Believe it or not, Rookwood Commons and Kenwood Towne Centre once were in a heated battle over which shopping destination would become the region’s premier stop. Due to a number of factors, including a messy eminent domain case that prohibited Rookwood from expanding, Kenwood has taken firm control of that title. Rookwood hasn’t died, however, and it may be looking to become a destination for unique retailers entering urban markets. More from the Business Courier:
The Nike factory store now under development at Rookwood Pavilion is part of a larger plan to reposition the 20-year-old retail center as something you’ve probably never heard of: an urban infill outlet. The architect of that strategy, Mark Fallon, says outlet retailers pay higher rents, attract fashion-conscious shoppers and are looking to expand into urban areas.
“This opens us up to 200 quality tenants in the future,” said Fallon, vice president at Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate Inc., which handles leasing for the 257,000-square-foot Rookwood Pavilion in Norwood. “It offers (outlet tenants) an urban infill location, as opposed to being out in the hinterlands.”
Seven Cincinnati-area developments have been awarded nearly $9 million in tax credits from the Ohio Development Services Agency (ODSA) through the state’s historic preservation program.
Six of the seven area projects are located within the City of Cincinnati, and one is located in downtown Hamilton. The Cincinnati-area projects took home nearly 25 percent of the total $35.9 million distributed in the program’s ninth round of funding, and will create more than 130 new housing units and tens of thousands of square feet of commercial space once completed.
“The Historic Preservation Tax Credit puts empty buildings back into the economic cycle, creating jobs through construction activities and reoccupation of the buildings,” Christiane Schmenk, director of the ODSA, stated in a prepared release. “This program saves some of the state’s most significant historic structures.”
Eden Park’s 118-year-old pump station may soon see new life as a micro-brewery thanks to a $1 million tax credit from the State of Ohio. Rendering provided.
According to state officials, projects receiving funding must complete the rehabilitation work in accordance with the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation before the credits are issued to the building owner or long-term tenant.
“Without it [Ohio Historic Tax Credit] we would be unable to preserve the historic character of as many buildings as we have,” Anastasia Mileham, 3CDC’s vice president of communications, told UrbanCincy. “The cost to restore and develop them costs more than the what you can sell the condos for and lease the commercial space for. Historic tax credits help fill that gap and make the math work.”
In Mt. Adams, the Cincinnati Beer Company was awarded $1 million for its $5.2 million project that will transform Eden Park’s 118-year-old pump station into a brewery and tap room. Nearby, the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation and The Model Group were awarded $1.8 million to renovate three historic structures into 30 market-rate housing units and approximately 7,000 square feet of street-level commercial space.
According to ODSA, this round of funding will assist in the rehabilitation of 45 historic buildings throughout the state, and leverage more than $252 million in private investments.
Color Building photograph by Randy Simes for UrbanCincy.
It’s not even close to being one of the biggest corporate relocations in town, but for Over-the-Rhine it could be a game-changer.
Core Resources Inc., a fast-growing Anderson Township construction management and development company, is pulling up its suburban stakes and moving 31 employees to the Color Building at 14th and Vine streets. It’s goodbye to four-minute commutes, hello inner city.
Core joins many other, generally smaller, businesses that are migrating back to Over-the-Rhine. Two law firms, Keating Muething & Klekamp and Barron Peck Bennie & Schlemmer, have opened satellite offices this year. Other recent arrivals include Four Entertainment Group, the operator of Keystone Bar & Grill and other urban eateries, which just moved from Mount Adams; Northpointe Group, a real estate development company; and the Brandery and other startup-related ventures.
“There’s a demand that didn’t exist before,” said Bobby Maly, chief operating officer of Model Group, a residential developer that considered moving its headquarters to the Color Building from Walnut Hills. “I think you’re going to see an increase in commercial activity over the next five to 10 years.”
If other businesses follow Core’s lead, it could mean that Over-the-Rhine’s decade or so revitalization is entering a whole new phase.
Nobody seems to keep count, but Core looks to be the largest for-profit business to move into Over-the-Rhine within recent memory. Many businesses are attracted by nearby clients, including Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC), but for decades almost any movement by private business was in the other direction – out.
Barron Peck moved into a rented storefront on Vine Street in September, just a few doors down from Core’s soon-to-be new headquarters.
