Newly released rendering of mixed-use building

A new rendering and the naming of the townhome developer for Linden Park Commons were revealed at Tuesday night's meeting of the College Hill Forum.

The mixed-use portion of the project will include a three-story building with 19 condos and 13,000 square feet of street-level retail.

M/I Homes was named as the developer of 24-30 adjacent townhomes, which will complement the mixed-use building in appearance. Design on these is ongoing.

Project developer Al Neyer, Inc. plans to establish a sales office within a month after City Council approves $1.8 million in project gap funding.

Construction would begin when 50 percent of the mixed-use space is sold. The townhomes would be built based on customer demand.

Further reading on BC:
Community support of Linden Park decisive (9/6/07)
Linden Park meeting tonight (9/4/07)
Linden Park project to break ground in 2008 (7/24/07)
College Hill: Linden Park Commons update (4/24/07)

Rendering from the MLS

Seven units of M/I Homes' Bluffs at Woodcrest have hit the market this week.

The project, which is being built near Queen City and Sunset avenues in Westwood, will contain 20 units at buildout.

Prices start at $160,000 for a two-bedroom unit and go up to $196,100 for three bedrooms. Pricier units offer two-car garages. All units include two and a half baths.

The University of Cincinnati solar house will begin its journey to Washington, D.C. this morning.

The "Solar House Send Off" will take place in front of UC's Braunstein Hall at 10:15 AM.

The house, which has been disassembled into four parts, will be loaded onto trailers.

Two of the trailers will head off for Washington following the ceremony. The convoy will be led by UC President Nancy Zimpher, who will be driving an electric car called the "Sun Bug".

The solar house is the product of a contest called the Solar Decathlon, an international competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy in which only 20 universities were selected to participate.

The project, which began in April, involved about 200 students from the College of Business; the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning; and the College of Engineering.

It cost $530,000 to complete, of which $250,000 went into the house itself.

All 20 homes will be on public display on the National Mall from October 12-19.

The winning house will be the one judged the most innovative and efficient in using the sun's power to supply all of its energy needs.

Visit the Solar Decathlon website
View a Solar House slideshow

Building at far left: Click to enlarge

Meghan Ferguson of Coldwell Banker writes that the Manley Estate at 221 W Ninth Street will be open during Final Friday from 6-9 PM.

The first floor of the building is being converted into an artist co-op, while live/work condos are planned for the upper floors.

This building is currently the only five-story single-family residence in Hamilton County and is part of the Ninth Street Historic District on ther National Register of Historic Places.

Photo of 825 York Street from Campbell County PVA

A home at 825 York Street faces possible demolition, despite its place on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Muehlenkamp-Erschell Funeral Home would like to demolish the house, ostensibly to expand their parking lot.

The funeral home, which is located at 835 York Street, already owns a parking lot at 827 York.

Last Thursday, the Newport Board of Adjustment denied by a 2-2 vote Muehlenkamp-Erschell's application for the parking lot.

The fear is that the funeral home will demolish the home and then re-apply with the Board of Adjustment in the hopes that, with the house being gone, the parking lot proposal might have a better chance of passing.

Local preservationists believe the Greek Revival home to have been built sometime between 1850 and 1860, making it the oldest home on the block.

Some of the historic character of the home has been altered, including the installation of vinyl windows.

It is currently a blighted multi-family property, and some local residents believe it might be a drug house.

An inspection in 2004 listed the property in "good" condition. No more recent inspections are available, though both officials involved in the city's historic preservation and the city's own code enforcement officers know nothing about any structural issues.

This area of Newport has seen quite a few rehabs in recent years.

WINDOWS LIVE BIRD'S EYE VIEW

Rendering from the River House Landing website

The River House Landing project now has a website, which includes access to a webcam.

Bill and Valerie Ashmore (dba River City Views, LLC) are teaming with Tanner Custom Homes to build the project, which will include 7 luxury townhomes starting at $1,095,000.

