Next at Adams Landing: Midrange condo tower

Towne Properties to break ground on second phase

Dan Monk

Senior staff reporter

Towne Properties LLC plans to break ground in July on Captain's Watch, a 40-unit condominium tower that will start the second phase of the Adams Landing project east of downtown.

 

 

 

"We're a little behind schedule, but we worked a long time on the floor plan," said Towne Principal Arn Bortz. "It'll have a young, contemporary feel."

 

The tower units will have 10-foot ceilings throughout, and most will have loft-like, raised dens.

 

"It's a little retreat, a couple of steps up, where you can curl up with a book and look across the living area to the river views beyond," Bortz said.

 

Captain's Watch is intended to be the first of three low-rise towers on the western edge of Adams Landing, a 30-acre residential development at the base of Mount Adams. The site stretches from the Adams Place condos east to Kemper Avenue, between Columbia Parkway and a portion of Eastern Avenue now called Riverside Drive.

 

 

cont.

 

Do you have a link for this article?

^ http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2005/06/06/story2.html

 

How tall are these "low-rises" going to be, I wonder. 

 

This seems like a severely scaled-down compromise.  I was hoping for a little more from this site.

 

 

The original design was pretty agressive and very dense.  I may have some old info on it somewhere, I will see if I  can dig it up.

 

 

I'm trying to figure out exactly where this is supposed to be...Twain's Point starts at Bains and Eastern (er...I mean "Riverside")...so this will sit west of that, at Bains and Riverside?  Or further west, over by the old firehouse (picture from the auditor's site):

 

 

...and when they say the project extends all the way to Kemper Ave (I assume they mean "Kemper Lane"), does it include this property right at Riverside and Kemper (1542 Riverside)?

 

 

The auditor says that's owned by the city...

In this general area (nearer the western side), across from the Boathouse:

Below is the only rendering so far.

 

Towne has the website up but the floor plans aren't available yet:

http://www.towneprop.com/captainswatch/

 

 

 

That looks great to me - a great spot, the infrastructure can handle it, brings folks downtown, loads of property taxes...happy yay!

Hopefully they make it accessible to the Celestial St. steps, so you could walk to Mt. Adams directly.

wow that ohio river is blue!

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see what they do with that.  It will certainly be accessible - the walkway lets out across Adams Crossing from the site we're talking about - on the picture you gave us above, you can see the steps cut thru the "U" in Columbia Parkway and the "R" in "Ramp to Columbia Parkway".  In fact, here's a picture from last summer, looking across the bridge over Columbia Parkway from the base of the Celestial Street Steps - you can see the steps cut left then turn into the woods - the building to the right is the Firehouse, and at the extreme right is Adams Place - the site you suggested would be dead ahead in this shot:

 

 

...but here's a picture of the area where the steps let out - Mt. Adams is to my right, Adams Place dead ahead, the proposed site to the left, the road I'm on is Adams Crossing, and the arrow indicates the way the path from the steps comes down to meet Adams Crossing, if I remembered correctly:

 

 

You have to think they'll do something about that, make it an inviting pedestrian path...

Holy crap, is there a huge crane up there today!  I didn't have my camera with me (I'm a fool), but it's this odd one, where it makes a triangle in the air.  The main vehicle part is on Adams Crossing behind the firehouse - they have the road closed off.  It's actually sitting right on this road where this picture was taken:

 

 

I'll try to get pictures in the morning if I can, but I have an early meeting and might have to get them on the way home.

yeah, i saw that crane last night and i was wondering what was up. i wish i would have had my camera with me!

I drove by around 11:00 am and they were backing up all the trucks out from behind the firehouse onto Eastern Avenue and pointing east, I have no idea if they were going somewhere else or just assembling it from the street side.

Ah, so that wasn't a wacked out crane, it was just a crane being assembled...that makes sense.

 

Was it still there at 11 then?

I drove past after work last night and it was all cleared out of there.  Damn!  I should have had my camera on Monday, and should have left earlier on Tuesday!  I wonder if they were assembling or unassembling?  And where had it been/was it going?

Not much new info here, but it is nice to hear that 23 of the 26 Twain's Point condos are sold.  Also, with the new building being only four stories, that crane must have been going somewhere else, any guesses?

 

 

 

40 more condos planned on river

Adams Landing to add $13M building

 

By Marla Matzer Rose

Enquirer staff writer

 

 

 

Mount Adams developer Towne Properties plans to break ground on a new 40-unit, $13 million building called Captain's Watch as early as August. The development, part of the long-brewing Adams Landing project, would be on the eastern edge of the downtown riverfront.

