I'll have to go take a second look at The Green in Dayton to see how the development fits in with the surrounding area. (I've been there once before.)  Maybe by building this project they will take pressure off building additional retail areas a few miles north (where I live).

 

The Greene was built on a vacant parcel surrounded by late 1950s/1960s development to the west (residential) and north (a K Mart strip center).  To the east was an interstate and to the south was some apartments.  So the location was non-walkable already.

 

For this site (and I think I drove by it today afte checking out VOA park) its in a similar block of land.  I dont really see how this could be made walkable or integrated with the surrounding development in a walkable manner.

 

I sort of see this as an extension of that development on Tylersville and the VOA property, but leapfrogging across the interstate.  Pretty impressive boomtown vibe going on in that VOA area.

 

 

The people opposed to the Liberty "Town Square" aren't against development. We're against our tax dollars being used for a private development that will indeed add to traffic congestion in our neighborhood. This project is HUGE!!! Do we really need this much retail -- it would be the size of 41 football fields?!  And more importantly,do you want millions of LT tax dollars to fund the thing?

 

The project sits in a TIF district, and this developer can't seem to build anything without public assistance. What's worse, their projects aren't always successful, which means that they local jurisdiction is left holding the bag.  Do a quick search of steiner and associates -- their projects in Centro Ybor (Tampa florida) and Newport on the Levee (Newport, Ohio) still owe money to their host cities.

 

LT Trustees rushed this thing through -- neighbors only had 6 WEEKS to learn about the project before it was approved. To make matters worse, the application was incomplete, as the traffic study only covered "Phase 1".  Why are they steamrolling this project along instead of taking time to consider resident concerns?

 

So, let's develop the area -- but let's bring something of a more an appropriate scale and don't make neighbors foot the bill. It's reasonable to ask our Trustees to guarantee NO TAX MONEY will be used on the project. We just don't need it that bad.

^Wow, is that a real post?

 

To answer concerns:

1. these are all public roads, deal with traffic.

2. no

 

 

See, the thing is that the Liberty Interchange was intended to cause exactly a project like this to occur, amongst many other developments. Widening Hamilton-Mason Road wasn't Steiner's Idea, but the Butler TID's idea. Such infrastructure improvements do nothing but encourage this type of growth. I just hope this growth doesn't equate to something on the scale of the hell that is Union Centre, another Butler TID project, and you can see where that went. Expect Hamilton Mason to look similar to UCB. It's sad, but it's true. The Hamilton-Mason you knew is dead.

LT Trustees rushed this thing through -- neighbors only had 6 WEEKS to learn about the project before it was approved. To make matters worse, the application was incomplete, as the traffic study only covered "Phase 1".  Why are they steamrolling this project along instead of taking time to consider resident concerns?

 

If they did the traffic study, for Phase 1 only, during the Summer (when school isn't in session) then it's not worth much anyways.  The whole thing should probably reexamined if that truly is the case.

 

As for the scope, of the traffic study, when they come back for approval of future phases they will have to do new traffic studies for those.  It's just a matter of putting the horse before the cart.  It is unreasonable to expect developers to study/examine future phases that may or may not happen...even more so to base a judgment of yay or nay.

 

The project sits in a TIF district, and this developer can't seem to build anything without public assistance. What's worse, their projects aren't always successful, which means that they local jurisdiction is left holding the bag.  Do a quick search of steiner and associates -- their projects in Centro Ybor (Tampa florida) and Newport on the Levee (Newport, Ohio) still owe money to their host cities.

 

I think you meant Newport, KY (not Ohio), but nevertheless I agree...both NOTL and Centro Ybor are bad projects that seem to ignore their surroundings and have also left the respective municipalities "holding the bag" as you put it.

Liberty petition drive falls short

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080820/NEWS01/308200084/1055/NEWS

 

A petition drive to force a public vote on a major retail project in Liberty Township fell short today after county election officials decided not to count 464 signatures.

 

Click on link for article.

Eight petition forms were not counted because of false statements made by circulators

 

How did the board conclude this? 

 

there was a petition drive in neighboring Turtlecreek township a year ago to create a zoning board.  I don't think any signatures were thrown out after a review by the neighboring Warren County board of elections. 

