August 23, 2024Aug 23 FotoFocus shows off progress on $8M headquarters in Mount Auburn FotoFocus will celebrate its 15th anniversary next year with a big splash when it moves into its new $8 million building at the northwest corner of Liberty and Sycamore streets in Mount Auburn. The nonprofit organization that champions lens-based art and has hosted biennial exhibitions since 2012 has grown exponentially. When this year’s event, “Backstories,” debuts Sept. 26, it will feature 107 projects at 86 venues throughout Greater Cincinnati and locations in the Dayton and Columbus areas. While the biennial headlines will focus on exhibits such as a major Ansel Adams show at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Executive Director Katherine Ryckman Siegwarth and her team have kept an eye on the progress of the FotoFocus Center, a 14,700-square-foot, two-story structure that has been years in the making. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2024/08/23/fotofocus-new-headquarters-mt-auburn-backstories.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
August 30, 2024Aug 30 Anyone know the plans for Mount Auburn Baptist Church building 2147 Auburn Avenue ? Item 3 Per lastest historic packet. And a little digging a Trinity Church has bought the property for relocation plans https://trinityurc.com/latest-news/ascension-reformed-church-newsletter/ HISTORIC CONSERVATION BOARD 5th Floor Conference Room 805 Central Ave, II Centennial AGENDA Monday, September 9, 2024 at 3:00 pm CALL TO ORDER DISCUSSION ITEMS Item 1. 3450 OBSERVATORY PL COA2024033 The applicant requests a Certificate of Appropriateness to rehabilitate a residential structure, including a dormer addition in the Hyde Park Observatory Historic District. Applicant: BOWERMAN/MYERS ARCHITECTS Staff Report: DOUG OWEN Item 2. 12 GREEN ST COA2024032 The applicant requests a Certificate of Appropriateness to rehabilitate the existing structure, including first-floor renovations for a live/work unit, façade alterations, and the addition of rear decks in the Over the Rhine Historic District. Additionally, the applicant requests zoning relief related to rear yard setbacks and conditional use approval for a live/work unit. Applicant: SPAHR DEVELOPMENT Staff Report: DOUG OWEN Item 3. 2147 AUBURN AV COA2024031 The applicant requests a Certificate of Appropriateness to rehabilitate an existing structure, including demolishing a rear addition and constructing an outdoor area with fencing and signage in the Auburn Avenue Historic District. Applicant: CHAMPLIN ARCHITECTURE Staff Report: DOUG OWEN Edited August 30, 2024Aug 30 by ucnum1
August 30, 2024Aug 30 it still amazes me how telephone poles and wires are never there until you take a photo of them.
August 30, 2024Aug 30 The lack of utility burial during the Liberty Street Road Diet was...unfortunate.
August 30, 2024Aug 30 3 hours ago, ucnum1 said: Anyone know the plans for Mount Auburn Baptist Church building 2147 Auburn Avenue ? Item 3 Per lastest historic packet. And a little digging a Trinity Church has bought the property for relocation plans https://trinityurc.com/latest-news/ascension-reformed-church-newsletter/ Item 3. 2147 AUBURN AV COA2024031 The applicant requests a Certificate of Appropriateness to rehabilitate an existing structure, including demolishing a rear addition and constructing an outdoor area with fencing and signage in the Auburn Avenue Historic District. Applicant: CHAMPLIN ARCHITECTURE Staff Report: DOUG OWEN It looks like you found most of it. They do have a video talking about the church, well really starting a fundraiser for the building, on their Facebook page. It's a little confusing as their original name was Westside Reformed Church. Apparently they got the building for free from the now defunct Baptist church, on the condition that they stabilize the steeple and rear school building. Kind of odd given that the HCB packet mentions demolishing a rear addition. They have photos and videos of the building during the clip, and it looks really bad. It states that those 2 projects would cost them $500k, which they already have. Phase 2 would be renovating the main building, at a cost of $300k, which they were asking for donations. Phase 3 is fully renovating the school building, at an estimated cost of $700k. That said, the video is dated May 22, 2023...
August 31, 2024Aug 31 9 hours ago, RJohnson said: it still amazes me how telephone poles and wires are never there until you take a photo of them. Back when the CAC was built in 2003, they removed all of the utility poles around it for a day for the photographer. Photoshop existed then, but cloning out those poles would have taken many hours and not yielded perfect results. In this case, the photographer will need to rely on Photoshop's new generative fill - pretty ironic for a photography gallery opening in the AI era.
