At its meeting on August 7, Cincinnati City Council approved $640,000 from its wall stabilization and landslide correction capital improvement program project account to stabilize a Mount Auburn hillside that has been giving residents problems for more than four years.

The money will be spent to build a retaining wall behind the residences , which began slipping due to an absentee landlord's burst water pipe and a --> --> --> project on the adjacent Alma Street, causing damage to sewer lines, decks, and backyards of multiple properties.

City Council on August 7 authorized an application for a grant of approximately $400,000 to help develop energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives, specifically for private sector buildings.

The grants are available through the City Energy Project, a joint venture between the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Institute for Market Transformation that seeks to improve the energy efficiency of buildings in 10 American cities.

In May, Cincinnati City Council announced its intent to appropriate 75 parcels – or nearly five acres – of property for the , and on August 7 they made it official.

Council's emergency ordinance allows the City to begin acquiring property and temporary easements for the $11.3 million project, which will smooth the S-curve and improve sight lines between McMicken and Dixmyth avenues and will add additional center-turn capability. Other improvements will include wider lanes, a bicycle side path, new pedestrian islands at Clifton Avenue, and upgraded traffic signals.

NEIGHBORHOOD: West Price Hill
YEAR BUILT: 1895
USE: Two-family dwelling
OWNER: Asset Management Directors LLC (Chico, CA)
ASSESSED VALUE: $49,660
ORDERS: --
CONDEMNED: July 2009, for a rotten roof structure, defective guardrails, deteriorated foundation, missing siding, broken and missing windows, gutters, disconnected electrical, and litter. A civil fine was issued in October 26. At a hearing one month later, the owner's attorney claimed he was trying to get the bank to take back the property, and that it might be going to sheriff's sale.
HAZARD: November 2012, adding missing rake boards and damage from fallen trees. Tax delinquent.
REASON RAZED: Declared a public nuisance and entered into the City's hazard abatement program. Demolished using Moving Ohio Forward program funding.

Cincinnati City Council has passed a resolution expressing its support for the federal Low Income Housing and New Markets tax credits, which are currently under threat of elimination as Congress considers changes to the tax code.

Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee have recently asked all senators to identify which tax breaks, deductions, and credits should be retained – and which ones should be dropped.

On August 7, City Council authorized the expenditure of $426,645 in capital improvement program project funds for seven neighborhood business district (NBD) economic development projects on private property, which it called a public purpose that will create and preserve jobs.

The projects include:

• $150,000 for the acquisition and redevelopment of in Pleasant Ridge, which consists of two storefronts totaling 3,600 square feet that has not seen significant commercial activity in five years. The Pleasant Ridge Development Corporation is partnering with the Pleasant Ridge Montessori Foundation to remodel the property for a daycare program, community clinic, and restaurant.
• $79,145 for a marquee and community message board at the Covedale Center for the Performing Arts in West Price Hill, the fifth and final phase of the building's renovation. The digital sign panels will share information on a rotating basis and will be visible to the estimated 15,000 that pass the building daily.

Two Cincinnati buildings were designated as local historic landmarks following a City Council vote last Wednesday.

The Farmer's Hotel at in Northside and the Masonic Temple Price Hill Lodge No. 524 at in East Price Hill now will be protected from insensitive alterations or demolition unless approved by the Historic Conservation Board.

Minimum parking requirements for residential developments in the Central Business District have been significantly reduced and could be eliminated altogether in adjacent neighborhoods through the implementation of Urban Parking Overlay Districts.

The changes, approved by City Council on August 7, amend chapters 1411 and 1425 of the Cincinnati Municipal Code by reducing requirements from one space per unit to zero spaces per unit for new development of 20 units or less. New development of more than 20 units would require 0.75 spaces per unit.

Over-the-Rhine Community Housing (OTRCH) will receive an eight-year Community Reinvestment Area tax exemption agreement and a $670,000 loan for its Beasley Place project, consisting of 13 units of rental housing for low income individuals and families at in Over-the-Rhine.

City Council approved the exemption for the $2.8 million project at its August 7 meeting. The agreement will lower the development's property tax liability by more than $339,000 over its duration.

Last Wednesday, Cincinnati City Council approved a Community Reinvestment Area LEED tax exemption agreement for the Model Group's St. Ambrose Apartments project in Evanston.

The $3 million, 26-unit apartment building is under construction at . It replaces the St. Leger Apartments, a blighted 81-unit building built in 1905 that was demolished last month.

