Category: Development

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Development News

Cincinnati Preservation Association to host lead paint seminar – 9/25

The Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) will be hosting seminar on how to safely work around lead paint, and how new rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) might affect your renovation project.

During renovation or repainting work, toxins found within lead paint can become a health risk for humans. As a result, many regulations have been developed to help guide this kind of work and keep those performing the work safe from any potential toxins.

According to building officials, lead paint is more prevalent in buildings built or painted prior to 1977 when lead paint was banned by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. New regulations passed by the EPA in April 2010 require that all renovators who work on homes built before 1978, and disturb more than six square feet of lead paint, be Renovation, Repair & Painting (RRP) certified. It is estimated that the new regulation will impact more than 100,000 renovators in the United States.

Event organizers say that the seminar will include presentations from Aisha Tzilla of the City of Cincinnati Community Development Department and Bill Menrath of the University of Cincinnati.

Lead Paint: Renovate Safely, Learn the New Regs will be held on Saturday, September 25 from 10am to 12pm. The event will be held at Building Value located in Northside at 4040 Spring Grove Avenue. Reservations are required due to limited space, and can be made by contacting CPA at (513) 721-4506 or info@cincinnatipreservation.org. Admission costs $5 for CPA members and $10 for the public.

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Development News Politics

Cincinnati region awarded $6M through third round of NSP funding

The Cincinnati region was awarded nearly $6 million from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) for the stabilization of neighborhoods that have been hard hit by the nation’s ongoing foreclosure crisis. In particular, the funds will be used to acquire and rehabilitate existing housing and demolish badly damaged properties.

The money was awarded through the third round of HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program which awarded an additional $1 billion to communities across America this week. The previous two rounds of funding included $3.92 billion in 2008, and $2 billion in late 2009 through the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act which included $24 million for seven communities throughout Cincinnati region.

“These grants will support local efforts to reverse the effects these foreclosed properties have on their surrounding neighborhoods,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “We want to make certain that we target these funds to those places with especially high foreclosure activity so we can help turn the tide in our battle against abandonment and blight.”

Winners in the third round of funding were determined by a number of key indicators that match funding to need in the 20 percent most distressed neighborhoods as determined by the number and percentage of home foreclosures, the number and percentage of homes financed by subprime mortgage related loans, and the number and percentage of homes in delinquency. HUD officials also say that housing price declines, increases in unemployment, and neighborhood vacancy problems are also taken into account.

Of the $6 million awarded throughout the Cincinnati region approximately $1.5 million went to Hamilton County, $1.3 million to Butler County, and $3.2 million to the City of Cincinnati.

“This is great news for greater Cincinnati. Our region was hit hard by the foreclosure crisis, and we need to do all we can to help neighborhoods rebuild and recover,” said U.S. Representative Steve Driehaus (D-OH). “The Neighborhood Stabilization Program brings resources into the hardest hit areas, and will make a difference for families and communities as we continue on the path toward recovery.”

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Development News Transportation

Cincinnati officials select Vine Street route for uptown streetcar connection

City officials have announced that Vine Street has been chosen as the path for the Cincinnati Streetcar to reach the uptown area. The decision comes after a comprehensive study was conducted to determine which route would best connect downtown with uptown, while also best managing the steep hillsides there.

“Our direction from city council has always been to ‘connect the dots,’ but to do so in a way that was fiscally responsible,” stated Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney in a prepared release. “The Vine Street route accomplishes that.”

The Vine Street route is estimated to cost $20 million less in capital costs, offer $250,000 in savings annually in operations, pose fewer engineering challenges, and also offer greater options for future expansions than the West Clifton Avenue alternative. According to City officials, Vine Street and West Clifton Avenue stakeholders have been meeting to discuss the alternatives for months, and that the group had been informed of the final decision yesterday.

One of the primary objectives of the study was to determine how to best navigate the steep hillside leading to and from the uptown area. In this case, Vine Street’s maximum 6.7 percent grade scored much better than West Clifton Avenue’s maximum 8.9 percent grade. The project team said that while United Streetcar/Oregon Iron Works, Siemens, Inekon, Kinkisharyo, and Bombardier all could build modern streetcars to handle such grades, the preference was for engineering simplicity.

In addition to the engineering aspects, many streetcar supporters believe the selected route to get uptown will present greater opportunities long-term.

“The Vine Street route will offer the fastest service between Cincinnati’s two largest employment centers,” said Brad Thomas, Founder, CincyStreetcar.com. “The route also presents the greatest opportunity for future expansions including extensions west to Clifton Heights, north to Avondale and Corryville, or east to Walnut Hills.”

To date, the city has secured $114.5 million out of the total $128 million to build the entire first phase running from Cincinnati’s central riverfront to its uptown neighborhoods. The modern streetcar system will be the first of its kind in the Midwest and one of only three like systems in the United States. The first construction is expected to begin fall 2010 with the first passengers riding in early 2013.