September 13, 2024Sep 13 I hope they do more than the rendering... Uptown Rentals plans second apartment project near UC By Brian Planalp – Staff reporter, Cincinnati Business Courier Sep 13, 2024 Uptown Rental Properties is planning a new apartment building near the University of Cincinnati in Mount Auburn, its second new mid-rise in that area. The five-story building would be constructed at 2443 Auburn Ave. on vacant land Uptown Rental owns under Auburn Land Holdings LLC, an entity through which the developer has acquired dozens of other properties in the area going back a decade. GBBN is the project architect. The project has lofty sustainability goals, according to Adam Fosnaugh, principal at GBBN, who spoke on the developer’s behalf at a city of Cincinnati Historic Conservation Board meeting Aug. 19. MORE
September 14, 2024Sep 14 22 hours ago, The_Cincinnati_Kid said: I hope they do more than the rendering... For Uptown rentals, I'm impressed.
September 14, 2024Sep 14 They have GBBN as the designers and it has similarities to other buildings GBBN has recently designed using different brick textures and an angle in the front facade. https://www.gbbn.com/news/willkommen-wins-excellence-in-masonry-design-award-celebrates-with-tmi/
September 14, 2024Sep 14 much rather this monolithic thing than the shape and material shifting cardboard boxes they usually build.
September 15, 2024Sep 15 I'm now seeing groups of UC students walking around in Mt. Auburn. It's a surreal sight seeing carefree college students walking around in what was until very recently a dark, sleazy area with vacant houses. There also is no history of college students living there, unlike Corryville, which was like Northside in the 80s and 90s until it went downhill in the 2000s and hit rock-bottom around 2010 with 24/7 street corner drug dealing and squatters living in foreclosed homes.
September 15, 2024Sep 15 those could be DMT bouncing machine elves. listen closer next time and see if they are not asmr-ing, "welcome, welcome, look at this. look at this. you can do it, you can do it...
September 15, 2024Sep 15 1 hour ago, RJohnson said: those could be DMT bouncing machine elves. listen closer next time and see if they are not asmr-ing, "welcome, welcome, look at this. look at this. you can do it, you can do it... Streetview doesn't capture the full glory of the neighborhood's oddest house. This guy has a large heard of free-ranging chickens that dart in and out of his unkempt bamboo thickets. Also, ladder after ladder left in place for month after month. The guy has a ladder for each of his half dozen unfinished projects. https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1240574,-84.5066262,3a,17y,276.88h,95.07t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sNmgvaNfuNKfS9u7Yc55PzA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DNmgvaNfuNKfS9u7Yc55PzA%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D267.84918%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDkxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
September 16, 2024Sep 16 4 hours ago, Lazarus said: Streetview doesn't capture the full glory of the neighborhood's oddest house. This guy has a large heard of free-ranging chickens that dart in and out of his unkempt bamboo thickets. Also, ladder after ladder left in place for month after month. The guy has a ladder for each of his half dozen unfinished projects. https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1240574,-84.5066262,3a,17y,276.88h,95.07t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sNmgvaNfuNKfS9u7Yc55PzA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DNmgvaNfuNKfS9u7Yc55PzA%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D267.84918%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MDkxMS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D my father died in 2007. we/he lived in the same house for over 80 years. the kids sold it. and when I discovered Google Earth of course I looked at our old house and neighborhood. I heard about the house from old friends and then watched over the years as the family who bought it renovated it. it's still under restoration. It happens to be in a historic neighborhood. I'm sure the family doesn't have tons of money. so sometimes life gets in the way. he/she/they have done an incredible job and it looks great. when I was in college a friend bought a house in Walnut Hills off gilbert ave. For some reason, he was not going to leave that house come hell or high water. so he lived in it through the winter. it was rundown and leaking. girlfriend left him, but he stayed. haven't a clue what happened to him. different strokes for different folks.