NEIGHBORHOOD: College Hill
YEAR BUILT: 1946
USE: Commercial/retail
OWNER: City of Cincinnati
ASSESSED VALUE: $29,070
ORDERS: August 2007, for exterior walls and tuck pointing. In November 2007, a car struck the front wall and caused additional damage. Orders reissued in February 2008 for masonry, storefront tiles and decorative features, and exterior walls. Minimal compliance was achieved by March 2008.
CONDEMNED: --
HAZARD: --
REASON RAZED: Demolished as part of a six building demolition project in College Hill's neighborhood business district "Mid-Block", which will allow the City and the College Hill Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation to market the property to developers for more appealing residential or mixed-use structures.

Downtown's Schwartz Building will be renovated into 20 apartments and 6,705 square feet of street-level retail and will be built to LEED Silver standards.

On August 7, the City authorized a Community Reinvestment Area LEED tax exemption with Black Iron Capital LLC for the $400,000 project to convert the largely vacant, 33,525-square-foot office property at over to residential use.

Cincinnati City Council on August 7 approved a Community Reinvestment Area tax exemption agreement with Grandin Properties affiliate Grandin Company, Ltd. for the $1.5 million renovation of the Emanuel Community Center at 1308 Race Street into office space for entrepreneurs and an urban youth mentoring program centered on the game of squash.

The 10-year tax exemption will save the developer $26,950 over the life of the agreement.

Last Wednesday, Cincinnati City Council approved a plan by Indianapolis-based Milhaus Development to redevelop the in Northside.

The $10.5 million project, to be built on the former Myron G. Johnson & Son Lumber Co. site, will include two buildings containing 104 market-rate apartments and 8,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor commercial space.

The addition of 111 apartments atop the will now move forward following the approval of several ordinances by City Council on August 7.

North American Properties and the NorthPointe Group are planning a $22.3 million project to add seven floors to the eight-story parking and retail structure. The L-shaped addition would include units ranging from studios to two bedrooms, with an average size of 850 square feet.

VP3, the latest large residential project coming to Uptown, got the City's okay at the August 7 meeting of City Council.

Council approved the rezoning of 2.75 acres in the in Corryville from Office General, Residential Mixed, and Commercial Neighborhood-Pedestrian used to PD Planned Development District No. 69, which will be cleared to make way for 104 apartment units, 56 townhouses, and a three-level parking garage.

NEIGHBORHOOD: College Hill
YEAR BUILT: 1948
USE: Commercial/retail
OWNER: City of Cincinnati
ASSESSED VALUE: $60,130
ORDERS: September 2007, for exterior walls, brick damage, and tuck pointing. Orders reissued in November 2009.
CONDEMNED: --
HAZARD: --
REASON RAZED: Demolished as part of a six building demolition project in College Hill's neighborhood business district "Mid-Block", which will allow the City and the College Hill Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation to market the property to developers for more appealing residential or mixed-use structures.

A new study has highlighted ways in which Mount Auburn can create more workforce housing, providing more affordable housing options to people who may be priced out of living within reasonable proximity of their workplaces but may earn too much to qualify for direct housing assistance.

The , prepared for the and the by freelance urban planner Katherine A. Burk, takes a look at the current conditions of the neighborhood's housing supply and demand, land use and zoning, and demographics to inform future decisions on local residential development decisions.

Cincinnati's Safe Student Housing Program website officially launched on Wednesday, more than one month after the voluntary inspection program began.

The list includes apartments and rental homes that have passed a recent safety inspection by the .

On Wednesday, Cincinnati City Council approved a $4.5 million financing package for the renovation of three buildings at into a new headquarters for startup accelerator Cintrifuse.

The Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. (3CDC) is developing the $14.3 million project, which will include 30,000 square feet of flex office space, to be owned by Cintrifuse, and 7,000 square feet of commercial space – possibly including a restaurant or beer hall – to be owned by 3CDC.

The Banks' master development team of Carter and on Monday released plans for Phase IIA of the development, which is expected to contain 305 apartments and 21,000 square feet of retail space.

The next phase, estimated to cost $65 million, will include a nine-story building spanning the full City block .

Cincinnati City administration has proposed expanding its casino area infrastructure improvement project to include an art wall at , directly across from Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati.

The Casino Neighborhoods Working Group has selected to manage artist procurement, design, and installation of the art wall, which would cover a portion of the chain link fence surrounding the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department parking lot.

