Tag: developments

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News Opinion

Is Cincinnati in the midst of a contemporary golden age?

Cincinnati is a city that lacks significant amounts of either in- or out-migration. This results in a relatively stable population base, and relatively predictable social trends. What it also means is that people often linger on the “good” or “bad” times they remember most.

The Cincinnati of today is one notably different from the Cincinnati of the past 20 years, however, many Baby Boomers reminisce about the golden years of downtown – that is the time when new office towers were being constructed and both the Reds and Bengals were winning.

Between 1970 and 1990, downtown saw the construction of 29 new buildings with at least ten floors. During the same time, the Reds won three World Series championships and the Bengals went to two Super Bowls. One could argue that these were the most recent boom times in Cincinnati history and, as a result, those that experienced the time period first-hand have written a narrative that it was a high point followed by precipitous decline.


2012 Reds Opening Day outside of Great American Ball Park. Photograph courtesy of The Banks.

This narrative was mostly true until the past half-decade. Cincinnati’s 21st century got off to a tumultuous start, but has otherwise been defined by success throughout the urban core. New hotels, office towers, residential midrises, nightlife, and shops have sprung up all throughout the Central Business District, and Over-the-Rhine is in the midst of one of the most dramatic urban transformations in American history.

At the same time, non-urban enthusiasts have been reinvigorated by the success of the Reds and Bengals on the field which has been now joined by the emergence of the University of Cincinnati as a major division one athletics program.

The combination of these two seemingly non-connected movements was perhaps most evident on Reds Opening Day this past Thursday. It was estimated that the largest crowd in history – 100,000 – gathered for the93-year-old Findlay Market Opening Day Parade. Many of those baseball revelers then conveyed at The Banks for what turned into a massive block party outside Great American Ball Park where a record crowd gathered to watch the Reds beat the Marlins on day one of the 2012 season.

Several new office towers, residential midrises and hotels are scheduled to be built in the coming years. This is in addition to the ongoing work on the Cincinnati Streetcar, Horseshoe Casino, Smale Riverfront Park, 21c Museum Hotel, and continued transformations in historic Over-the-Rhine.

All of this bodes well for continued success throughout the rest of the decade. And while it may still be early, Cincinnati’s Gen Xers and Millennials may eventually look back on the time between 2005 and 2025 as the golden years for their generation in the Queen City. The Baby Boomers established Cincinnati’s center city as an economic powerhouse regionally, and it appears that their children are positioning Cincinnati to be a diverse, resilient city for generations to come.

The city’s back. Back the city.

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Business Development News Transportation

Cincinnati Mayor Mallory heralded as national leader in smart growth movement

Smart Growth America recently produced a series of video interviews with mayors from around the United States. The series, officials say, is intended to highlight prominent elected officials that are taking on leadership roles in promoting smart growth.

The first of those videos features Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory. In the video, Mayor Mallory discusses the need to invest in urban centers and make smart infrastructure investments that will trigger job creation and community development.

Specifically, Mayor Mallory touts the recent completion of phase one work at The Banks and ongoing revitalization success in Over-the-Rhine. The approach being taken by Cincinnati is one that intrigued officials at Smart Growth America.

“Thinking about land-use, transportation, housing, environmental, economic development and city planning, and redevelopment projects holistically can be challenging,” Thomas Madrecki from Smart Growth America told UrbanCincy. “But the rewards are that much higher, because when executed successfully, all of those pieces of the puzzle are working together.”

Madrecki says that once that initial buy-in is achieved at a local level, support for smart growth projects like the Cincinnati Streetcar becomes a better reality. Accomplishing that initial task, however, does not necessarily mean that funding and regulatory issues will not also pose problems.

“In a place like Cincinnati, I think that’s very obvious, where you have something like the streetcar take longer to get off the ground because of withdrawn funding promises,” said Madrecki. “Smart growth strategies often require upfront investments that will engender future economic gains while saving the city money on infrastructure and utility costs, but it takes money and the political will to deal with setbacks and opposition.”

