Tag: photography

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Business Development News

Developers, city leaders welcome first residents to $80M first phase of The Banks

Developers and city leaders gathered at The Banks development along Cincinnati’s riverfront to welcome the first residents of the $80 million first phase of the project called Current @ The Banks.

Over 60 percent of the project’s initial 300 residential units have been leased. The first phase includes two, five-story buildings bounded by Main Street to the east, Walnut Street to the west, Second Street to the north and the Cincinnati Riverfront Park to the south.

Last month the Carter/Dawson development team welcomed the first retail tenant to the development when the Holy Grail Tavern & Grill opened at the corner of Main Street (Joe Nuxall Way) and Freedom Way. Additional retail tenants including The Wine Loft, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill, La Crepe Nanou, Johnny Rockets, Huey’s 24/7 Diner will open over the next several months as interior finishes are completed on the 96,000 square feet of retail space.

UrbanCincy photographer Jake Mecklenborg attended a ribbon cutting ceremony this morning that welcomed the development’s first residents. Mecklenborg then took a tour of some of the available apartments that range in price from $800 per month to $2,400 per month for a two-bedroom, two-bath luxury apartment overlooking the Ohio River. Those interested in touring the apartment units are asked to contact leasing agents at (888) 277-6611, or by visiting the project’s leasing website.

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News Transportation

CycleCincy website unites regional bike riders

Inspired by the work of photographers Dmitry Gudkov and Angelo Calilap, a group of Cincinnati-area photographers have started a website and collective for area bicycle enthusiasts called CycleCincy. Like Gudkov’s #BikeNYC, the name #CycleCincy refers to the Twitter hashtag which allows disparate people to talk to each other about everything related to cycling in Cincinnati. The idea is to meet other people who cycle in the city and take a cool portrait of them with their bike.

The concept, initially suggested by the brains behind OTRMatters, encouraged local cyclists and photographers to team up for portraits with their rides in an urban environment. A month later, the mission behind the site has evolved to include working alongside other cycle advocacy groups in the area, including and especially Queen City Bike, and fill a previously empty niche.

“It [CycleCincy] all started as a bunch of cyclists and photographers wanting to geek it out, but I think the project also highlights the desire to have a more cycling aware culture in Cincinnati,” says Dan Reid, local cyclist and OTR resident. “I think we’ve all had our share of run-ins with ignorant people in cars and it’s a real shame that people can’t co-exist.”

Those interested in joining the crew, be it photog or cyclist, are encouraged to visit the website and register a profile, which is easily synced to a Facebook account. In addition to providing a space for fellow bikers to meet and ride, members have suggested starting a casual monthly bike co-op/building space in Over-the-Rhine, connecting to the city-wide Bike Month, and celebrating bike culture through art. Ultimately, increased cycle awareness is the key.

“I believe CycleCincy will help unify Cincinnati cyclist and in turn force a higher level of awareness amongst car drivers,” said Chad Shackelford, another CycleCincy catalyst. “The core issue shouldn’t be as much about getting bike lanes and paths as it should be about teaching awareness and respect for cyclist and their right to safely occupy roadways.” 

Cincinnati Bicyclists photograph by Sherman Cahal.

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Arts & Entertainment News

Junior League brings spring fashion show to Scene Ultra Lounge

This past Thursday the Junior League of Cincinnati hosted the Cin City Style Spring 2011 Fashion Show at Scene Ultra Lounge in downtown Cincinnati. The event featured new spring fashions from Fetish Boutique, Stella & Dot Jewelry and Amanda Kelly Salon. Luckily for UrbanCincy readers, Thadd Fiala was there to capture it all.

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Business News

Cincinnati Railroad Club to digitize, preserve 70,000-item library collection

An effort to digitize the 70,000-item collection of the Cincinnati Railroad Club’s library is currently underway. Known as the Cincinnati Rail History Preservation Project, the three-year undertaking will for the first time organize the materials acquired by the library since the club’s founding in 1938.

Ari Buchwald, who is directing the project through Edgecliff Press, is assisting the club in its intent for most non-copyrighted materials to be made available online, including geomapping of the library’s thousands of original photographs. He believes that the digitized library will be of interest to the general public, not just railroad enthusiasts, due to the overlap of many of its materials with other interests. For those doing genealogical research, Buchwald says that digitization will enable quick searches of employee records and that facial recognition software will locate photographs of deceased relatives.

According to club member Roy Hord, the collection grew substantially in size and eclecticism after dumpster-diving efforts recovered items from the 1972 demolition of Union Terminal’s passenger concourse. A second salvage project – the recovery of materials from the old B&O warehouse (now Longworth Hall) – fills an entire room of the library’s off-site storage space.

Much storage space is also dedicated to hundreds of blueprints dating from the construction of Union Terminal and other area rail projects. Digitization of blueprints and other large items is being handled by Robin Imaging, one of the Rail Preservation Project’s in-kind partners.

Buchwald expects that the digitization will permit the club to earn royalties from the licensing of specific items and that it will greatly facilitate the task of publishing new books (the club has published three books to date, including Cincinnati Union Terminal: Design and Construction of an Art Deco Masterpiece). These future returns are not sufficient to finance the digitization, and so Buchwald is leading a $1 million fundraising campaign that will determine the project’s eventual completion, and enable him to hire a full-time staff.

Ari Buchwald photograph by Jake Mecklenborg for UrbanCincy.

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Arts & Entertainment Business News

2011 Bockfest Parade rolls on without a hitch

The largest Bockfest celebration in North America took place in Cincinnati this past weekend. The three-day collection of festivities gathered beer lovers in celebration of the coming of spring and Bock beer.

Thousands of Cincinnatians and visitors converged in historic Over-the-Rhine for more than just beer though. Tours guiding people through Cincinnati’s beer history and the history of the neighborhood entertained many. Others came for the food and drink. But others came to enjoy the more eclectic activities that took place over the weekend like the annual Bockfest Parade which kicks off the festival.

UrbanCincy contributor Thadd Fiala was there to capture it all. Enjoy 26 of his photographs during the wet and rainy 2011 Bockfest Parade. Also, be sure to check out Thadd’s photographs from last year’s Bockfest Parade.