February 5, 200718 yr Work is ongoing and there is a new sign on the corner of Delta and Col. Parkway, I will try to get a shot of it next time through. If you look at the site plan, there is an awful lot of space wasted on surface parking; it looks like they could do a lot more with one-three levels of parking and more buildings. There are also some new renderings and new info on the following two links: http://www.midlandatlantic.com/uploads/ColumbiaSquareFlyer06072006.pdf http://www.midlandatlantic.com/uploads/Columbia%20Square%20%20Rendering.pdf
February 5, 200718 yr Why are the retail buildings so low and uniform in appearance? I like the pergola over the sidewalk idea for a restaurant (for outdoor dining). But in front of the "video store" or "cleaners", it just serves to obscure the storefront.
February 5, 200718 yr I think the retail area looks great...really sharp for that area. I think the office building is an eyesore.
February 6, 200718 yr I don't mind the retail area either - plus it is going to create another neighborhood center. Maybe not as charming or unique as Ludlow in Clifton or Oakley, Mt. Lookout, or Hyde Park Square but it is way better than the building that was there before.
February 6, 200718 yr I really think there would be a market for 3 stories of condos over the retail in that area, or maybe some apartments and some condos.
May 11, 200718 yr Plan bans new billboards near residential districts Signs couldn't be closer than 200 radial feet of housing BY LAURA BAVERMAN | [email protected] May 11, 2007 COLUMBIA TUSCULUM - To most, a 12-foot-wide billboard on Columbia Parkway is simply part of the landscape, but to Al Neyer Inc., it represents the sole holdup to its Columbia Square office, retail and residential development. And to the city of Cincinnati, it's a signal that billboards in residential areas need to go. Sign of the times Ordinance would ban new billboards within 200 radial feet of residential districts. The 229 billboards within that range would be grandfathered. Already, billboards can't be closer than 500 feet from each other, or within districts with schools and parks.
May 31, 200718 yr Billboard comes down; development takes off May 31, 2007 | CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER CINCINNATI - Developer Al Neyer Inc. Thursday demolished the 48-foot billboard that has for a year prevented the start of its Columbia Square mixed-use development at the intersection of Columbia Parkway and Delta Avenue. Neyer negotiated a deal with billboard owner Lamar Outdoor Advertising and the city of Cincinnati to relocate the board to the opposite corner of the intersection. The billboard's destruction means construction can begin on a 48,000-square-foot office building and upscale restaurant on the site, the first phase of the $45 million development. Later phases include neighborhood retail, office and some mix of residential units, as well as parking.
June 1, 200718 yr CINCINNATI - Developer Al Neyer Inc. Thursday demolished the 48-foot billboard that has for a year prevented the start of its Columbia Square mixed-use development at the intersection of Columbia Parkway and Delta Avenue. Glad to hear this is moving, but the above comment is flat out wrong. The sitework was just completed a month or two ago, not a year.
June 22, 200717 yr Parkway has landscaping, more lighting New buildings will follow in East Side's Columbia Tusculum BY STEVE KEMME | [email protected] COLUMBIA TUSCULUM - This East Side Cincinnati neighborhood celebrated on Thursday the completion of a $1.6 million Columbia Parkway streetscape that's expected to play a major role in revitalizing the business district. The new look marks a new era for Cincinnati's oldest neighborhood. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070622/NEWS01/706220416/1056/COL02
August 10, 200717 yr That is the same design that they used on the landscaped islands on Dixmyth and Clifton Ave. I like the new standard desing/look...it's nice to see the city embracing these parkway-esque features again.
