Category: Development

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Business Development News

Project manager delivers construction update on $120M Cincinnati Riverfront Park

As the new $120 million Cincinnati Riverfront Park (CRP) is being built, the Cincinnati Park Board has been producing regular video updates highlighting the progress and taking us inside the development of the park. Each update when viewed together really tells the story, from start to finish, of one of the region’s most significant developments currently underway.

In this Spring 2011 update, project manager Dave Prather walks us through the ongoing construction site that will soon become the front door to the city. The video provides updates on the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Stage & Event Lawn, scheduled for a May 2011 opening, as well as the Walnut Street Steps & Fountain and the which are both slated to open in fall 2011. Prather also takes some time to address ongoing budget concerns for the new park.

“The capital budget is still not affected on the contracts underway and the phases of the project under construction,” Prather stated. He also says that the park board expects many of the Phase I features to still be open during the 2011 or 2012 seasons pending operational budgets.

On Thursday, May 26 the Women’s Committee for Cincinnati Riverfront Park will hold their fifth annual “Hats Off” luncheon at the new event lawn. This will be the organization’s first event held at the new park for which they have raised thousands of dollars to make reality.

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Business Development News Politics

Cincinnati region grows to more than 2.2 million people

Complete 2010 Census counts are to be released later this week for Ohio, but in advance of that new 2010 population estimates were released by the bureau yesterday. The county-level data for the Cincinnati metropolitan statistical area (MSA) shows anemic population growth for the now 2.2 million person region.

Of counties with more than 50,000 people, the fastest growers were Boone County, KY (40%), Warren County, OH (34.7%) and Clermont County, OH (10%). Over the last decade the region’s largest county saw its population increased by just more than 10,000 people giving Hamilton County, OH an estimated population of 855,340 in July 2010.

No county in the 17-county region studied experienced a population loss during the time frame, and over the ten-year period the region grew by an estimated 8.2 percent adding more than 170,000 people.

These estimates come out just days before Ohio’s full 2010 Census count is to be released. Other cities has felt sobering results from those hard counts that came in notably lower than the annual estimates the U.S. Census Bureau had been releasing.

Whether these estimates turn out to be accurate or not, a trend one can note is that the counties adding the most people are those close to the core of the region. While lower percentage increases exist in the region’s largest counties, they continue to add population to their base.

Leading up to the 2010 Census counts, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory had been a prominent spokesperson for cities suggesting undercounts within inner cities and first-ring suburbs. Those efforts led to several population revisions for Cincinnati and area municipalities, but in a matter of days we will find out whether the mayor’s goal of counting 378,259 people in the City of Cincinnati will hold up or not.

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Business Development News

Cincinnati coworking space to triple in size this April

[This story was originally published in the Cincinnati Business Courier print edition on March 4, 2011. Visit the original story for more comments, thoughts and opinions on the growing coworking community in Cincinnati – Randy.]


This April Cincy Coworks will move from its current 750-square-foot office space in DeSales Corner to space nearly three times as large nearby in Walnut Hills. The move marks the continued growth of Cincinnati’s coworking environment, and one that will allow the region’s first coworking group to increase its full-time membership from six to eighteen.

Coworking first arrived in Cincinnati in June 2010 when Cincy Coworks began operating out of Venue 222 in Over-the-Rhine. The coworking concept allows for freelancers, and others who may work without a formal office space, to access office space without taking on the burden of a lease. Instead the lease is shared through the membership fees.

“Before I found Cincinnati Coworks I was actually thinking about looking for a traditional job because I was so tired of working at home,” explained freelance writer Michelle Taute. “I’m much more productive working at Cincinnati Coworks. It’s a great atmosphere for bouncing around ideas.”

According to an industry survey, the number of global coworking spaces has doubled from approximately 350 at the beginning of 2010, to more than 650 at the beginning of 2011.

The new Cincy Coworks space at 2400 Gilbert Avenue will include dedicated desk space, free off-street parking, two conference rooms, a kitchen area, a roof-top terrace and additional common space.

“In this economy there are a lot of people who are trying to do their own thing, or trying to do their own thing on the site and one of Cincy Coworks’ main purposes is to help support those endeavors,” explained cofounder Gerard Sychay. In addition to the office amenities for self-employed professionals, he says that the concept also breeds creativity.

