Category: Development

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Development News Politics

State of Downtown report shows continuous improvement

Last week Downtown Cincinnati Inc. (DCI) released their annual State of Downtown Report. The report contains graphs and numbers relating to the development of Downtown. This years report suggests that Downtown Cincinnati has seen a large increase in the number of people enjoying the array of restaurants and arts in the center city.

Arlene Koth, executive president and Chief Operating Officer of DCI, said that when they looked back at the numbers in 2010, there were a few things that really jumped out to them. One such item was the amount of development happening downtown; not just the number of projects that have been completed, but also the amount of investment that has gone into the projects downtown.

According to the report, $1.4 billion in development took place in 2010. DCI says that they expect an additional $1.8 million worth of development to follow on that 2010 investment, and be completed in the next 18 to 24 months. Of those investments, cultural projects represent approximately 31 percent. Mixed-use development makes up another 23 percent. Residential (18%), office (15%) and transportation (13%)  investments then make up the rest.

DCI says that activity attendance downtown has saw a rather constant decrease from 2006 until 2009, but showed an increase in 2010. This recent increase goes follows the pattern seen recently with encouraging gains in new restaurants and residential buildings.

Downtown and its outlying neighborhoods, Over-the-Rhine and Pendleton, experienced a 35 percent population increase overall, with the majority coming in the outlying neighborhoods of the greater downtown area.

Businesses owners are trending towards buying the building in which they locate their businesses over leasing the spaces. Thus the newly renovated buildings stay intact and add value to downtown.  Koth acknowledges “though some building [renovations and leases] have stalled, other developments have helped to spark more desire in potential residents and help pull the buildings through the darkness and into the light.”

DCI is also responsible for all the people walking and biking the streets in bright orange t-shirts or electric blue jackets depending on weather conditions. These Downtown Ambassadors are employed to help keep downtown clean and safe by doing everything from walking people home to giving people directions out of downtown.

Though the increase in development and activities in downtown have affected downtown Cincinnati’s economy positively, there have been numerous battles in getting business offices sold or rented and in keeping crime low. The number of crimes has steadily decreased until 2008 when they increased by 21% from 1,153 to 1,402 in 2009. Compared to the 2001 crime rate of 2,013, the rate has decreased significantly.

Overall, downtown is blooming with even more new businesses and events that keep the core bustling and alive with activity.

Fountain Square picture for UrbanCincy by Thadd Fiala.

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Arts & Entertainment Business Development News

SpringBoard Cincinnati merges art and business

Right brain vs. left brain; canvas vs. spreadsheet; the dreamers vs. the driven. In a world that becomes more connected every day, who says art and business are mutually exclusive? This attitude drives local nonprofit ArtWorks’ newest creative enterprise program. SpringBoard Cincinnati is a business development program for artists and creative entrepreneurs.

SpringBoard is more than a classroom with a packet of information and a “good luck” at the end. It’s the most effective way for creative entrepreneurs to see their ideas turn into action, and action into results. The $250 fee includes an 8-week course convening three hours each week, personal consulting from experts in accountancy, finance, law and branding, and a comprehensive business plan. Graduates will also be connected to potential storefront spaces in Over-the-Rhine and downtown.


Vine Street image by Thadd Fiala for UrbanCincy.

“The course is tailored so you aren’t sitting in a room with thirty people just listening to someone speak, only to walk out confused. Students gain applicable, real world information about running their own business,” said SpringBoard Coordinator Sarah Corlett.

Professionals donate their time each week to giving direction to the entrepreneurs’ ideas. Students will be working with the likes of Keating, Meuthing & Klemkamp, P.P.L., Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, Burke and Schindler, P.L.L., Rockfish Interactive, and PNC Bank.

“The first week may be an attorney who will instruct the class on the legal structure of starting a business. They will lecture for one hour and the remaining time is dedicated to the class asking questions specific to their future business,” said Corlett.

Nothing short of innovative, SpringBoard is just the next logical step for ArtWorks, an award winning non-profit based in Over-the-Rhine that has been connecting artists with apprenticeships, job opportunities and community partnerships since 1996.  SpringBoard is licensing the curriculum from a program of the same name founded by the Chattanooga-based non-profit Create Here. The SpringBoard in the South has been in operation for three years and already boasts 325 graduates.

“Walking down Main Street in the south side of Chattanooga it seems like every storefront is a product of SpringBoard,” said Corlett. “In Cincinnati we are losing a lot of our young, creative population to other cities – Chicago, New York, and the West Coast. SpringBoard is helping to create an environment of locally, handcrafted ideas here in Cincinnati,” she added.

Funded by the Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile Jr./ U.S. Bank Foundation, SpringBoard’s first course is set to begin June 7th. Interested creative entrepreneurs – from metal sculptors to musicians, and everything in between – can sign up on the website. space is limited but sessions will be ongoing. For more information regarding class registration or to volunteer your professional expertise contact Sarah Corlett at 513-333-0388 or Sarah@ArtWorksCincinnati.org.

