Tag: historic preservation

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Business Development News Opinion

Large vacant buildings should be transitioned into urban community centers

Could the Bartlett Building be transformed into something completely different? Photograph by Thadd Fiala for UrbanCincy.

Throughout the United States there are cities that have large vacant buildings and spaces in their central business district that could be utilized in a new efficient way.

In Cincinnati, the old School for the Creative & Performing Arts was recently auctioned off and is slated to be turned into apartments. In the CBD the Bartlett Building, Tower Place Mall, and Terrace Plaza Hotel remain empty or nearly empty and take up about one-fourth of a city block each.

Some think these buildings could be prime residential properties, but they could be that and more. A large vacant building, for example, could be developed into a mixed use community center.

My inspiration actually came from the Up To Speed story on UrbanCincy about a rock climbing gym in St. Louis. I thought to myself that Cincinnati can have something similar and better. Downtown Cincinnati and OTR/Pendleton are becoming destinations for young adults and families for both restaurants and bars.

Turning a large vacant building into a destination point for physical and social activity would add a whole new dimension to the city. The following ideas are what could go collectively into a large empty building:

  • Rock Climbing Gym – With the exception of the UC recreation center, all of the rock climbing centers are on the outer edge of the city.
  • Paintball Arena – This would be an extremely unique idea for the area as there are minimal indoor paintball facilities and could be a draw for different work or teambuilding groups.
  • Exercise Gym/Running Track – The gyms downtown are mostly old and do not offer enough space or have odd floor plans. Renovating a vacant building would allow plenty of space with tall ceilings and large windows that could allow natural light and have a large open space for exercise equipment. A downtown gym with enough space can offer a full menu of classes including Crossfit, spinning, yoga and Zumba, to bring in a broad range of people looking to exercise. A running track a fraction of the size of an outdoor track could be installed for those that do not like treadmill, but want to run indoors.
  • Basketball Court/Indoor Soccer – Large office buildings could utilize a few stories to carve out a basketball/indoor soccer surface and hold leagues and practices for area schools and AAU teams.
  • Batting Cages/Pitching Tunnels – The basement of a building could be an ideal area for batting cages and pitching tunnels for baseball and softball practice during the cold months. These cages and tunnels are easily moved and can be repositioned to make room for more activities inside the building.
  • Golf Simulators/Nets/Putting Green – This would be another unique addition to an urban area with little green space for golf. Workers could play a quick round during their lunch break or warm up before they go out to one of Cincinnati or Hamilton County’s public courses. This would also allow for urban dwellers a space they could walk to for golf lessons.
  • Offices – With additional amenities a building would become more attractive to businesses.
  • Apartments – To make the building a true mixed use development, apartments could be added as this would be a true “luxury apartment” with a real gym (unlike those found at too many apartment complexes that only have a treadmill and Bowflex and call it a gym) and the ability to walk to some of the most popular dining destinations in the city.

To compare a potential community center downtown with other recreational centers, the Recreation & Physical Activity Center at Ohio State University has a total of 570,000 square feet of space including the pools, while 25,000 square feet is fitness space for weights and treadmills. By contrast, the Campus Recreation Center at the University of Cincinnati has 202,000 square feet including its pools.

The options of what to include in these large, empty spaces are endless, but a truly mixed use development would be better suited for the community than simply offices, apartments, and art studio space. The gyms downtown are old and do not offer enough space, or have odd floor plans. Rock climbing and paintball would draw younger crowds, and the students in the area could benefit from having additional practice facilities.

A neighborhood needs young families as well as young professionals. This would be a good start to try and draw them to the core and keep them there.

Brian Valerio grew up in Cincinnati’s College Hill neighborhood and graduated from St. Xavier High School and Ohio State University where he studied finance and real estate. He currently works at Fifth Third Bank and lives downtown. Those interested in sharing their thoughts can submit guest editorials to UrbanCincy by emailing urbancincy@gmail.com. Please include a short bio with any submissions.

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Business Development News

Ohio awards nearly $9M in historic tax credits to seven Cincinnati-area projects

Seven Cincinnati-area developments have been awarded nearly $9 million in tax credits from the Ohio Development Services Agency (ODSA) through the state’s historic preservation program.

Six of the seven area projects are located within the City of Cincinnati, and one is located in downtown Hamilton. The Cincinnati-area projects took home nearly 25 percent of the total $35.9 million distributed in the program’s ninth round of funding, and will create more than 130 new housing units and tens of thousands of square feet of commercial space once completed.

“The Historic Preservation Tax Credit puts empty buildings back into the economic cycle, creating jobs through construction activities and reoccupation of the buildings,” Christiane Schmenk, director of the ODSA, stated in a prepared release. “This program saves some of the state’s most significant historic structures.”


Eden Park’s 118-year-old pump station may soon see new life as a micro-brewery thanks to a $1 million tax credit from the State of Ohio. Rendering provided.

According to state officials, projects receiving funding must complete the rehabilitation work in accordance with the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation before the credits are issued to the building owner or long-term tenant.

