3/23/05 minutes of city council:

 

Item #: 200509670

ORDINANCE (EMERGENCY) submitted by Valerie A. Lemmie, City Manager, on 3/9/2005, approving and authorizing the execution of a Community Reinvestment Area Tax Exemption Agreement with Middle Earth 3301 Colerain Avenue LLC, thereby authorizing real property tax exemption for a period of eight years in connection with the renovation and remodeling of 60 units of market-rate residential housing, a parking garage facility, a gated surface parking area and a light industrial building located at 1326 Monmouth Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45225, aka 3301 Colerain Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45225, at an estimated aggregate cost of $8,560,000, in the City of Cincinnati Community Reinvestment Area.

 

Item Status/Referral/Recommendations:

PASS EMERGENCY

*** PASSED EMERGENCY 0109-2005

MS. REECE  Y MR. SMITHERMAN  Y MR. TARBELL  A MS. COLE  Y MR. CRANLEY  Y MR. CROWLEY  Y MR. MALONE  Y MR. MONZEL  Y MR. PEPPER  Y

Other Camp Washington news...

 

The 5/3 bank is going to have 5 bays.  Whoopty-do, right?

 

They are also working on a Camp Washington Business District Redevlopment and Market Feasibility Study.

From the Flats to the lofts

Industrial building will become apartment complex

By Mike Boyer | Enquirer staff writer

 

A vacant, nearly century-old industrial building in this Cincinnati neighborhood is getting new life as a trendy, loft-style apartment complex.  Machine Flats, at 3301 Colerain Ave., is the newest project of Middle Earth Developers Inc., which specializes in historic residential and mixed-use developments in and around downtown Cincinnati.

 

Middle Earth has teamed up with U.S. Bank on the $7.2 million project to convert the four-story brick building at Colerain and Monmouth Street, just west of Clifton, into 60 apartments with wood plank floors, exposed beams and 15-foot ceilings.  The building was once the home of a dress factory and a parachute maker during World War II.

 

The project is the latest sign of redevelopment in Camp Washington, a 125-year-old blue-collar community that was once home to some of Cincinnati's largest industries.  Brothers Jay and Tim Voss, who formed Middle Earth in 1992, think the neighborhood's proximity to University of Cincinnati and other areas and its industrial feel will be an attraction for young professionals looking for loft-style living.

 

Read full article here:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050814/NEWS01/508140382/-1/back01

Great news! I wonder how significant the New Market credits are compared to the $7.2M cost of the renovation?

The Middle Earth page is up and includes floor plans:

http://www.medevelopers.com/machine_flats.asp

 

it is rumored that occupancy @ machine flats may be available as early as september.

 

i don't know much about the area so i was doing some reading and studying of maps. i realized there's some correctional fascility across the street from it. a half-way house i guess? i was actually thinking of looking into it but the half-way house thing kind of makes me wonder

Correctional facility?  Where?  The only halfway house/facility I know of in the area is the branch of the Talbert House over on Spring Grove near Hopple.

It's some kind of county juvenile detention facility, I think.

This is located across the street of the site of the now demolished workhouse http://www.hcso.org/history/WorkhouseHistory.shtm.  After the workhouse was torn down, a smaller, modern facility was built.

I had no idea it was there!  I guess I learned something today.

I did some digging, the facility is the 'River City Correctional Center'

 

http://www.hamilton-co.org/common_pleas/rivercity.htm

 

It's on the opposite corner from Machine Flats. I'd think that would create problems finding residents

 

What's the rest of the neighborhood like? I was going to cruise over there this weekend and see what it's like, but the correctional center kind of ruins the idea of living there for me.

The jail is not that big of a deal.  Even when the workhouse was there, there were lots of homes with backyards right up against the brick wall of the jail yard.  However, there is lots of traffic at I75 and Hopple street, and lots of industrial uses to the west along Spring Grove and the Mill Creek.  The Kroger's on Colerain just closed, so you would have to drive to Clifton or Mitchell Avenue.  The area is near everything, but is also a heavy industrial area.  I like it, but not for everyone.  As I recall, they have a pretty active Community Council, that is advocating for better housing etc...

It's for non-violent felony offenders (typically drug criminals).  People typically stay there for 4 to 6 months.  From the highway, it's a red-trimmed building near the salt shed.  I had completely forgotten about it so I went over today and checked it out.

 

It's separated from Machine Flats by a park.

 

Jimmy Skinner describes the neighborhood very well.  It's heavily industrial, though there aren't as many industrial uses at that end of CW.  The neighborhood business district (if you can call it that), is mostly along Colerain and south of Hopple, so any re-invigoration of a local neighborhood business district will be away from Machine Flats.  The Machine Flats location does provide quick access out of the area, though--provided you have a car.

 

The Camp Washington CC is very active.  Their CDC is very active and is almost always in the process of rehabbing a local house.  They've completed several recently that look really great.  The neighborhood still suffers from derelict properties, though, but I think it has the potential to become a very attractive area for people who like genuine mixed-use neighborhoods.

 

Sorry about the rant, there....I just find it to be one of the more intriguing neighborhoods.

 

P.S> I could see a smaller grocery filling the Kroger spot in the future.  What's funny is that Machine Flats was announced something like two days after Kroger closed!

i wandered over to camp washington today and snapped some shots around the machine flats building. looks like a lot of work has to be done yet, but it does look good so far.