It really is frustrating when something like this happens.  When The Greene was proposed for Beavercreek, a group of residents gathered signatures to bring the development to a referendum.  Unfortunately, the Greene County Board of Elections tossed all of it out when they discovered the group had failed to complete all the required paperwork.  Just when you think democracy is easy to get into, you run into all the bureaucratic bull.

 

Liberty Township Trustee Christine Matacic said the opponents don’t speak for a majority of residents, whom she says want the development to become a reality. “There were a lot of people who thought this was going to go down the sink because of an outside effort,” Matacic said. “We’re just glad that didn’t happen.”

 

So why be scared that it might have gone to the voters?  Is she afraid she won't get to play with the tax dollars this thing will bring them?

 

 

“There were a lot of people who thought this was going to go down the sink because of an outside effort,” Matacic said. “We’re just glad that didn’t happen.”

 

 

This trustee should be forced to resign! period! 

 

First of all, this is a petition by her constituents.  It is not an outside effort.  The signatures were local residents of her township.  To characterize these people as outsiders shows her disdain for her own people. 

 

Secondly, how does she know what the residents want?  Clearly a strong group feel differently than her.  She sounds surprised that there was this much local critism of the project.  That shows she is out of touch with the feelings of the residents.

 

Thirdly, aren't trustees supposed to be relatively neutral in matters of residential conflicts.  Like a Judge.  They aren't supposed to care who wins, just that it's a fair battle.

 

Sadly, with large, spreadout townships in certain parts of Buter and Waren counties, it becomes difficult to get a true township consensus on something like this project. 100% of The people living in the area may well hate the project.  However, all the people living in a subdivision 5 miles away who will not be impacted negatively in any way, shape, or form, can out-vote the nearby residents. 

 

It's like letting all the people living in Price Hill get to decide what gets built in Hyde Park!  I think there should be a 1 mile limit!  If you do not live withing 1 mile of a project, you cannot vote on it!

 

Plans for $225 million Liberty Twp. project stalled

By Dave Greber, Staff Writer

Thursday, October 30, 2008

 

LIBERTY TWP. — Plans for Liberty Town Square have been shelved after the lead developer on the $225 million project stepped aside this week, citing tough economic times.

 

Click on link for article.

http://www.journal-news.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/10/30/hjn103108townsquare.html

Say it's not so!!! A developer couldn't find retailers ready to fill up 1.2 million square feet of space. SHOCKING!!! in today's economy.

 

The side to this is, (weather you like this project or not) it was going to produce a lot of work for the Cincy construction trade and the RE industry, etc... that will not happen now.

Sounds good to me.

 

Why *buy* your own downtown when we already have one (really, two) in the region.

 

"You can't always get what you want..."

^where is the other one, Dayton?

Cincinnati and Hamilton aren't THAT far...

Our region is lucky to have Downtown Cincinnati, Dayton, Hamilton, and Covington.

Thank god this died! Most moronic project since Jesus on the freeway an exit up.

It's back! (Or so they say...)  :-o

 

Liberty Way project gains new life

 

Written by

Sue Kiesewetter

Enquirer contributor

 

LIBERTY TWP. - A proposed $500 million development at the Liberty Way intersection of Interstate 75 that could bring thousands of jobs - but has lain dormant for three years - may be revived.

 

Developers have not given up on the Liberty Town Square, a mixed use project that would cover 110 acres with a cinema, luxury apartments, restaurants, offices and retailers.

 

"It's just a matter of the economy coming back and giving us a little help," said Bob Hutsenpiller, president of Hutsenpiller Contractors Inc., a firm working with Miller Valentine and Columbus-based developer Steiner + Associates.

 

Liberty Township Trustees on Monday approved a two-year extension on the preliminary plans for the project. Without the extension, approval would have expired next month.

 

Another zombie project back from the dead:

 

Steiner plans to start Liberty Twp. development by 2013

 

Steiner + Associates    plans to open its massive mixed-use development in Butler County in 2014, Hamilton Journal-News reported.

 

Yaromir Steiner, founder and chief executive officer of the Columbus-based developer, said he plans to move forward with the first phase of Liberty Town Square, a $300 million project in Liberty Township.

Developer outlines plans for $300M retail project

 

 

WEST CHESTER TWP. - When a $300 million retail development set to open in 2014 at the Liberty Way Interchange is complete, it will greatly improve not only the surrounding communities, but Southwest Ohio, according to its developer. “We improve the quality of life,” said Yaromir Steiner, founder and chief executive officer of Columbus-based Steiner + Associates. “The project becomes the heart and soul of the community by improving the desirability of surrounding areas and the ability to attract and retain businesses.”

