WESTERN HILLS PRESS Your Community Press newspaper serving Western Hills, Cheviot, Green Township and other West Cincinnati neighborhoods
WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2020 | BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS | PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK
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Columbus, Cincinnati boast fastest-selling homes in U.S. Jim Weiker Columbus Dispatch
Kelsey Niehauser and Dana Langenbrunner stand hand in hand atop the Embassy Suites in Covington on September, 23, 2017. KRISTINA HERMAN OF K HERMAN PHOTOGRAPHY
LOVE WINS
Local couples remember the day marriage equality swept the nation Sarah Haselhorst and Terry DeMio Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY NETWORK
Chuck Beatty had predicted it, with crossed fi ngers. Two days before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality in 2015, he’d sent UNITE Cincinnati, an LGBT magazine, to the printer with the headline “LOVE WINS!” Then Friday came fi ve years ago, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy held the swing vote in Obergefell v. Hodges – a case in which plaintiff and then-Cincinnati resident Jim Obergefell challenged Ohio’s ban on same-sex marriage. Obergefell fi led the suit because he was prohibited from putting his name on his late husband John Arthur’s death certifi cate. “They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law,” Kennedy wrote in the June 26, 2015, decision. “The Constitution grants them that right.” “We made the right choice,” Beatty said upon hearing the news on NPR, and hugged a coworker. Then he fl ed out the door to drive to Indianapolis, where the magazine awaited. That night, Beatty and his long-time partner, Chad Turner, who lived together in Covington, went from one LGBT bar to the next in Greater Cincinnati to deliver the magazine together. “We got to celebrate with everybody,” Beatty said. It was a night when younger people could thank older people who’d started the journey to equality, the couple said. Turner and Beatty never before thought they’d see a time they could marry. A night,
Chuck Beatty (right), with husband Chad Turner (left), pose outside their Covington home on Wednesday, June 24. Beatty and Turner got married in 2017. GRACE PRITCHETT/ENQUIRER
they said, that although the bars were inclusive and welcomed heterosexual couples, it felt like “a gay bar again,” Turner said. A night they felt community. Ryan Messer and Jimmy Musuraca-Messer of North Avondale already had plans to celebrate the day the ruling came out. At the time, they’d been leSee EQUALITY, Page 3A
A new study confi rms what many central Ohio home shoppers already suspect: Nowhere in the country do homes sell faster than in Columbus. According to the real-estate service Zillow, homes in the Columbus area spent a median of fi ve days on the market before landing in contract, the shortest time in the nation. Second place? A tie between Cincinnati and Kansas City, where homes sold in a median of six days. Zillow based the fi gures on home sales during the second week of June. Nationally, homes that sold that week had been active for 22 days before going into contract – the fastest pace since June 2018. Home sales in central Ohio and nationally plunged in April and May when coronavirus shut down the economy. But there was no indication that sales fell because of lack of demand. Instead, sales fell because the number of homes listed plummeted to record lows, as homeowners chose to stay put during the uncertainty. As of June 30, 2,602 homes were listed as “active” (not in contract) in central Ohio, a record low for June, according to the Columbus Realtors trade group. A year ago, that number was 4,784, and in 2007, the number hit a record high of 19,820. In other words: This time 13 years ago, central Ohio home shoppers had almost eight times as many homes to choose from as today. “I’ve been doing this almost 17 years now and for probably the past, almost four years, it’s been insanely hot in the Columbus area,” said Corey Burke, an agent with HER Realtors. “Anything priced under $550,000 is going extremely fast due to the lack of inventory.” Burke just sold a home on Montrose Avenue in Bexley that had been listed for $499,900. The home went into contract the fi rst day it was shown, four days after being listed.
Cincinnati ranks as one of the best cities for fi rst-time home buyers. FILE PHOTO
Old Gamble estate property in Westwood for sale The property’s zoning would allow construction of one house per 10,000 square feet of land, Randolph said, but Greenacres isn’t necessarily interested in going that route – or in requiring top dollar for the property it believes is worth as much as $2 million.
Jeanne Houck Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK
The Greenacres Foundation wants to sell 22 acres it owns in Westwood and is seeking proposals for the residentially zoned property from developers and others. The property at 2918 Werk Road was home to the historic Gamble House, a Victorian mansion with a section that stood for more than 170 years and that was once owned by James N. Gamble, son of a founder of Procter & Gamble and the creator of Ivory soap. The house was torn down in 2013, to the dismay of some neighbors and preservationists, and is at the center of a court battle that is still being fought. Now, said Greenacres President Carter Randolph, the foundation has dropped 10-year-old plans to develop an environmental and agricultural education center for children in grades kindergarten through third grade on the property. Randolph said Greenacres, a non-profi t education, research and preservation group based in Indian Hill,
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'We're not ruling anything out. We're not ruling anything in.'
The historic Gamble house in Westwood years before it was demolished in 2013. ENQUIRER FILE PHOTO
sent the Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati a letter asking for proposals for the property. Greenacres expects word to get out and spark interest among other organizations besides developers, Randolph said.
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The Greenacres Foundation, which was founded by Louis and Louise Nippert, is looking for proposals that would benefi t the community, Randolph said, such as perhaps a retirement home or a park. “We’re not ruling anything out. We’re not ruling anything in,” Randolph said. “The highest price might not be the best proposal. We’ve reserved the right to reject any and all proposals.” Randolph said Greenacres won’t take any action on the sale of the property until the beginning of next year, but, “We think the property should move forward to its next chapter.”
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