Category: Development

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Cincinnati region grows to more than 2.2 million people

Complete 2010 Census counts are to be released later this week for Ohio, but in advance of that new 2010 population estimates were released by the bureau yesterday. The county-level data for the Cincinnati metropolitan statistical area (MSA) shows anemic population growth for the now 2.2 million person region.

Of counties with more than 50,000 people, the fastest growers were Boone County, KY (40%), Warren County, OH (34.7%) and Clermont County, OH (10%). Over the last decade the region’s largest county saw its population increased by just more than 10,000 people giving Hamilton County, OH an estimated population of 855,340 in July 2010.

No county in the 17-county region studied experienced a population loss during the time frame, and over the ten-year period the region grew by an estimated 8.2 percent adding more than 170,000 people.

These estimates come out just days before Ohio’s full 2010 Census count is to be released. Other cities has felt sobering results from those hard counts that came in notably lower than the annual estimates the U.S. Census Bureau had been releasing.

Whether these estimates turn out to be accurate or not, a trend one can note is that the counties adding the most people are those close to the core of the region. While lower percentage increases exist in the region’s largest counties, they continue to add population to their base.

Leading up to the 2010 Census counts, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory had been a prominent spokesperson for cities suggesting undercounts within inner cities and first-ring suburbs. Those efforts led to several population revisions for Cincinnati and area municipalities, but in a matter of days we will find out whether the mayor’s goal of counting 378,259 people in the City of Cincinnati will hold up or not.

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Business Development News

Cincinnati coworking space to triple in size this April

[This story was originally published in the Cincinnati Business Courier print edition on March 4, 2011. Visit the original story for more comments, thoughts and opinions on the growing coworking community in Cincinnati – Randy.]


This April Cincy Coworks will move from its current 750-square-foot office space in DeSales Corner to space nearly three times as large nearby in Walnut Hills. The move marks the continued growth of Cincinnati’s coworking environment, and one that will allow the region’s first coworking group to increase its full-time membership from six to eighteen.

Coworking first arrived in Cincinnati in June 2010 when Cincy Coworks began operating out of Venue 222 in Over-the-Rhine. The coworking concept allows for freelancers, and others who may work without a formal office space, to access office space without taking on the burden of a lease. Instead the lease is shared through the membership fees.

“Before I found Cincinnati Coworks I was actually thinking about looking for a traditional job because I was so tired of working at home,” explained freelance writer Michelle Taute. “I’m much more productive working at Cincinnati Coworks. It’s a great atmosphere for bouncing around ideas.”

According to an industry survey, the number of global coworking spaces has doubled from approximately 350 at the beginning of 2010, to more than 650 at the beginning of 2011.

The new Cincy Coworks space at 2400 Gilbert Avenue will include dedicated desk space, free off-street parking, two conference rooms, a kitchen area, a roof-top terrace and additional common space.

“In this economy there are a lot of people who are trying to do their own thing, or trying to do their own thing on the site and one of Cincy Coworks’ main purposes is to help support those endeavors,” explained cofounder Gerard Sychay. In addition to the office amenities for self-employed professionals, he says that the concept also breeds creativity.

“I have been wanting to do my own iPhone app for a while, but I didn’t know many programmers before I joined the space,” said Taute who is working on an app project with two others. “We all meet in the space, and it’s exciting to work on a self-directed project with all the key areas covered – programming, content and design.”

Most of the group’s members consist of freelancers, entrepreneurs and telecommuters doing everything from writing to web development. Those who join then have 24-hour access to the office space and have the ability to book the space for special events.

Cincy Coworks is charging $250 for monthly memberships until April 15, and will then charge $300 per month after the move. Sychay says that drop-in and part-time memberships are also available.

There are two other active coworking spaces in the Cincinnati region including Working Side by Side in Glendale and The Offices in Lockland.

Cincy Coworks photograph by UrbanCincy contributor Thadd Fiala.

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Business Development News

New year brings heightened expectations for 3CDC

The Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) has helped spark a transformation of Cincinnati’s urban core in less than 10 years. To date, the non-profit development group has largely been defined by the success that has taken place on and around Fountain Square and the Gateway Quarter for which they are responsible.

Since their founding in 2003, 3CDC has invested more than $250 million into the center city. That investment has led to the renovation of scores of new restaurants and bars in the on and around Fountain Square, hundreds of new residential units and dozens of new businesses in Over-the-Rhine, and the renovation and expansion of Washington Park which is now underway. Even with all of that work to date, the development group says that they are only just now getting started.

“2010 was certainly a watershed year for us,” said Stephen Leeper, president and CEO of 3CDC. “Our development agenda has expanded to more complex real estate transactions. The physical assets we own, lease and/or manage continue to grow.”

