http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/print-edition/2012/03/09/plan-to-convert-old-st-george-into.html?ana=e_ph&page=all

Plan to convert Old St. George into boutique hotel gets new life

Premium content from Business Courier by Dan Monk, Senior Staff Reporter

Date: Friday, March 9, 2012, 6:00am EST - Last Modified: Friday, March 9, 2012, 9:13am EST

 

A thawing economy and improved prospects for federal tax credits have prompted developers to revive plans for a boutique hotel in the Old St. George Church on Calhoun Avenue.

 

“People tell me I have the patience gene,” said Joe Shafran, CEO of Cleveland-based Paran Management Co. Ltd. “I know this is right. I know this will be successful.”

 

Shafran has been working since 2008 with veteran Cincinnati developer Doug Hine on the $22 million renovation. Old St. George is an iconic Clifton Heights church and monastery, designed by renowned architect Samuel Hannaford and dedicated in 1874. The church closed in 1993 as part of a three-parish merger.

 

Hine said the project involves “a museum-quality restoration” of the property, including the reconstruction of its twin spires, damaged in a 2008 fire.

 

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http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/print-edition/2012/03/09/old-st-george-church-hotel-design.html?ana=e_ph

Old St. George Church hotel design calls for ‘wing’

Premium content from Business Courier by Dan Monk, Senior Staff Reporter

Date: Friday, March 9, 2012, 6:00am EST - Last Modified: Friday, March 9, 2012, 9:17am EST

 

The conversion of Old St. George into a boutique hotel will involve new construction as well as historic preservation.

 

“If you’re standing in front of the church, to your right or to the east is a parking lot,” said developer Doug Hine. “We’ll build a wing of rooms on that parking lot, with a courtyard in between.”

 

The wing will be built above a 60-car parking platform. The wing is intended to be similar to a three-story “Teachers College,” that was once part of the site but was demolished long ago.

Sounds amazing.  I hope it happens.

Old St. George Church hotel design calls for ‘wing’

 

 

The conversion of Old St. George into a boutique hotel will involve new construction as well as historic preservation.

 

“If you’re standing in front of the church, to your right or to the east is a parking lot,” said developer Doug Hine. “We’ll build a wing of rooms on that parking lot, with a courtyard in between.”

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/print-edition/2012/03/09/old-st-george-church-hotel-design.html

If you want to know why St. George went out of business in the first place, look at the density of the housing that is now UC's parking garages and athletic fields.  I've always been at a los for why UC expanded into Corryville and not north into more of Burnett Woods, or simply built more densely. 

It's much easier to build out into a neighborhood where you can buy out property owners than it is to try to decommission park land.  Could you imagine if someone today wanted to build in Eden Park or Burnett Woods or Ault Park?  Also, when UC got really aggressive about expansion it was when the tower in a park with plenty of parking was the pinnacle of high design, and expansion of the university could be rationalized as urban renewal.  The same goes for the EPA building and the medical campus.  In the 60s and 70s, clearing out dense and "blighted" neighborhoods and decommissioning city streets was seen as a big win.

Yeah but UC was built in Burnett Woods to begin with.  The farm originally extended from Calhoun north to Jefferson.  They did extend north into the park in the 60s with MLK. 

The wing will be built above a 60-car parking platform. The wing is intended to be similar to a three-story “Teachers College,” that was once part of the site but was demolished long ago.

 

I LOVE everything about this proposal EXCEPT for that last line.  Faux historic always looks like garbage.  I'm hoping he's only intending the new wing to be "similar" in scale.  A contemporary addition juxtaposed with the historic church would be successful and favorable in my opinion.

On page 3 of this CUF Neighborhood Association newsletter, it says the contract for work on Old St. George has been signed. I'm assuming this is for the hotel?

 

http://www.cufna.org/Newsletter6_12.pdf

^ That link doesn't seem to be working.... But it doesn't matter because I have heard there is scaffolding up around Old St. George now and they are working on the roof. I will try to swing by and take some pictures today after work since I will be in the area. Good news.

When can we expect an official announcement on the hotel? Have they secured financing?

Last night I saw that work of some kind was underway on the roof.

Scaffolding is set up on the south and east side of the building. Here are some pictures I took of the work on the roof. Not sure what work is being done, but I imagine all of the roof is being repaired to prevent further damage from the elements.

 

 

 

 

June 8, 2014:

 

Just heard that Crossroads Community Church closed on this building and will restore the steeples. 

So that means two things.

 

1) No more boutique hotel.

2) The continued spread of megachurches continues and will now infect the UC area.

2) The continued spread of megachurches continues and will now infect the UC area.

 

Yes, it is a tragedy that a church is restoring an old church.  It really should have been another craft brewery or "reception hall."

Just heard that Crossroads Community Church closed on this building and will restore the steeples.

 

I think this is an appropriate response: "Whoa, if true."

 

While I liked the idea of this becoming a boutique hotel its hard to argue with any entity (even if it is a mega church) that is willing to step up and preserve the building including restoring the steeples. Sad to say I watched them burn down from my front stoop.

