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CPA to host seminar on historic building receivership – 8/7

The Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) will be hosting a seminar on historic building receivership Saturday, August 7 in Camp Washington. The executive director of the Camp Washington Community Board will be in attendance to discuss that neighborhood’s approach to saving, renovating, and reselling buildings that might have otherwise been lost due to neglect.

Originally settled in 1846, Camp Washington is one of Cincinnati’s many historic neighborhoods. Over time the neighborhood has seen dramatic changes with the introduction of Interstate-75 in the mid-twentieth century. Since that time the community has dealt with a neighborhood street grid detached from its surrounding neighbors while also trying to adjust to changing demographics that led to disinvestment, and back to popularity today.

The issues faced by the historic Camp Washington neighborhood are similar to what many inner-city neighborhoods faced during the second half of the 20th century. Its urban revival is a narrative that is also ringing true with others, but the neighborhood’s historic preservation success is an element CPA believes can help other neighborhoods around the region.

CPA’s Saving Buildings With Receivership seminar will take place from 10am to 1pm on Saturday, August 7 at 2951 Sidney Avenue. The seminar will include a tour of a current receivership project underway in Camp Washington. Reservations are required due to limited space. Those interested can register for $5 by contacting CPA at (513) 721-4506 or info@cincinnatipreservation.org.  You can also RSVP for the event on Facebook.

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Arts & Entertainment Business News

Macy’s Music Festival headlining busy weekend in downtown Cincinnati

The Macy’s Music Festival takes place this weekend in downtown Cincinnati at Paul Brown Stadium. Nearly 50,000 R&B and soul fans from around the region are expected to pour into the stadium and nearby venues as they are treated to performances by Jaheim, Melanie Fiona, Teena Marie, Charlie Wilson, Cameo, K’Jon, En Vogue, Maze, Raheem DeVaughn, and Erykah Badu who was added to replace Jill Scott. The two-day music festival is expected to have a local economic impact of $20 million.

Jill Scott canceled her appearance at this year’s festival after learning of an illness in the family. Her absence is certainly a loss for the festival, but the addition of Erykah Badu is one of the few replacements that is able to fill Scott’s proverbial shoes in the festival lineup.

The music festival is complimenting a host of other events that are expected to keep Cincinnati’s center city packed all weekend long.  One such event is the annual convention for the Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA) which is expected to draw 5,000 people from around the world, and create an economic impact of $3 million.  The first-place Reds are also in town and hosting the Atlanta Braves in a three game series that is expected to draw three sell-out crowds totaling more than 120,000 fans over the weekend.

Tickets for the Macy’s Music Festival range from $48 to $88 and can be purchased online, or by calling 1-800-452-3132 for group sales.  Performances begin at 7:30pm both nights at Paul Brown Stadium (map).  In the mean time, enjoy ‘Other Side of the Game’ by Erykah Badu.

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Business News

Dojo Gelato business exceeding expectations, production increased 32%

[This story was originally published in the Cincinnati Business Courier on July 19, 2010. Visit the original story for more comments, thoughts and opinions on Dojo Gelato’s success at Findlay Market – Randy.]


Michael Christner moved to Cincinnati from Austin, TX last year and opened Dojo Gelato at Cincinnati’s historic Findlay Market. Christner expected business might be good due to the limited amount of competition in Cincinnati relative to Austin, but so far business has exceeded expectations for local entrepreneur.

Christner follows a few basic principles in his gelato prep kitchen which he refers to as a “laboratory.” He makes the gelato and sorbetto fresh and in small runs with no artificial ingredients. Milk, pure cane sugar, and cream is all that is used to create their gelatos, while the sorbettos only contain fruit, pure cane sugar, and water. Customers will also find a product free of artificial preservatives, unnatural stabilizers, powders or gels, or hormone dairy products.

“I’ve been like wow, this is working…it’s really working,” Christner said about Dojo Gelato’s success thus far. “When I opened, the Dojo Cart wasn’t even budgeted into the business plan, but we always thought it would be great to do five or six special events a year. With business being so good, the cart has become reality much quicker.”

The quicker arrival of the DojoCart now serving people at special events throughout Cincinnati is not the only mark of success for the Italian-style ice cream maker. Christner says that Dojo Gelato has also increased production, grown its staff, while also increasing sales.

So far sales at Dojo Gelato’s store at Findlay Market and the new DojoCart are 16% higher than what was originally forecasted, and in May, Dojo Gelato set two consecutive sales records at Findlay Market. The business growth has also accelerated plans for increased production. In March, Dojo Gelato purchased an additional gelato batch freezer from Italy that allows Christner to now produce 52 gallons of gelati an hour which represents a 32% increase in production since the business opened in August 2009. During that same time the staff has increased from one employee in last summer, to five employees today.

“It’s been a gradual incline, with every month being a little better than the month before,” Christner explained. “I take my product very seriously, but at the end of the day it’s just food and it’s more about bringing people together.”

According to Christner, Dojo Gelato customers represent a wide variety of people together that includes a business and neighborhood crowd during the week at lunch; older individuals, tourists, and suburbanites on the weekends; and lots of families on Sundays. Young adults between the ages of 20 to 40 are also a big part of Dojo Gelato’s daily business.