A renovated Victorian home, which had to be moved to accomodate the project, will also be restored and offered for $795,000.

All of the units are still available.

In addition to three bedrooms and four baths, each unit will also feature a two-car "tandem" garage, a private elevator, a media room, a rooftop deck and high-end finishes.

Because one acre of the plat actually extends underneath the river, the townhomes will also be able to offer private boat docks with each unit.

The project is being built between Highway Avenue (KY-8) and the Ohio River, near where the road takes a sharp curve at Swain Court.

So far, work has progressed to the foundations being poured.

WINDOWS LIVE BIRD'S EYE VIEW

CityBeat's Margo Pierce has written about Laughing Brook, a bio-art project on the Mill Creek adjacent to Salway Park in Spring Grove Village.

The bio-art is a manufactured sculpture wetland built to clean run-off water before it spills into the creek.

One-hundred pieces of porous concrete sculpture will be covered with moss, cleaning the water as it passes over.

The Mill Creek Restoration Project teamed up with , environmental artist Jackie Brookner and various local businesses to make the project happen.

Nate Livingston at the Cincinnati Black Blog posts that he feels that input from the residents of Northside on the siting of a new Chase School is being ignored by CPS.

CPS wants to tear down Chase School and build the new one in the exact same spot, despite a 42-0 Northside Community Council vote against it.

The community council feels that the location is isolated from the rest of the community and is not in a safe place.

Livingston also blogs about getting a new recreation center to replace McKie and a new library to replace the current branch. He proposes that all of them be integrated into a Chase School campus.

The developer of the stalled Inwood Village project in Mount Auburn is seeking state tax credits to help fund the rehabilitation a historic district abutting Christ Hospital.

Developer Pauline Van der Haer of Dorian Development has applied for Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits for a $20.5 million rehabiliation of the Glencoe-Auburn Hotel and the Glencoe-Auburn Place Row Houses.

The rehabilitation of the buildings, which were built between 1884 and 1891, would produce 68 market-rate homes priced in the $200,000-$300,000 range.

The tax credits, which are distributed by the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD), are equal to 25 percent of the owner's qualifying rehabilitation expenditures.*

ODOD has deemed $16 million of the project cost eligible for the tax credits.

Van der Haer had been loath to seek federal tax credits for the project after the district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

The project was first announced in 2004 with the promise of 31 units in Phase I, and a model was completed in late 2006.

Since then, the project has stalled due to funding. The City has already approved Community Development Block Grant funding for infrastructure improvements in the district, including the small concrete parks in the courtyards.

However, the City wants for the buildings to be completed before that money is released. Dorian feels that the overgrown courtyards would hurt sales.

In related news, parking capacity has not yet been ironed out, but it's likely to include at least one parking structure and numerous small surface lots.

More photos of the district can be seen in my Mount Auburn gallery.

WINDOWS LIVE BIRD'S EYE VIEW


* The credit can be claimed against the building owner's Ohio corporate franchise tax, personal income tax, or dealer-in-intangible tax liability.

The 32 units in Phase I of the Pulse Loft Condominiums appear to be very near completion.

The $13 million project will contain 64 units at buildout, priced between $140,000 and $322,000.

The Louis & Henry Group, an architectural and development firm out of Louisville, is the developer. Sales are being handled by Huff Realty.

The site is located between 8th and 9th streets and Banklick and Russell streets in the Seminary Square neighborhood of Covington.

















Previous updates on BC:
Pulse Loft Condos photo update, 4/8/07

The Enquirer reports on the dedication of the Burnet Avenue project that happened on Monday morning.

The mixed-use project will include a medical office building, a new building to house the offices of the Cincinnati Herald, and a parking garage.

A future phase will include townhomes along Harvey Avenue.

City Council still has to approve the final development plan.

Further reading on BC, including site plan, map and aerial:
PC to consider final plan of first Burnet phase (9/20/07)
City sells land to Uptown Consortium for $1 (6/25/07)
City rezoning advances Burnet project (6/20/07)
Avondale: Burnet Avenue Zoning Study (5/1/07)

Randy over at UrbanCincy has posted about his experiences at last Thursday's streetcar meeting at the Art Academy.