Just heard that Crossroads Community Church closed on this building and will restore the steeples.

 

I think this is an appropriate response: "Whoa, if true."

 

While I liked the idea of this becoming a boutique hotel its hard to argue with any entity (even if it is a mega church) that is willing to step up and preserve the building including restoring the steeples. Sad to say I watched them burn down from my front stoop.

 

Yeah, they're going to have the resources to preserve and restore the building, which is a huge win. 

 

BTW, how many franchise locations can a non-denominational church have before it's considered a denomination?  :-)

Megachurch, cult, whatever - the building is a beautiful, historic church, and I'm excited to hear it will finally be repaired. I don't go to church, but I appreciate when old, abandoned buildings can be restored to function as they were originally intended to. Not everything needs to be an adapted reuse. Though there will always be something interesting in the inherit dichotomy of adaptively reused churches - I wasn't raised on religion at all but the contrast between religious ornamentation and tiny women's panties in the Urban Outfitters across the street from this place is slightly amusing to me.

 

 

2) The continued spread of megachurches continues and will now infect the UC area.

 

Yes, it is a tragedy that a church is restoring an old church.  It really should have been another craft brewery or "reception hall."

 

Its awesome that someone is restoring the chruch.  Megachurches from conservative christian fundamentalists sects disturb me though.  Even though Crossroads tries to dress up evengelicalism in a "hip young" facade, its still evangelical fundamentalism - I normally don't have problems with religions, but these sorts tend to have problems with everyones religions and try to force there's down everyone's throat and that is a problem.

I'm just thrilled the church will be put back to an active use and that the spires are getting restored! The twin towers of St. George were an icon in the visual landscape of uptown, and I'm very glad to have them back. Plus, I think of the effect that Crossroads will have on businesses in the area, particularly on otherwise slow Sunday mornings, will be positive. I bet Taste of Belgium, Hangover Easy, and other breakfast spots in the area are particularly excited about this news.

 

Also, this puts to rest Jmeck's conspiracy theory about Crossroads taking over Bogarts...

Hey, you never know... what if they became major advocates to get the streetcar Uptown?

^-Another cool thing for an orgnization I have a lot of skepticism towards - and them advocating for that wouldn't change my view.

Alright let's lay off the Crossroads attacks. Let's talk about the actual plans and the building here. If you want to attack Crossroads do it in the Religion thread, create a thread, or do it in Jake's hipster thread for all I care, but let's not make it ugly. Especially on a project discussion.

^^ No they don't.

 

Say what you want about Crossroads (I have some issues with them myself) but they do incredible things for this community.

Crossroads claims to not be a church.

 

Does that mean they pay taxes?

I don't know much about Cross Roads but I have attended many non-denominational churches in the past, mainly the Vineyard type churches.  There is a very small Vineyard Cincinnati that was on Short Vine in a coffee shop, but not sure if they are still there.  A larger one is up in the Northern Suburbs somewhere but not close to the size of Crossroads.

 

I think non-denominational  would be less cultish to an outsider than the Episcopal or Catholic Church.  I don't have anything against Catholics or Episcopalians, but look at all molestations that did / are going on through the church, alone.  Sorry if I ruffled any feathers with that.  I grew up Episcopalian!

 

Non-denominational churches I have been to focus mostly on praise / worship songs with Bible based sermons.  Not much ritual besides tithing and body and blood of Christ and coffee at the end.

I went to a crossroads service once and it happened to be baptism day. Essentially, they had a large above ground pool on the floor of their gymnasium. A line of people would wait to get in, and then they would get baptized. On the other side of the pool someone was waiting for them with a microphone, stopping them and asking, "how do you feel? Are you saved?" Etc. We could watch them suddenly become saved on the big screen. It was an incredibly surreal experience.

I just find it interesting that a mega church would go for a building like Old St. George.  Seems like they usually just have their huge warehouse-church buildings and possibly some small neighborhood storefront locations.  This is something very much in between.  Is there precedent in other cities for taking over such a large neighborhood/regional church building like this? 

Crossroads claims to not be a church.

 

What I saw of one of their "services" involved power point presentations on a stage with fake plants.  Some guy in a sweater and a Tony Robbins headset breaking down the audience with lead-ons like "you know how sometimes you feel like....".  I'm like no I don't ever feel like that because I smoke crack and worship Satan.   

 

I enjoy this site and mainly just use it to stay caught up on the newest development going on and rarely have much to add myself, but honestly jmecklenborg, what's up with all the snippy comments throughout the threads generally aimed at people who seem like they're probably not "just like you"?  There's a place for everyone and while your comments may make you feel better about yourself they belittle you in the eyes of others and take away from the quality of these threads.  I don't believe that every project or person throughout the tri-state aims to be "jmecklenborg-approved".  I don't mean to attack but I've noticed on multiple threads your empty comments generally detract from the discussion.

^This.

Article in the Enquirer confirms it:

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/03/08/crossroads-expanding-to-clifton/24611011/

It's a church taking over an abandoned church. They're restoring a historic landmark back to its intended use. I'm not even Christian and I'm elated.