“I wanted to do this since I was 20 years old, and I’m 34 now. This is not just some hobby, I live, eat, and breathe everything Dojo Gelato,” Christner emphasized. “I’ve realized that this is a marathon, not a sprint, and everything needs to fall into place for future expansion efforts.”

Dojo Gelato is open at Findlay Market (map) Tuesday through Friday from 9am to 6pm, Saturday from 8am to 6pm, and Sunday from 10am to 4pm. Those out and about can find the DojoCart at the Wyoming Farmers Market on Tuesdays, Wednesdays at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center for their summer concert series through July, Saturdays on Fountain Square for movie nights, and at the Hyde Park Farmers Market every Sunday.

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Business Development News

Former Boss Cox home to become new Clifton Library Branch

The Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County will move its Clifton Branch from Ludlow Avenue to Parkview Manor nearby.  The $3.5 million project will require a full renovation of the 1895 home for notorious Cincinnati politician George Barnsdale “Boss” Cox.

Once the home of arguably Cincinnati’s most influential politician, the 10,000 square-foot Parkview Manor was designed by the famed Samuel Hannaford and is located directly across from Burnet Woods near the intersection of Brookline, Wentworth and Jefferson avenues (map).  Hannaford’s trademark use of limestone coursing and geometrically shaped rooms are visible here.  The architect’s firm, Hannaford and Sons, completed over 300 buildings in the Cincinnati area, including both Music Hall and City Hall.

Boss Cox meanwhile was known for controlling the goings on in Cincinnati through the Reform movement of the late 1800s. While his methods of governance were dictatorial and corrupt, Cox also made contributions to the city, including street cleaning and developing the plan for the ill-fated subway system.

The existing Clifton Branch of the Public Library is currently one of the busiest, and smallest, in the entire county-wide system. Its location on Ludlow Avenue does not have a dedicated meeting space, yet last year the branch presented 232 programs which were attended by 5,281 people.  The programs included a wide variety of topics including a weekly preschool story time and an English as a second language conversation group.

Circulation at the Clifton Branch has increased more than 12 percent over the past four years, which library officials believe is evidence that demand for the library is far exceeding the current capacity. The new location would be four times the size of the current building on Ludlow Avenue.  The new facility would also allow for a larger material collection space, more computer space, a dedicated children’s area, program room, teen area, and an easily accessible location with 16 parking spots in an extremely walkable neighborhood.

In order to make this dream a reality, library officials need to raise $3.5 million to renovate Parkview Manor and complete the move.  The library is actively seeking contributions for this project, and those interested in helping can contact development director John Reusing at (513) 369-4591 or through the project’s web page.

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Business News Transportation

Cincinnati web designer creates ‘Mobilizing Metro’ iPhone app

Mobilizing Metro app

Aaron Renn recently wrote that It’s Time for America to Get On the Bus. He argues that cities should look at improving the quality of their bus service to eliminate the negative perception and attract more riders. He states that while there’s a “legitimate case for rail” in many cities (including Cincinnati), adding high-quality bus service to the plan can expand the reach of the transit network at a lower cost.

Riders of Cincinnati Metro buses would agree with Renn’s ideas. Metro is often criticized for lacking many of the “amenities” which are now common on other cities’ buses. For example, permanent shelters displaying clear route maps and real-time bus arrival information would make riding an unfamiliar route much easier. Re-loadable fare cards would eliminate the hassle of carrying exact change. Integration with Google Transit would make trip planning easier.

Fortunately, Metro is making progress on some fronts. A new communication system is in the works which will provide riders with real-time bus locations on their smart phones. New articulated buses are providing a much-needed increase in capacity for heavily-traveled routes. Improvements like these are being made as allowed by Metro’s tight budget and other grant sources.  But ideas for innovation at Metro are also coming from outside the organization.

Web designer Ian Monk came up with the idea for an iPhone app called Mobilizing Metro that makes it easier to find routes and nearby destinations.  The app would be able to pinpoint your current location and display what routes pass nearby.

Monk explains, “I distinctly remember a friend of mine, who lives right along the 17/18/19 route, thinking that the buses didn’t run on Sunday because he didn’t know when they came or where they went.”

In order to differentiate the app from similar ones, Monk decided to integrate several types of destinations into the interface.  “It can also filter them so that only destinations within a couple blocks of a chosen bus line show up,” he said.  That makes it easy to find restaurants, bars, post offices, or parks that are completely accessible by public transit, making car-free living much easier.

Monk developed a Flash-based version of the app while he was a Digital Design student at UC.  He recently entered his app into the Cincinnati Innovates competition with hopes to win funding to continue development.  If he receives one of the prizes, which range from $1,000 to $25,000, he hopes to enlist the help of another developer to create iPhone and Android versions of the app.

You can vote for the Mobilizing Metro app at Cincinnati Innovates to help Monk win one of the awards.

With advances like a mobile app, convenient fare cards, and improvements to stops, Metro will continue to attract more riders that have other transit options.  Since Metro will also operate the Cincinnati Streetcar, they have the opportunity to integrate buses and the streetcar into a seamless system.  And although we should continue to get on board with an expanded rail system, we should also make the most of the Metro system we currently have and encourage more Cincinnatians to get on the bus.