Category: Development

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Development News Politics

Cincinnati to host form-based code webinars at City Hall

Cincinnati leaders are hosting five webinars sponsored by PlaceMakers to give local residents a chance to learn more about the implementation of form-based codes. The sessions are intended to compliment the city’s ongoing effort at developing a form-based code.

According to Vice Mayor Qualls’ office, the webinars will take place on the third Thursday of each month starting October 21, 2010 and running through February 17, 2011. Each training opportunity will have its own unique focus led by specialists in that area.

On October 21, Ken Groves and Chad Emerson will look at the Montgomery case study. Dan Slone will then discuss how to integrate a form-based code with an existing code on November 18. The webinar on December 16 will include a discussion about SmartCode calibration basics led by Susan Henderson. At the second-to-last webinar Galina Tachiva will look at how to repair sprawl development patterns, and the final event will look at the Miami case study with the help of Marina Khoury.

The 75-minute webinars will be held at 2pm at City Hall (map). Those interested in attending the free sessions are asked to contact Jennifer O’Donnel at jennifer.o’donnell@cincinnati-oh.gov.  City Hall is accessible by Metro bus service (plan your trip), and free bicycle parking is available in the immediate surroundings.

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Business Development News

Fay Apartments to be renamed The Villages of Roll Hill, undergo $36M renovation

Developers and city leaders kicked off a 30-month long rehabilitation project at Fay Apartments yesterday morning on the city’s west side. Once complete, the project will reduce the total number of housing units and become the largest green renovation of an affordable housing community in the United States.

In addition to a $36 million face-lift that will include the demolition of 17 buildings, the community has also been renamed The Villages of Roll Hill. At this time, city officials say that it has yet to be determined if the new community name will impact the official city neighborhood name of “Fay Apartments”, but early indications seem to indicate so.

Community leaders have been looking at rehabilitating the affordable housing community (map) for nearly five years. The latest version of the plan soon to be realized will reduce reduce the number of housing units from 893 to 703 and upgrade security measures, add new landscaping and trees, and include new playgrounds for the many children that live in the community.

The project was made possible through federal funds including a $32 million loan from the Department of Housing & Urban Development and a $3.2 million loan from City HOME. The City of Cincinnati has also granted an eight-year tax abatement on the renovation work.

Developers from Cincinnati-based Wallick-Hendy Properties are seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for the project, but stated last year that the level of green improvements would be dependent upon government support.

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Business Development News

Google updates aerial imagery of Cincinnati region

Google has updated its aerial imagery for several major cities throughout the United States including Portland, Washington, D.C., and Cincinnati.  The new imagery appears to have been taken over the summer.  Observers in the nation’s capital have been able to narrow it down to as precise as Sunday, August 29 between 1:00pm and 1:35pm.

Like many other cities around the country, the new aerial imagery for Cincinnati illustrates much of what has changed over recent years.  New construction projects are visibly taking place while others have been completed or are nearing completion in their aerials.  In addition to capturing the changing urban landscape in Cincinnati, the new imagery is also much crisper than previous versions.

Below is a sampling of 20 sites around the city that illustrate the aforementioned changes.  Enjoy!

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Business Development News

Over-the-Rhine college experiences record growth, eyes future expansion

Over the past four semesters, Chatfield College’s location near Findlay Market in historic Over-the-Rhine has increased its enrollment from 74 to 170 students. Leadership at the liberal arts college attributes much of the growth to an aggressive Cincinnati recruiting campaign and mission to reach the under-served population in Cincinnati’s urban core.

“We empower students that maybe could not succeed at larger colleges like Cincinnati State,” said Chatfield College president John Tafaro. “And even though we are growing, we stay committed to individual attention by keeping our class sizes capped at 20 students or less.”

The capped class sizes have maintained one teacher for every eight students in class. In order to maintain this ratio school officials are in the process of hiring additional faculty in a variety of subjects. In order to accomplish this the college will host a recruitment fair on Thursday, October 7 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at 1800 Logan Street in Over-the-Rhine. The fair will reportedly include a speech to prospective faculty members by President Tafaro.

While Chatfield’s Over-the-Rhine location has more than doubled its enrollment over the past year, the college’s main campus located in St. Martin, Ohio has only grown by 10 percent since last fall. To accommodate such growth school officials say that a move from their current 5,000-square-foot location may be in store, but for the mean time they plan on adding additional classes to meet the new demands.

“We offer blocked scheduling and both day and night classes,” noted Tafaro. “Beginning this spring semester, which starts in January, we will also offer Saturday classes to most effectively reach our students’ needs.”

The college currently has a lease on their Over-the-Rhine space through 2014, but officials say that an expansion in the neighborhood would be ideal moving forward due to the great location.

“Our Findlay Market location is convenient to urban community members, and we are near eight bus lines. Approximately 90 percent of our students are black and nearly 80 percent are women, many single moms, who appreciate Chatfield coming to their community instead of making them come to us.”

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Development News

$661k renovation project saves historic Northside structure from wrecking ball

A $661,000 renovation project in Northside is nearing completion and will host its first open house next weekend on Saturday, October 16 from 12:30pm to 2:30pm. The renovation work saved the historic building from demolition and has introduced four new condominiums to the Northside neighborhood.

To help make the project a reality, the City of Cincinnati granted a $140,000 forgivable loan to the development group to help support the affordable housing in November 2009 through Emergency City Ordinance 335-2009.

The Bridgeview was developed by the MC3 Group and is being listed by Comey & Shepherd Realtors. The structure was originally built in 1890 and is located within the Hoffner Historic District. The development team purchased the building in May 2009, and said that special attention was paid to retaining the integrity of the building’s architectural detail during the renovation work.

“When the building was boarded up and headed for demolition, we saw the potential and beauty of what it could be,” stated Michael Berry of MC3.

Inside the residential units range from 720 to 1,880 square feet, and range from $130,000 to $230,000. The development team also states the units qualify for a 15-year tax abatement. In addition to the residential units located in the historic structure, the development team is also listing approximately 1,695 square feet of street-level commercial space (map).

The developers expect the project to be a nice fit for the diverse neighborhood stating, “Northside is such a vibrant neighborhood, with a concentration of families, as well as empty nesters and young professionals, so The Bridgeview offers a natural fit for that.”

Those interested in touring the project can do so by contacting Barbra Druffel or Diane Debevec at (513) 281-7653 or bdruffel@comey.com.  First occupancy is expected to be available in late October 2010.