Tag: photography

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

This Month’s URBANexchange to Take Place Tomorrow Evening

photo (3)

The biergarten doors will swing open this Wednesday evening at 5:30pm at the Morelein Lager House for our third URBANexchange of the year.

The goal of the URBANexchange gatherings is to maintain a monthly event where fellow urbanists can gather to discuss what’s going on in the city, and meet others with similar interests as their own.

The event is a casual way to unwind from the day and an opportunity to meet similar like minded people. There is no formal presentation or formal anything. And as always there is no cover charge for attending.

We encourage people to come out, bring some friends, and make some new ones.

“Its exciting to see newcomers at these URBANexchanges because they frequently come not knowing anyone and make some great connections with some of our more regular attendees,” noted Randy Simes, founder of URBANexchange. “I take every chance I get to come to event and I am very impressed with the way it has been able to bring people together and foster the exchange of different ideas about Cincinnati.”

At this month’s event we’ll be giving away two signed copies of James Jenkins’ Photography for the People coffee table book. The book, which is part of a limited series of 100 copies on first printing, features many stunning and vivid color photographs of downtown and Over-the-Rhine. Mr. Jenkins’ will also attend on Wednesday to discuss his book and other topics.

A percentage of all purchases at URBANexchange go to support the operations of the adjacent Smale Riverfront Park. We hope to see you there!!

Categories
Business Development News

PHOTOS: $80M Mixed-Use Development Nears Completion in Clifton Heights

W. McMillan Street

Since 2000, the University of Cincinnati’s surroundings have changed dramatically – many homes and a few landmark buildings were demolished for construction of Stetson Square, McMillan Manor, University Park Apartments, and 65 West. U Square at the Loop, a 161-unit, $80 million midrise situated between McMillan and Calhoun Streets, has been under construction for more than a year and is scheduled for occupancy on August 1.

The development includes over a dozen street-level commercial spaces, an office building that has been rented by the University of Cincinnati, and a site fronting McMillan Street where a hotel is planned. Apartment prices range between $695 for studios to $2,350 for penthouses with balconies.

U Square at The Loop

Reserved parking spaces in the development’s two garages will cost $95/month. Unlike other new apartment complexes in the area, units at U Square at the Loop can be rented by non-students.

In the early 2000s the site where U Square at the Loop is being built was partially cleared for a very different development – a 360-unit condo midrise dubbed McMillan Park that had been in planning since 1999. The two phases of the development were planned above two underground parking garages totaling 900 spaces, and planned units ranged from $160,000 for a one bedroom to $800,000 for a penthouse.

That project was to be financed by the University of Cincinnati, the site assembled by the City of Cincinnati through eminent domain, and the project managed by the Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (CHCURC). Demolition of properties began in 2003, but litigation involving the owners of Acropolis Chili, Inn the Wood, and two fast food restaurants was not resolved until 2007, a year after the university withdrew its funding.

In 2008 Towne Properties became the project’s developer, and the long-vacant Hardee’s and Arby’s that had been the subject of eminent domain litigation were demolished that summer.

Renderings depicting a development similar to what is nearing completion in 2013 were published that fall, and the project was dubbed Uptown Commons in 2009. The project’s name changed again to U Square at the Loop in 2010 and construction began in 2012.

Categories
Business Development News

PHOTOS: Historic Glencoe-Auburn Place Row Houses are Being Demolished

After more than a decade of failed redevelopment plans demolition of the 129-year-old Glencoe-Auburn Place Row Houses began on March 19.

Known colloquially as “The Hole” for its dramatic hillside setting in historic Mt. Auburn, the multi-building complex abuts Christ Hospital and has long been eyed in its expansion plans. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December 2003, at the request of architect Tom Hefley and developer Pauline Van der Haer.

Christ Hospital Expansion
This aerial photograph from September 2012 shows both the Christ Hospital Expansion [CENTER-LEFT] and the historic “Glencoe Hole” [MIDDLE RIGHT]. Image provided.

Van der Hear, through her development company named Dorian Development, planned to renovate the complex into 68 market-rate condominiums during the early 2000s housing bubble. The “Condos Available” sign, still visible after today’s demolition work, has been in place since at least 2004, when the project was featured prominently in Cincinnati Magazine.