In 2011 3CDC will get started on the long-anticipated, $51 million Mercer Commons development that will renovate 20 historic structures and infill 26 existing vacant lots in a two-block area of Over-the-Rhine. The group will also renovate a cluster of buildings along 6th Street into entertainment and office space, and a $48 million project will transform the former Metropole Apartments on Walnut Street nearby into a 21c Museum Hotel.

Some neighborhood residents and business owners do hope for additional neighborhood involvement on the part of 3CDC as they continue their efforts.

“I would like to see some sort of movement toward helping those being displaced obtain the skills or education to earn enough to be able to live in the new Over-the-Rhine,” said Original Thought Required owner James Marable. “I fear the area could become overdeveloped and lose the culture that makes OTR, OTR without them.”

With that said Marable welcomes the additional investment and see a bright future for the neighborhood he now calls home and operates his own small business.

“The amount of investment is a very good thing for the area. I’ve been in Cincinnati for ten years and the first five years of that I wouldn’t step foot in OTR,” Marable explained. “Now I am entrenched in the area and feel as much of a part of it as it is a part of me. I believe all the investment and hard work of the small business owners and development companies are paying off 10 fold and not only making OTR better but providing a shining light for the type of change the entire city should be working towards.”

The $48 million renovation and expansion of Washington Park is expected to be complete in 2012. And in addition to all of that, 3CDC is requesting $85 million in federal tax credits to keep the momentum rolling.

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Business Development News Transportation

Take a tour through Minneapolis’ urban core

I spent a quick two-and-a-half days in Minneapolis in mid-January to study their light rail system and explore the city’s urban core.

During my stay I was able to explore Midtown, Lowry Hill East, Downtown, Warehouse District, Loring Park, Uptown and some other areas very briefly. The city was expectedly cold, but I quickly learned why Minnesotans are such a hearty and down-to-earth bunch. The winters humble and challenge you.

The Hiawatha light rail line was small but well executed. The system utilizes modern rolling stock that includes low floors and is ADA accessible. The stations are nice, although suburban and off the beaten path in many locations. The best element, of the system, is that it connects major nodes with one another. The Mall of America, airport, football stadium, ballpark, arena, central business district, nightlife and government operations are all connected. The system will be vastly improved when it is expanded to St. Paul in the near future.

I will discuss specifics on Minneapolis’ transport network in a forthcoming op-ed. But for now, enjoy this brief collection of 37 photographs from my trip to the upper Midwest in the dead of winter.

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Business Development News

OTR leaders look to past for Brewery District’s future

In 2006 volunteers and community leaders developed an urban master plan for Over-the-Rhine. The plan developed goals and strategies to help reinvigorate the historic neighborhood, but now a familiar group of community leaders is looking to take the plan to the next level.

The new planning effort announced today by the Brewery District Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (BDCURC) and Glaserworks will focus on the northern part of the neighborhood surrounding Findlay Market and the Brewery District. Organizers say that the goal is to take a more targeted economic approach.

“This is not really a comprehensive master plan, but rather a process to form a development plan for the area,” explained BDCURC executive director Steven Hampton. “We’ve got different buildings and building heights than the rest of OTR, and we are looking at how we can best use those assets.”

The 2006 plan, for which this planning effort is based, called for a number of items that have since moved forward including the Cincinnati Streetcar, Urban Mix Zoning District and the branding of the Brewery District. Still though, leaders say more needs to be done for the historic sub-area of OTR which includes an estimated 44 structures that were at one point used for beer brewing purposes.

“We’ve had some good successes being a volunteer group with virtually no budget, but now we are looking for official partners like Glaserworks and funding options for this next effort”

There is reason for hope in this long beleaguered area of Over-the-Rhine though. Rookwood Pottery and Christian Moerlein have opened up major operations in the area, and Findlay Market has experienced tremendous success over recent years. Hampton also says that the future of the area with the streetcar looks bright.

“As a whole everyone has struggled with the economy, but there has been more interest as the streetcar gets closer to fruition,” Hampton said. “We’re getting closer from a couple of different angles, and a lot of smaller investment has kept the area moving forward.”

The planning effort will start in earnest this spring and will look to capitalize off of the neighborhood’s existing urban assets. True loft-style residences, hillside development, large warehouses and typical Over-the-Rhine building stock all exist in the northern reaches of the neighborhood. And this is where community leaders believe the future lies.

“You’re going to see a neighborhood that’s really a mixed-use, walkable neighborhood which has protected its industrial and small businesses while also bringing in new ones,” Hampton concluded. “We’re not reinventing the wheel here. This is how the area is built, and that’s how it will continue to function. We’re just hoping to capitalize on that.”