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Business Development News

CDFC $2 million closer to investing in Northern Kentucky’s urban neighborhoods

Thanks to an equity investment from PNC Bank, the Catalytic Development Funding Corporation (CDFC) of Northern Kentucky is $2 million closer to its $10 million capitalization goal. With the recent investment, the Catalytic Fund is up to $6.5 million.

Once the $10 million goal is met, CDFC will begin making targeted investments in catalytic development and redevelopment projects in northern Kentucky’s urban neighborhoods in order to spur additional investment and revitalization in the area. The Catalytic Fund investments will provide patient capital for projects that could not occur due to private capital market constraints.

Patient capital does not always take the same form, but generally it is more flexible and willing to accept more risk than conventional funding. The purpose is to fill in gaps in a financing package to make a project more attractive to primary lenders. Patient capital tends to be the first money into a project and typically is repaid after the primary loan payment is made each payment period. This is a similar model that 3CDC uses when deploying Cincinnati Equity Fund capital.

In addition to providing patient capital for development projects that meet the Catalytic Fund’s investment criteria, CDFC will also facilitate development by acquiring land for future projects, providing technical assistance to developers, and recruiting developers to participate in northern Kentucky’s urban renaissance.

The CDFC and the Catalytic Fund will be in very capable hands. Jeanne Schroer, the executive director of CDFC, has over 25 years of experience as a real estate professional specializing in project financing.

The CDFC and the Catalytic Fund were created in 2008 based on a recommendation by the Urban Renaissance Action Team of northern Kentucky’s Vision 2015 planning initiative. Since the fund’s inception, Jeanne Schroer has been working tirelessly to raise $10 million during tough economic times. This is a list of all the contributors to the fund so far:

Photo courtesy of Jeanne Schroer

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Development News

First phase of Cincinnati Riverfront Park quickly becoming reality

The first phase of The Banks has made dramatic progress in 2011, and has even welcomed its first residents and businesses over the past one to two months. Meanwhile, the new $120 million Cincinnati Riverfront Park (CRP) has also seen significant progress made on its first phase of work.

Project manager Dave Prather gives another visual tour of the construction progress at the CRP, and specifically highlights the rise of the Moerlein Lager House, demolition of the old Mehring Way, Jacob G. Schmidlapp Stage & Event Lawn, Women’s Committee Garden and the Walnut Street Fountain & Steps.

Most noteworth, Prather says that the first elements of the park will be completed by the next video update, and that the event lawn will be recognizable within two weeks. The event lawn will host its first public concert on Thursday, May 26 from 5:30pm to 9pm during Riverfront Fusion.

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Arts & Entertainment Development News

Framester takes event photography to the next level

Chances are, if you have a Facebook account, you’ve seen the pictures floating around your friends’ feeds. High quality photo booth style pictures, perfectly capturing the essence of an event or party. This phenomenon is the brainchild of local entrepreneurs David Dewitt and Adam Kleshinski. It’s called Framester.

The philosophy behind the event photography company is that, given the circumstances, every person wants the chance to show their creative, spontaneous selves… and to take the perfect picture. The self-timed setup – a camera, a backdrop, and a little red button – allows party goers to create their own portraits in a way that traditional event photographers can’t.

DeWitt, a former DAAP student at the University of Cincinnati, set up his camera one night at a friend’s party in 2008, and was taken aback at the response it received. “It took a lot of trust, to leave my lighting and camera equipment up all night, but no one messed with it,” David explained. “My friends loved it, and it turned into something bigger.”

Through various connections around town, DeWitt took his setup to local philanthropic events over the next year, experimenting with props, backdrops and photography techniques. Bars and parties began to hire him as a special addition to their shindigs- tagging and sharing the pictures on Facebook helped gather name recognition for the venues, as well as give everyone kick-ass profile pictures.

DeWitt and Kleshinski connected near the end of 2010, where the Xavier MBA graduate saw a business opportunity that couldn’t be passed up. “I couldn’t believe it was just [DeWitt],” said Kleshinski. “I knew it could be something bigger.” The two worked through a business plan, and launched the Framester brand in the beginning of May.

“The goal now is to expand through the Cincinnati area,” explained Adam. “We want it to expand organically, and with 2.5 million people in the region, there’s a lot of room for growth here. Things are changing and moving in the right direction. Cincinnati is a base of ingenuity and entrepreneurship and good business – it’s a great market.”

The duo feels that Cincinnati is a perfect test market – a microcosm with enough diversity to try out different things as they tweak the business model and prepare to grow.

The difference between Framester’s services and any huckster with a camera is the professional level of quality and attention to detail for each event – no two are alike. The service naturally offers a distinctive brand marketing advantage to event sponsors and venues by levering advances in social media technologies, and former clients have seen immediate results in collecting contact information from their attendees along with targeted brand exposure.

Ultimately, Framester is helping to celebrate and showcase the momentum that is driving Cincinnati forward. Kleshinski and DeWitt both say it’s been incredible watching the amount of energy building in Cincinnati’s urban core.

“For too long there’s been this theory that Cincinnati is boring – there’s nothing fun to do here,” said DeWitt. “We know that’s not true – and we’ve got the pictures to prove it.”

CityBeat Best of Cincinnati Party photo provided by Framester.