But here's the best part...if you missed it, you have a chance to see the very same stuff Thursday from 4-7 PM at City Hall.

This idea is really building momentum, so drop by the informal open house to see what it's all about.

Further reading:
Cincinnati Streetcar Development Group
cincystreetcar.com

The surface lots around Court Street Center appear likely to remain as pavement for the foreseeable future.

Michele Laumer of Carey Laumer Commercial Realty, Inc. says that there has only been occasional interest in Court Street Centers II and III, which have been in pre-leasing since early 2004.

As proposed, Court Street Center II would be five stories and 100,000 square feet of Class A offices.

Court Street Center III would be the same height, with twice the floor space. A seven-story, 1,300-space parking garage would be built adjacent to it.

Despite the lukewarm reception so far, Laumer puts both buildings in the "possibilty" category.

The parking lots are owned by Chavez Properties, owner of many surface lots in the City core, including much of Broadway Commons.

Chavez doesn't have any interest in speculative development in the tight Downtown market, especially with the low-overhead income he receives from parking revenues. He would prefer to have at least 50% of either building pre-leased before starting construction.

What he does have is the resources to make either of the buildings happen if a company chooses to locate there and can abide a long enough lead time to wait until the structure is built.


Court Street Center II Rendering


Court Street Center III Rendering

WINDOWS LIVE BIRD'S EYE VIEW

Cranes were in place and cladding was being applied in these photos of the Overlook at Eden Park taken last Tuesday.

This 13-story condo tower will have a total of 24 units. Prices for the units start at $500,000, with the top price for one of the two penthouse units at $1.475 million.

Joshua One is the developer of the building, which is being constructed on Luray Avenue across from Eden Park.

Click on each image to enlarge it to 640 x 480 resolution.










Visit the Joshua One website

Previous updates on BC:
Walnut Hills: The Overlook at Eden Park (3/17/07)

A reader who goes by the name of "Hilby" referred me to his blog, The Morris Place Project.

The blog details the rehab of an early century bungalow on Morris Place in Columbia Tusculum.

The photos are great and there's a lot of insight into both the joys and the difficulties of restoring an old house.

RIP: 3445 Woodburn Ave, Evanston
Single-family

DOB: 1915
Died: September 2007
Cause of death: Burned down in early July, with too many issues to be worth fixing.

I have just added 26 Downtown photos to the Downtown gallery, bringing the total to 95 photos.

Click on the photo above to go to the Downtown gallery. The gallery will open in a new browser window.

City Council approved unanimously the issuance of up to $1.5 million in bonds for general streetscape projects in Evanston and Walnut Hills.

Each neighborhood could have bonds issued for up to $750,000. Revenues from established tax increment financing (TIF) districts will be used to service the bonds.

Oakley, Westwood and West Price Hill were also seeking funds for streetscape projects.

Their TIF districts were among seven local districts rejected by the state of Ohio due to new rules on property taxes that the City didn't take into account when creating the districts.

In addition to Oakley, Westwood, and West Price Hill, the City will have to resubmit TIF districts for Avondale, East Price Hill, Lower Price Hill, Madisonville, and Riverside/Sedamsville.

It is likely that the streetscape legislation for Oakley, Westwood and West Price Hill will be resubmitted at a later date.

Previous reading on BC:
TIFs and streetscapes (9/12/07)
City wants to float bonds for streetscapes (9/11/07)

In an update to a story I wrote on Friday, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports that the City Planning Commission has approved of the Episcopal Retirement Homes' rezoning request for its property at 3999 Erie Avenue in Oakley.

Episcopal plans to replace a vacant warehouse with two single-story cottages totalling 10,000 square feet on the 2.4-acre site.

Each cottage would house around 12 residents and would be staffed around the clock by up to 13 caregivers.

The property is currently zoned for manufacturing, which does not permit nursing homes.