October 14, 2024Oct 14 Urban Sites opens new apartments in Mount Auburn: PHOTOS By Brian Planalp – Staff reporter, Cincinnati Business Courier Oct 14, 2024 The latest project in Cincinnati’s urban core is a hillside apartment complex in Mt. Auburn overlooking Over-the-Rhine and downtown. The Randall, from Over-the-Rhine-based Urban Sites, welcomed its first residents the first week of October. The development at 1777 Sycamore St. offers 14 units – a mix of one-bedroom units and two-bedroom units – across two buildings. MORE Edited October 14, 2024Oct 14 by The_Cincinnati_Kid
February 18Feb 18 Developers demolish last building at gateway intersection to University of Cincinnati The last building has been demolished at a large pivotal development site near the University of Cincinnati. Auburn Land Holdings LLC, a joint venture of Uptown Rental Properties and North American Properties, contracted with Evans Landscaping to tear down the building at 7 E. McMillan St. Dating from 1905, the building was a two-story, four-unit multifamily structure previously owned by the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority. The developers acquired it from CMHA last December for $500,000. They applied for the demolition permit three days after the sale cleared. The permit was issued Jan. 31. Demolition followed Feb. 15. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2025/02/18/uptown-rental-north-american-properties-demolition.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 19Feb 19 ^Generally speaking, I’m not a fan of megablock developments and I prefer historic buildings to get renovated, but in this specific case I am glad that the previously approved (~2021) plan didn’t get built. That plan was mostly situated in the *bottom* of the site (where the old tennis courts were) with just a few historic buildings along E McMillan and the painful gap caused by the demolished Mad Frog. Now that the developers have complete control along E McMillan, I hope the project can be designed to primarily face E McMillan and the corner with Vine St, since most residents will be walking to/from campus to the northwest.
February 19Feb 19 On 10/14/2024 at 8:01 AM, The_Cincinnati_Kid said: Urban Sites opens new apartments in Mount Auburn: PHOTOS The development at 1777 Sycamore St. offers 14 units – a mix of one-bedroom units and two-bedroom units – across two buildings. Was that formerly condos?
February 19Feb 19 1 hour ago, jwulsin said: ^Generally speaking, I’m not a fan of megablock developments and I prefer historic buildings to get renovated, but in this specific case I am glad that the previously approved (~2021) plan didn’t get built. That plan was mostly situated in the *bottom* of the site (where the old tennis courts were) with just a few historic buildings along E McMillan and the painful gap caused by the demolished Mad Frog. Now that the developers have complete control along E McMillan, I hope the project can be designed to primarily face E McMillan and the corner with Vine St, since most residents will be walking to/from campus to the northwest. It's probably not going to happen, because it would make too much sense, but with such a large number of students taking up residence on this block, it would make a lot of sense to build an upper-level walkway and do a pedestrian bridge from the Mad Frog corner diagonally across to the new u/c Prime Time development. The Mad Frog intersection is about 40 feet lower than the corner of Auburn Ave. at McMillan and it's about 40 feet lower than St. George Church.
March 17Mar 17 https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/planning/projects/active/proposed-zone-change-to-planned-development-pd-at-william-howard-taft-highland-and-mcmillian-in-mt-auburn/ Looks like they want to build a Chick-Fil-A in the big surface lot on the back side of the new Union on Taft apartments, across from Taco Bell and CP Cincy.
March 17Mar 17 What a terrible use of space. I'd rather see the block remain vacant for a decade than be a giant fast food parking lot.
March 17Mar 17 That's simultaneously a terrible idea for urban design and land use, but will also make like $10 million a year.
March 17Mar 17 They don't have a location at every highway exit unlike other fast food so people will drive in just to go there.
March 17Mar 17 Maybe they can put a Mike's carwash next to it like Oakley Station to make it a true exurban traffic nightmare.
March 17Mar 17 4 hours ago, ucgrady said: That's simultaneously a terrible idea for urban design and land use, but will also make like $10 million a year. Would be a very high grossing location for them for sure. That particular corner is already pretty lost with that corner store looking building and Taco Bell so I don’t mind this.
March 17Mar 17 22 minutes ago, 646empire said: Would be a very high grossing location for them for sure. That particular corner is already pretty lost with that corner store looking building and Taco Bell so I don’t mind this. This will make a killing on the post-football and basketball game crowds
March 17Mar 17 37 minutes ago, 646empire said: Would be a very high grossing location for them for sure. That particular corner is already pretty lost with that corner store looking building and Taco Bell so I don’t mind this. The corner store and the apartments both front the street. The city should be demanding something that properly fronts the street here. The Taco Bell can close in 10 years and be redeveloped into something better. We shouldn't settle for such a terrible use is space in what the city should be aiming to be a walkable community wedged between uptown and Walnut Hills.
