City of Cincinnati Approves Plans for Multimillion-Dollar Developments
Cincinnati City Council approved last Wednesday plans for a 30-story apartment tower at the northwest corner of 4th Street and Race Street in the city’s downtown. The project is expected to cost about $80 million.
By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor
The Cincinnati City Council approved plans for a 
30-story apartment tower at the northwest corner of Fourth and Race streets in the city’s downtown. The project is expected to cost about $80 million.
Flaherty & Collins, an Indianapolis-based company, is the project’s developer. It plans to demolish the dilapidated Pogue’s Garage and the vehicular and pedestrian skywalk bridge that connects it to the adjacent Tower Place Mall, and build a luxury apartment tower with approximately 300 units in its place. The project also calls for the construction of a 15,000-square-foot grocery store on the first floor of the residential tower and a new public parking garage with about 1,000 parking spaces, also part of the tower.
The city voted to lease the site to Flaherty & Collins and also agreed to grant a $12 million forgivable loan to the developer for the construction of the parking garage. Under the terms of the deal, the city will lease the garage to Flaherty & Collins for $1 per year for 75 years. The developer has the option to purchase the parking garage for $1 at the end of the 75-year term. The deal also requires that Flaherty & Collins keep the grocery store open for at least five years. If the developer fails to do so, it will have to return the $12 million loan.
According to 9 On Your Side, rents in the apartment tower will be between $1,000 and $2,000 a month. Construction could begin later this year and would take about 24 months to complete.
Last Wednesday, the city council approved two deals that will bring $18 million in new development to the city’s Northside and Oakley neighborhoods.
Milhaus Development will buy from the city the former home of the Myron Johnson lumberyard in Northside and will use the 2.4-acre site to build a mixed-use complex with at least 100 apartments and 8,000 square feet of commercial space. The development represents about $10.5 million in private investment.
The Morelia Group will purchase three acres of land at the corner of Ibsen and the future Kennedy Avenue in Oakley on which to build a 15,000-square-foot daycare center and a 40,000-square-foot office building. The two projects represent $7.5 million in private investment and will create at least 150 new jobs.
Both Milhaus and Morelia Group agreed to purchase city-owned property at fair market value. “The neighborhoods of Northside and Oakley are getting two great projects that will put people to work,” said Odis Jones, economic development director. “We hope to continue this momentum into our other focused neighborhoods.”
Photo credits: Flaherty & Collins