“We just wanted to be closer to all the action,” said lawyer Jonathan Bennie, whose main office is in Oakley. “We’ve managed to develop a lot of new relationships that hopefully will last a long time. It’s been a worthwhile investment so far, and we suspect it’s just going to get better.”
Businesses are definitely part of OTR’s master plan, and there are many buildings suitable for larger commercial users, said 3CDC spokeswoman Anastasia Mileham.
“We don’t necessarily have any in the pipeline at the moment, but it makes sense. It’s certainly going in that direction,” she said. “The plan is that it will be a true mixed-use neighborhood.”
‘Certainly gratifying’
Scott Stiles, the city of Cincinnati’s assistant city manager, said Core’s CEO Paul Kitzmiller approached him months ago, and he assured Kitzmiller the city would work with him.
“It’s important that a company like his is willing to look at Over-the-Rhine. Hopefully that validates some of the investment we’ve made down there. It’s certainly gratifying,” Stiles said.
Core is getting a tax break from the city – an investment reimbursement based on 55 percent of the earnings taxes paid by its employees for five years. It’s worth an estimated $114,000, still to be approved by City Council.
Not that Core Resources is venturing into unknown territory. It has worked on many downtown restaurant projects, and for the past year it’s been renovating the Color Building for 3CDC, now its landlord.
“The more we got involved with the project and got to know this building, we saw how special it was,” said Kitzmiller, who is co-owner of Core with his brother Dave Kitzmiller, its chief operating and financial officer.
“A company like ours coming to Over-the-Rhine validates what 3CDC has been trying to do – that it’s OK to be in Over-the-Rhine,” Paul Kitzmiller said. “We also felt the move would enhance our relationship with 3CDC.”
Cincinnati’s efforts to transform its center city are being noticed nationally, and the recent sale of Tower Place Mall is just the latest action made by the City that is turning heads elsewhere. The question now is will Cincinnati hit another home run with Tower Place Mall as it has with Fountain Square, Washington Park, The Banks, Smale Riverfront Park, and Fort Washington Way? More from Bloomberg Businessweek:
The city has pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into a major transformation that’s still under way. It began in 2006 with the reopening of downtown’s central Fountain Square after a $49 million renovation. Developers have spent more than $600 million on new apartments, restaurants and a park in the half-mile space between the Bengals and Reds stadiums. A $322 million, 41-story office tower that’s now the city’s tallest opened last year. And on Monday, a 156-room boutique hotel had its grand opening following a $51 million renovation.
Also in the works is a streetcar connecting several popular downtown-area spots slated to open in 2015 and a $400 million downtown casino set to open in the spring. In the nearby Over-the-Rhine historic district, dozens of shabby but beautiful buildings have been transformed into bars and restaurants popular among yuppies and hipsters, and a once crime-prone park underwent a $48 million overhaul to become one of the city’s favorite spots for concerts, outdoor movie viewings and flea markets.
As those projects thrive, popular retailers like Banana Republic, Victoria’s Secret and Chic-fil-a fled from Tower Place mall, which sits in the heart of it all. Just a handful of businesses still operate at Tower Place, and foot traffic is low even during the holidays.
The multi-modal Atlanta BeltLine project is spurring new investment throughout inner-city neighborhoods that had long been forgotten in the southeastern city. What lessons might Cincinnati be able to learn from Atlanta’s experience as it looks to repurpose its unused railway corridors? More from the Washington Post:
Since a new urban trail opened last month in an old rail corridor in Atlanta, it has drawn a steady stream of joggers, dog-walkers and cyclists to take in spectacular views of the skyline and neighborhoods once seen only by train. Hundreds of trees have been planted along the paved 14-foot-wide path, while artists have added works such as windmills made of bicycle parts and colorful murals on concrete overpasses.
The path, known as the Eastside Trail, is part of a $2.8 billion plan to transform a 22-mile railroad corridor that encircles Atlanta into a network of trails, parks, affordable homes and ultimately streetcar lines. The Atlanta BeltLine is an example of rails-to-trails projects going on around the country, including in New York and Chicago, that aim to make better use of old rail corridors by creating better-connected and more livable urban areas, providing alternatives to car travel and spurring economic development.