 

grasscat, you're right. if you don't know the jail/whatever is there, you wouldn't even notice it. the park is quite large and shields you from it. the rest of the area directly around machine flats is pretty rough and could use some work. hopefully this project will be the catalyst for it. the area south of the park looks like it's improving quite a bit.

 

enough rambling, here are some pics! just a quick gallery i tossed up, not very pretty

 

http://www.ciph3r.net/~dan/machine_flats/machine_flats.html

Hey...good stuff!  I hate to see the Crosley building all lonely like that, though.  :(

A little more on the background of the building (I learned something!)

 

Fashion Frocks returns to vogue

Developer reviving historic factory site

By Allen Howard

Enquirer staff writer

 

If a woman knocked on your door between 1925 and 1957 selling dresses, chances are it was a saleswoman from Fashion Frocks Manufacturing in Camp Washington.  Using tens of thousands of women as door-to-door sales representatives, Fashion Frocks became the largest U.S. dress manufacturer in the 1940s, according to the Cincinnati Historical Society.

 

Because of the company's role in the garment industry, the company's building is being nominated for the National Register of Historic Places.  The nomination process was begun by Camp Washington-based Middle Earth Properties, which bought the former Fashion Frocks Inc. complex last year.

 

Read full article here:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050814/NEWS01/508140382/-1/back01

Very interesting history.  However, I would not call the building "undistinguished".  I stopped by over the weekend and was impressed with the work going on inside as well as the restoration of the huge double-hung windows!  I was also struck by how quiet that part of Camp Washington is.  Colerain dead-ends into the freeway and it is thus traffic-free in this block.  Good job Middle Earth!

i meant to post this a while ago, but i got a tour of the building and it is coming along pretty quickly. i toured it about 2 weeks ago. its far from done, but the inside all framed up and some of the floors are almost done with drywall. i'm not sure what the final windows will be. the original windows are still there and in fairly bad shape. a few on the south end were replaced by a previous owner, so you have this odd mix of old/new windows that aren't even the same style. b/c this is a historic building they are supposed to put original 'style' windows back in, but it wasn't clear whether the originals were getting fixed or replaced. if they just fix the old ones and paint them it will be a nightmare to heat/cool since pretty much every exterior wall is covered with windows.

 

the layout of the units are great. they even have closets and washer/dryer hookups (a big deal, i live at kinsey and we have neither of those!). the flooring is the original wood floors, they will be refinished. interiors have exposed brick, but that hasn't been stripped and sealed yet. parking is in the basement, which seems kinda of iffy. the tendency to use the basement of these buildings for parking usually turns out to be a problem. its horrible at kinsey, but maybe this will work out better. its a larger basement, but its a sea of huge steel columns. not as bad as kinsey, but still difficult. i think there will be outside parking, but right now the entire site is a mess with construction so it's hard to say what the final look and feel of it will be. hopefully it will all be repaved and nicely landscaped. maybe a nice black iron fence around the property.

 

i think the hot lofts will be the 1st floor (which has insane ceiling height and really nice architectural elements). 2 and 3 are nice, but smaller lofts. the 4th floor gains use of the extra windows that run along a raise section of the roof. they are all nice though. i'd like to get in one of the south end units, but i'm waiting for the model unit to get completed before i make any decisions.

 

here's a layout of the site in case anyone is interested. i colored and marked the various buildings on the site. MED is using the large building to the south of the site as their office/storage/etc. its a HUGE building. i am not sure about the small building between their offices and machine flats (in yellow). there are also a few other peripheral buildings around the site (in yellow) that i'm not sure about. the factory had it's own power plant which will be turned into a rec room for the building. should be very cool.

 

 

 

^ Thanks!

Here are a few pics from 9/21/05:

 

A guy on a crane:

 

The west-facing side:

 

You can see some of the studs as well as some areas with drywall in this pic:

 

It appears that they have most of the new windows in except for the first floor and a few other parts of the building.  They have also installed a sign out front.  Here are a few pics from a few days ago:

 

 

 

 

 

Update:

 

 

Lofty Ambitions

 

CAMP WASHINGTON - What's billed as Cincinnati's first true industrial loft apartment project, Machine Flats in Camp Washington, has begun leasing and already has 10 residents. The $7.2 million project by Middle Earth Developers Inc., part of the resurgence in the old industrial neighborhood just west of Interstate 75, has turned the four-story former Oesterlein Machine Co. building at Colerain Avenue and Monmouth Street into 60, one-bedroom loft-style apartments. Each unit has exposed brick and ductwork, wide plank floors, factory-style windows and 15-foot ceilings. Leasing from $700 to $995 a month, each unit also includes custom cabinetry and modern appliances and access to a ground-floor parking garage. Middle Earth, which has done more than a dozen historic renovations around Cincinnati, has moved its offices to the building and is negotiating with potential commercial tenants for office and warehouse space behind the old factory.

 

For more information go to www.medevelopers.com and click on Machine Flats.

 

Michael Boyer

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060528/BIZ01/605280310/1076/rss01

 

This project has been complete for some time:

 

The American Sign Museum will also be moving in to this building soon with the apartments somewhere.

These are very-very impressive!

Wow! I had no idea about this project.

Cool.