 

There are some good pictures inside the church here:

https://crossroadsosg.com/

They're going to invest $11M to rehab the building. Absolutely nothing to scoff at and good for them for stepping up. I'm excited to see the steeples restored and for the businesses in that corridor to benefit from the increased activity. Heck, perhaps this will be the push needed to speed up the development of the Calhoun-Vine-McMillan corner.

^That would be amazing. Entering the UC area from Taft is such a sloppy entrance to a major university. Having the steeples restored and the increased demand for business could really push towards finishing the redevelopment of all those empty lots that are there now.

 

Edit: Never mind, they're going to turn a beautiful church into a nice building with tacky spires.

 

 

There are some good pictures inside the church here:

https://crossroadsosg.com/

 

Jesus cries whenever someone refers to Clifton Heights or Corryville as "Clifton".

The biggest offenders are Mio's Clifton and Taste of Belgium Clifton. On Short Vine.

The biggest offenders are Mio's Clifton and Taste of Belgium Clifton. On Short Vine.

 

I’d bet that a majority of people call everything remotely close to UC “Clifton.” If I tell people I live in CUF, no one knows what that is. I always have to pause for a second before I even remember which one of the “Heights” I actually live in (Clifton Heights). This church is in the weird part of campus that is apparently just called “Heights,” and if they said this church was in “Heights” absolutely no one would know where that is.

 

Sometimes I think we should seriously consider renaming both CUF and Heights to just “Clifton Heights” or else no one is ever going to bother with distinguishing between them. Though Corryville is a different story, those on Short Vine have no excuse.

 

If people are confused, the correct solution is to refer to the entire area as "Uptown". Referring to Corryville, Clifton Heights/CUF, or Mt. Auburn as "Clifton" is incorrect. I can understand visitors getting confused, but people who own businesses in these neighborhoods have no excuse for getting it wrong. The Enquirer and local TV stations have no excuse for getting it wrong.

The biggest offenders are Mio's Clifton and Taste of Belgium Clifton. On Short Vine.

 

I’d bet that a majority of people call everything remotely close to UC “Clifton.” If I tell people I live in CUF, no one knows what that is. I always have to pause for a second before I even remember which one of the “Heights” I actually live in (Clifton Heights). This church is in the weird part of campus that is apparently just called “Heights,” and if they said this church was in “Heights” absolutely no one would know where that is.

 

Sometimes I think we should seriously consider renaming both CUF and Heights to just “Clifton Heights” or else no one is ever going to bother with distinguishing between them. Though Corryville is a different story, those on Short Vine have no excuse.

 

 

Then of course there is facebook that (at least used to) think everything in the central parts of Cincy is located in Clifton Ohio.  Lets just move the old mill down there ;)

----

 

11Million dollars though towards proselytizing hmmm...  Yes its an awesome old church, but I get wary of evangelical organizations with that kind of money.  They will get political eventually, brace yourselves.

 

Also I think from a moral and Christian perspective those large sums of money probably should be used for outreach to the poor and what not - actually helping people in need, though restoring what could have been an dead old church/landmark IS giving back to the community at least.

Did Crossroads also buy the surface parking lot to the east of Old St George, which is partially owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati? I'm curious how Crossroads will manage parking throughout the week... will they work with UC to use the big garage right behind them... or work with the Catholic Church to use their surface lot.

 

 

 

 

When the boutique hotel plan was in the works, guests were going to be able to park in the UC garage. A lot of the space in that garage is taken up by employees who work in the attached Edwards Center, and most of them are M-F 9-5 type jobs. So there should be plenty of available parking on weekends.

The biggest offenders are Mio's Clifton and Taste of Belgium Clifton. On Short Vine.

 

Actually I think the biggest offender is the LaRosa's over there.  I called in a takeout order there once using their were call center setup.  I told the lady on the phone that I wanted to order from LaRosa's in Corryville.  She paused ans then said, "Where?"  I made it more clear by saying "The one on Short Vine right near UC in Corryville."  She said, "Hang on.  I have to ask my manager."  She then came on and said, "Do you mean the LaRosa's in Clifton?"  FML!!!

The battle over CityLink was a few years before my time. All I can really recall is seeing a lot of "Stop CityLink" signs around Clifton Heights and heading down the hill towards OTR while I was attending UC. Is it as simple as a bunch of NIMBYs opposing new social services in the area, or is there more to the story?

 

And to be clear, the Crossroad Health Center (singular) appears to be totally unrelated to Crossroads, is that correct?

Those interior shots from the video are really cool, and hopefully they keep most of the historic details. The little i know about crossroads makes me fear there will be a pretty boring whitewashing of the original/catholic character into a more suburban big box feel but I'm hopefule to be proven wrong, especially if they rebuild the spires.

 

Anyway, this should really help the business at Altar'd State...

 

Anyway, this should really help the business at Altar'd State...

 

More likely Jimmy Flynt's Sexy Gifts. 

And to be clear, the Crossroad Health Center (singular) appears to be totally unrelated to Crossroads, is that correct?

 

Correct. Totally unrelated.

Construction fences went up Friday.  They're giving a six month construction schedule.