$80 Million Mixed-Use Project Planned on Key Corner of OTR

$80 million mixed-use project planned on key corner of OTR bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2020/10/01/80-million-mixed-use-project-planned-on-key-corner.html

By Tom Demeropolis – Senior Staff Reporter, Cincinnati Business Courier Oct 1, 2020, 2:29pm EDT Updated Oct 1, 2020, 2:33pm EDT The new plan calls for 1.5 stories of underground parking and 1.5 stories of above-ground parking wrapped by apartments. There would be a total of 210 spaces in the garage, plus 10 service lot spaces.

The plan also calls for using those saved historic pavers as an “arts alley” that would be open to the public. The idea is for the alley to have different pieces of art, such as murals or sculptures and lighting.

As part of reworking the project, the buildings were made shorter at the corner of Liberty and Elm streets, a major complaint about the approved version of the development.

Dronen said they were able to lower the height of the building by 13 feet at the corner. They also set back the top floor of the building so it doesn’t appear as tall at street level.

The apartments will include a mix of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.

Three-bedroom apartments have been rare in urban apartment projects, but Dronen said that was something they modified based on community feedback.

“We heard there are not a lot of places for a family to live in the city so we added some three bedroom units,” Dronen said.

The apartments are expected to have a fitness center, pool, roof deck, grilling stations, common areas for co-working and firepits. Each unit will have washers and dryers in unit, granite or quartz counters, 9-foot ceilings and are designed to be bright and airy.

Kean Ventures and Buckingham are the developers and owners for the project.

Buckingham will serve as the general contractor. Elevar Design Group is the architect for the project. Bayer Becker is performing the civil work.

Dronen said the Liberty and Elm development will likely need tax increment financing for the project to work. The developers are talking to the city about that now. He also said the project has commitments for financing.

The developers that have been working on a long-planned, mixed-use project on a key corner of Over-the-Rhine are proposing| some major changes to the project.

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Kean Ventures, which became part of the development team working on the Liberty & Elm project in 2018, is going before the Cincinnati Planning Commission Friday to ask for a major amendment to the concept plan that was previously approved for the project that was going to be called Freeport Row. The development team, which includes Buckingham Cos., also is asking for a zone change to increase the footprint of the development.

Stephen Dronen, president of Kean Ventures, said the redevelopment of these vacant parcels can be a catalyst to connecting the activity in Over-the-Rhine south of Liberty Street to the Findlay Market area. It would replace “a vacant eyesore with a vibrant city scene,” Dronen said.

“This is one of those large developments at a critical intersection that can really help bridge Liberty Street,” Dronen told me. “It can be the connection of the momentum to the south into the Findlay Market and brewery district areas.”

The project has grown in scope as the developers were working through the project.

Instead of the original 113 apartment units with 14,400 square feet of commercial space, the proposed plan now calls for a total of 306 units and between 5,000 and 15,000 square feet of commercial space. The proposed new version of the development would be a total investment of about $80 million.

That would make the Liberty and Elm project one of if not the largest private investment in Over-the-Rhine.

The project has been in the works for years. In May 2016, planning commission recommended approval of a change in zoning to city council to create a planned development for the Liberty and Elm site. The ordinance for the change was approved at the end of June 2016.

The Historic Conservation Board then approved a certificate of appropriateness and made a final development plan recommendation in September 2016. Planning commission approved the final development plan in December 2016.

Foundation permits for the project were then issued in October 2018. In February 2019, when selective demolition, site excavation and removal and storage of historic pavers started, the developers encountered soil stability issues. Additional geotechnical analysis was started in September 2019.

Dronen said as they analyzed the soil samples, the development team went back and forth on how to proceed, trying to decide if they should bolster the piering for development or remove the rubble-filled soil and bring in backfill for the site. When they looked at digging out the site, they decided it would make sense to put parking under the building and decided to rethink the entire project.

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Back in 2018, the developers were planning to demolish the former Boys & Girls Club building at 1621 Logan St. and turn it into a 72-space parking lot for the time being to be used by residents of the Liberty and Elm project. Later, they would develop the site into a commercial or mixed-use space.

But in rethinking the entire development, Dronen said it made more sense to do the entire project at once.

“What if we do one large, cohesive development that solves all the concerns and issues all at once,” Dronen told me.

There would be two new buildings under the amended development; a seven-story, 130apartment unit building along Central Parkway and a five-story, 148-unit building at Liberty and Elm streets. In addition to two new construction buildings, the project would include the renovation of four historical buildings, two on Liberty Street and two on Elm Street. The developers are applying for low-income housing tax credits for these buildings, which would add 16 to 20 affordable units to the plan.

“It is lined up and ready to go,” Dronen said.

The developers aspire to include 30% of its total dollars spent on construction and 15% of total dollars spent on supplies/services and professional servives with small business enterprises, including SBEs owned by minorities and women.

After tomorrow’s planning commission meeting, the project would need to go to city council for approval, back through the Historic Conservation Board and then get final approval from the planning commission before work could begin. Dronen expects this will take the majority of the fall.

If the project receives the necessary approvals on a tidy schedule, the developers would be able to start construction just after the first of the year. Dronen said construction would be a 24-month process, with the first units coming online in fall 2022.

Staff of the Department of City Planning recommends the planning commission approve the proposed change in zoning and approve the major amendment to the concept plan and development program statement for Liberty and Elm. The project is scheduled to go before planning commission on Oct. 2.

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