Tag: downtown

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News

Bacchanalian Society Wine Contest

On September 18th, the Bacchanalian Society is bringing their quarterly “wine contest” to Fountain Square. Not to be confused with a wine tasting, this contest is a great social experience. The idea is based around the “Rule of Three.” Essentially you form teams, of up to three people, and bring three bottles of wine. You submit two of those bottles for the contest. During the contest everyone tastes the wines and rates them. The teams whose wines receive the most votes wins.

What do they win…well wine of course. Remember how only 2 of the 3 bottles of wine were used for the contest? Well the remaining bottles are then split up and awarded to the Top 5 teams. The contest is a great social networking opportunity and offers a really fun way to help raise money for a good cause.

The quarterly get togethers are a fundraising tool for non-profits. In the past the Society has helped organizations such as the CAC, Enjoy the Arts, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Cincinnati to name a few. This quarter’s money will go to the Fountain Square Management Group, which will then use the money to operate/program the Square.

Jim Murphy, President of Bacchanalian Society, described how this has grown from three local Cincinnatians to a small group of friends to now thousands of Cincinnatians taking part in the quarterly contests. There are also two additional chapters that have popped up in Denver and Nashville.

Murphy said that it has always been a dream of the Society to have one of their events on Fountain Square. He went on to say, “I’m ecstatic to be able to hold one of the preeminent social networking events in Cincinnati, on Fountain Square.” The September 18th event, on Fountain Square, is expected to be the biggest event for the Society as of yet. Some 1,200-1,300 people are expected to come out and enjoy the different wines.

The event starts at 7pm with glasses being distributed around 7:30pm. The winners will be announced around 9:30pm or so and then it will be on to the after party at BlackFinn (who is also providing food at FS).

Pre-Register for the event here

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Arts & Entertainment News

This Weekend: Brew HA-HA

This weekend promises to be filled with plenty of great things to do throughout the city. The Cincinnati USA Brew Ha-Ha will be taking place Friday and Saturday night at Sawyer Point from 5pm to midnight on Friday and 4pm to midnight Saturday night. Brew Ha-Ha is a one-of-a-kind event that brings together great comedic acts and a wide variety of beers to sample.

There will be 50 comedians including Pauley Shore, Adam Hunter and Pat Goodwin, and over 70 beers to sample and taste. One of the best parts about this event is that portion of the event’s proceeds will be donated to the Over-the-Rhine Foundation.

Entry: FREE
Wristband:$5
Tickets are $1 each
Beer sample: 1 ticket
Beer full serving: 4 tickets

View the entire list of comedians and time slots HERE!

View the entire list of beers and stand numbers HERE!

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News

Historic Enquirer Building to See New Life

The historic art deco style Enquirer Building, built in 1926, has seen better days. What used to be home to Cincinnati’s daily newspaper until the 1980’s, is now a class “C” office building with an abysmal 16% occupancy rate.

With nearly three decades of hard times, the “Grand Lady of Vine Street” is ready for her makeover. In May 2007, Middle Earth Developers (MED) purchased the building with plans to renovate and develop the historic structure into a mixed-use building consisting of apartments, office and retail space, and parking. Thanks to some historic tax credits and private financing the $37,399,000 project is now ready to move forward, with a projected completion date of Mid-2009 (office) and May 2010 (apartments).

Retail space will remain at street-level, 53,400 sf of office space will take up floors 2-3, and 152 apartments will take up floors 4-14. 170 parking spaces will also be made available by retrofitting the basement mezzanine levels (previously held 10-ton printing presses) into a 3-level private parking garage.

Glenn Kukla, partner of MED, says that there will be a mix of studio, 1br, 1br/1 den, and 2br apartment units. These units will boast features such as free/dedicated wi-fi access, stainless steel appliances, washer/dryer hookups, hardwood/polished concrete floors, lofted kitchen and bathroom areas, and private parking.

While the project has lots of amenities, Kukla states, “the biggest amenity by far is that the building is a half-block away from the newly renovated Fountain Square.” The building will also be modified to include a new rooftop deck, clubhouse and fitness facility next to the rooftop deck, public conference room and business center, and coin operated laundry/vending facilities.

All images provided by Middle Earth Developers
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News

Over-the-Rhine Revisited: Designing Infill for Historic Districts

On Thursday, September 4th, the Mercantile Library will be hosting an informative session regarding Over-the-Rhine and the challenges facing new development in the historic neighborhood. Over-the-Rhine Revisited: Designing Infill for Historic Districts will be held at 5:30pm at the Mercantile Library (GoogleMap).

The session is a continuation of discussion that started at the January 2008 charrette and is being hosted by AIA Cincinnati, Architecture Foundation of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Preservation Association, Mercantile Library, and the Over-the-Rhine Foundation.

Light refreshments will be served , but reservations are required. The session costs $8 for members and $10 for non-members. You can make reservations by either calling 513.621.0717 or by emailing mercantileinfo@mercantilelibrary.com.



Images from Architecture Foundation of Cincinnati – http://www.architecturecincy.org/Programs/charrette.html

Categories
News

$3.5 BILLION

That is roughly the valuation of current and proposed construction projects in Cincinnati’s urban core (Downtown, OTR, parts of Nky’s riverfront, Mt. Adams, parts of Uptown). The area is roughly 6 square miles that includes hilly terrain, a mighty river and is the heart of a 2+ million person metropolitan area. That averages out to roughly $574-million worth of investment per square mile.

Projects highlighting this list are The Banks, Cincinnati Riverfront Park, Queen City Square, SouthShore, Ovation, and the Cincinnati Streetcar. In addition to those big projects, the list is filled out by a potpourri of rehab and infill projects that would tickle the fancy of any urbanite.

While you simply can not project development valuations as a signal of a city’s success or failure, it is hard not to be impressed by the shear amount of activity going on now and in the coming months/years. It is not often that a Midwestern city sees this kind of activity, and it isn’t something Cincinnati has seen happen in many decades.

+++ SEE FULL LIST HERE +++
*Note that this list does not include projects going on in the East End, West End, Dayton, or Bellevue.

+++ SEE RENDERINGS FOR MANY OF THE PROJECTS HERE +++