 

Yaromir said he plans to begin construction on the retail development in about a year. The project will include departments stores, movie theaters, public space and gathering areas, office space and housing. It is expected to include 3,000 construction jobs and about 4,500 permanent jobs.

 

More below:

www.journal-news.com/news/hamilton-news/developer-outlines-plans-for-300m-retail-project-1314279.html?cxtype=rss_local-news

Meanwhile, there are some big boxes and deteriorating strip malls near Tri County, a mega mall that's all but shuttered in Fairfield, and an underdeveloped Eastgate area.

Meanwhile, there are some big boxes and deteriorating strip malls near Tri County, a mega mall that's all but shuttered in Fairfield, and an underdeveloped Eastgate area.

 

QFT

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/-300-million-retail-project-to-receive-public-funding-1319546.html

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/-300-million-retail-project-to-receive-public-funding-1319546.html

 

Is there really demand for this project? I'm not familiar with the area.

Is there really demand for this project? I'm not familiar with the area.

 

No.

I would say that there is demand, but it is already being met (Bridgewater Falls, Tri-County, Kenwood, Deerfield TC, etc). This will just steal demand from other shopping areas and could spell the end for Tri-County.

I recently read where Butler Co. has approved some of the initial funding for this project. I was frankly hoping they would vote No. There is just no need for this project at this time. It is just going to add a lot of traffic congestion as already indicated by the increased lanes to be added to the surrounding roads.

 

I don't know about Tri-County, since I have been there exactly twice in the last 10 years, both times to go to the Time Warner store and exchange a faulty cable box. Other than that there is absolutely nothing I cannot get closer to home.

 

As I live in Mason, the Fields-Ertel I-71 area, Deerfield Towne Center, the Tylersville I-75 interchange area, and Union Center offer me about everything I need. The only reason to even go to Kenwood would be for some more upscale clothing stores, which at my age I don't need. Most of what we buy from Kohls we order off of the internet, even though we have two stores close by. Why go to the stores when you can leisurely browse and compare products on the internet? Most businesses who know how to maintain their business have a liberal return policy if you select the wrong size, etc. I hardly ever have a problem with that.

 

This Liberty Towne Square just sounds like another developer's plan to make money off of cheaper land no longer in a position for productive farming.

The problem is developers have to develop or their business stagnates and ceases. So they constantly have to create new territory. They have little regard for what is in the best interest of the neighborhood as that is not their concern. Their concern is simply the continuation of their business.

 

So they will concentrate on the easy pickings, the townships. Present a township with a plan stating increased revenue from property taxes and you have an almost guaranteed approval. Look at the Kenwood Green development at the intersetion of I-71 and Montgomery Rd. That is about as green as my back yard.

 

This development is totally unnecessary. The Liberty Township Trustees seem to think it will give them a downtown atmosphere. If they want a downtown then talk about incorporating part of the township and passing a master plan for city development. This plan is nothing more than feathering the nests of a few developers.

America needs to get its shit together and radically change property laws to allow for the agressive redevelopment of existing commercial areas. The US is shockingly, and I mean truly shockingly, over-retailed. MOST of this land is starting to rot. Governments are going broke having to maintain services to  underperforming -and sometimes literally rotting- strip malls, car lots, and vacant storefronts.

 

You can see this easily just by cruising Google Earth and looking at Australia, similar in age to the USA and also fairly low density, but with maybe 1/4 the retail area of the USA.

 

All this land is going to continue to underperform if we keep allowing developers to pave their way into short-term profit. This is a huge problem.

I've been posting some Instagram photos from my phone to my Abandoned FB page of Tri County Mall. I'll share them here shortly, but here is a quick link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Abandoned/55676575515

 

Like many that have commented there, I'm shocked that Tri County has declined as sharply as it has, so quickly. I've only been in a few times, but I decided to walk through Thursday evening after dinner at BJ's, and was shocked at all of the tier 2 and tier 3 tenants. These are not high rent tenants, and there were few chain stores remaining. The demographics for the suburban shopping mall were all wrong. I'm surprised it was this terrible even with the near demise of Forest Fair/Cincinnati Mills.

All this land is going to continue to underperform if we keep allowing developers to pave their way into short-term profit. This is a huge problem.