March 17Mar 17 3 minutes ago, ryanlammi said: The corner store and the apartments both front the street. The city should be demanding something that properly fronts the street here. The Taco Bell can close in 10 years and be redeveloped into something better. We shouldn't settle for such a terrible use is space in what the city should be aiming to be a walkable community wedged between uptown and Walnut Hills. I get your point but I honestly don’t see demand for anything interesting at these particular corners for the next 15+ years which would put us at 2040 or so and if that’s case I don’t mind a chic restaurant. I lived a block away from this location years and years ago and it really is an odd ugly busy spot that seems ok for fast food.
March 17Mar 17 When that Taco Bell went up in like 2007 I remember thinking "Well at least one of them fought their way back" This was still when the husks of the previous fast food places still stood.
March 18Mar 18 17 hours ago, 646empire said: I get your point but I honestly don’t see demand for anything interesting at these particular corners for the next 15+ years which would put us at 2040 or so and if that’s case I don’t mind a chic restaurant. I lived a block away from this location years and years ago and it really is an odd ugly busy spot that seems ok for fast food. It is an "odd ugly busy spot"... and that's why it shouldn't remain surface parking or a car-centric drive-thru. There is housing already on the NW part of this parcel (which Uptown wants to split)... and presumably since they don't need all that surface parking for the existing housing, more housing could be built on this SE corner? When Uptown Rents developed the mixed-used building at 2899 Short Vine, they were able to put a Fifth Third bank with 3 drive-thru lanes (street view) on the corner, and apartments above. I think that's a successful design that combines a drive-thru with a building that appropriately faces the street. I wouldn't mind a drive-thru Chick-fil-A at this location if it were part of a larger, mixed-use building at the corner. Also, this is a reminder that McMillan needs major traffic calming to improve the pedestrian experience: two-way traffic, narrower lanes, street trees and curb bumpouts. Then it'll be safer and more attractive for pedestrians and cyclists.
March 18Mar 18 22 hours ago, ryanlammi said: The corner store and the apartments both front the street. The city should be demanding something that properly fronts the street here. The Taco Bell can close in 10 years and be redeveloped into something better. We shouldn't settle for such a terrible use is space in what the city should be aiming to be a walkable community wedged between uptown and Walnut Hills. Here's an example of the Chic-Fil-A at Town and Country in Kettering doing just that.
March 18Mar 18 They're proposing a double drive thru between the street and building. Also, I have no doubt this drive thru will back up onto highland and McMillan during busy hours and slow down cars and buses.
March 18Mar 18 In looking at this site, I realized that the large 2.6 acre surface parking lot to the west is still owned by Christ Hospital: https://wedge.hcauditor.org/view/re/0920001016500/2024/summary Anybody know if Christ is still using this parking lot?
March 18Mar 18 Some dude started repainting this house about two months ago, then quit: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1282008,-84.5070678,3a,41y,198.41h,95.59t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sAdbtvpA14fJ-sEWIczRcHw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-5.586146927069251%26panoid%3DAdbtvpA14fJ-sEWIczRcHw%26yaw%3D198.41231501433106!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDMxMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D It's been half-painted since January.
March 29Mar 29 On 3/18/2025 at 2:13 PM, ryanlammi said: They're proposing a double drive thru between the street and building. Also, I have no doubt this drive thru will back up onto highland and McMillan during busy hours and slow down cars and buses. This is featured in the planning commission packet released today for next Friday. Staff is recommending the zone change to PD be denied. During conversations with city staff, the site plan has changed a bit to included specific pedestrian circulation from the sidewalk, but they would not put the building at the corner of the lot, as requested by staff, because it would negatively impact traffic flow to the drive-through: Quote We also learned from CFA that their business has changed dramatically since covid and that they are closing locations that they opened just a few years ago because of design flow on the site/site size cannot accommodate the amount of traffic they drive. The traffic study is included in the packet but it feels like they are not helping their case here.