The rezoning now must go to City Council for final approval.

RIP: 1105 E McMillan Ave, Walnut Hills
Multi-family

DOB: 1910
Died: September 2007
Cause of death: Owned by the developer of the Gates of Eden Park, who owns the adjacent property at McMillan and Park. That building is slated to become Park Flats, which will contain 36 apartments. The guess here is that this demolition is part of the project (courtyard or parking lot?), which is supposed to open in late 2008.

Unattractive warehouse at 3999 Erie Avenue

This morning, the City Planning Commission will consider a zoning change to allow the demolition and replacement of an Oakley warehouse by Episcopal Retirement Homes (Episcopal).

The warehouse at 3999 Erie Avenue abuts the Deupree House, an independent living senior community operated by Episcopal.

Episcopal plans to replace the warehouse with two single-story cottages totalling 10,000 square feet on the 2.4-acre site.

Each cottage would house around 12 residents and would be staffed around the clock by up to 13 caregivers.

The current zoning on the property is MG Manufacturing General District, which does not allow nursing homes. Episcopal is seeking an RM-0.7 designation, which would not require any further variances.

The rezoning measure is expected to pass, as it will allow the Deupree House to expand without impacting neighboring residential properties and the traffic effects will be negligible.

The Oakley Community Council approved of the rezoning on September 4.

The Deupree House recently completed 60 new apartments and a wellness center on its campus, bringing its total number of apartments units to 142.


Deupree House Cottages site plan: Click to enlarge


Architectural sketch: Other cladding being considered

WINDOWS LIVE BIRD'S EYE VIEW

The first phase of the Views is taking shape in Covington.

This phase contains 21 of an eventual 100-125 units to be priced between $250,000 and $400,000.

Most of the action can be seen in the area of Dixie Highway and 12th Street.

The developer is Joshua One, who is also active in the Overlook at Eden Park and WatersEdge at Bellevue projects.






Visit the Joshua One website

The Wiedemann Hill Mansion will be hosting brunch on the veranda and a tour of the home on Sunday at 11:30 AM.

Tickets are $25.00 and must be purchased in advance by calling (859) 655-9018.

The Wiedemann Hill Mansion is located at 1102 Park Avenue in Newport.

The home was built in 1894 for Charles Wiedemann, heir of the Wiedemann Brewing Company. Over the last couple of years it has been restored by Roger and Donna Weddle.

Samuel Hannaford was the architect.

Only photo available:
WINDOWS LIVE BIRD'S EYE VIEW

CityBeat's Steven Rosen has written a great story about developers Steven Bloomfield and Ken Schon.

Most of the article focuses on the American Can Factory Square project and how they are trying to piece together the financing.

Rosen also touches on Bloomfield and Schon's rehab of the former Ford factory at 660 Lincoln in Walnut Hills (a beautiful project), condos they plan to build at 2801 Observatory Avenue in Hyde Park, and their interest in building the townhome component of Linden Park Commons in College Hill.

On Friday, the City Planning will consider the final development plan for Phase I of the Burnet Avenue project.

The $52 million redevelopment of 8.48 acres bounded roughly by Burnet, Harvey and Maple avenues and Hickory Street was approved in August 2006 as part of the Burnet Avenue Urban Renewal Plan.

The final development plan, which was prepared by Al Neyer, Inc. and DNK Architects, differs from the concept plan only in building square footages and in parking spaces provided. The differences are negligible.

The preliminary concept plan establishing PD (Planned Development District) 50 was approved by the City Planning Commission on May 18 and by City Council on June 6.

Approval by the City Planning Commission is expected. City Council would then have to approve of the final plan, which would clear the developers to begin.

Most of the project site has already been cleared. Only a few single-family homes remain.


Medical office building

The largest structure to be built will be a six-story, 126,000-square-foot medical office building.

The building will be clad in Prodema, aluminum panels, and "curtain walls", which will be used to break up the building's mass.