 

I totally agree, it is a pure money grab by the developers, just like the residential housing boom and horrible bust was. Now many of us are sitting in homes with dropped values. The worse are the newer homes where many owners now find they owe considerably more than the house is worth.

 

I fault the governmental entities for permitting this. Where are the studies which validate these developments will realistically survive over a period of time?  Put a nice artists conception sketch out there and not only get permission to build but a financial boost also.

 

Liberty Township is just envious of both West Chester Township and Mason. They are bound and determined to match them in one big leap with this ill-advised development.

 

If this development goes through it will be the end of Tri-County.

 

I remember when living in Madeira and Tri-County was first built going there because it had a store I patronized - Sears and Kenwood Plaza did not. As you can tell this was a few years ago. When I moved to Mason I went to Tri-County quite a lot, with Mason basically having a Feed & Grain, two hardware stores, and not much else.

 

But then we went through the evolution of first Kenwood Mall and then the large expansion of Tri-County Mall into double stories complete with parking garages. Kenwood became Kenwood Towne Center, massive and horrible to get in/out of. Same thing with Tri-County Mall, there is no way you can have a pleasant experience going there.

 

So if the population centers up north provide a more convenient shopping experience they will die. But that is not something I want to see. This is strictly pat the developers on the ass for short term profits but nothing sustainable for the long run. While I believe the suburbs will be around for a long time, I have to agree this constant development for short term gains does not make sense.

Steiner's vision for Liberty Town Square becoming clear

 

 

From the looks of Steiner + Associates’ marketing plan for Liberty Town Square, the Columbus-based developer has a pretty good idea of what it wants in the first phase of the project, which will just off Interstate 75 and state Route 129 in Liberty Township.

 

The center is expected to open in late 2014.

 

....................

 

The 1.3 million-square-foot first phase is expected to include three department store anchors, 350,000 square feet of specialty retail, 50,000 square feet of restaurants, a 60,000-square-foot cinema, a 135-room hotel, plus office and residential space.

 

On the marketing plan, Steiner shows a who’s who of retailers that it would like to see in a development like Liberty Town Square. Some of the names include Apple, The Cheesecake Factory, Banana Republic and Pottery Barn.

 

Full article below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/blog/2012/06/steiners-vision-for-liberty-town.html

Apple, lol.

Opening pushed back for Liberty Township development meant to mirror Easton

 

The opening of a southwest Ohio project that developer Steiner & Associates says will be similar to its Easton Town Center mixed-use commercial development has been pushed back, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

 

The $300 million project at the intersection of Liberty Way and Interstate 75 in Liberty Township now is scheduled to open in the spring of 2015, pushed back from the fall of 2014, the newspaper reports. Steiner plans to break ground on the 64-acre site early next year.

 

More below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/morning_call/2012/09/opening-pushed-back-for-liberty.html

Good morning sales fee.

 

http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/news/region_north_cincinnati/liberty_township/liberty-township-trustees-approve-new-sales-fee-to-pay-for-liberty-center-development-work

I saw that through the Enquirer. 6.75% sales tax at Liberty Center instead of the Butler County 6.25%.

 

With the new Ohio budget, doesn't that mean the sales tax will increase beyond that by 0.25%? So Butler County's sales tax would be 6.50% and Liberty Center would be 7.00%?

 

Also, this project has been renamed Liberty Center since the UO Apocalypse this month.

Everybody get ready to pay that additional 0.5% sales tax at Liberty Center to pay for the public infrastructure improvements. What a crock that is. I always thought a developer was to pay for improvements out of what they charged for and made off the property. It seems like sales tax is the new pay for everything media, from stadiums to mass transit. I can understand certain public works projects, but how is a massive shopping center construed as a public works?

 

I doubt whether a .5% sales tax is going to deter anyone from shopping there. I just abhor the traffic conjestion it is going to bring to close where I live. This I-75 area is going to make I-71/Fields Ertel look like it was designed by geniuses. The only impact on my wife and I will be quit going to Meijer over on Tylersville west of I-75, which is already a mess, and just go to Kroger less than 2 miles from our house.

 

 

I can't see it being worse than Fields Ertel. Liberty Center is mostly a contained walkable area that you have to drive to get to. Fields Ertel is completely car dependent to get between almost every store and there are a hundred entrances and exits to every strip mall and big box store.

