Tag: newport

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Arts & Entertainment Development

A Standing Ovation for Newport’s New Premiere Music Venue

Ovation, the 25-acre mixed-use development planned by Corporex to transform the northwestern corner of Newport, has completed its first phase of construction with the addition of PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation—a music venue that promises big things for the river’s edge. The $40 million concert venue aims to attract hundreds of thousands of fans every year with over 180 acts, both big and small.

PromoWest Productions, which operates six music venues as well as the Bunbury Music Festival, considers the Newport venue to be their third crown jewel, alongside Express Live! in Columbus and Stage AE in Pittsburgh. All three feature a reversible stage allowing for smaller indoor or larger outdoor configurations, but as the newest, Newport’s venue features additional amenities designed to provide the best possible experience for fans, artists, and the production crew.

The multi-level indoor pavilion can accommodate 1500 to 2700 general admission fans plus an additional 428 seated. Outside, the amphitheater can accommodate 7000 general admission plus 1040 seated. The whole venue sits atop a parking garage that boasts upwards of 500 spaces.

Both indoor and outdoor areas feature giant sunken pits in front of the stage with raised levels surrounding them, providing excellent vantage points from every viewing angle. And no matter where you are in the venue, whether it be at the bar getting another round or on your way to the bathroom to get rid of the previous one, TV screens scattered strategically throughout the pavilion will keep you tethered to what’s happening on stage.

Murals of well-known musicians enliven the walls of the facility. Inside the VIP lounge on the second level, a mural featuring a TV is animated BLINK-style with a ceiling-mounted projector, adding yet another dimension to an already stunning work of art.

Backstage, six dressing rooms, each equipped with TVs and bathrooms with showers, are poised to make the performing artists’ lives as comfortable as possible. A full kitchen will serve as the base for on-site caterers, and multiple production rooms, each with its own private bathroom, are equipped to house show technicians comfortably.

The Green Room on the second level lives up to its namesake by committing to the color in every way possible and can be rearranged to accommodate artists’ varying needs. Adjacent to the Green Room is the King Records Room—a versatile, private space embellished with a colorful mural that pays homage to Cincinnati’s legendary artists and the historic recording studio in Evanston.

Click the photo below to launch our full photo gallery:

The venue’s first wave of acts was announced earlier this morning:

  • Lady A
  • Russ
  • Jelly Roll
  • Dirty Heads & Sublime with Rome
  • The Struts
  • Kip Moore
  • The Distillers
  • Jordan Davis

Another wave of artists will be announced on June 15th.

PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation is located at 101 W. 4th Street in Newport, KY, right behind the Campbell County Courthouse. Visit OvationPavilion.com for additional information.

Categories
Business News Transportation

Is Cincy RedBike America’s Most Financially Successful Bike-Share System?

RedBike Monthly Ridership Totals
RedBike Monthly Ridership Totals

Since launching nearly two years ago, RedBike has been embraced by the region in a way even the bike-share system’s early proponents had not imagined.

When RedBike opened to the public on September 15, 2014 it included 29 stations, but has since swelled to 57 stations spanning two states, four cities and more than a dozen neighborhoods. The ability to expand and integrate the system across state and city lines is particularly notable as it is a feat most other bike-share systems in North America have not yet achieved.

This relatively rapid expansion has been fueled by higher than expected ridership. As of early July, RedBike had hosted 116,739 rides – or about 5,300 per month. Bolstered by more than 1,500 annual members, these ridership totals translate into some 17,683 different people who have ridden a RedBike.

“Red Bike has gotten off to a dream start. Our community has embraced this new form of transportation,” Leslie Maloney, President of the Red Bike Board of Directors and Senior Vice President of the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation, said in a prepared release. “We will work to continue providing the highest quality and most fun transportation option in Cincinnati.”

Following the trends of bike-share systems elsewhere throughout the world, approximately 74% of its riders have either never ridden a bike before or at least not within the month before RedBike opened. This data makes many bike advocates in the region looking for ways to improve road safety for the surge of new cyclists out on the streets.

The biggest news in RedBike’s recently released annual report, however, pertains to its finances.

While many bike-share systems around the country have struggled financially, RedBike has been able to operate in the black since its inception, and has grown its cash reserves year-over-year.

In 2014 RedBike had a total of $234,251 in expenses and $1,144,911 in revenues. That net income grew in 2015 when the bike-share system had $484,389, but $1,740,792 in revenues. This net income, RedBike officials say, is used to purchase capital equipment necessary to keep the system fully functional.

While it is difficult to find bad news in the financial details released by RedBike, one might look at the fact that direct program income (user fees) cover only 65% of program expenses. When factoring in sponsorships, a fairly reliable and steady stream of income, it covers nearly 118% of program expenses.

All of the other income sources help to further stabilize the system, keep it operating at reliable and optimal levels, and are helping build a reserve fund that could be used to offset unexpected capital expenses or lower than anticipated operational performance.