Cincinnati's budget and finance directors are recommending that an additional $28 million of the estimated $92 million the City is expected to receive through the lease of its parking assets should go to capital investment projects and not to balancing the 2014 and 2015 budgets.

That proposal was outlined in an August 5 memo and comes less than a week after six City Council members announced plans to restore more than $3.8 million to the City budget due to higher than expected revenues in May and June.

NEIGHBORHOOD: Oakley
YEAR BUILT: 1909
USE: Commercial
OWNER: CSX Transportation
ASSESSED VALUE: $23,420
ORDERS: April 2009, for windows, exterior walls, and damaged structural elements.
CONDEMNED: November 2010, building attracting criminal activity.
HAZARD: --
REASON RAZED: A lease agreement between CSX and the Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) to move and rehabilitate the building expired in May, and CSX declined to renew it. A half dozen potential buyers had emerged in the two and a half years of CPA involvement, but a viable development plan could not be found. The former Baltimore & Ohio Railroad station was last used in 2008 by a recycling business.

NEIGHBORHOOD: College Hill
YEAR BUILT: 1948
USE: Commercial/retail
OWNER: City of Cincinnati
ASSESSED VALUE: $89,990
ORDERS: November 2012, ordered barricaded.
CONDEMNED: --
HAZARD: --
REASON RAZED: Demolished as part of a six building demolition project in College Hill's neighborhood business district "Mid-Block", which will allow the City and the College Hill Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation to market the property to developers for more appealing residential or mixed-use structures.

The ten new buses that will serve the Metro*Plus bus rapid transit (BRT) demonstration project along Montgomery Road were unveiled last Friday at the Downtown.

Metro*Plus, a limited-stop transit service that will connect Downtown with Kenwood beginning August 19, is the latest idea from local business, government, and transportation leaders to address our region's mobility challenges.

A new revolving loan fund is available for real estate and small business development projects in the Uptown neighborhoods.

The Uptown Development Opportunity Loan fund seeks to stimulate economic growth by providing gap financing for renovations, expansion of properties, or property improvements for companies looking to relocate or grow.

The has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a private lot abatement program.

Required work includes the abatement of weed and litter nuisances on specific properties that are subject to enforcement action by the .

Today at 1 P.M. at the Business Development and Permit Center, , Cincinnati's Board of Housing Appeals will hold a public hearing to consider orders against the following properties:

• , Pendleton (three-family, 1865), suspension of Vacant Building Maintenance License (VBML) fee
• , Over-the-Rhine (mixed-use, 1870), suspension of VBML fee
• , Over-the-Rhine (mixed-use, 1910), suspension of VBML
• , West End (two-family, 1870), suspension of VBML fee
• , Over-the-Rhine (mixed-use, 1880), suspension of VBML fee

NEIGHBORHOOD: Mount Lookout
YEAR BUILT: 1955
USE: Single-family dwelling
OWNER: Scott P. and Alison J. May
ASSESSED VALUE: $300,000
ORDERS: --
CONDEMNED: --
HAZARD: --
REASON RAZED: Demolished to make way for a new single-family house.

NEIGHBORHOOD: Walnut Hills
YEAR BUILT: 1905
USE: Single-family dwelling
OWNER: Harbour High Yield Fund LLC (Dallas, TX)
ASSESSED VALUE: $22,260
ORDERS: --
CONDEMNED: June 2012, for mold, a rotting porch roof, and an overgrown lot. The house had been vacant for at least three years and had been attracting vagrants. By January 2013, the roof had failed and the gutters were disconnected, causing water damage. Windows were broken or missing, siding was peeling back, and the lot had begun to accumulate used tires and other debris. A civil fine was issued.
HAZARD: March 2013. Tax delinquent.
REASON RAZED: Demolished by the owner to close out orders, right as it was being put out to bid for City hazard abatement.

Today at 1 P.M. at the Business Development and Permit Center, , Cincinnati's Board of Housing Appeals will hold a public hearing to consider orders against the following properties:

• , Westwood (multi-family, 1939), suspension of Vacant Building Maintenance License (VBML) fee
• , Northside (single-family, 1915), suspension of VBML fee - continuance
• , East Price Hill (two-family, 1911), suspension of VBML
• , East Price Hill (single-family, 1932), suspension of VBML fee
• , East Price Hill (single-family, 1923), suspension of VBML fee

NEIGHBORHOOD: Spring Grove Village
YEAR BUILT: 1910
USE: Single-family dwelling
OWNER: Bradley L. Powell and Amanda Myers-Powell
ASSESSED VALUE: $91,110
ORDERS: January 2013, following a one-alarm fire that started on the first floor and quickly spread to the second floor and attic. Damage was estimated at $150,000, and there were no injuries.
CONDEMNED: --
HAZARD: --
REASON RAZED: Demolished by the owners to close out orders.

The Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) reports that its Findlater Gardens management office building at in Winton Hills has earned LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The renovated building, which houses both CMHA's Housing Choice Voucher program inspectors and the complex's asset management staff, is the second CMHA property to earn LEED certification this year. Its 60-unit, $12 million The Reserve on South Martin in Mount Healthy earned LEED Platinum certification in April.

The fourth and fifth homes completed in Bellevue by Housing Opportunities of Northern Kentucky (HONK) were dedicated on Tuesday, bringing two more home-owning families to the city.

The houses, which are located at , share the same floor plans and are approximately 750 square feet each. Each is valued between $70,000 and $75,000 – including 516 Taylor Avenue, which suffered extensive fire damage in 2012 and was given an assessed value that year of $23,000 by the Campbell County PVA.

Ohio's nine-member --> --> --> on July 25 unanimously gave preliminary approval for Gov. John Kasich's $3 billion Jobs and Transportation Plan, a proposal that Kasich says will create as many as 60,000 new jobs.

Kasich's plan accelerates the timelines for the construction of more than three dozen highway projects by providing $1.5 billion from the sale of bonds backed by --> --> --> toll revenues, which would be applied to projects in northern Ohio. Additional --> --> --> funding then would be available for projects in other parts of the state.

NEIGHBORHOOD: South Cumminsville
YEAR BUILT: 1889
USE: Single-family dwelling
OWNER: Chester and Mary Bush
ASSESSED VALUE: $16,970
ORDERS: October 2011, for exterior steps, porch, guardrails, exterior paint, cornice, gutters and downspouts. A civil fine was issued in April 2012. Owners told City inspectors that the bank was taking the house.
CONDEMNED: May 2012, adding a lack of utility service and an overgrown lot. A civil fine was issued in July 2012, and a criminal case was repaired but never filed.
HAZARD: October 2012, adding missing and broken windows, water damage, and a defective roof and chimney.
REASON RAZED: Declared a public nuisance and entered into the City's hazard abatement program. Demolished using Moving Ohio Forward project funding.

One week ago today, the City of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. (3CDC), and Grandin Properties celebrated the rehabilitation of the Hummel Building, which is located at 1401 Elm Street in Over-the-Rhine.

The $1.6 million project adds four condominiums and 1,900 square feet of commercial space to the 3CDC portfolio. The condominiums range in price from $270,000 to $375,000, and the commercial space is expected to house a restaurant this November.

NEIGHBORHOOD: East Price Hill
YEAR BUILT: 1900
USE: Single-family dwelling
OWNER: Meyer Management Inc.
ASSESSED VALUE: $20,230
ORDERS: --
CONDEMNED: April 2013, following a fire that caused an estimated $30,000 in damage, severely burning the second floor joists and most of the nearby support members, and damaging the building's heating and electrical systems. One adult and five children were displaced.
HAZARD: --
REASON RAZED: Demolished by the owner to close out orders.

Total as of August 1, 2013: 2,454 buildings
% Change in past month: +0.37% (+9 buildings)
% Change in past two months: +1.11% (+27 buildings)
% Change in past three months: +2.04% (+49 buildings)
% Change in past four months: +1.61% (+39 buildings)
% Change in past five months: +1.32% (+32 buildings)
% Change in past six months: +1.24% (+30 buildings)
% Change in past year: +3.50% (+83 buildings)
% Change in past two years: --
% Change in past five years: --

NEIGHBORHOOD: West Price Hill
YEAR BUILT: 1930
USE: Single-family dwelling
OWNER: J&S Property Investors LLC
ASSESSED VALUE: $36,890
ORDERS: August 2007, ordered barricaded. Ordered vacated and barricaded in April 2011 due to vandalism, broken windows and doors, and damaged siding. A civil fine was issued in July 2011.
CONDEMNED: November 2011. A criminal case was filed in February 2012, but was dismissed a month later for want of prosecution.
HAZARD: August 2012, adding gutters and downspouts and tree damage. Property purchased by current owner in June 2013.
REASON RAZED: Declared a public nuisance and entered into the City's hazard abatement program. Demolished using Moving Ohio Forward program funding.