 

And whether the consumer pays for the infrastructure directly or if the developer pays for it, then charges higher rent, then the tenants charge more for goods, it doesn't matter. Either way the consumer pays for it.

Every time I read something about Liberty Center it gets bigger. It started out being talked about as a 64 acre development. It is now up to over 100 acres. Steiner & Associates, Butler County, and Liberty Twp signed the master development agreement just 6 days ago. What has been announced is if Steiner fails to complete their part of the development ownership with revert to the county. That is unique.

 

It is described as a contained development of an open air design and lots of pedestrian traffic. 100 acres is a quite large containment. The artist renderings show up to 3 story free-standing buildings with brick and concrete streets and sidewalks surrounding, complete with on street parking. Will be interesting to see what is actually built.

 

Artist renderings are nice to sell a concept, but you need actual architectural drawings to build.

 

I still can't find much on the traffic layout and how they plan on getting the cars in and out of the contained area plus park them.

Every time I read something about Liberty Center it gets bigger. It started out being talked about as a 64 acre development. It is now up to over 100 acres. Steiner & Associates, Butler County, and Liberty Twp signed the master development agreement just 6 days ago. What has been announced is if Steiner fails to complete their part of the development ownership with revert to the county. That is unique.

 

It is described as a contained development of an open air design and lots of pedestrian traffic. 100 acres is a quite large containment. The artist renderings show up to 3 story free-standing buildings with brick and concrete streets and sidewalks surrounding, complete with on street parking. Will be interesting to see what is actually built.

 

Artist renderings are nice to sell a concept, but you need actual architectural drawings to build.

 

I still can't find much on the traffic layout and how they plan on getting the cars in and out of the contained area plus park them.

 

It has always been a 100+ acre development.  But, it will be built in phases.  Phase 1 will cover 64 acres.  One of the buildings will be for office space with retail in the ground level, which was announced last week.  There is also an enclosed portion called The Foundry, which will be two levels and anchored by Dillard's and another yet unnamed retailer.  Here are two articles from last week.  The most in depth I could find.  The second one has slides of the actual presentation that you can click on for really good info.   

 

http://www.journal-news.com/news/news/officials-sign-contract-for-300m-butler-county-ret/nY32m/                                                                                                                                                                     

http://www.journal-news.com/news/news/liberty-center-agreement-includes-several-restrict/nY5H8/

 

As far as the actual layout of phase 1 is concerned, here is a link to the site plan from the Butler County web-site from January.  This is from before they had to change it due not being able to land a second department store.  Basically, the large building and parking garage in the lower left hand corner on page 4 will now be all surface parking.      http://www.butlercounty.biz/content/txtcontent/plan/Planning_Commission_Meetings/2012/documents/LTSall.pdf

^Thanks for posting the links SAF! Very interesting to see the official site plan submitted to Butler Co.

 

It's eerie how much the Phase 1 footprint looks like the Greene....

(maybe not eerie since we are discussing a major developer which likely builds the same setup everywhere, but still... even down to the garage locations...)

I found it very difficult to view the Phase I actual layout on a small screen. Looked like a bunch of ants walking over my screen. But once I zoomed in enough to actual read the printing, I saw parking garage after parking lots everywhere. I did not take the time of count them all, but there are many.

 

That should thrill the urbanists, parking everywhere you look. Hard to decipher the actual traffic flow, but with all of those garages and lots there has to be some conjestion somewhere. But I have to admit it looks like a more coordinated plan than the mish-mash  of what already exists around the I-75/Tylersville interchange area.

 

But why would anyone in their right mind want to actually live there? The Banks downtown is a totally different proposition in my view. First of all it is downtown. Second of all it is close to the river and the new parks. Third it is right next to the CBD. But this is going to just be some apartments crammed into a suburban shopping area, no matter how many restaurants or other attractions they claim are there. Just two miles to the east off Butler-Warren Rd are some very large and nice apartment complexes with all of the amenities, exercise rooms, pools, outdoor walking areas, etc.

 

I guess my complaint concerns the so-called mix-used claims. Just because you mix things up doesn't mean to me they are either attractive or desirable. Why in the world would I want to live in the middle of a suburban retail shopping complex? For that matter, why would I want to work in an office on top of a suburban retail complex? Any especially one there is nowhere else I can go except to get in my car and drive, after I find my car.

 

I have no doubt this will be a successful enterprise, except for the residential portion. Still cannot understand the logic behind that.