 

Captain's Watch sits at the opposite end of the mile-long Adams Landing parcel that is anchored on the other end by Twain's Point, another Towne Properties project. Arn Bortz, a partner in Towne Properties, said 23 of the 26 units in Twain's Point have been sold.

 

But Bortz said Captain's Watch won't be a carbon copy of its sister property. "This is a different product," Bortz said. "It has a variety of products and price points."

 

 

cont.

That looks great to me - a great spot, the infrastructure can handle it, brings folks downtown, loads of property taxes...happy yay!

 

Agreed!

Here's the last story's link:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050617/BIZ01/506170365/1076/rss01

 

Captain's Watch condos will range in size from 992 to 2,100 square feet, said Bortz. Prices will average in the $300,000s - much lower than some of the luxury condos being offered currently downtown - with a broad range of about $189,000 to $579,000.

 

That's surprising, but great to hear - I was expecting another $500K and up place, especially since this is about as non-city an area as you can get in what is just about downtown.  I'm sure the $189K places will be economies facing the retaining wall behind the building, or maybe with views of the parking garage or something, but still, it's nice to see some lower prices ranges out there.

At the June 29, 2005 city council meeting, council unanimously agreed to issue $3.1M in economic development bonds to aid the project in public improvements.  The principal and interest are to be paid through TIF.

 

The city has entered into a service agreement with Towne/Adams Village LLC:

• The ratio of ownership units to rental units shall not fall under 50%
  
• The development must contain between 600 and 1250 residential units
  
• Total square footage of commercial space shall not exceed 250,000 square feet

 

Next Phase:

• "Village A" will consist of up to 330 residential units (Captain's Watch being part of Village A)
  
• Public improvements are mostly parking facilities, of which the city will have an ownership interest until the bonds are paid (Developer will maintain the garage)
  
• Agreement also calls for developer payment to public schools

 

Bonds ordinance

City Manager Lemmie: Bonds recommendation

Service Agreement ordinance

City Manager Lemmie: Service agreement ordinance and site background (includes list of city and developer requirements)

Service Agreement

600 to 1250 units?  Really?  I had no idea it was that big...

Well, now I can't get into the document....

 

I want to research those numbers because they just don't seem right.  I don't know if these are new numbers or ones that carried over from old agreements in the mid-90s.  This stuff was listed in the 4th link I provided if you'd like to look them over.

 

I'll check into it at some point.

I don't know if any of you noticed, but the floor plans are up now.

From the 8/4/05 Cincinnati Business Courier:

 

 

City to help fund Adams Landing garage

 

The city of Cincinnati will chip in $2.7 million for a garage and retaining wall at the next phase of Adams Landing, a 700-unit housing development on the Cincinnati riverfront below Mt Adams. Cincinnati City Council this week approved a 30-year lease agreement with a development subsidiary of Towne Properties LLC, which has held the development rights for Adams Landing since 2001.

 

The new agreement covers the development of Adams Landing's Village A, where up to 330 apartment and condo units are planned. Towne began marketing 40 condominium units in June, with list prices between $189,000 and $579,000.

 

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2005/08/01/daily37.html?from_rss=1

 

A friend of mine who lives in Adam's Place told me they have started construction on Captain's Watch.  He also said they are going to replace the really nice old entrance to the steps of the Immaculada that have been in storage since Adam's Place started going up in the late 1980's.  Also, he said there will be several new fountains and a reworking of the steps on the Mt. Adams side to enhance the look and experience. I do know for a fact that they are currently re-doing the walkway and stepsthat cross Columbia Parkway.  I have an old pic of the stone entrance to the steps somewhere, I will try to dig it out.

 

 

Found it....These pics and Info were taken from the book "Then & Now, Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky".  The book states, "At the foot of Mt. Adams once stood the old Marine Hospital, which had a distinctive stone gateway......The marine hospital opened at Third and Kilgour Sts. on March 14, 1885.  It was run by the federal government and specialized in the care and testing of merchant seaman (river pilots).  The hospital operated until the early 1900's, when it was razed.  The stone gateway, however, remained when the three acre site was converted to a small park called Riverview Playground."

 

Here are the before and after pics.....

 

 

I thought that they were doing something.  I saw a bunch of equipment parked there the other day.

those before and afters are very interesting...looks like you were standing in the exact spot.  who would have thought that someone from CINCINNATI would have had the foresight to save that arch too.  sounds like they are going to do some great things.

Thanks for the Kudo's, but the photos are from the book I mentioned above, not me.  The whole book is based on taking the same shot years later.  It is very interesting if you haven't seen it.

oh yeah!  i have seen those at B's & N's.  never had much time to look all the way through it but i remember it being very interesting 

I think we are going to see some action pretty soon.  Aside from all of the equipment that has been on site for quite a while, the building permit for this project is about to go through.

