Posted June 22, 200816 yr If you're not familiar the Backstage District is essentially the area across from the Aronoff Center on Walnut Street. It boasts a number of restaurants that cater to theatre crowds. It is also 1.5 blocks away from Fountain Square and the investment seems to be flowing that direction as seen with the opening of Oceanaire Seafood Room, Cadillac Ranch, CAC, Nada, and proposed Bootsy Ruby's.
June 22, 200816 yr So...why is there a thread about it? Are you CincyUSA? "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
June 22, 200816 yr For 3CDC, Backstage area about to take center stage http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/06/23/story4.html Article highlights: 3CDC has acquired the former Phoenix Cafe building that has longed been a sore spot in the area. Plans for the Phoenix Cafe are a small street-level restaurant (with outdoor courtyard) space and 3 apartments - 1 for each floor above street-level. Resurfacing of the brick pavers that identify the Backstage District. Possible closure of the Gano Alley (between Nicholson's Tavern & Pub and Trattoria Roma Ristorante) to vehicular traffic to make it a pedestrian throughway. More lighting and greenery throughout the district. 3CDC also is studying the addition of a "walk of fame" sidewalk across from the Aronoff. Owners of Nicholson's plan to invest $100,000 to convert the patio space in front of Nicholson's to year-round use, which would result in expanded seating in the restaurant's bar.
June 22, 200816 yr So...why is there a thread about it? Are you CincyUSA? If you were a little more patient you would have found out. On a side note, if there are any CincyUSA business people reading this forum I am more than willing to entertain any/all job offers. :-D
June 22, 200816 yr Well, had you put it initially in the post instead of a wikipedia entry, then I wouldn't have asked that question. :D "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
June 22, 200816 yr Just thought I'd give a little introduction and lay some groundwork before I started blowing people's minds. :laugh:
June 22, 200816 yr Those plans by 3CDC sound great! Those bricks in front of the Gibson Lofts (condo building between Phoenix Cafe and the old Uno) are/were in horrible condition. Looks like there have been a temporary fix put in at least. I wonder how closing off Gano Alley to cars will work out. The alley portion that goes from 6th to 7th streets does have garage entrances to some of the residential buildings in that area.
June 22, 200816 yr The area used to be sort of skid-row back before the Ararnoff Center, from what I recall, and had the "Side Door" gay dive bar as well as a punk/new wave place (in the old Nicholsons space, but further down that alley) that had some gay action too. Then there was the Subway, which had drag shows. I seem to remember SROs where the Aranoff stands. When the Aranoff came in the place changed...then came the CAC....and I have to say I usually sort of miss the loss of character when this happens but not in this case as the changes actually didn't eliminate the active/busy character of the area, just replaced it with different things, like Nicholsons. The Aranoff is also a great addition in that the massing of the building facing Walnut maintains the scale of the street somewhat, really trys to be contextual (compare to the Schuster Center in Dayton). The CAC uses those alleys..Gano and that other one...for arts events and openings and such. And there's a logical connection between Fountain Square through that building on the N Side of the square. ....It boasts a number of restaurants that cater to theatre crowds. I dont want to play "city vs city" here, but this is one of the big things that separates Cincy from Dayton. You all may complain about the negativity being pushed by the Enquirer or the WLW talkers, but the facts on the ground is that Cincy arts patrons actually stay downtown before or after the show for dining and drinks. This is not the case in Dayton, where there should be critical mass with the Shuster, Loft, and Victoria to drive a downtown "dinner/show/cocktales" scene, yet patrons scurry to and from suburbia for arts events, avoiding contact with the city. It seems that in Cincy the custom is different, which is why the Backstage District is working, and getting better via this 3CDC project.
June 22, 200816 yr You're spot on about the area previously being a skid row of sorts. That Eastern area of Downtown and especially further East (out towards the Blue Wisp now) were some of the most dangerous areas Downtown. Things have definitely changed over the years...for the better.
June 22, 200816 yr Its an area that seems to be thriving w/ the new restaurants and bar, not too mention the Arnoff. The one black eye, though, IMO is Metropole. Why in theworld would you have section 8 housing in the middle of an area that caters to suburbanites? If Cincy wants to send a message to region to come downtwon and catch dinner and a show, its better to have section 8 elsewhere. And I don't mean it has to be out of downtown but wevn two blocks away would be better.