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Business Development News

With another Cincinnati blog possibly ending, how do we stop the bleeding?

On Tuesday, the Cincinnati blogosphere learned that it would possibly lose one of its most well-respected and popular blogs. Kevin LeMaster, Editor and Publisher of Building Cincinnati, informed his readership that, “the Building Cincinnati experiment is likely to end,” and that he was almost certain it would end on that same day.

The news is a blow to many Cincinnatians turned to Building Cincinnati for the past several years to get the detailed information the website provided on local development news. LeMaster quickly turned the site into a requisite stop on the daily must-read list as he often covered news that got zero coverage from other blogs and the mainstream media.

Unfortunately, Building Cincinnati’s departure is not unique, and the issues facing local bloggers are often uniform. Many blogs have come and gone, or have dramatically reduced the amount of content they publish. Such prominent sites include CNati, BuyCincy, and Live Green Cincinnati.

The problem is that blogs are not money generators and it can become awfully difficult to continue to put so much time and effort into something that isn’t helping to pay your rent, put food on the table, or provide you health insurance. The problem even exists here with UrbanCincy.

In late June 2009 I accepted a full-time urban planning position with CH2M HILL in Atlanta. Since then I have been living and working full-time in this southern city, but my work has not ceased in Cincinnati. Each week I devote 20 to 30 hours to research, writing, editing, and illustrating approximately eight to ten stories. This is a lot of content by most blog’s standards, and I am able to thank UrbanCincy’s team of writers and photographers that help make it possible. But I would be lying if I were to say that I haven’t thought, on multiple occasions, about shutting the whole thing down.

The secret for UrbanCincy has been the team approach. By working as a team we are able to distribute the workload so that the burden isn’t so great, while also providing a good quantity and quality of work. This however can not possibly work for everyone, so we should be alarmed by the fact that some of the region’s best blogs will continued to be threatened long-term.

As newspapers continue to cut coverage, and/or syndicate work from outside entities like the Associated Press, it is important that blogs persist so that this information can be shared with the public. The popularity of blogs has come as a direct result of these newspaper cuts. First food, then fashion, then business/development, now sports. Without these freelance writers, much of our daily news stream would be made up of crime and local politics, while the rest is left to the imagination. This is unacceptable. If you have any ideas on how to make blogs work, please share them in the comment section. I’m sure UrbanCincy is not the only blog in town that would love to hear them.

In the mean time, consider this an open invitation to join the UrbanCincy team Mr. LeMaster.  We know just how difficult it is to produce the content at the frequency in which you have produced it for Building Cincinnati.  If you want to write, discuss, or do something else just let one of us know.  We would love to have you on-board, but we extend our best wishes towards your future success however that may materialize.

Categories
Business Development News

The Yoga Bar to serve up strong sense of community downtown

The Yoga Bar of Cincinnati
Yogis at the Yoga Bar

Rachel Roberts was tired of traveling, and as a well-known and beloved yoga teacher in the Cincinnati area, she was splitting her time between several different studios, none of which were near her home in downtown Cincinnati. As a result, Cincinnati’s newest yoga studio called The Yoga Bar was born.

“I am committed to a walkable lifestyle, and I wanted all my energy to be in one place,” said Roberts about her previously demanding travel schedule. “I want to give where I live.”

Furthering this commitment to place, Roberts says that Sangha, the Sanskrit word for community, illustrates the desire to connect those living in the downtown area. The idea, she says, is to create a welcoming, non-intimidating activity where people can learn more about each other and grow closer.

“Where else can you learn more about others’ lives than at a bar?,” she asked.

Yes, there is a bar inside to yoga studio located about the newly opened Rice Rocket Asian Grill at 825 Main Street. The space once home to a piano bar and discothèque called Club Crush, had been abandoned for some time. Now that the space has been re-imagined as a yoga studio, patrons are encouraged to come early, stay late, and congregate in the space as they get to know the people with whom they practice as they enjoy items like coconut water and kombucha at the bar.

In addition to the bar offerings and pristine white space for practice, The Yoga Bar will also boast a small retail selection. Roberts expects the space to be such a hit that she plans to offer the studio up on weekends for community members to rent for other activities.

The Yoga Bar (map) will officially open on Friday, October 2, and will be celebrating its grand opening with a Yogini-tini Martini Party as a way to introduce the community to the space. Roberts also says that there will be a ganesha puja brahmin to come and bless the new space before practice gets underway.

Once open, The Yoga Bar will offer daily classes Monday through Friday. Prices will range from $15 per class to $108 for a monthly membership. Those interested can stay connected to grand opening plans and more by following The Yoga Bar on Twitter @TheYogaBar, or by becoming a fan of the studio on Facebook.