Madrecki continued by saying that Mayor Mallory has shown the latter quality in spades, and has quickly become a national leader in the smart growth movement.

As Cincinnati moves forward with additional phases of development at The Banks, and additional renovation work in historic Over-the-Rhine, smart growth champions believe that even additional investment will be needed in Cincinnati’s urban core to help those respective neighborhoods reach their full potential.

One of the greatest challenges going forward for a Midwestern city like Cincinnati will be maintaining the momentum built by Mayor Mallory’s steadfast approach.

“Everyone likes to talk about the ‘next thing,’ but there has to be an element of seeing things to fruition and making sure they fully develop. When that happens and people see the economic and community payoffs, I think it will set a precedent and make future endeavors more likely to succeed right away.”

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Business Development News Opinion

Downtown Cincinnati poised for surge of residential conversions

Developers are in the process of transforming the 85-year-old Federal Reserve Tower at Fourth and Race into 88 apartments after serving as an office structure for its entire life. The process is one being undertaken in old cities all across the United States – transforming old office buildings into unique residences.

In addition to the Federal Reserve Tower, the 86-year-old Enquirer Building on Vine Street has also had an apartment conversion planned. In the wake of the opening of the Great American Tower at Queen City Square, there appears to be many more candidates ripe for such conversion.


The Federal Reserve Tower [LEFT] is currently being transformed into 88 apartments, while the Enquirer Building [RIGHT] awaits new financing. Photographs by Thadd Fiala for UrbanCincy.

“Residential is a great use for older buildings as opposed to office uses,” said David Ginsburg, President and CEO of Downtown Cincinnati Inc. (DCI). “Older buildings provide a sense of place, history and elegance, and they lend themselves to mixed uses with retail on the first floor.”

In addition to the romantic appeal, Ginsburg also says that the economics make a lot of sense with apartment occupancy rates consistently above 90 percent, and some cases of waiting lists throughout the Central Business District, Over-the-Rhine and at The Banks.

Additional housing downtown, community leaders say, is important because those residents are customers for the restaurants and retail stores outside of normal office hours. Ginsburg adds that those city dwellers also provide a level of density that helps promote the perception and reality of a safe urban core.

According to DCI officials, developers have expressed interest in converting additional historic office towers into residences, but declined to comment as to which structures or which developers are expressing interest.


The historic Tri-State Building [LEFT] and Bartlett Building [RIGHT] sit underutilized and offer large amounts of potential residential space in the heart of the CBD. Photographs by Thadd Fiala for UrbanCincy.

In October 2010, UrbanCincy identified two historic office towers, in addition to the Enquirer Building and Federal Reserve Tower, which appear to be perfect candidates to be transformed into residential apartments.

1. Tri-State Building (Fifth & Walnut); 109 years old
2. Bartlett Building (Fourth & Walnut); 111 years old

Ginsburg concluded by stating that living downtown is the sustainable choice for the more than 12,000 current residents, and any future people considering the area for their next home.

“Given the high cost of gasoline, the density of downtown is helpful,” Ginsburg concluded. “Trips are shorter and walking and bicycling become more prevalent. As public transportation evolves, there will be less need for cars, especially multi-car households, which will help the economy and the ecology.”

Categories
Business Development News

Smale Riverfront Park to feature 1,000-foot boat dock

Smale Riverfront Park project manager Dave Prather has delivered yet another video update in what has become a fairly popular video series. This update goes inside the Moerlein Lager House which has now been opened for roughly two weeks, and highlights the progress of work on the water’s edge.

Prather says that the grand opening for the Smale Riverfront Park will take place on May 18, 2012, and at that time will have virtually all construction work on the massive project’s first phase complete. He says that solar panels on the Schmidlapp Event Lawn’s stage will be installed next week, and that the first event will be held there on St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

The 11:43 video also showed where historical markers and the location of home plate existed at Riverfront Stadium will be installed in the coming months.