 

I will continue to go to the Deerfield Towne Center for much of my shopping for one specific reason, I can usually identify the store I want to visit, find a parking space close by, park visit the store and get my objective, and then leave. You can call it sprawl or whatever you want, I simply call it convenience. But I am pretty sure I will not call it urban.

Assuming it has a grocery store and a decent diversity of retail/restaurants, it might be appealing to live there because all your needs are in a compact space within walking distance of your apartment. This would be especially true if you have a job in one of the offices onsite. You're the one talking about it being a replacement for downtown and how you never have to leave Mason. Well, people living here may never have to leave Liberty Center.

 

It will give people living there the option of going somewhere and getting sauced and not worrying about driving home, which is not an option for most people in the area currently.

 

I sure as hell wouldn't want to live there. It lacks greenspace and other amenities, like you mention. But it might have the majority of "staples" people need. If it had transit access to the things it lacks, it would be significantly better. My guess is it's a unique enough housing offering to attract enough people to fill the units. Time will tell.

This development is supposed to be in a design like the old town squares where you have shops with apartments and offices above.  There are multiple developments like this around the country and they seem to be working.  It's supposed to have extensive landscaping and water features.  An article I read a few months ago stated the design and materials used for construction will remind one of a turn of the century railroad town.  Notice on "The Foundry", the building will have what looks like a smoke stack.    Here is a video from liberty-center.com which gives a really good idea of what the first phase will look like.    http://www.liberty-center.com/video.aspx

I understand what it is supposed to be. I will reserve my final opinion until I see what it actually is. I currently have no lacking of where to do our shopping. The wife likes to get out in her wheelchair and tour around. Currently, it is one day a week at Meijer over by I-75, one day at Costco & Sam's Club over off Montgomery Rd, and one day at our local Kroger on Kings Mills. In the meantime she and her caregiver get lunch in a variety of places. They one they visit the most is a Ruby Tuesdays over near Kings Island Drive. It has a great setup to serve wheelchair people and also a great salad bar which is what they prefer.

 

I guess I should actually wait until Liberty Center is built before I register an opinion. But they have several already existing establishments to beat before being declared the winner.

 

I guess I should actually wait until Liberty Center is built before I register an opinion.

 

Being an Urban Ohio member means never having to wait until a project is done to register an opinion.  :)

I understand what it is supposed to be. I will reserve my final opinion until I see what it actually is. I currently have no lacking of where to do our shopping. The wife likes to get out in her wheelchair and tour around. Currently, it is one day a week at Meijer over by I-75, one day at Costco & Sam's Club over off Montgomery Rd, and one day at our local Kroger on Kings Mills. In the meantime she and her caregiver get lunch in a variety of places. They one they visit the most is a Ruby Tuesdays over near Kings Island Drive. It has a great setup to serve wheelchair people and also a great salad bar which is what they prefer.

 

I guess I should actually wait until Liberty Center is built before I register an opinion. But they have several already existing establishments to beat before being declared the winner.

 

This will give you a better idea of what it is.  The Cincinnati area has never seen anything like it.    http://www.steiner.com/portals/0/pdf/steinerreprints/SteinerJournalNews%20.pdf

 

Also the video:  http://www.liberty-center.com/video.aspx

SAF ... You may state Cincinnati has not seen anything like it, and that may be true.

 

But to say it is a unique concept is not true. It is a design which has been replicated all over the US.

 

Let's call it try and replicate small town USA in a suburban sprawl environment. The modern version of small town USA. 

 

If any of you believe that is  a realistic answer to suburban sprawl you are more naive than I am.

The only modern attempt at recreating small town USA that I enjoy is Main Street USA at Disney World.

This is what should have been created at the current Deerfield Towne Center & Rookwood Commons. They were built by Anderson which is responsible for littering the Cincinnati region with subpar shopping centers. We can thank Anderson and Vandercar for most of these uninspiring suburban developments.

 

http://www.anderson-realestate.com/properties/third-party-assignments/deerfield-towne-center

 

This will not be Steiner's first development in the region, they also built Newport on the Levee.

Newport on the Levee is a fairly high quality development. While the "mall" portion of the project has all but dried up, it has kept a fairly high rate of occupancy by converting the storefronts into offices. The restaurants, nightclubs/bars and else have remained all but occupied. I just wish there was a residential component.