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Development News Transportation

Streetscape projects helping transform Fort Thomas business district

The bedroom suburb of Fort Thomas, Kentucky is perhaps best known for its streets of tidy, well-kept houses and its nationally-ranked public schools. Located along a ridge overlooking the Ohio River and downtown Cincinnati, Fort Thomas is an attractive destination for those seeking the relative peace and quiet of a suburban lifestyle, combined with convenient access to downtown Cincinnati along with walkable streets and plenty of historic character.

In recent years, Fort Thomas has become one of several Northern Kentucky cities seeking to enhance its appeal by revitalizing its historic retail district and rediscovering the benefits of pedestrian-scaled, transit-friendly urban development. Fort Thomas’s neighbor to the north, Bellevue, has received recognition for its ongoing historic preservation work, and Bellevue and Covington have both made strides in implementing form-based codes that could ultimately serve as a model for zoning code changes in Cincinnati.

Over the past few years, Fort Thomas has undertaken a number of projects to enhance the city’s role as an attractive community within Cincinnati’s urban core. These projects include new buildings for Highlands Middle School and Woodfill Elementary School, a new amphitheater and bike trails in Tower Park, and the restoration of the city’s iconic 100-foot-tall stone water tower at the entrance to Tower Park. Perhaps most visibly, though, the city of Fort Thomas has recently completed major streetscaping improvements to its primary business district centered around the intersection of Highland and Fort Thomas Avenues and its secondary business district — the so-called Midway district — located adjacent to the site of the former Army post.

Aspects of the two streetscaping projects included burying overhead utility lines, the reconstruction of sidewalks and crosswalks to include brick accents and other decorative elements, the addition of street trees and thoughtful landscaping, installation of pedestrian-scaled light fixtures and signage, as well as the introduction of benches and other outdoor seating. The first phase to be completed was the primary downtown district at Highland Avenue and Fort Thomas Avenue.

Now complete for a couple of years, the trees and plantings in downtown Fort Thomas have begun to nicely mature. Of particular interest is the focus on the former Green Line streetcar, which provided transit access to the Army post and served as a catalyst for much of the subsequent development in the city from the 1890’s through the 1950’s. Fort Thomas is the classic “streetcar suburb”, and today’s TANK bus route through town still carries the Green Line’s old #11 route number.

Following the completion of streetscaping improvements to the downtown district of Fort Thomas, the second phase involved similar improvements to the so-called Midway district, a secondary business district on South Fort Thomas Avenue that grew up adjacent to the former Army post and was named after the carnival midway at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The site of the Army post — originally built to replace the flood-prone Newport Barracks — is now home to Tower Park, a large Veterans Administration nursing home, and an Army reserve center.

The streetscaping improvements recently completed in the Midway district are similar in nature to those performed in downtown Fort Thomas. Included in the Midway improvements were the reconfiguration of the River Road intersection, which now provides a small civic space that can be used for outdoor concerts or a farmer’s market, and the addition of sidewalk seating for neighborhood establishments such as the Olde Fort Pub and the Midway Cafe.

There are still a number of vacant storefronts in the Midway district, but it is hoped that the now-completed streetscaping improvements along with other measures, such as the restoration of long-vacant officers’ housing nearby and marketing efforts by the newly-formed Renaissance District, will see the addition of new retail tenants to the Midway district.

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Business Development News

Community Development Corporations honored for their work, impact in Cincinnati

The Community Development Corporations Association of Greater Cincinnati (CDCAGC) celebrated nine individuals, one area project, and one local community development corporation for their achievements and efforts in revitalizing Cincinnati’s communities last month.

The awards come at a time when CDCs are facing difficult circumstances as they attempt to do more with less in a down economy. From 2009 to 2010, the CDCAGC is funding fewer community development corporations, but is remarkably creating more housing units with approximately $100,000 less in funding. In 2009 local CDCs developed 34 housing units, while in 2010 they are developing 89 housing units with an additional 140 units in pre-development stages.

“When the private market doesn’t function it creates a need for community development corporations,” said Patricia Garry, Executive Director, CDCAGC. “Utilizing the process our CDCs use may take a bit longer upfront, but implementation happens in a second since there is already community support for the project.”

This year’s award winners represent a broad collection of organizations and individuals, and the first year someone from Hamilton County has won the ‘Most Outstanding Government Staff’ award. Also included amongst this year’s winners is Kevin Hughes who was recognized as the ‘Most Outstanding Volunteer’ for his efforts to create a renter equity program. The ability to generate equity as a renter is a new concept that was started in Cincinnati. With the help of the City of Cincinnati and the CDCAGC, Cornerstone Corporation for Shared Equity hopes to double the number of units involved in the program while also spreading the renter equity concept around the nation.