“UC Health is thrilled to be the presenting sponsor of the RedBike program,” said Dr. Richard P. Lofgren, President and CEO of UC Health. “As someone who lives downtown, all I have to do is look outside to see how successful this program is, and how bike share has been embraced by the citizens of Cincinnati.”

Categories
Business News Politics

For Economic Growth, Milwaukee Region Chooses Collaboration Over Competition

Milwaukee [Provided]

When Omnicare announced in late 2011 that they planned to move their headquarters from Covington across the river to downtown Cincinnati, it showcased the intense regional competition for jobs and economic development.

Due to the region’s particularly fragmented setup of multiple states, counties, cities and townships, a myriad of governments and development entities tout their respective advantages in workforce training, tax incentives, and infrastructure access, to lure development from out of the area, but also from neighboring localities; and companies have been more than happy to float from one place to the next in order to take advantage of those incentives.

Yet, data shows that while this desire to expand the local tax base is enticing, it amounts to little or no new jobs or income for the region as a whole. Rather, the habit is more cannibalistic in nature, especially given that cities today are competing not just with their neighbors, but also with far-flung metropolitan areas around the world.

While both unique and similar Cincinnati in many ways, Milwaukee and its surrounding areas have taken a wholly different approach to that of Greater Cincinnati.

When current Mayor Tom Barrett (D) was elected in 2004, he was intently focused on improving economic development within Milwaukee proper. To achieve this, local leaders came together to form the Milwaukee 7 – an economic development organization for the seven counties in the region. To help curb damaging intra-regional competition, the group agreed to a code-of-ethics where they promised to not steal jobs from one another, but rather focus on economic development cooperation.

M7’s metropolitan business plan is now the foundation for regional development, but the group also recognizes that a thriving region is dependent on an also-successful inner-city. For this, the City of Milwaukee develops its own economic development plan that uses ideas from, and coordinates common areas with, the regional plan. This helps connects local revitalization efforts with regional economic development strategies.

Again, rather than attempting to lure firms from outside the area, local officials recognized their competitive advantage in numerous areas and chose to reinforce those. Specifically, M7 identified the area’s competitive advantages in three areas: water technology; energy, power and controls manufacturing; and food and beverage.

To ensure that the region remains attractive and stays on the cutting edge of business and technology, local officials have created numerous entities to promote and develop industry throughout the region. Each of the three industry clusters have a respective local organization that has developed clear-cut plans to encourage innovation and collaboration to grow the industry.

Going a step further, the Milwaukee region has also created a global trade and investment strategy in order to attract foreign firms and capital.

The results of this intra-regional collaboration have been positive. In November 2015, UrbanCincy published a story about Milwaukee’s burgeoning water industry that is transforming a once-decrepit manufacturing area into a modern industrial center.

Like many other cities in the industrial Midwest, Milwaukee has hundreds of vacant industrial buildings and acres of abandoned land. Millions of dollars have been spent in redevelopment efforts, with areas like the Menomonee Valley seeing food and beverage industry expansion there, and a former Pabst Blue Ribbon brewery being converted into residential spaces to bring workers closer to the new jobs downtown.

In a region with one of the highest percentages of concentrated poverty in the nation, officials are hoping the efforts will ensure that redevelopment and economic opportunities are broad-based and accessible.

A regional talent partnership is being used to help grow talent that caters to the three industry clusters; and construction projects with public support are required to hire locally. Those firms help train and hire under-employed and unemployed Milwaukeeans through collaboration with organizations like the Wisconsin Regional Planning Partnership.

In the low-income, northwest section of Milwaukee, an 80-acre brownfield site called “Century City” is being redeveloped into a Center for Advanced Manufacturing. And with development booming in downtown Milwaukee, funds generated from those investments are being redirected into numerous projects in other parts of the city, like transportation and community development organization funding.

While it is too early to judge some of the results seen thus far, the Milwaukee region is now more productive than it was at the turn of the century, and it is adding both jobs and residents. At the same time, more citizens are employed, and wages in the area are higher than the national average.

The Cincinnati region has, in recent years, begun making concentrated efforts at developing similar programs. However, many of the programs have been focused at the city-level. Until the region establishes a similar regional partnership that gets everyone working toward the same goals, it is unlikely that similar results will be seen here.

Categories
Business News

Carabello Coffee Expansion And Slow Bar Set to Open This Summer

What began with a $300 home coffee roaster and an eight-pound bag of coffee has become a mainstay of the local coffee scene. Now Carabello Coffee is set to increase its presence in Newport even further with its expansion into an adjoining storefront on Monmouth Street.

The expansion, nearly two years in the making, will open later this summer and include a new-to-market “slow bar” concept, called Analog, and a larger roasting operation. Aside from the updated offerings, the owners say the new arrangement will also free up space for 16 additional tables in the café.

One of the reasons Carabello Coffee has become well-known is due to its unique philanthropic business model in which a portion of the profits go to support causes in third world coffee-growing communities – including a signature relationship with an orphanage in Nicaragua. According to Justin and Emily Carabello, owners of the café, their mission of serving “coffee and compassion in tandem” has helped the business double in size every year since it opened.

