There had been hopes to build the region’s first cycle track, a fully separated bicycle facility, on Central Parkway in 2012. Internal disputes and the lack of funding, however, have delayed the project’s implementation.
The Department of Transportation & Engineering (DOTE) gave City Council’s Major Transportation and Infrastructure Projects Subcommittee an update on the project, in addition to the other bicycle investments being advanced, last week.
At that meeting, Mel McVay, Senior City Planner with the DOTE, stated that the Central Parkway cycle track efforts were in the preliminary investigation stage, but that there could be some challenges regarding the facility’s relationship to vehicular capacity and on-street parking along the 3.4-mile stretch of roadway.
The hope now, McVay says, is to finish the preliminary analysis within the next month. Should that analysis show it feasible to finance and construct the Central Parkway cycle track, then design work would begin immediately.
The City’s Bicycle Transportation Program has installed nearly 40 miles of bicycle facilities to-date, with an additional 289.9 miles planned in a citywide bicycle network.
Just 49 days after Zipcar announced that it would expand its services in Cincinnati, the car-sharing company announced that it had struck a deal to be purchased for $491.2 million by Avis.
The move by Avis, into the car-sharing sector, follows those of Enterprise and Hertz, and is seen as a critical evolutionary step for the traditional car rental company.
As the nation’s largest car-sharing company with more than 760,000 members, Zipcar offers its customers a way to move about urban environments without needing to own a car. Their slogan – “Wheels when you need them” – has increasingly hit home with young people that have been migrating back towards urban centers and ditching their cars.
A Zipcar on 12th Street in between Vine and Race Streets. Photograph by Randy Simes for UrbanCincy.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), overall vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) have reached their lowest levels since 2003, and that per capita VMT to levels not seen since 1998.
Furthermore, the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute has found that teenagers are delaying the pursuit of getting their driver’s license with just 31 percent of 16-year-olds getting their driver’s license in 2008.
“By combining with Zipcar, we will significantly increase our growth potential, both in the United States and internationally, and will position our company to better serve a greater variety of consumer and commercial transportation needs,” said Ronald L. Nelson, Avis Budget Group chairman and chief executive officer. “We see car sharing as highly complementary to traditional car rental, with rapid growth potential and representing a scalable opportunity for us as a combined company.”
While car-sharing continues to see explosive growth locally and nationally, now estimated to be a $400 million industry, it is yet to be seen what the merger will mean to car-sharing customers wary of getting behind the wheel of a “traditional” car rental company.
Wrote Adam Richardson in the Harvard Business Review, “Any time an incumbent acquires a disruptor there are challenges, and in this case, they stem from the very core of Zipcar’s existence: how it has created a sense of community with its customers and how it has used technology to create a scalable user experience that its customers love.”
Naturally, Zipcar leadership expects bright days ahead with more cars at more locations, new service offerings, and similar levels of service.
“This is a major win for Zipsters around the world,” Zipcar management wrote in an e-mail distributed to its customers. “With the global footprint, backing, and talented leadership of Avis, we’re going to step on the gas.”
Car-sharing has been available in Cincinnati since 2011. Rates start at $8.50 per hour, and 11 cars are available at five different locations in the Central Business District, Over-the-Rhine, Clifton Heights and Corryville.
Could the Bartlett Building be transformed into something completely different? Photograph by Thadd Fiala for UrbanCincy.
Throughout the United States there are cities that have large vacant buildings and spaces in their central business district that could be utilized in a new efficient way.
In Cincinnati, the old School for the Creative & Performing Arts was recently auctioned off and is slated to be turned into apartments. In the CBD the Bartlett Building, Tower Place Mall, and Terrace Plaza Hotel remain empty or nearly empty and take up about one-fourth of a city block each.
Some think these buildings could be prime residential properties, but they could be that and more. A large vacant building, for example, could be developed into a mixed use community center.
My inspiration actually came from the Up To Speed story on UrbanCincy about a rock climbing gym in St. Louis. I thought to myself that Cincinnati can have something similar and better. Downtown Cincinnati and OTR/Pendleton are becoming destinations for young adults and families for both restaurants and bars.
Turning a large vacant building into a destination point for physical and social activity would add a whole new dimension to the city. The following ideas are what could go collectively into a large empty building:
Rock Climbing Gym – With the exception of the UC recreation center, all of the rock climbing centers are on the outer edge of the city.
Paintball Arena – This would be an extremely unique idea for the area as there are minimal indoor paintball facilities and could be a draw for different work or teambuilding groups.
Exercise Gym/Running Track – The gyms downtown are mostly old and do not offer enough space or have odd floor plans. Renovating a vacant building would allow plenty of space with tall ceilings and large windows that could allow natural light and have a large open space for exercise equipment. A downtown gym with enough space can offer a full menu of classes including Crossfit, spinning, yoga and Zumba, to bring in a broad range of people looking to exercise. A running track a fraction of the size of an outdoor track could be installed for those that do not like treadmill, but want to run indoors.
Basketball Court/Indoor Soccer – Large office buildings could utilize a few stories to carve out a basketball/indoor soccer surface and hold leagues and practices for area schools and AAU teams.
Batting Cages/Pitching Tunnels – The basement of a building could be an ideal area for batting cages and pitching tunnels for baseball and softball practice during the cold months. These cages and tunnels are easily moved and can be repositioned to make room for more activities inside the building.
Golf Simulators/Nets/Putting Green – This would be another unique addition to an urban area with little green space for golf. Workers could play a quick round during their lunch break or warm up before they go out to one of Cincinnati or Hamilton County’s public courses. This would also allow for urban dwellers a space they could walk to for golf lessons.
Offices – With additional amenities a building would become more attractive to businesses.
Apartments – To make the building a true mixed use development, apartments could be added as this would be a true “luxury apartment” with a real gym (unlike those found at too many apartment complexes that only have a treadmill and Bowflex and call it a gym) and the ability to walk to some of the most popular dining destinations in the city.
The options of what to include in these large, empty spaces are endless, but a truly mixed use development would be better suited for the community than simply offices, apartments, and art studio space. The gyms downtown are old and do not offer enough space, or have odd floor plans. Rock climbing and paintball would draw younger crowds, and the students in the area could benefit from having additional practice facilities.
A neighborhood needs young families as well as young professionals. This would be a good start to try and draw them to the core and keep them there.
Brian Valerio grew up in Cincinnati’s College Hill neighborhood and graduated from St. Xavier High School and Ohio State University where he studied finance and real estate. He currently works at Fifth Third Bank and lives downtown. Those interested in sharing their thoughts can submit guest editorials to UrbanCincy by emailing urbancincy@gmail.com. Please include a short bio with any submissions.
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.”