June 22, 200816 yr Those bricks in front of the Gibson Lofts (condo building between Phoenix Cafe and the old Uno) are/were in horrible condition. Looks like there have been a temporary fix put in at least. I walked by that area today, and the bricks have been repaired. :)
June 23, 200816 yr i wonder what the "walk of fame" would be like? I love the "walk of fame" idea. I'm guessing it would be something like getting a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, but for people with a connection to Cincinnati. I'm guessing you'd see recognition of people like Sarah Jessica Parker, Nick Lachey, etc. If they could tie in official ceremonies or days with the person being honored, that would be amazing. How cool would it be to see Steven Spielberg walking around downtown on "Steven Spielberg Day" in Cincinnati?
June 23, 200816 yr This is great news. The section of Walnut between 6th and 7th is already a pretty good block with Nicholsons, Nada, the Aronoff, Roma (an underrated restaurant IMO), the CAC and the swanky townhouses that were recently gutted and rehabbed, but the empty Phoenix and old Uno's are an eyesore (although the Phoenix is actually less of an eyesore no that it is empty). The Ruby restaurant and the Phoenix rehab will complete that block.
June 23, 200816 yr ^ I have to disagree about the walk of fame idea. I hate this idea. St. Louis has this in the University City area, and it is pretty lame. In my opinion it highlights a negative. Like, "here are a list of people that have escaped Cincy for better things." Not to mention it is cheesy and a rip-off of another city.
August 7, 200816 yr I'm in a rendering posting kind of mood today, and I couldn't locate this rendering elsewhere on the forum so here goes. Get ready for the new Bootsy Ruby's in the heart of the Backstage District:
August 8, 200816 yr What the area needs is for the Metropole Apts to be converted into a hotel. that would vcomplte the area as a true entertainment area. There is no way such a high concentration of section 8 housing should be situated in that location.
August 8, 200816 yr What the area needs is for the Metropole Apts to be converted into a hotel. that would vcomplte the area as a true entertainment area. There is no way such a high concentration of section 8 housing should be situated in that location. High concentration? You haven't seen a high concentration of Section 8 until you get into the Westend near Liberty and Linn. I don't think their is anything wrong with the Metropole being section 8 as long as there is a responsible landlord (responsible being the key here). Why can't section eight housing exist in downtown so that people of all walks could live in the core? Where would you propose moving the people in the Metropole? My concern is that statements like this promote the idea that section eight only belongs with other section 8. This kind of thinking goes back to the age when Laurel homes existed along Ezzard Charles. The whole Westend became a community of "projects". This is not good for the people in section eight who are genuinely trying to live a good life (which is the majority of people in low income housing believe it or not). It is also not good for the community at large to be segregated by socio-economic status. Now if you had offered to move the people of the Metropole into new low-income housing in Indian Hills, I would see it as a positive. I have a feeling the people in Indian Hills would have a fit if this were the case.....
August 8, 200816 yr ^ Yeah, but the Backstage District isn't really a neighborhood, so I'm not sure how much diversity it can really have. No one's saying that section 8 can't exist within downtown, but perhaps being adjacent to the CAC, the Aronoff, and expensive restaurants isn't the best fit. Ideally, those apartments would hold people who can frequent Nada, The Oceanaire, etc., to help keep those businesses thriving.
August 9, 200816 yr I can think of a number of parts of downtown that a place like this would go great - near city hall or the courthouse, but not this particular part, esp. when the new Ruby/Collins bar opens.
