To Redevelop the Heart of Madisonville, it Takes a Village

Team forms to redevelop Madisonville bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2019/12/10/to-redevelop-heart-of-madisonville-it-takes-a.html

Dobbs Ackermann wants to make it clear that he is not alone.

Ackermann is CEO of Ackermann Group, a commercial real estate development firm that is rebuilding Madisonville’s business district. While Ackermann Group is leading the project, which in time will be an investment of more than $80 million, he said it has been the work of dozens that is bringing new life to this East Side neighborhood.

Ackermann said when a gathering of all the people that touch the second phase of the mixed-use project was held, there were 66 people who had directly worked on it before construction even started.

“It is amazing that it can get done and that the city is managing so many of these projects at one time,” Ackermann told me.

Ackermann Group is well underway on the first phase of the mixed-use development. This phase, at the southwest corner of Madison Road and Whetsel Avenue, is a $30 million investment that will include 24,000 square feet of commercial space topped by 104 apartments.

To get a look at construction of the first phase, and renderings for what’s next, click on the images above.

The developer, which is moving its offices to the first-phase building in Madisonville, is now working on phase 2 of the development. Demolition has started on the northeast corner of Madison Road and Whetsel Avenue, except for the historical Fifth Third Bank branch on the corner, which is now home Bad Tom Smith Brewing. This phase will include 8,000 square feet of street-level retail topped by 116 apartments.

1/4

A planned third phase would add another 90 apartment units at the southeast corner of Madison Road and Whetsel Avenue. It would also include 15,000 square feet of creative office space and another 12,000 square feet of retail.

This third phase would include 30-foot sidewalks, providing the neighborhood with a readymade spot for street festivals, farmers markets and other public events. ArtWorks is working on designs for this space with the development team to engage the public.

The third phase is scheduled to start in spring or summer 2020.

Ackermann Group is the developer for the project, with Al Neyer constructing the mixeduse buildings. Other members of the development team include Elevar Design Group, Schaefer and Bayer Becker.

To fill the retail space in its developments, Ackermann Group has selected Casey Ward with Midland Atlantic as its leasing agent. On the office side, which would be included in phase 3, it's working with Scott Yards and Travis Likes with CBRE. The first phase of Madison and Whetsel is scheduled to deliver units in spring 2020.

Ackermann Group will be moving its offices into the phase one building in January.

When Ackermann Group is finished, Madisonville’s neighborhood business district will have more than 300 apartments, about 60,000 square feet of new commercial space and a redeveloped shopping center.

Mayor John Cranley said even though Madisonville has been a good neighborhood, the historic center of community didn’t have the vibrancy or retail and restaurant options that make residents say they have great things to do in their neighborhood.

“Madison and Whetsel became run down over decades, it was a source of demoralization,” Cranley told me.

With these investments, the neighborhood will see jobs, opportunities, restaurants and create a positive association for those who live and travel through it.

“We’re creating a really solid environment that at the end of the day helps encourage home values in Madisonville to go up,” Ackermann said.

He said there is a group of unsung heroes at the city of Cincinnati working behind the scenes.

“I give them a lot of credit for their involvement of going through the process with us to get this done,” he said. “They are helping to design, drive and make sure that a downtown environment is truly being created.”

2/4

Elishia Chamberlain, executive director of Madisonville Community Urban Redevelopment Corp., said communication has been a key component of success for the Madison and Whetsel project. A design review committee was formed to allow MCURC and Madisonville Community Council to take part in discussions, allowing for community feedback throughout the development process.

“The community partners continue to collaborate and improve upon the project with Ackermann,” Chamberlain told me in an email.

Bob Bertsch, economic development division manager at the city of Cincinnati, said since he joined the city in 2008, this business district has been a major focus for the Madisonville community. The city has invested about $5 million in acquiring properties that have or will become part of the development.

As the city acquired buildings and tore them down, there were vacant pieces of land for a number of years. Bertsch said the city was approached by different users about buying certain parcels, but the city and community held off because it had a vision for this intersection.

“If we wait, we can get a much higher and larger investment on the land,” Bertsch told me.

“That’s what you’re seeing today.”

Phil Denning, the city’s economic development director, said Cincinnati was able to play a bigger role in this development because it owned much of the underlying land.

Denning said Ackermann Group took a fairly big risk when it was selected for the preferred developer agreement because a lot of time and effort still had to be spent on zoning variances, meetings, architectural drawings, figuring out what could be built and what the developer would actually be able to pay for.

“No one had built apartment units at this level and at this number in Madisonville in recent history,” Denning told me.

To go to a lender and say "I’m going to do something no one has done before" makes it a tough sell, Denning said. By having the city as a partner, that helped reduce the amount of structured debt and took the project one step closer to becoming reality.

Ackermann said the investment being made at Madison and Whetsel will spread out across Madisonville. The neighborhood has seen an increase in remodels of existing homes and new home construction. In the next seven years, he can see home values doubling, possibly increasing more.

3/4

Cranley said it has taken years and years of effort from many people to move this transformative project forward. Madison and Whetsel has been a long-term partnership of the city, the community, Madisonville Community Council, MCURC and the private sector.

“This is a case study on how to do neighborhood redevelopment” Cranley told me.

Bertsch said it takes a trusting relationship between all parties.

“Everybody wants to see the best development,” he said. “You need to be able to understand and respect the other players are in it for the best interest.”

4/4