As Cincinnatians have seen with Hamilton County’s demolition program, funded through state foreclosure funds, it can be difficult to properly implement a program of that nature. Simply tearing down properties seems to be too heavy-handed, but more nuanced solutions can be more costly. In Chicago a slightly different approach is being taken. More from NextCity:
How can cities unload the properties they hold, and facilitate the transfer of empty properties held privately, to owners that can use them? In the age of Big Data, these decisions are becoming less complicated. Last month, fellows with the University of Chicago’s Data Science for Social Good began working with the Chicago area’s newly born Cook County Land Bank Authority. The aim is to create a tool that will make it easier to process data on foreclosures, real estate trends and the like to determine which properties are the best candidates for redevelopment. Think of it as a data-backed triage unit for vacant land.
Columbus launched Ohio’s first bikeshare this week. Cincinnati, meanwhile, continues to work on developing its own bikeshare system. While the movement starts takes root in the Buckeye State, New York City’s new CitiBike system has been seen as a massive success. This has not only been for those using the system, but also for CitiBank as it has been looking for a way to rebuild its brand identity following the financial crisis years ago. More from The Daily Beast:
In recent months one bailed-out, much-hated bank has found salvation through an unorthodox, low-affect marketing method. We’re talking, of course, about Citi’s sponsorship of the wildly popular, just-launched New York City bikesharing program—Citibike…Instead of forcing people to watch another soporific spot before guffawing at that clip of The Daily Show online, or getting lost in the hundreds of ads disrupting people trying to watch The Voice, Citibike offers a rolling testimonial to the brand. Every day, about 25,000 times, someone saddles up on a Citibike, which has the company’s name plastered on it prominently, and rides around Manhattan or Brooklyn, usually with a smile on her face.
The Hummel Building as seen from Washington Park. Photograph by Paige Malott for UrbanCincy.
Ninety years after the founding of the City of Cincinnati, in a day when Over-the-Rhine was home to over 40 breweries and Barney Kroger was still writing his business plan; three men sat in a saloon along Vine Street finalizing the design for Music Hall and a property adjacent: 1401 Elm Street.
The triage of architect Samuel Hannaford, Cincinnati political boss George Cox, and construction contractor George Hummel built 1401 as mixed-use development. In addition to multi-family homes, the property included the Hummel Family Market and the ever-popular Hummel Saloon.
The Hummel Building as seen from Washington Park. Photograph by Paige Malott for UrbanCincy.
Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls addresses the crowd. Photograph by Paige Malott for UrbanCincy.
City Manager Milton Dohoney and Councilwoman Laure Quinlivan look on at the ceremony. Photograph by Paige Malott for UrbanCincy.
City and neighborhood leaders cut the ribbon on the $1.6M project. Photograph by Paige Malott for UrbanCincy.
The restored building now includes balconies for the four condominium units inside. Photograph by Paige Malott for UrbanCincy.
The $1.6 million project was celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by Chad Munitz, Executive Vice President of 3CDC, Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls (C), Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney, Councilmember Laure Quinlivan (D), and Peg Wyant of Grandin Properties.
The Hummel Building, which is now home to a 1,900 square-foot restaurant space and four condominiums priced from $270,000 to $375,000, is also the first Over-the-Rhine project for Grandin Properties.
A company best known for their work in upscale suburban neighborhoods such as Hyde Park, Grandin invested in 1401 Elm for both its historic significance and recent resurgence of the urban lifestyle.
“Cincinnati is reinventing itself as a hub of influence and innovation,” stated Grandin CEO, Peg Wyant at the ribbon cutting ceremony last week. “Grandin Properties is very pleased to be a part of it.”
Just around the corner from the Hummel Building, crews continued roadwork in preparation for the Cincinnati Streetcar.
“It is exciting to see this property link up with the streetcar,” noted City Manager Milton Dohoney. “Great things happen as we continue to invest in the city with the help of 3CDC.”
The Hummel Building is the second of seven projects to be completed during the fifth phase of 3DCDC’s redevelopment work in Over-the-Rhine. Other properties include Republic Street Lofts, Tea Company Townhomes, Westfalen II, B-Side Lofts, Mercer Commons, and Nicolay, as well as the Bakery Lofts which opened earlier this year. Hummel’s first floor restaurant is slated for a public debut on November 26, 2013.
The City of Cincinnati and 3CDC have financed more than $315 million in redeveloping Over-the-Rhine since 2009. The 110-square block neighborhood is home to the largest concentration of historic structures in the United States: 943 buildings. To date, 103 of those buildings have been restored or stabilized through the work of 3CDC.
The Millennial Generation, also known as Echo Boomers or Generation Y, is roughly defined as people born between the early 1980s and early 2000s. As members of this generation start to make up a bigger portion of the workforce, and eventually become a bigger force in politics, a number of changes are bound to take place. In addition to preferring urban living in greater numbers than Baby Boomers and Generation X, Millennials also have different preferences when it comes to media, technology, shopping, transportation, and politics. More from Urban Land Magazine:
Over the last two to three years, echo boomers have been fueling the demand for rental housing in urbanized areas. Since 2009, there has been a steady increase in multifamily construction, climbing from 109,000 units in 2009 to 245,000 units in 2012, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The new multifamily rentals are not limited to coastal cities. For example, from January to September 2012, Houston’s multifamily housing development rate increased 70 percent over the same period in 2011.
Demand for rental units has increased most dramatically in tech centers such as San Francisco and the Silicon Valley area; Austin, Texas; Denver; Boston; and New York City. But even without the tech industry serving as a catalyst, the sheer size of the echo boom demographic has fueled demand for apartments—particularly those located in high-amenity cities and suburban agglomerations.
Cincinnati has seen a wealth of private real estate investment over the past decade. The problem, however, is that almost all of that investment is oriented toward those residents and workers using cars to get there. But in Miami, a city known for its flashy cars, a new development is looking to change that mindset. More from The Atlantic:
Miami and cars. They go together like piña and colada, right? Well, maybe so. But one new luxury condo in the heart of downtown is making what is, for this Florida city, a bold move. The building in many ways fits the profile of recent development in Miami’s reviving core: It has 36 stories, 352 units, and 10-foot ceilings.
But as for parking? Zero of that. Not for private motor vehicles, anyway. The Centro, as it’s called, will have a five-car Car2Go auto share station featuring the city-backed service’s distinctive, blue-and-white Smart cars; covered bike parking; and, if Miami gets bike share, maybe one of those stations as well.
The project breaks ground this fall, and the parking-garage-free tower was made possible by city zoning that allows no parking garages in buildings that are close to transit in densely developed areas.