August 10, 200717 yr Service agreement, funds for Columbia Square Building Cincinnati, 8/7/07 The City has authorized a service agreement with Al Neyer, Inc. (Neyer) and Columbia Square, LLC for the Columbia Square development at Columbia Parkway and Delta Avenue. The service agreement sets the terms for the issuance of bonds for each of the project's three phases. As reported yesterday, the City authorized the issuance of $4.3 million in bonds to help pay for the parking, site improvements and utilities. Debt on the bonds will be serviced by tax revenues generated in an already established Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district. City Council approved the use of TIF for the site in 2003 and codified it by entering into a development agreement with Neyer in June. The City also has replaced $500,000 taken from the Columbia Square capital project account, which will fill a financing gap and allow Neyer to proceed with their construction loan from National City Bank. In 2005, the City transferred those funds from that account to cover costs for the Stetson Square project. They recently found a source for reimbursement in three other project funds (figures rounded): * Retail/Commercial Opportunities 2007: $165,000 * Downtown Housing Development 2007: $95,000 * Neighborhood Housing/Commercial Development 2007: $240,000 Later this month, the City will use these funds--in conjunction with the unspent $150,000 in the project account--to purchase land from Neyer for construction of public surface parking. The three-phased project Phase I will consist of the construction of a 49,000-square-foot office building and public parking on the southeast corner of Columbia Parkway and Delta Avenue. Phase II will be 29,000-square-feet in neighborhood retail buildings on the south side of Columbia at Hoge Street. These possibly could include restaurants and a bank. Phase III will be a 34,000-square-foot office building on the northwest corner of Columbia and Delta. Residential uses, which at one time were numbered as high as 72, are absent from current plans. The project cost is estimated at $23 million. The city has already spent nearly $850,000 for the local share of the $1.6 million Columbia Parkway streetscape project, which was necessary to make the project feasible. The streetscape was dedicated June 21. http://buildingcincinnati.blogspot.com/2007/08/service-agreement-funds-for-columbia.html
October 15, 200717 yr Columbia Square photo update, 10/4/07 Building Cincinnati, 10/12/07 Foundation work continues on the first building at Columbia Square in Columbia Tusculum. Pictured is the beginning of a three-story office building with a first-floor restaurant. No tenants have been named. The building is expected to be completed in early 2008. At buildout, developer Al Neyer, Inc. plans two office buildings and an assortment of smaller retail and restaurant structures. http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2007/10/columbia-square-photo-update-10407.html
October 26, 200717 yr New business district planned First phase of One Columbia Square expected to open in June with office space, restaurant BY LISA BERNARD-KUHN | CINCINNATI ENQUIRER October 26, 2007 COLUMBIA TUSCULUM - The first phase of a $25 million office and retail development at the corner of Columbia Parkway and Delta Avenue is expected to be ready for occupancy by June. The eight-acre development by Al Neyer Inc. is being constructed in two phases. The first phase includes a three-story, 54,000-square-foot office building.
November 19, 200717 yr Old neighborhood gets new offices, eateries Columbia Parkway at Delta is wider, brighter, landscaped BY STEVE KEMME | CINCINNATI ENQUIRER November 19, 2007 COLUMBIA TUSCULUM - The steel girders being erected on a nine-acre site at Columbia Parkway and Delta Avenue form the outline of what will be a three-story office building with a first-floor restaurant. The building will anchor Columbia Square, a $30 million office-retail development.
November 19, 200717 yr im excited for this project. A lof of work still needs to be done on the northern part of Columbia Pky, like getting rid of billboards, etc. that are an aesthetic nuisance. The one around Allyn's is a good example. Also, those two new townhomes by the starbucks are bland. I would love to somehow see the starbucks lot have something built there to hide these homes.
November 19, 200717 yr As I understand it, those billboards won't be going anywhere in the foreseeable future. Years ago, the city gave the company that owns them a perpetual lease on the land. That's made it extremely difficult for anyone to work around them, as they don't seem willing to move them or negotiate.
November 19, 200717 yr Exactly how much land do they have a lease on? Couldn't something be built directly in front of the billboards so that they effectively don't advertise to anyone? :-D
April 20, 200817 yr They've made significant progress on this building. This picture is from about a week or so ago (sorry for the crappy quality).
April 21, 200817 yr nice job rando, it's almost the exact same angle as the rendering, if only a nice white beetle was driving by
April 21, 200817 yr ^ That's exactly why we need a light rail system in Cincinnati; so that we don't have to share the streets with crazies like Rando who are taking pictures while driving!
April 21, 200817 yr I'm in the midst of working on a form based code for a town here in Florida and for the love of God, that new Tusculum building is EXACTLY why we are putting in an articulation requirement of 4' for every 30' of frontage. A god damn box built to the street is still a god damn box. Sad. I was excited about this project for a long time.
April 21, 200817 yr no tenants as of 4/7/08, but one restaurant is supposedly close to signing. i am not sure who that is yet.
April 21, 200817 yr I'm in the midst of working on a form based code for a town here in Florida and for the love of God, that new Tusculum building is EXACTLY why we are putting in an articulation requirement of 4' for every 30' of frontage. A god damn box built to the street is still a god damn box. Sad. I was excited about this project for a long time. Sadly, I really liked the old building that they tore down for this. Wasn't it an old YMCA? If I remember it correctly, it was a multi-story brick structure that looked to be at least 100 years old.
July 30, 200816 yr Just glanced back at the structures that Neyer was proposing back in 2004 and 2006. At the time, many people thought those were inappropriate, hideous or overblown. In retrospect, I'd gladly exchange any one of those earlier designs for the uninspired monstrosity that's there now. It's absurdly boring, especially when you consider the character-filled neighborhood that surrounds it. This is the sort of building that gives development a bad name. And to think they're talking about four more buildings on the same site. Ghastly. The only hope is that Neyer, which is having enormous trouble leasing the existing, will bail and sell it to a developer with some vision.
