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Arts & Entertainment Business News

OTR = Food & Drinks

This past week has been a truly remarkable time for our favorite previously neglected neighborhood.

On Tuesday, Lavomatic opened on Vine Street. Jean Robert’s new restaurant opened in an old Laundromat and serves a very rough blend of French and local cuisine. I had the opportunity to try it out and I can say that you will not be disappointed. The space is wonderful. Light colored walls and a completely glass street frontage, makes it a very bright and welcoming space. Upstairs (not quite open yet) the dinning room continues inside and out. The terrace is larger than what I had been expecting. The space is going to be a wonderful place to relax, eat some great food and sip a glass of French wine.

The food was amazing, as expected. I started off with their daily special appetizer, a smoked trout salad. Simply Stunning. My entree and dessert of salmon on a bed of couscous, and crème Brule, were just as spectacular. Also the wine selection was very small, but I was told that they will be expanding it before the weekend. With entrees between 12-24 dollars it is probably the most affordable of Jean Robert’s places. I honestly can’t wait to go back and sit on the terrace.

Today, Grammer’s reopens. A true Cincinnati Gem that I honestly can’t wait to go to. It’s basically going to have my two favorite things. Beer and Bratwursts. It promises to become a staple of Over-the-Rhine once again, especially with some of the redevelopment opportunities that have been recently hitting the presses.

What an exciting time for OTR and the city in general. It is hard not to get wrapped up in the momentum that we are experiencing right now in our neighborhood.

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Business Development News Politics

Cincinnati is ready to GO

The Growth & Opportunities Survey for the City of Cincinnati (aka GoCincinnati) has finally been released – all 98 pages of it. I will venture to say that the majority of people will not read the report, and if you do, it will probably consist of skimming…so I have taken the liberty of reading it for you, and here is my report on GoCincinnati.

The report seems to offer a two-fold solution. First, the City should focus on its strengths (i.e. walkable communities, urban areas, culture, etc) for mid/long-term growth strategies. Secondly, the City needs to eliminate the edge that currently exists for suburban communities over the city in attracting office/retail/residential growth.

The analysis is overall not flattering, but does report a stable industrial market that is holding strong against regional competition…and that with a little more attention could easily establish itself as the premier industrial market for a couple of categories (i.e. Flex/R&D space and Green Industrial Parks). There are currently only 18 green industrial parks in the nation, and the potential of turning Queensgate into one poses possibly the greatest opportunity, and the ability to position Cincinnati as, “a global leader in ‘green development’ via the rehabilitation of these spaces.” (pg. 34)

The report also places a large emphasis on creating a multi-modal transportation system…which can be started with the streetcar proposal. The report states, “It is strongly recommended that the streetcar line be completed between Downtown, Uptown, and OTR in the 1st phase of its construction. There is probably no infrastructure investment that will have more long-term tax generation and economic development benefit to the city than this streetcar line.” (pg. 40)
Another key area of emphasis is on converting obsolete office space, in the CBD, into non-office uses…primarily in the form of residential spaces. This would allow for rates to creep up and possibly create demand for new speculative office construction, additionally it would inject even more people into the center city.

One final key note of mine was the recommendation of a joint Cincinnati and Hamilton County development authority. The report proposes that it be called the Cincinnati USA Development Authority (CUDA). It is recommended that the operations of the Port Authority be expanded to include all of the city/county. It also noted that this expansion, of the Port Authority, has already begun during this report process.

For any more information you’ll just have to read the report yourself…it’s good for you. All in all, I find this to be fantastically informative and well done. This is something that Cincinnati should really embrace and attempt to position itself strategically for economic and population growth.

Full Report (PDF 4.97mb)

Image Credit:
www.cincystreetcar.com

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Business Development News

I’ve got your Downtown grocery right here

With the growing residential population Downtown and the new activity being seen on a daily basis…the talks of a full-scale grocery store for Downtown have heated up again. I think it is BS when people say the demographics aren’t right, or that a location isn’t there that meets their needs. I won’t bore you with demographic talk, but I will dive into the location part of the discussion.

