Tag: Newport on the Levee

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Up To Speed

Will Marriott-Starwood Merger Affect New Hotels in Cincinnati’s Center City?

Will Marriott-Starwood Merger Affect New Hotels in Cincinnati’s Center City

A new AC Hotel by Marriott is coming to The Banks, and a Starwood-affiliated Aloft Hotel is being built at  Newport on the Levee’s latest phase. But with the news announced earlier this week that Marriott is buying Starwood, a few questions have been raised about the future of these two hotels.

Does it make sense for the combined company to operate both of these hotels, which will target similar demographics, in such close proximity? And will Marriott, which now controls 30 hotel brands, maintain both the AC Hotel and Aloft flags, or will one of these two new hotels be forced to rebrand? If so, the change won’t take place in the near future, as hotel experts predict it will be a “minimum of three years before any brands disappear.”

Read more about which hotel brands may be on the chopping block at Forbes.

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Development News

PHOTOS: Center City Construction Updates From October

The Radius

Downtown Cincinnati and the adjacent areas continue to see both new development and redevelopment of existing structures. In an effort to bring broader awareness to the exciting projects occurring in the city, I snapped pictures throughout October showing the work taking place.

  1. Aqua on the Levee, which includes 239 apartments, an Aloft Hotel, and retail space
  2. Early work on a 15-story, 130 unit apartment building at the intersection of 7th Street and Sycamore Street
  3. Progress on the six-story, 117-room Holiday Inn at 7th Street and Broadway Street
  4. $24 million Alumi Lofts redevelopment of the former school in Pendleton into 142 apartments
  5. Prep work on Phase IIIA of The Banks project
  6. Continued progress on the 10-story General Electric Global Operations Center at The Banks
  7. Redevelopment of a former church into an event space adjacent to Washington Park called The Transept
  8. $27 million redevelopment of the YMCA at Elm Street and Central Parkway
  9. The Radius, bringing 292 apartments to The Banks

While these photos focus on projects in the center city, there are certainly many more exciting projects taking place throughout the city as its boom spreads outward. We’ll get to some of those projects in future updates.

EDITORIAL NOTE: This is the first of what we intend to be a regular monthly feature on UrbanCincy that will take a selected look at construction progress throughout the city. If you have any projects that you would like to have us visit and photograph, please let us know by emailing us at editors@urbancincy.com.

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Business Development News

PHOTOS: Aqua on the Levee Rising Along Newport’s Waterfront

Last November developers broke ground on the $80 million second phase of Newport on the Levee, called Aqua on the Levee, some 15 years after the first phase opened. Since that time, a significant amount of work has progressed on the project that will yield 239 apartments, a hotel, and 8,300 square feet of retail.

The project is being built atop what long sat as a three-acre surface parking lot at the foot of the Purple People Bridge.

The residential component is expected to bolster business for retailers at the complex that have struggled to draw crowds on non-weekend days. It will also bring the first Aloft Hotel to the region, which will also be the trendy hotel’s first in Kentucky and feature 144 rooms, a bar and 10,000 square feet of meeting space.

The project is being developed by Capital Investment Group and Musselman Hotels, and is expected to be completed in fall 2016.

EDITORIAL NOTE: All six photographs were taken by Travis Estell on September 27, 2015.

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Development News

PHOTOS: Construction Updates From Along the Mighty Ohio River

Phase Two Construction at The Banks [Jake Mecklenborg]

Both sides of the Ohio River are full of construction right now. In Cincinnati, General Electric’s new Global Operations Center, 300 new apartments, and 60,000 square feet of retail space are under construction at phase two of The Banks. The latest phase of the Smale Riverfront Park, which includes Carol Ann’s Carousel, is also moving along just around the corner.

Then, across the river in Newport, 238 apartments, 8,300 square feet of retail space, and an Aloft hotel are being added as part of the next phase of Newport on the Levee. Prep work is also taking place for the relocation of Kentucky Route 9 and the long-delayed Ovation project.

You can click on any image to enlarge it.

EDITORIAL NOTE: All 13 photos were taken by Travis Estell for UrbanCincy between January 18 and February 15, 2015.

Categories
Development News

The Death of Newport’s 1,100′ Millennium Freedom Tower Proposal

The progress being made at the $80 million second phase of Newport on the Levee is encouraging, but just around the block another highly touted project from the late 1990s stands next to a parking lot that has lingered for far too long.

For nearly 16 years, the $2 million World Peace Bell has sat less than proudly at Fourth and York Streets. The monument itself is fine, but has had to deal with being, “wedged between a parking lot and a White Castle.”

This was not how it was suppose to go. Instead, the 66,000-pound World Peace Bell was meant to be joined by the ostentatious Millennium Freedom Tower. Of course, the approximately $100 million structure was never built, but many may forget the original development vision.

The super-tall structure would have served primarily as a monument, but would have also included a restaurant and bar approximately midway up the tower, and office space closer to the top. It would have also boasted the world’s largest carillon, gardens, event space and a several-hundred-foot free-fall ride. The proposal came amid a flurry of proposals to more or less turn Newport’s riverfront into a theme park type destination.

Much like Newport on the Levee’s second phase, something will eventually be built on this site, but it will assuredly be more modest than what was originally proposed. But unlike what is rising a couple of blocks away at the foot of the Purple People Bridge, whatever eventually rises at this site will almost certainly be better than what was originally proposed.