July 30, 200816 yr Freaking ugly building. 10 times worse than what was there before. Surface lot is awful too.
July 30, 200816 yr Just glanced back at the structures that Neyer was proposing back in 2004 and 2006. At the time, many people thought those were inappropriate, hideous or overblown. In retrospect, I'd gladly exchange any one of those earlier designs for the uninspired monstrosity that's there now. It's absurdly boring, especially when you consider the character-filled neighborhood that surrounds it. I don't necessarily care for the new building either, but the renderings posted earlier in this thread are of different buildings of the larger proposal...buildings that haven't been built yet. It would have been nice to see something really unique go in this location (architecturally speaking) given the very unique buildings that surround this locale.
July 30, 200816 yr I'd gladly exchange any one of those earlier designs for the uninspired monstrosity that's there now. It's absurdly boring, especially when you consider the character-filled neighborhood that surrounds it. It's especially bad when you consider that they tore down an historic brick building to put this there. If it had been a surface lot, that would be one thing, but I was soured on this project the moment I realized they were demoing the corner building there. I think it was an old YMCA. In any case, it would have made for some nice loft condos. Oh well.
July 30, 200816 yr ^Do you have any images of that structure? I find it hard to believe that a single structure occupied this entire site previously. Were there other building accompanying said historic structure or was it a lone ranger?
July 30, 200816 yr it was a lone ranger for the most part. they rest of the site was primarily wooded. i think there might have been a few billboards too.
July 30, 200816 yr http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=columbia+parkway+and+delta+ave+cincinnati,+oh&sll=39.116957,-84.439236&sspn=0.001877,0.00213&ie=UTF8&ll=39.116635,-84.438933&spn=0.001877,0.00213&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=39.1172,-84.43928&panoid=qVuTVOQN_1DfWXgwUmnM5A As of a few weeks ago, no office leases but a restaurant is supposedly still interested.
July 30, 200816 yr ^Do you have any images of that structure? I find it hard to believe that a single structure occupied this entire site previously. Were there other building accompanying said historic structure or was it a lone ranger? Sadly, I don't have any pictures of it. I don't believe that it occupied the entire site, only the corner of Delta Avenue and Columbia Parkway. If memory serves, it was a 3 story brick building, with lots of tall narrow windows. It looked to be 90-100 years old. It's possible that it was structurally deficient and couldn't be saved, but it looked pretty solid from the outside. My guess is that it was just easier to demo it and start new than to work around it, which is a shame since the other two buildings at that corner are from the same time period.
July 30, 200816 yr ^^I'm guessing this is the map you meant to link: http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=39.116839,-84.43925&spn=0.001527,0.002736&t=h&z=19
July 30, 200816 yr LOL, I was just looking that up to post myself! The building I was referring to is the brown portion directly at the corner. I'm not sure what the white building is behind it. I can't remember if it was part of the same structure or a separate adjacent building.
July 30, 200816 yr ^Do you have any images of that structure? I find it hard to believe that a single structure occupied this entire site previously. Were there other building accompanying said historic structure or was it a lone ranger? The old YWCA that was on the site was considerably smaller than the current building. It was about the same length on Delta, but only about half as long on Columbia. It was a nice looking, brick building that appeared to be in decent shape from the outside. I always thought it would make a great residential space. The rest of the current "Columbia Square" site was taken up by scraggly woods and an ugly one-story abandoned building and gravel road. There was also one billboard situated on what is now the back half of the new building.
July 30, 200816 yr Is the building pictured in this thread in the June 16, 2006 post the one that was demo'd?
July 31, 200816 yr yep! In addition to the building at the corner, they have made some headway on a building on the opposite end of the lot. they just tore down a house (or two) next to Stanley's and have started a foundation / walls for a building right behind their lot.
July 31, 200816 yr Hey, that is it! I looked through the whole thread while I was at work, but our net filtering sometimes blocks images inexplicably. What a shame that they had to tear that down.
August 8, 200816 yr I did some digging and found a couple of renderings that haven't been posted yet. Enjoy! 1. Masterplan 2. Detail of Phase 1 3. Phase 1 as seen heading east on Columbia Parkway 4. Phase 1 as seen heading west on Columbia Parkway 5. And another looking west as seen from pedestrian view 6. Detail of future phase 7. Detail of future phase
August 9, 200816 yr Randy, when did you get the key to the vault with all of the renderings for the entire cincinnati area?
August 9, 200816 yr Thats just off Mason-Montgomery Road, right? Wow, I almost responded to this wondering what the hell you were talking about, then I realized you were being facetious.
August 9, 200816 yr Yup, it is a million times better than what was there before (a couple of run down buildings and weeds), but the site plan could have been better. The original plan was much more suited to the site I thought.
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