“The renter equity concept is a real game changer because poor residents can build wealth and landlords are able to save a lot of money on maintenance, lower resident turnover, and reliable rent payments,” Garry explained. “Kevin traded his 27th floor view of Great American Ball Park for a ground floor office in Over-the-Rhine with bars on the windows, and is now working as a volunteer to build both Cornerstone and the renter equity concept.”

  • Most Outstanding Director: Andy Hutzel, Over-the-Rhine Community Housing
  • Most Outstanding CDC Staff: Judy Mattingly, Cincinnati Housing Partners; Joe Gorman, Camp Washington Community Board
  • Most Outstanding Volunteer: Kevin Hughes, Cornerstone Corporation for Shared Equity
  • Most Outstanding Lender: Kevin Donovan, Fifth Third Bank; Chris Urti, Fifth Third Bank
  • Most Outstanding Consultant: Chip Williamson, Chameleon Architecture
  • Most Outstanding Government Staff: Susan Walsh, Hamilton County; Karen Alder, City of Cincinnati

Garry also recognized Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank for their leadership with the ‘Most Outstanding Lender’ award which included recognition for two Fifth Third employees instrumental in making project financing and loans possible for local community development corporations.

The ‘Most Outstanding Project’ award went to the Jimmy Heath House in Over-the-Rhine that is creating 25 housing units with on-site services meant to treat the chronically homeless and provide them with permanent supportive housing. The project is also restoring five buildings, in the historic neighborhood, that have long sat vacant on Odeon Street. The ‘Most Outstanding Collaboration’ award went to Cincinnati Northside Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation for its work with the Northside Business Association, Northside Community Council, NorthSide Bank, and active churches in Northside to help revitalize their community.

Categories
Development News Politics Transportation

Reconstructed Fort Washington Way generating variety of societal advances

Each Wednesday in July, UrbanCincy is highlighting Fort Washington Way (FWW), the I-71/US-50 trench bisecting the Cincinnati riverfront from its downtown.  Part one of the series discussed what the area looked like prior to reconstruction a decade ago, and how that reconstruction made way for the development along Cincinnati’s central riverfront.  Last week’s article discussed some of the unseen assets included in the project that continue to benefit Cincinnatians in a variety of ways today.  This week’s piece will highlight even more of the unique features that the 1.25 mile-long highway boasts.

In addition to the combined sewer overflow fix along Cincinnati’s central riverfront through added containment capacity, engineers also increased the capacity for municipal water under Third Street.  This led to an opportunity for the City of Cincinnati to share its high-quality water supply with communities in Northern Kentucky through a new tunnel built underneath the Ohio River.  Those in Kentucky benefit by receiving clean water, and the City of Cincinnati benefits from an increased revenue stream.

On the southern side of the FWW trench is a wall that supports Second Street and conceals the Riverfront Transit Center, but it also serves as the primary flood protection for downtown Cincinnati.  Cincinnati choice to build its flood protection into its everyday infrastructure maximizes utility while also conserving urban space.  Since this wall was engineered to lift Second Street above the floodplain, it effectively extended the street grid south while also maintaining safety.

The benefits discussed so far were not accomplished in isolation.  In fact, the reconstruction project was helped paid for by entities in the state of Kentucky including the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK) who saw better connections with Cincinnati as an economic gain.  The project fixed the entanglement of on- and off-ramps to the bridges over the Ohio River, and has led to a better transfer of people and goods across the state line.

The fact that the Cincinnati area calls so many large and lucrative companies home demonstrates that the city once had the ability to draw major economic players to the region.  The fact that they have stayed demonstrates that the area has done well to keep up with changing business, technological, and infrastructure demands.  One such example of keeping up with changing times can be found buried under Third Street, behind the northern wall of Fort Washington Way, where engineers included the capacity for a bundle of fiber optic cables, approximately three feet in diameter, spanning the length of the roadway.

This dark fiber has the capability to be activated and connected with a larger fiber optic network when needed, ensuring that downtown Cincinnati has the ability to stay at the cutting edge of technology.  Possible uses include connecting large-scale data centers to the Internet backbone, or providing high-speed fiber-to-the-home Internet access for Cincinnatians, such as Cincinnati Bell’s FiOptics or Google’s Fiber for Communities.

Next Wednesday’s article will conclude the series, and look to the future of the area.  What can be done with the space over the FWW trench in terms of the capping?  How will future development be impacted?  And, ultimately, will the reconstruction of Fort Washington Way reestablish the strong ties that once existed between Cincinnati and its riverfront?

Categories
Development News

$14.4M Red Cross headquarters poised for LEED-Gold certification

When the Cincinnati Region of the American Red Cross celebrated the opening of a new $14.4 million Disaster Operations Center in Evanston last month, local leaders and community members were celebrating much more than new and improved facility, they were celebrating a new and improved facility that focuses on sustainability.