On the north side of the building, the sixth floor will be cantilevered slightly over an outdoor dining area.


Mixed-use building for the Cincinnati Herald

A three-story, 44,000-square-foot mixed use building will occupy the corner of Burnet and Northern avenues, just to the north of the medical office building.

The top two floors of this building will be occupied by offices of the Cincinnati Herald. At street level, storefront windows will contain either retail or a restaurant.

This building will also consist of Prodema, alternated with horizontal bands of windows. Curved aluminum canopies will bracket the corners at the second floor and at the roofline.


Parking garage

Tucked within the block will be a six-level, 1,450-space parking garage.

Most of the visible facade of the garage will be along Northern Avenue, where two entries will be located.

The most visible treatments on the facade will be curved mesh panels and lighted stair towers of glass and aluminum curtain walls.


Other notes

* Up to 56 Condominiums along Harvey Avenue are part of Phase IA. City Council will have to approve the final development plan for that phase at a later date.

* A pocket park containing an outdoor dining area will be located between the two commercial buildings.

* Streetlights will be similar to those used along Martin Luther King Drive (between Burnet and Vine), and pedestrian walkways will be lit by lighting similar to that within Theodore M. Berry International Friendship Park.

* Unifying signage design is in the very early stages.

Further reading on BC, including site plan, map and aerial:
City sells land to Uptown Consortium for $1 (6/25/07)
City rezoning advances Burnet project (6/20/07)
Avondale: Burnet Avenue Zoning Study (5/1/07)

Site plan by GBBN Architects: Click to enlarge

The City is considering allowing the Cincinnati Recreation Commission (CRC) to enter into an agreement with the Reds Community Fund to build a youth baseball complex at Oskamp Field in Westwood.

An ordinance authorizing the agreement is currently in Council's Education, Health and Recreation Committee.

The complex would include four baseball fields, a "Miracle League" field, and a new restroom/concessions facility.

The Miracle League field is made of a synthetic rubber surface that increases safety and access for children with disabilites.

The $4 million project will be built in two phases. Part of the price tag will fund an endowment for the CRC, which will own and maintain the complex.

Construction is expected to begin in October and will be completed by June 30, 2007.

The Reds Community Fund has been holding a fundraising effort for the project since last year.

The project was designed by GBBN Architects.


Close-up of Miracle Field by GBBN Architects: Click to enlarge

WINDOWS LIVE BIRD'S EYE VIEW

Here is construction progress of the Palisades of Mount Adams as of Tuesday, September 18.

Vail Terra Properties and architect John Senhauser are teaming up on the 10-unit project.

Click each photo to enlarge to 640 x 480.







Visit the project website

Previous updates on BC:
Palisades luxury condos hit the market (9/13/07)
The Palisades of Mount Adams (4/22/07)

On August 29, I posted several street-level pictures of the construction progress on the SouthShore condo project in Newport. (Link below.)

Due to access issues, it was kind of hard to tell just how massive the built footprint actually is.

Here's a photo I took on Tuesday from Mount Adams. It's hazy*, but you get the idea.

Click on the photo to enlarge it to 640 x 480.



Previous updates on BC:
SouthShore photo update, 8/29/07

* Weak camera

Sources tell Building Cincinnati that Comey & Shepherd is moving its City Office from 1440 Main Street in Over-the-Rhine.

Several agents reportedly have already left.

Speculation is that the office could either move to Mount Adams or become part of the Hyde Park office.

Space constraints can be ruled out. The building at Main and Liberty contains a finished, unoccupied downstairs with plenty of room for expansion.

The loss of the office would be a big blow to revitalization efforts on North Main and to efforts to sell the City core.

Phase one of the Volterra Condominiums appears to be very near completion.

The project is being built by First Fisher Properties along the 2200 blocks of Kemper (pictured) and St. James avenues in Walnut Hills.

A total of 11 attached condos will be built in four phases.

Click on each image to enlarge to 640 x 480.





Last update on BC:
Walnut Hills: Volterra Condominiums (3/16/07)