August 9, 200816 yr What the area needs is for the Metropole Apts to be converted into a hotel. that would vcomplte the area as a true entertainment area. There is no way such a high concentration of section 8 housing should be situated in that location. High concentration? You haven't seen a high concentration of Section 8 until you get into the Westend near Liberty and Linn. I don't think their is anything wrong with the Metropole being section 8 as long as there is a responsible landlord (responsible being the key here). Why can't section eight housing exist in downtown so that people of all walks could live in the core? Where would you propose moving the people in the Metropole? My concern is that statements like this promote the idea that section eight only belongs with other section 8. This kind of thinking goes back to the age when Laurel homes existed along Ezzard Charles. The whole Westend became a community of "projects". This is not good for the people in section eight who are genuinely trying to live a good life (which is the majority of people in low income housing believe it or not). It is also not good for the community at large to be segregated by socio-economic status. Now if you had offered to move the people of the Metropole into new low-income housing in Indian Hills, I would see it as a positive. I have a feeling the people in Indian Hills would have a fit if this were the case..... actually I was thinking just the opposite and I think we actually agree. I believe that section 8 belongs in EVERY city neibhorhood and should be dispersed as much as possible and not concentrated in a complex even as big as Metropole. I think the idea of concentrated poverty is one of our biggest problems (like you cited with Laurel homes). I wouldn't have a problem if one of the apts above Pheonix had section 8 and a 3 story building on 8th street, and a 4 story on 4th street and a small building or two in Hyde Park etc. IMO a bigger building lke Metropole is simply way too high of a concentration and lets face reality...to have that much section 8 like that in arguably the biggest tourist/suburbanite destinaton in downtown is just plain stupid. I dont mean to generalize but its reality.
August 11, 200816 yr Well. the Metrople has been coexsisting with Nicholson's, the CSC, Trattoria Roma, the Aronoff, and Nada as long as any of them were there. Other than the building it a less than attractive building, I can't say there's ever been a negative presence in the area as a result of it being there than any other part of the CBD (including the renovated Fountain Square). We need to focus on the real problems, not the imagined ones.
August 11, 200816 yr There was a big drug and prostitution bust at the Metropole about three years ago. I don't think there have been problems since, and the owners seem to have cleaned it up and put it extra security measures. I don't think there were any problems prior to the big drug bust.
August 11, 200816 yr Metropole used to be a hotel, right? I take it the layout is pretty much the same and that the units are hotel rooms turned into efficiencies/studios? Interesting concept. Sounds like a good way to live cheaply downtown. The Phoenix Cafe was right downstairs and I guess that perpetuated a lot of the riff-raff. Too bad it got out of control, I've never patronized the place but it seemed to have a 'real bar' feeling similar to Madonna's.
December 17, 200816 yr 3CDC eyes new downtown development By Lisa Bernard-Kuhn • [email protected] • December 17, 2008 Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. is spreading its reach downtown with a proposal to redevelop a vacant building in the Backstage Entertainment District into an upscale bar and two new condos. In June, the private nonprofit developer – which headed up Fountain Square’s redesign and is behind the multimillion-dollar Gateway Quarter in Over-the-Rhine – purchased the former Phoenix Café building across from the Aronoff Center on Walnut for $570,000. The building is also located about a block away from the recently opened bar and restaurant - Bootsy’s, Produced by Jeff Ruby – of which 3CDC is an investor through its Cincinnati Equity Fund. No tenant has been named for the retail space, and 3CDC expects the new condos to be listed for around $220,000, according to city documents. Read full article here: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081217/BIZ01/312170043
December 17, 200816 yr ^^ If you look in the window of the old Phoenix, the entire first floor assembly is gone. Ripped out and you look down in to the basement! I assume they had some structural issues.
December 17, 200816 yr Not another up-scale bar ... What would you rather see? Barrellhouse Microbrewery
December 17, 200816 yr my understanding is that the guys from Pavilion and the Stand were planning to go in. In talking to Tarbell at Market Wine tasting on Sunday, he mentioned that the old Phoenix Cafe actually had some nice historical aspects, including an interesting backroom that was never used. After walking by and seeing the entire floor gone, I think it's safe to say the place has been pretty much fully gutted.
December 17, 200816 yr I say it here at 3:51....it comes out there at 4:33..... http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081217/BIZ01/312170043
December 18, 200816 yr Phoenix Cafe to become Righteous Room The former low-brow Phoenix Cafe will be redeveloped into an upscale bar with the help of a city of Cincinnati grant. City Council voted Wednesday to approve the $150,000 grant. The developers, Ben Klopp, Bob Deck and Dan Cronican, plan spend $2 million to open the Righteous Room bar and lounge at the Walnut Street site. Three condominiums are also planned for the building’s upper floors. The property is owned by Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. (3CDC), but the developers will eventually own the property, according to a news release from 3CDC. The former Phoenix, at street level, includes 1,900 square feet, with a 700-square-foot outdoor patio. Read full article here: http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/12/15/daily45.html
December 18, 200816 yr Righteous Room bar and lounge at the Walnut Street site. Excellent way to re-brand such a stigmatized site.