Designed by Cincinnati-based emersionDESIGN, the new 45,000 square-foot facility includes a variety of sustainable features like low-flow water fixtures that reduce water consumption by 40 percent, high-efficiency glazing and well-insulated wall cavities, bike racks and showers to promote eco-friendly transportation, sensor lighting and controls to reduce energy use. Outside the structure developer Neyer Properties included bioswale and rain garden systems to decrease impact on the storm water system, use of native landscaping to reduce irrigation, LED parking lot lights, an energy recovery ventilation, and a green roof.

In addition to the building features, the development team used more than 30 percent recycled material on the project, 40 percent regional materials, used woods certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, and recycled over 75 percent of construction debris from the site. The team expects to hear back on their Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) application by the end of 2010, but it is widely expected that the structure will achieve LEED-Gold certification.

“As the design developed, it became apparent to us that we could move up in LEED rankings,” said Charlie Pond, Building Development Director, Neyer Properties. “It was a joint goal between Neyer Properties and the Red Cross to create a sustainable building, and we were emphatic about being environmentally friendly.”

The green roof incorporated into the building’s design covers approximately 25 percent of the total roof area. The sedum plants covering the roof area minimize the need for heating and air conditioning by reducing the amount of heat the building absorbs in summer and conserving building heat in winter.

Officials with the Red Cross believe the structure has approximately a 50-year lifespan for their purposes. The sustainable design features, meanwhile, are expected to have less than a five-year payback period through annual energy savings of 30 to 35 percent, meaning big savings for the non-profit.

“It’s great to work with emersion because of their large number of LEED Accredited Professionals. They are very familiar with green projects and they have similar goals as us,” Pond concluded. “We feel that developing sustainable projects the right thing to do, and we want to get Cincinnati caught up-to-speed on the green building movement.”

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Arts & Entertainment Business News

TEDxCincy to highlight city’s diversity and ideas

In 1984, Richard Saul Wurman collected intellectuals from the fields of Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) to discuss their life’s work and new ideas.  Now in 2010, the TED conference has grown to four sold-out yearly conferences, and is now coming to Cincinnati as an independently organized TED event.

The mantra of TED is “ideas worth spreading,” through riveting talks given by remarkable people that are accessible to the world.  Since 2007, the speakers at these conferences have been recorded and available free to listen and watch as podcasts on the Internet.  For the last several months, David Volker, Michael Bergman, Emily Venter and their colleagues at LPK met for “Breakfast and TED” – getting a start on the day by nourishing their creative spirit through learning about topics they were not necessarily familiar with.

“Being in design, branding, and marketing… it’s really great to get perspective in non-related fields,” Volker explained.

The three learned that TED was expanding its reach by allowing independent organizers to collaborate in different cities, and they knew they wanted to bring the experience to Cincinnati.  So they, along with colleague Mary Riffe from Procter & Gamble, reached out to their employers to obtain backing and support on this new endeavor.  “P&G and LPK were very excited about the opportunity. We had their complete support,” said Ms. Venter.

The first TEDxCincy event will take place on October 7, 2010, and will feature a day-long conference with 21-25 speakers covering four different themes which are yet to be released.  Organizers expect the speakers to consist of an incredibly diverse collection of people with passionate and engaging stories, all of whom are connected to Cincinnati and the region in some way.  The conference will also feature entertainment as well as a selected number of podcasts played from the original TED conference.

Compared to initiatives such as Ignite Cincinnati and Pecha Kucha, which have swept the region within the last year, there are distinct differences between the events, but that is not necessarily a bad thing according to those involved.

“This [TEDxCincy] is more structured – the speakers will have between three and eighteen minutes to speak, instead of a rigid six minute presentation,” Michael Bergman explained. “The speakers’ passions will come through – for example, if they’re a musician who’s been practicing for years and years. Their history, research and learning experience will be very apparent.”

With over 150 people nominated to speak at the event already, it has been a difficult task to narrow down the list.  Venter says that the final list of speakers will not be released until a later date, but feels that the group of individuals selected will be a unique group that you will not be able to go anywhere else and hear what they have to say.

“I think we all agree that we’re a little too humble in this city.  There’s some great, great things happening here, and we are too nice to brag about them once in a while,” concluded Volker.  “From global and national perspective, we hope it sheds very positive light on Cincinnati, and shows some of the amazing people that are here.  If people can go to this and learn and hear all the stuff that goes in and go back and bring it into their daily lives, I think it’s only going to make this city a better place, and frankly, more appealing to people who might want to move here or relocate their companies here.”

TEDxCincy will take place Thursday, October 7, 2010 at Procter & Gamble Hall in the Aronoff Center (map) in downtown Cincinnati.  Those interested in attending TEDxCincy are asked to register in advance online.  Those interested in volunteering, submitting a speaker idea, or sponsoring TEDxCincy can do so on the event’s website.  Stay connected by following @TEDxCincy on Twitter, or by becoming a fan on Facebook.  Specific event details are expected in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.