“I have been wanting to do my own iPhone app for a while, but I didn’t know many programmers before I joined the space,” said Taute who is working on an app project with two others. “We all meet in the space, and it’s exciting to work on a self-directed project with all the key areas covered – programming, content and design.”

Most of the group’s members consist of freelancers, entrepreneurs and telecommuters doing everything from writing to web development. Those who join then have 24-hour access to the office space and have the ability to book the space for special events.

Cincy Coworks is charging $250 for monthly memberships until April 15, and will then charge $300 per month after the move. Sychay says that drop-in and part-time memberships are also available.

There are two other active coworking spaces in the Cincinnati region including Working Side by Side in Glendale and The Offices in Lockland.

Cincy Coworks photograph by UrbanCincy contributor Thadd Fiala.

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Business Development News

New year brings heightened expectations for 3CDC

The Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) has helped spark a transformation of Cincinnati’s urban core in less than 10 years. To date, the non-profit development group has largely been defined by the success that has taken place on and around Fountain Square and the Gateway Quarter for which they are responsible.

Since their founding in 2003, 3CDC has invested more than $250 million into the center city. That investment has led to the renovation of scores of new restaurants and bars in the on and around Fountain Square, hundreds of new residential units and dozens of new businesses in Over-the-Rhine, and the renovation and expansion of Washington Park which is now underway. Even with all of that work to date, the development group says that they are only just now getting started.

“2010 was certainly a watershed year for us,” said Stephen Leeper, president and CEO of 3CDC. “Our development agenda has expanded to more complex real estate transactions. The physical assets we own, lease and/or manage continue to grow.”

In 2011 3CDC will get started on the long-anticipated, $51 million Mercer Commons development that will renovate 20 historic structures and infill 26 existing vacant lots in a two-block area of Over-the-Rhine. The group will also renovate a cluster of buildings along 6th Street into entertainment and office space, and a $48 million project will transform the former Metropole Apartments on Walnut Street nearby into a 21c Museum Hotel.

Some neighborhood residents and business owners do hope for additional neighborhood involvement on the part of 3CDC as they continue their efforts.

“I would like to see some sort of movement toward helping those being displaced obtain the skills or education to earn enough to be able to live in the new Over-the-Rhine,” said Original Thought Required owner James Marable. “I fear the area could become overdeveloped and lose the culture that makes OTR, OTR without them.”

With that said Marable welcomes the additional investment and see a bright future for the neighborhood he now calls home and operates his own small business.

“The amount of investment is a very good thing for the area. I’ve been in Cincinnati for ten years and the first five years of that I wouldn’t step foot in OTR,” Marable explained. “Now I am entrenched in the area and feel as much of a part of it as it is a part of me. I believe all the investment and hard work of the small business owners and development companies are paying off 10 fold and not only making OTR better but providing a shining light for the type of change the entire city should be working towards.”

The $48 million renovation and expansion of Washington Park is expected to be complete in 2012. And in addition to all of that, 3CDC is requesting $85 million in federal tax credits to keep the momentum rolling.

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Business Development News Transportation

Take a tour through Minneapolis’ urban core

I spent a quick two-and-a-half days in Minneapolis in mid-January to study their light rail system and explore the city’s urban core.

During my stay I was able to explore Midtown, Lowry Hill East, Downtown, Warehouse District, Loring Park, Uptown and some other areas very briefly. The city was expectedly cold, but I quickly learned why Minnesotans are such a hearty and down-to-earth bunch. The winters humble and challenge you.

The Hiawatha light rail line was small but well executed. The system utilizes modern rolling stock that includes low floors and is ADA accessible. The stations are nice, although suburban and off the beaten path in many locations. The best element, of the system, is that it connects major nodes with one another. The Mall of America, airport, football stadium, ballpark, arena, central business district, nightlife and government operations are all connected. The system will be vastly improved when it is expanded to St. Paul in the near future.

I will discuss specifics on Minneapolis’ transport network in a forthcoming op-ed. But for now, enjoy this brief collection of 37 photographs from my trip to the upper Midwest in the dead of winter.