Visual progress is evident on the park’s second geothermal well which will produce 400 gallons of 57-degree water per minute. Progress is also noticeable on the foundation for the labyrinth and Black Brigade Monument.

Prather also said that the most complicated piece of construction left is the work on the Main Street Fountain, and that there are approximately 30 to 40 construction workers on site each day taking advantage of the favorable weather conditions lately.

Perhaps the two most exiting pieces of information from the video came at the end when Prather described the 1,000-foot boat dock that will eventually be in place and the approximately 300 trees that will be planted within the next month-and-a-half.

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Arts & Entertainment Business Development News

Silver Ladle offers fresh fast casual with local twist

Silver Ladle exterior

Sixth Street’s Restaurant Row will soon have another eatery open to hungry downtowners. On March 17 the Silver Ladle will open its doors to the public, offering a variety of healthy, fast-casual food with friendly service and a fair price.

The Ladle serves up burgers, sandwiches, chili, soups and salads oriented for a variety of palates. Gluten-free, heart-healthy and veggie options are detailed on the menu.

The space itself, located next to Mr. Sushi in the 580 Building, is clean and bright without feeling sanitized or fluorescent. Modern light fixtures and blond laminate tabletops make for a pleasant experience. The kitchen is open-air and it is easy to see the crew prepping meals.


Exterior of Silver Ladle photograph by Jenny Kessler for UrbanCincy.

UrbanCincy took the opportunity to sample two offerings on the menu: Italian Wedding Soup and the Stuffed Mushroom Burger. The soup was full of mini meatballs and noodles, satisfyingly salty and pretty delicious. For those who might be trying to relive Stuffed on Vine’s glorious filled burgers, steel yourselves for a letdown. The burger is good, but not the same.

The burger is a step up from fast food restaurants but still prepared in a similar manner. The ‘stuffing’ is a welcome layer of bacon and chive cheese spread between two patties, which adds a much appreciated flavor and fat to the sandwich. The honey Kaiser roll the burger is served on is positively fantastic- buttered and griddled, it contains the fillings nicely. There are a variety of burgers to choose from if mushrooms aren’t your thing, and there are other sandwiches including a delicious looking muffuletta. Be aware, it costs extra to add sides to your meal, but the fries are worth it.


Silver Ladle Burger photograph by Jenny Kessler for UrbanCincy.

The most interesting portion of the menu is the chili – no surprise, coming from the Lambrindes lineage of Cincinnati chili parlors. Pick between several bases – burrito, fries, greens, spaghetti and coney- pick your chili – beef or chicken, both spiced Cincinnati style. Top it off with cheddar cheese, onions, jalapeños, black bean soup or sour cream. Vegetarians could forgo the meat and top with black beans instead. We’ll let the experts review the coneys, but others eating said the taste was very similar to Skyline.

One of the owners, Tim Lambrindes, is ecstatic to have his first restaurant open in downtown Cincinnati. “I’m from the Bridgetown area originally, and when we wanted to open this restaurant, we looked in West Chester and other suburban areas,” he explained.

“I worked with CJ Judge when trying to decide on a location, and he said, you gotta check out the downtown market. Being from Western Hills, I didn’t know a lot about downtown. All of my thoughts were completely false – as soon as I came down and started studying the people coming in during the day – and even at night, in this area – I loved it.”

The biggest draw for Lambrindes with the downtown location was the built-in clientele. “My customers don’t have to commute by car to my restaurant,” he said. “So many people live and work down here, that even at night, they can just walk up and here we are.”

If you are looking for a meal downtown that won’t bust your wallet or your waistline, check this out. The Silver Ladle is open from 10am to 9:30 pm every day, and will open to the public on March 17.

Silver Ladle (Opening in March) on Urbanspoon