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New Asian-inspired restaurant to extend Vine Street’s veritable restaurant scene north

An Asian-inspired restaurant called Hapa will soon occupy 1,100 square feet of space at Fourteenth Street and Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine. The restaurant’s five-year lease comes at a time when redevelopment momentum appears to be shifting north in the historic neighborhood.

An Asian-inspired restaurant has signed a lease Fourteenth and Vine Street in historic Over-the-Rhine. The restaurant will be named Hapa, and is rumored to be operated by the same owners as Pho Lang Thang.

The five-year, 1,100-square foot restaurant lease is the first major commercial tenant for the Trinity Flats development led by The Model Group, but builds on momentum moving north along Vine Street where residential property has already reached capacity in recently completed developments.


A new restaurant called Hapa will soon join the diverse collection of restaurants along Vine Street in historic Over-the-Rhine. Vine Street photograph by Randy A. Simes for UrbanCincy.

Trinity Flats was a good mix of rehab and new infill construction, and we’ve only got one more condo left to sell as a result,” noted Bobby Maly, Chief Operating Officer at The Model Group. “The OTR condo market is still hot, and I’m particularly proud of the way we built out two vacant corner lots. The block feels strong and even more walkable than ever.”

The development was a bit of a department for the Cincinnati-based developer. The Model Group has historically focused on rehabs and affordable housing developments. Trinity Flats, however, incorporated new infill construction and included condos averaging $175,000. The results, Maly says, have been better than what could have been hoped for.

“The more dense we can make our main thoroughfares, with high pedestrian traffic and retail spaces, the more life we can give our streets and the neighborhood overall,” Maly explained. “It [urban infill] is the right thing for the community and built environment.”

After Hapa opens there will be just two street-level retail spaces left in the Trinity Flats development which was once viewed as a bold investment in a part of Over-the-Rhine that had yet to prove itself.

Construction work is scheduled to begin on the $53.5 million Mercer Commons development later this year, and officials with The Model Group say to watch for an announcement this summer on a new development in partnership with the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC).

By Randy A. Simes

Randy is an award-winning urban planner who founded UrbanCincy in May 2007. He grew up on Cincinnati’s west side in Covedale, and graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s nationally acclaimed School of Planning in June 2009. In addition to maintaining ownership and serving as the managing editor for UrbanCincy, Randy has worked professionally as a planning consultant throughout the United States, Korea and the Middle East. After brief stints in Atlanta and Chicago, he currently lives in the Daechi neighborhood of Seoul’s Gangnam district.