More than $3.3 million in funding will flow into Over-the-Rhine for Losantiville Apartments, Abington Flats, and Pendleton Apartments through the program, and the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) was awarded $1.8 million for its $9 million redevelopment of three historic buildings at Third Street and Main Street in the central business district.

“Without it [Ohio Historic Tax Credit] we would be unable to preserve the historic character of as many buildings as we have,” Anastasia Mileham, 3CDC’s vice president of communications, told UrbanCincy. “The cost to restore and develop them costs more than the what you can sell the condos for and lease the commercial space for. Historic tax credits help fill that gap and make the math work.”

In Mt. Adams, the Cincinnati Beer Company was awarded $1 million for its $5.2 million project that will transform Eden Park’s 118-year-old pump station into a brewery and tap room. Nearby, the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation and The Model Group were awarded $1.8 million to renovate three historic structures into 30 market-rate housing units and approximately 7,000 square feet of street-level commercial space.

Elsewhere, the City of Hamilton will see more than $800,000 go towards the renovation of the 126-year-old Hamilton Journal-News Building, which will become the home of Butler Tech’s School for the Arts and Hamilton City Schools’ Adult Basic & Literacy Education (ABLE) program.

According to ODSA, this round of funding will assist in the rehabilitation of 45 historic buildings throughout the state, and leverage more than $252 million in private investments.

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Business Development News Politics

Cincinnati aims to further incentivize green building

The City of Cincinnati will announce proposed amendments to its tax abatement program for buildings built in adherence to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. Sponsors of the changes say that the amendments will further incentivize developers to reach for even higher LEED certifications.

“I think this change by the City will convince people to invest a little more upfront to get to a higher LEED level,” Marc Hueber, president of John Hueber Homes, which has built 22 LEED-certified homes in Cincinnati, stated in a prepared release.


Mayor Mark Mallory (D) makes a statement at the ribbon cutting for Over-the-Rhine’s first LEED certified residential project in 2009. Photograph by Randy Simes for UrbanCincy.

First approved in 2009, Cincinnati’s incentives offer a 15-year, 100% tax abatement valued up to $562,792 on new residential construction; and a ten-year tax abatement on improvements up to a maximum of $562,792 market value, and are considered to be among the most generous in the United States.

Once of the constant criticisms, however, of LEED incentives is that builders go after low-hanging fruit and end up more often than not developing properties at lower LEED levels. Cincinnati’s present incentives do work to combat that by removing the value limit for new and rehabilitated residential structures that achieve LEED Platinum certification.

“My family invested in building a LEED Gold home in Cincinnati in 2011, so I’m aware of how tweaking our LEED program will benefit consumers and our entire community,” said city council member Laure Quinlivan (D), who sponsored the changes.

Community leaders will gather with members of the development community tomorrow in Northside at 10:30am to announce the proposed changes, and city officials will be on-hand to answer any questions about the amendments to residential and commercial abatements.

Following the announcement, council member Quinlivan says that she intends to bring up the amendments in City Council’s Strategic Growth Committee at noon, and act to implement the changes at that time.

“The City of Cincinnati’s LEED tax abatement is an innovative model—and currently unparalleled in scope—to support energy and resource efficiency in homes and buildings,” says Doug Widener, director of community advancement for the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). “The program serves as a model for other cities and the proposed changes ensure that it remains at the forefront of such municipal efforts nationally while continuing to drive conservation and innovation locally.”

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Up To Speed

How an abandoned building in St. Louis became an urban rock climbing destination

How an abandoned building in St. Louis became an urban rock climbing destination.

An abandoned building in St. Louis has become a destination for rock climbers. Similar transformations have occurred elsewhere throughout the United States including exterior rock climbing walls on the sides of buildings in Chicago, and a church turned rock climbing venue in Dayton. Is this something Cincinnati could do with the former church at Fifteenth Street and Race Street in historic Over-the-Rhine? More from Rust Wire:

The video explains the construction of Climb So Ill, a rock climbing gym constructed in the city of St. Louis in a formerly abandoned industrial building. The guy who sent me this, Adam Koberna of Walltopia, said his company is looking to build gyms like this throughout the industrial Midwest.

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Up To Speed

Port Authority to focus new land banking powers on demolition

Port Authority to focus new land banking powers on demolition.

The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority is moving forward with its new land bank program. Instead of focusing on existing undeveloped land, however, the Port Authority has decided to partner with Ohio attorney general Mike DeWine (R) to launch a $11.1 million demolition and redevelopment program which will focus those efforts in 14 communities throughout Cincinnati. More from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

The Port Authority-managed land bank, officially known as the Hamilton County Land Reutilization Corp., is overseeing distribution and use of the funds. The Port Authority is finalizing its demolition contract this week, and had hoped to start demolition in July, but needed more time to work with city, county and neighborhood councils and development groups to develop a strategy.

The selected neighborhoods were based on the number foreclosures, abandoned and blighted properties – there are 2,394 vacated residential properties in the city alone – and whether an individual community pledged funds to be matched through the state’s demolition grant program.