I’ve got a couple locations that I think would be great for a nice full-scale grocery Downtown. The first one is 7th & Vine. This is about as close to the center of the population (for the center city) as you can get. There are currently two surface lots there and is located 2 blocks from Fountain Square and 1 block from the proposed streetcar line.

Sunflower Market a natural foods grocery in Columbus – highstreetart.blogspot.com

My second option would be at Tower Place Mall along 4th Street. The street-level would have to be completely reworked to have direct access, but this could prove to be the rejuvenation that Tower Place needs. This is just 1 block from Fountain Square and about 1.5 blocks from the proposed streetcar line.

Finally there is always the massive surface lots near St. Xavier Church at 7th/8th & Sycamore. This location is in a rapidly growing residential area, and offers lots of readily available land just waiting to be built on. This location though is slightly further away from being central, but is smack dab on the streetcar line.

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Business News Politics

Don’t Trash The ‘Nati

It is not often that I read the Opinion Section of the Enquirer…but today for some reason I felt the urge. You know that urge to test your toughness and stomach for what is typically ridiculous commentary. But today however, I was pleasantly surprised. Laura Kleckner had a wonderful piece discussing the University of Cincinnati and the neighborhoods that surround it.

I am a student at UC and trust me, I understand the urge to go out and party…and even get a little crazy. But it is often easy to overlook the fact that the neighborhoods that surround UC are exactly that – NEIGHBORHOODS. People live there 365 days a year, raise families there, make a living there and get to live their American Dream right there in those very neighborhoods.

Charlton Place – Jefferson Street

Unfortunately many college students have little respect for their surroundings and think of college as a non-stop party (some, not all). If you would like to experience college this way fine, but at least have some decency and try not to trash the neighborhoods that people have worked very hard on to clean up/improve.

urge UC students to be more respectful and work with community members to make the neighborhoods, surrounding UC, better places for everyone. Don’t trash the ‘nati.

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Business Development News Opinion

New Signature Tower Needed??

There has been some discussion recently over the need (or lack thereof) for a new signature tower in Cincinnati. Queen City Square II offers that potential with it’s signature style architecture and size. It would be the new tallest in Cincinnati, and would have a new/fresh look that isn’t all too prevalent in Midwestern cities. But the question still exists…does Cincinnati need a new signature tower…or for that matter does Cincinnati even have a signature tower/landmark.

I would argue that Cincinnati does have a signature tower in Carew, but whether it is a landmark feature is another question. I would say that outside of the world of people who are interested in Cincinnati and/or city history that very few people know the history of the beautiful Art Deco skyscraper. You could also argue that Union Terminal is landmark-esque for Cincinnati, but the same holds true for it with the average joe.

So, does Cincinnati need a new signature tower…well I’ll answer with yet another question. What is the signature tower in Portland, OR…San Diego, CA…Boston, MA…Miami, FL or Washington, DC? Now sure, some of these places have their landmark buildings (most notably DC), but they don’t really have signature towers. What makes Paris, London, Madrid, or Rome so special? They all lack the skyscrapers that are prevalent in American cities, but they have great built environments and pedestrian friendly amenities.

Proposed Queen City Square II

Cincinnati is special in the same way…sure it doesn’t have the skyscrapers like new boomtowns of Atlanta, Miami, Houston, or Dallas. But it has a built environment that those cities will never be able to duplicate. Over-the-Rhine is a landmark for Cincinnati, so is Union Terminal, Carew Tower, Central Trust Tower, Roebling Suspension Bridge, and one could even argue Columbia Tusculum.

Now don’t get me wrong…I’m not opposed to another stylish skyscraper downtown, but I don’t think that Cincinnati needs it by any stretch of the imagination. Often times skyscrapers actually hurt that all important street-life that you hope to create in an urban environment. I say go for it, but don’t go out of your way to accomplish building these skyscrapers. They are pretty…but like a book, the quality of a city should not be judged by its cover.