March 30Mar 30 21 hours ago, Dev said: but they would not put the building at the corner of the lot, as requested by staff, because it would negatively impact traffic flow to the drive-through: Uh, and Kettering can do it without issues? That seems strange. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
March 30Mar 30 13 hours ago, ColDayMan said: Uh, and Kettering can do it without issues? That seems strange. The lots are positioned and shaped differently, so it's plausible.
April 2Apr 2 The Uptown Rents proposal for the corner of McMillan and Vine (former Hollister Court site) went before the Zoning Examiner for a few minor zoning relief requests related to having units on the ground level and something about the setbacks (the requests were granted): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt47yo2CQyw It wasn't clear to me, so maybe I misunderstood it, but I think they needed to get a setback variance to bring the building out to the corner of Vine/McMillan... which seems exactly backwards from what the zoning should be in this area. This area should be encouraging buildings built to the corner! Due to the topography, there's quite a big difference between the high and low points on the site. There will be one primary vehicular entrance, mid-block along McMillan. At this location, each of the two buildings will be five stories of residential above grade. At the corner of Vine/McMillan, it will be 6 stories. At the southeast corner, where it overlooks a new park at the corner of Hollister and Vine, it will be 8 stories. A few more details that came up in the zoning hearing: 590 residential units ~715 parking spots in "underground" garages primary "front door" and lobby is on the northwest corner at intersection of Vine and McMillan they're dedicating some of the site along McMillan to the right-of-way to "give enough pedestrian width" there will be streetscape improvements (new curbs, new sidewalks, street trees, potentially street lighting) aiming to be open in time for 2028 school year Apologies for the low-resolution screen caps from the YouTube stream.
April 2Apr 2 With all the density coming to this intersection in a few years, it sure would be nice to have that Vine Street streetcar extension up and running...
April 2Apr 2 This is incredibly impressive and disappointing all at the same time. This site could easily support mid-rise. which is sorely needed. The OG zoning has a height limit of 100 feet.
April 2Apr 2 Just now, tonyt3524 said: I wonder how much longer that CVS & PNC Bank will last. That was my first thought when I saw the aerial view. They will look so out of place... and hopefully aren't long for this world.
April 2Apr 2 Just now, jwulsin said: That was my first thought when I saw the aerial view. They will look so out of place... and hopefully aren't long for this world. Agreed. 10/10 if I need a quick stop before going to work I'm stopping at the Walgreens or Kroger first. Maybe these sites could be available for that potential tru by Hilton that they discussed in the Kroger lot.
April 2Apr 2 Would rather have that hotel in the Kroger lot. Especially since it works perfectly to hide hotel-essential parking below Taft grade.
April 2Apr 2 Are there any plans for that now vacant lot that the dental specialist building used to be on East McMillan? I remember they were supposed to put something there but that has yet to come to fruition.
April 2Apr 2 I never got to see this in person. 122 E McMillan St https://maps.app.goo.gl/jegxWohD8nLwMfSU6 It was actually kind of a handsome building under the odd covering.
April 3Apr 3 Developers unveil 551-unit apartment project near the University of Cincinnati The largest chunk of vacant land near the University of Cincinnati will become a vast multifamily development more than a decade in the making. The unnamed project will bring 551 apartments, totaling 1,996 beds, in two buildings on a shared multi-level, 700-space garage podium to the southeast corner of Vine and East McMillan streets. The development team of Uptown Rental Properties and Chicago-based Core Spaces unveiled the project April 2 in a hearing before city of Cincinnati Zoning Hearing Examiner David Sturkey. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2025/04/03/student-housing-apartments-uptown-core-spaces.html "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
April 3Apr 3 18 minutes ago, ColDayMan said: Developers unveil 551-unit apartment project near the University of Cincinnati The largest chunk of vacant land near the University of Cincinnati will become a vast multifamily development more than a decade in the making. The unnamed project will bring 551 apartments, totaling 1,996 beds, in two buildings on a shared multi-level, 700-space garage podium to the southeast corner of Vine and East McMillan streets. The development team of Uptown Rental Properties and Chicago-based Core Spaces unveiled the project April 2 in a hearing before city of Cincinnati Zoning Hearing Examiner David Sturkey. More below: https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2025/04/03/student-housing-apartments-uptown-core-spaces.html All these mega block buildings are starting to make me sad.
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