The couple says that they started roasting coffee as a hobby in their garage back in 2009; then moved operations to a 10-foot by 10-foot space at Velocity Bike & Bean in Florence in 2011. By September 2013, the couple quit their daytime jobs to work on the venture full-time, relocated to their current 1,200-square-foot space at 107 E. Ninth Street, and broadened the original wholesale business to include a retail café.

After only a year at the Newport location, both the roastery and café had already outgrown the space. In a fortuitous series of events, the Carabellos were able to buy the building next door, which was home to a former check-cashing business, in order to expand and maintain both the production and retail on-site.

While no firm date has been set for its opening later this summer, the Carabellos say that the expanding roasting area, along with the region’s first dedicated slow bar, will offer customers a truly unique experience that utilizes manual brewing techniques.

The goal of the slow bar, Justin says, is to help customers connect more intimately with the art and craft of coffee.

“We want it to be a place for baristas and customers to get creative, explore, and experiment,” Justin told UrbanCincy.

Analog will have a large farm table bar, barista-curated menu, and specialized equipment like siphon brewers and yama drip towers. And in order to deliver on the experiential element of the slow bar, they say that nothing will be offered for take-out.

Justin and Emily say that the slow bar space will also double as a training lab for wholesale clients, as well as classes for the general public on topics ranging from coffee brewing to latte art.

In fitting with Carabello Coffee’s business model, funding the expansion has been a true community effort, beginning with a Kickstarter campaign that raised a total of $47,000 toward their $40,000 goal. This allowed for the couple to make the down payment on the new space, and move forward with the expansion.

Through assistance with the Catalytic Fund, Carabello Coffee became the first business in Newport to land a Duke Energy Urban Revitalization Grant, which was awarded in March, and is covering $42,000 in project soft costs. Another grant from the City of Newport will provide up to $15,000 in matching funds for façade improvements, while even additional financial assistance is being sought through the use of historic preservation and rehabilitation tax credits.

Carabello Coffee is open Monday through Friday from 7am to 8pm, Saturday from 8am to 8pm, and closed on Sunday. Free bike parking is available nearby, and a Cincy Red Bike station is located just two blocks from the cafe.

Categories
Business News Transportation

Covington’s Parking Plan for MainStrasse To Go Into Effect March 30

After being approved this past October, Covington’s new parking plan for MainStrasse Village will go into effect later this month.

Historically it has been free to park in the area, but the parking plan, which includes new metered street parking, a pay lot, and parking permits, will change that. According to the City of Covington, pay stations will be installed along Main and W. Sixth Street on March 26, signs will go up a few days later, and the pay stations will be live on March 30.

The project is intended to increase parking turnover and create designated parking for residents, so that it is easier for both visitors and residents to find a spot to park in the popular business district.

MainStrasse has seen a surge of new business activity of late. The last year alone saw the opening of Son & Soil, Bean Haus, Frida 602, and Mac’s Pizza Pub. Three more – Commonwealth Bistro, Craft & Vines, and Lisse Steakhouse – are slated to open soon.

Since being announced last fall, the plan has proven to be controversial. Business owners, residents and area patrons have all spoken out both in favor and against the idea.

One of the common concerns is how the new parking fees will affect new and existing businesses. The worry is that the plan will hurt MainStrasse’s ability to compete with other nearby entertainment and restaurant districts including Over-the-Rhine, Downtown, and The Banks, even though those districts also include payment-based parking setups.

The enforcement hours in MainStrasse will be limited, relative to street parking in Newport or downtown Cincinnati, particularly in the evenings, which are prime business hours for restaurants and bars that make up the district.

With street parking free after 5pm, and lots capped at $2 after one hour, businesses may actually still struggle with limited parking turnover during their busy hours at night.

At $0.35 per half hour on the street, and $1 per half hour (with a maximum charge of $2) in lots, the cost of parking in MainStrasse will be somewhat lower than what is charged in Over-the-Rhine, downtown Cincinnati, or Newport, although slightly more expensive than parking in Cincinnati’s other neighborhood business districts.

In addition to visitor-oriented changes, the plan includes modifications to improve parking availability for nearby residents – for a fee.

Sections of Philadelphia Street, Bakewell Street, Johnson Street, W. Sixth Street, and part of the Fifth Street lot will become resident-only parking. Passes to park in these spaces will cost $25 to $30 annually, and each property will be allowed to purchase two passes. Going against national trends to get rid of one-way streets, Bakewell Street, between W. Sixth Street and W. Ninth Street, will become one-way to allow for even more residential parking spaces.

The move will place MainStrasse alongside Pendleton, Newport, and Clifton as areas that also have resident-restricted parking, but it will be the only area charging a fee for the residential permits.

While efforts continue to take place to establish something similar in Over-the-Rhine, such efforts have been stymied due to an impasse between Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley’s (D) administration and neighborhood residents and business owners. Under those previously proposed plans, Over-the-Rhine parking permits would have cost $108 per year or $18 per year for low-income households.