The large-scale modification of the old buildings (the original apartment units all have three very small floors connected by unusually narrow staircases) and the need for a multi-deck parking garage made the creation of a viable project impossible without large subsidies from the City of Cincinnati. Since the early 2000s Van der Hear has been involved in several high profile attempts to win awards from the City.

COAST attacked the project in 2008 after it received a $300,000 grant from the city, but in 2009 Christ Hospital took advantage of the collapse of the condo market and moved to acquire the complex from Dorian Development. Van der Haer sued Christ Hospital in 2011, claiming “tortious, deliberate, intentional and malicious interference” in her development plans, but the Ohio Supreme Court and an appellate court ruled in the hospital’s favor, citing the lack of a written contract between the City and Dorian Development.

The arrival of bulldozers adds to a growing list of historic properties uptown that have faced similar fates in recent years as a surge of private investment has moved in to construct hundreds of new residences and hundreds of thousands of square feet of new commercial space.

The following 12 images were all taken by Jake Mecklenborg at the site on Tuesday, March 19 – just five days after a demolition permit had been granted.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News

PHOTOS: 2013 Bockfest Turned Out the Crowds on Busy Weekend

The Trojan Goat at the 2013 Bockfest Parade

Bockfest celebrated another great year of spring-time and beer celebrations over the past weekend. Record crowds reportedly turned out for the festival’s 21st year, and UrbanCincy was there to “cover” it all on your behalf.

For those not familiar with some of the otherwise peculiar traditions of Cincinnati’s lesser-known, seasonal beer festival, let us explain.

The lead goat is named Schnitzel, and the reason goats play such a prominent role in Bockfest activities is because Bock is the German word for goat, and those references to goats are what give bock beers their names.

The reason you see a bunch of monks, or people dressed as monks, walking around is because bock beers have historically been associated with special religious occasions, like  Lent, and Bavarian monks were known for brewing and consuming bock beers as a source of nutrition during times of fasting.

The following 36 photographs were taken by Jake Mecklenborg during the annual Bockfest Parade and at Grammer’s, Neons Unplugged and Bockfest Hall at the Christian Moerlein Brewery. Click on any of the images to view its full size. You can also click through the entire 2013 Bockfest photo gallery by clicking on the first image and scrolling through the collection.

Categories
Arts & Entertainment News Opinion

PHOTOS: Kansas City’s Surprisingly Gritty Urban Core

I visited Kansas City February 6-10 for the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, where the people behind Streetsblog were kind enough to invite a number of urbanist bloggers out to the event.

The intent was to conduct a training session about how advocacy journalists and bloggers can better reach and influence policymakers, and how those websites can better reach non-white and lower income individuals – two demographics bloggers traditionally struggle to reach. To that end, I was asked to present on the things that UrbanCincy has been doing in Cincinnati, and how younger bloggers might be able to learn from our experiences in the Queen City.

Kansas City

It was a great opportunity, and we’ll be doing more of these gatherings in the future…hopefully hosting one in Cincinnati in the not-so-distant future.

When not collaborating with these writers and new media types, or attending the conference, I spent my time wandering about Kansas City’s urban core. I stayed in the central business district, but also checked out the Crossroads Arts District, Westside North, Central Industrial District, West Bottoms, River District, Crown Center, Hospital Hill, Westwood, Paseo West, and the 18th & Vine Jazz District.

Perhaps the largest takeaway for me was the surprising amount of industrial architecture and infrastructure in the city. I guess I should have known better since Kansas City was always a prominent industrial center and transfer point for much of the Midwest, but it was an impressive surprise nevertheless.

I think I walked 11 miles on Sunday alone, in overpowering wind at that. But the discomfort was worth it for all I was able to see, but I hope to return to check out Midtown and Country Club Plaza at the very least, and to get some more of that amazing barbecue at Oklahoma Joe’s.

If Photobucket wasn’t so lousy, you could have just viewed them in slideshow form within this post. Instead, please view all 82 of my photographs from Kansas City here.