December 18, 200816 yr More info, check out the last line!!!! New bar to rise from Phoenix Righteous Room to have condos By Lisa Bernard-Kuhn • [email protected] • December 18, 2008 A group of local bar and restaurant owners is setting its sights on the Backstage Entertainment District with plans for a $2 million renovation of the former Phoenix Café into an upscale bar and rehabbed condos. Ben Klopp, Bob Deck and Dan Cronican - owners of the Pavilion and aliveOne in Mount Adams, the Stand in Mount Lookout, Keystone in Covington and the Sandbar at Four Seasons Marina - plan to open the Righteous Room at 641 Walnut St. by spring. "The renovation of Fountain Square really turned out to be the impetus needed to jump-start the district," Klopp said in a statement from Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. The downtown-based 3CDC, which owns the building, is the private nonprofit developer that led Fountain Square's redesign and is behind the multimillion-dollar Gateway Quarter project in Over-the-Rhine. Since 2006, 40 new restaurants have opened downtown, according to 3CDC. Read full article here: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081218/BIZ01/812180326/1055/NEWS
December 18, 200816 yr Lucy Blue Pizza is moving in/taking over Gondola's space on 7th. Saw the sign this morning.
December 18, 200816 yr Not another upscale bar ... What would you rather see? A tavern, or a pub. Something with acoustical, indie rock, something more low-key. Maybe a brewery that specializes in local brews. In a nutshell .... NORTHSIDE TAVERN 2.
December 18, 200816 yr Since 2006, 40 new restaurants have opened downtown, according to 3CDC. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081218/BIZ01/812180326/1055/NEWS Yeah, this is pretty damn crazy ... Anytime someone wants to dog Downtown or it's health, just say: "Since '06 40 new restaurants have opened up Downtown - you don't know what you're talking about."
December 18, 200816 yr In a nutshell .... NORTHSIDE TAVERN 2. Awesome bar, but I can't imagine something like that downtown. In the Q, for sure. I'd love to see more bars like that one, though.
December 18, 200816 yr In a nutshell .... NORTHSIDE TAVERN 2. Awesome bar, but I can't imagine something like that downtown. In the Q, for sure. I'd love to see more bars like that one, though. See, I can kind of agree about the not seeing something like this Downtown, but I hear so many NS folks complain about the bar scene in DT and the lack of a good bar like this ... so this leads me to believe that DT needs this.
December 18, 200816 yr Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it. Are there any old/abandoned bars around downtown? One of the things I like best about the Northside Tavern is that building.
December 18, 200816 yr Lucy Blue Pizza is moving in/taking over Gondola's space on 7th. Saw the sign this morning. That's fantastic...Lucy Blue is great.
December 18, 200816 yr Lucy Blue Pizza is moving in/taking over Gondola's space on 7th. Saw the sign this morning. That's fantastic...Lucy Blue is great. I think so too. Lucy Blue seems to do a much better job with late night crowds than Gondola did. At least Lucy Blue keeps consistent hours. I wonder if they are keeping their location at 12th and Walnut?
April 28, 200916 yr Cincinnati approves payment for Walnut Street streetscape http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2009/04/cincinnati-approves-payment-for-walnut.html Cincinnati City Council has passed two ordinances to pay CBD Holdings Inc. (3CDC) for a Walnut Street streetscape project. The first ordinance establishes a new capital improvement project account with an unappropriated surplus of $405,721 in tax increment financing (TIF) funds to cover the costs of planning, design and construction of streetscape improvements along the west side of Walnut Street between Sixth and Seventh streets. The second ordinance approves a $405,721 payment to CBD Holdings for the work completed before the capital account was established. The City entered into an agreement with CBD Holdings to construct the streetscape in October 2008.
May 16, 200916 yr Courtesy of 3CDC's Kelly Leon via Facebook... The properties currently being renovated with the completed streetscaping. Neat above view of Bootsy's.
September 14, 200915 yr In case you haven't been down on Walnut Street lately here are some pics from about 2 months ago of the new Righteous Room facade and new streetscaping. View looking down Walnut Street...very handsome buildings. 641 Walnut Street exterior (home of Righteous Room). Detail of Righteous Room entrance. Great building next door to 641 Walnut that was also being worked on at the time. This could be the view from your new condo at 641 Walnut Street.
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