Latest phase of Stetson Square takes on new urban form

By Randy A. Simes ― May 7, 2012

Developers will break ground on more housing uptown in Corryville in the near future. The project will be the second phase of the $80 million Village of Stetson Square development located immediately south of University Hospital, and will include 18 residential units.

The four new buildings will be built at Eden Avenue and E. Rochelle Street – one of two vacant pieces of land owned by developer Great Traditions Land & Development.

Village of Stetson Square phase two renderings provided by e3 design collective.

While the Village of Stetson Square has achieved great success with its existing 205 apartments, 53 townhomes, and 95,000 square feet of commercial space, the last two pieces of land have sat undeveloped since 2006.

At the time, the development team said the two sites would be developed at a later date based on market demand. With the housing market starting to settle, and the uptown housing market booming, it appears like it may finally be time to finish what was started almost a decade ago.

New renderings, provided exclusively to UrbanCincy, show that the new phase of construction about to being will take on a decidedly different urban form from the rest of the development which includes four- to five-story buildings alongside tightly built townhomes.

While apartments are at capacity throughout uptown, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the new residential offerings will be for-sale units priced in the $200,000s due to a desire by the Corryville community to boost home ownership rates in the historic neighborhood.

60-unit apartment building planned for Madison Road in Oakley

A new development being called Oakley Lofts would bring 60 one- and two-bedroom apartments to Madison Road at Appleton Street. More from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

The five-story building will have a commercial component on the first floor. The upper floors will be residential. Chris Bortz, a director of special projects for Towne Properties and a former Cincinnati City Council member, said the apartment complex is a good fit for the neighborhood.

More new housing to be built uptown in Corryville

The housing construction boom continues uptown as developers announce their intentions to build a second phase to the popular Village of Stetson Square development in Corryville. More from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Four newly constructed buildings are planned to house 16 one-bedroom units with studies and two two-bedroom townhomes. Prices will range between $190,000 and the mid-$200,000s. It’s the first construction planned for the site at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Eden Avenue since the final rowhouse building was completed in summer 2009.

Cincinnati to offer domestic partner benefits

Following through on a campaign promise, Cincinnati City Councilman Chris Seelbach (D) championed through domestic partnership benefits this week. The move will place Cincinnati amongst an estimated 200 other cities from around the country who offer similar benefits to same-sex couples. More from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Cincinnati became the second city in the region this week to offer benefits to employees’ domestic partners. The measure passed 8-1, with only Charlie Winburn (R) opposing it. Councilman Chris Seelbach (D), the city’s first openly gay council member, promised to introduce the idea as one of his first priorities.

UrbanCincy begins rolling out new website features, announces bi-weekly podcast

By Randy A. Simes ― May 2, 2012

For nearly five years, UrbanCincy has strived to keep the region connected with its urban core, and we continue to develop new ways in which to accomplish this. To that end, we will be rolling out some new features to our website over the coming weeks. These features are intended to improve the usability of the site for you – the readers.

Earlier this year, we introduced the Disqus commenting system to improve functionality and interaction between readers. In addition to that, you will notice a number of additional technical enhancements intended to better connect you with our team.

Inside The UrbanCincy Podcast studio where chief technologist, Travis Estell, works to produce the first episode. Photograph by John Yung.

The first of the new features is now live and operational. “Up To Speed” is a new section providing a constant stream of all the news and discussion happening around the world that pertains to Cincinnati.

Another new feature is a bi-weekly podcast that will debut this Friday. The UrbanCincy Podcast will include in-depth debate of contemporary topics by our team. Each episode will focus on one topic and include feature commentary by a national or international expert on the topic.

This Friday, the UrbanCincy team will be joined by Natalia Gomez Rojas, an urban planner from Bogota, Colombia, to discuss the TransMilenio and what Cincinnati can learn from the world’s premier bus rapid transit system.

While we implement more of these new features, you can continue to expect the same original news content from the UrbanCincy team you have come to expect. We hope that these changes will enhance your experience with the website, and make UrbanCincy.com your urban lifestyle website destination. Thanks for reading.

Japanese restaurant coming to OTR this fall

Just one week after UrbanCincy announced that Hapa, an Asian-inspired restaurant, will open at 1331 Vine Street, it is now being reported that a Japanese restaurant will join it across the street. From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

The concept is an izakaya, or what you might call a Japanese pub. That means lots of food that goes well with drinks, food that comes in small portions and can be ordered in various combinations…The restaurant will be larger than many of its Vine Street neighbors, and will encompass three components: a bar, a dining room, and an outside area, partly covered, partly an open garden.

From ghost town to night-on-the-town

Nearly one month ago we asked whether Cincinnati is in the midst of a contemporary golden age. With all of the public and private investment taking place throughout the city, the answer seemed to be an easy yes. Now, Cincinnati’s mainstream media is echoing our thoughts. From WCPO:

On virtually any given evening, you can walk around downtown Cincinnati and run into people. In fact, you might find a large crowd either on Fountain Square, at The Banks or up in Over-the-Rhine. Anyone who knows Cincinnati knows this is a relatively new situation for this once ghost town. It used to be that when the work day ended, downtown Cincinnati’s sidewalks rolled up for the night. But now, the city comes alive.