Not too sexy photos, but sitework is moving along:

 

 

and the final phase of Twain's Point:

 

 

These pics were taken further East from Captain's Watch but before RiverCrossing. I'm not sure what is being planned here.

 

 

These pics were taken further East from Captain's Watch but before RiverCrossing. I'm not sure what is being planned here.

 

I believe this is the Captain's Watch site.

I thought Captain's Watch was only right next to Adams Landing and across from the Boathouse those pics are right across Freedom Park, further East. I didn't think CW went that far down . . .

According to the story that leads off this thread, the site stretches all the way down to the area of Kemper Ln.

 

I haven't seen a site plan, so I assumed it was part of the Captain's Watch site as well.  It seems pretty big, though.

That would incorporate Twain's Pointe too, which obviously isn't the case - but yeah, if they're still talking 600 units, I'd guess everything up to Bains is going to be used in some fashion...

Here's a small blurb from the Towne Properties website that explains the construction:

 

"Coming Soon...

Foster's Point at Adams Landing

Luxury landominiums with similar home design are under construction just west of Twain's Point."

Here's a small blurb from the Towne Properties website that explains the construction:

 

"Coming Soon...

Foster's Point at Adams Landing

Luxury landominiums with similar home design are under construction just west of Twain's Point."

 

Sweet find!  Even more progess, I am glad to see they are tackling the whole development head on.

Here are some construction photos as well as some sitework going on at Foster's Point

 

 

 

Here are some shots from today of Captain's Watch and Foster's Point sitework......

 

 

 

 

moving right along.  i sure hope these buildings nestle in the hill a little better than the twians point buildings...but im sure they wont.

From the 5/14/06 Enquirer:

 

 

Captain's Watch condos progressing

First occupants may be moving in by the end of year

BY MARLA MATZER ROSE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

With construction under way since September, Mount Adams-based Towne Properties is unveiling more details of its Captain's Watch condo development. It's part of the Adams Landing project at the eastern edge of Cincinnati's downtown riverfront. The mile-long parcel is anchored at the other end by Twain's Point, another Towne Properties condo development.

 

The 40-unit Captain's Watch has a total cost of $15 million, with $2 million of that being defrayed by tax-increment financing that has gone toward infrastructure such as a retaining wall and roadways.

 

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060514/BIZ01/605140333/1076/BIZ

 

In fact, the response to Captain's Watch has been so successful that they've begun having Cole + Russell design the second and largest of three separate condo buildings planned for the site. Bortz expects that building, not yet named, to have between 62 and 75 units, including some larger than the units in Captain's Watch.

 

Wow, this is interesting.  That means not only are they doing the sitework on Foster's Point, but this phase as well.  I wonder if this is the final phase, after Captain's Watch and Foster's Point, there is not much room left!

Some pics taken today, this thing is really moving along!

 

 

 

 

 

Sitework is ongoing for the next phase, roads and curbs were already going down.

 

 

Wow - I go past that all the time, and that's a ton of progress!

Well, Towne Properties snuck one in on us.  Foster's Point/Phase IV is already underway. 

 

Here is the description from Towne Properties:

 

Foster’s Point is an 18-unit luxury landominium overlooking the Ohio River and surrounding hills. Landominiums are grouped three or four to a building on the uphill side of a private lane. Minutes from downtown, Mt. Adams and the expressway system and part of what will become a 700-home riverside neighborhood. Richly landscaped. Handsome elevations. Chore-free living.

http://www.townecondos.com/fosterspoint.html

 

 

 

Grasscat, since this project is now in two phases, could you either rename the topic (e.g. Capt. Watch/Foster's Point) or split it off into a new one?

 

Thanks.

Some pics from today of Foster's Point and Captain's Watch.  Every time I go pass this project I get more excited.  Towne Properties is tackling it with a vengence and it is really going to be a huge anchor for the east end of downtown.  Also, once this area is built out, momentum should really speed up further down Eastern Avenue to the DCI Properties site and other infill, all the way to Columbia Ridge!

 

Foster's Point looking west.  They seem to be just like Twain's Point with some tweaking to the exteriors, they are using the model from Twain's Point as well as a sales unit.

 

 

 

Captain's Watch looking west

 

The western facade showing the brickwork

 

I hope they plan to bury all that electric!  That would really hurt sales on the lower floors having to look at that.

 

 

 

From a good distance (further than this) CW looks to be exactly one story higher than the firehouse, but sits a lot lower too.