Predictions- Two Years Ago
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Printed Date: Apr 28 2024 at 3:01pm
Topic: Predictions- Two Years Ago
Posted By: VietVet
Subject: Predictions- Two Years Ago
Date Posted: Dec 04 2014 at 11:12am
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Updated: 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 7, 2012 | Posted: 9:29 p.m. Wednesday, March 7, 2012 Cities focus on downtown revivals Hamilton, Middletown see projects as catalyst for more activities. 0 3 0 9By Chelsey Levingston Staff Writer Major pending developments in the downtowns of Butler County’s two largest cities could help spark what the communities need to bring their cores back to life, business leaders said. Following years of losing businesses and thousands of jobs, projects in Hamilton for downtown living and a riverfront public park and in Middletown for a community college branch campus could be catalysts of more development and activity. By April, the second phase of apartments at the Historic Mercantile Lofts will be complete and ready to lease, and construction on the RiversEdge Public Amphitheater and Park project is expected to start. Next month in Middletown, construction could start on Cincinnati State Technical and Community College’s branch campus. A year from now, the amphitheater and bike path trail extension of RiversEdge will be built and Cincinnati State will be holding classes, according to plans. The results could mean more jobs and amenities for residents. “I would say we have downtown development that is and will revive downtown. It’s not that it can’t and might, it’s that it is and it will,” said Steve Coon, one of the owners of Canton-based Historic Developers. Historic Developers owns the buildings that are now the Mercantile Lofts and retail space. The first phase of the apartments and the three retail spaces are full. “That’s going to be your epicenter of all your economic development downtown,” Coon said. Middletown business leader Jay Moorman said his city has reached a tipping point with the opening of Pendleton Art Center and the Cincinnati State plans. “It only takes a project to start a momentum. But then it takes more than that to keep it going,” said Dingeldein, vice president of architecture of SHP Leading Design, a Hamilton-founded firm. . “We’re not back, but we certainly are taking steps towards getting back,” Dingeldein said. Both cities are “doing the right things,” he said. Downtown is one of the best investments a community can make, said Jeff Siegler, director of revitalization of Heritage Ohio, an organization that focuses on community revitalization and coordinates the national Main Street program in Ohio. “Reinvestment in the downtown has a far greater return than similar investment in a suburban type setting,” Siegler said. That’s because downtowns typically already have infrastructure that can be leveraged, there’s more incentives to invest in downtown, the dense walkable areas require less driving and there’s more focus on local business, he said. Hamilton’s downtown vision is to harness development around the river and downtown living to be Butler County’s only urban alternative, city officials said. Middletown’s plans center around education, entertainment and the arts, said City Manager Judy Gilleland. “It will be a major, major ripple effect. It will be incredible,” said Patrick Kay, the new director of Downtown Middletown Inc., the group that promotes and coordinates downtown activities. “You’ll have stuff to do, you’ll rarely have to travel on I-75 to go somewhere because once there’s more people and once you have a vibrant downtown, you’ll have things to do.” The biggest challenges ahead include financial capital and “waiting for it to happen,” said Jody Gunderson, the new economic development director of Hamilton. Until more investment comes, both downtowns are plagued by vacant buildings. Downtown Hamilton once bustled from Ohio Casualty and First Financial headquarter employees and shopping at Elder-Beerman. AK Steel’s headquarters and paper mill companies used to be blocks away from downtown Middletown. Most recently in 2011, Fifth Third Bank closed its downtown Hamilton branch and Butler County shuttered its downtown Middletown Family & Children Services location. Hamilton The Mercantile Lofts in Hamilton, an $8.6 million project, is close to completing its second phase of upscale High Street housing and will begin leasing additional units in April, said Cindy Dingeldein, community development liaison for Historic Developers. Three of the 20 new units to become available next month are already leased, she said. Three retail High Street storefronts in the same building as Mercantile Lofts are full, with the third tenant on the way and two leases signed in 2011 for Art Off Symmes and InMotion Bicycle Shop, the developer Coon said. Artspace, a second High Street project of affordable housing for artists, is estimated to be about $8.4 million. Bids will be issued in the next week for the first part of construction of the RiversEdge project, estimated to be approximately $1.1 million, Dietrich Dudas said. Plans for the public park include an extended bike and walking path, outdoor amphitheater, a playground and public restrooms. It is located at the site of the former Sisters of Mercy hospital. “We have hit all the live, work, play kind of elements with this. This will also be able to spark and I think will be able to enhance and provide as a catalyst for potential development in that general area as well as for the entire community,” said Bud Scharf, of Hamilton’s planning department. Middletown Middletown has deals in hand for Cincinnati State to open a branch campus in the fall, plans to develop downtown housing and a new restaurant on Central Avenue on the way. Downtown Middletown is actively pursuing Main Street status, which would help with name recognition and in securing funding, Kay said. Pendleton Art Center, art studios, opened last year. “It’s going to happen whether we like it or not. The explosion in Middletown. You’ve got one exit up from Middletown, you’ve got developments, you’ve got big swath of shopping malls, you got residential properties. One exit down, same thing. Middletown’s kind of that last little stop on I-75 for things to really explode and developers are starting to see that and they’re starting to see the fact that properties are very inexpensive right now in Middletown. We need to be prepared for that,” Kay said. City Manager Judy Gilleland said she thinks there’s a future for the city in having an educational environment downtown. “We’ve certainly been down in the trenches for a few years now. I would like to think we’re able to poke our heads up and see a few successes at this point. There’s nothing easy about working against the economy, so we certainly have our work cut out for us in the future,” Gilleland said. Jay Moorman owns BeauVerre Riordan Stained Glass Studios. The oldest continually operating stained glass studio in the U.S., it has been a staple on Central Avenue going on nine years. For six of those years, it was alone, Moorman said. “It was a scary time,” he said. He was part of a group that looked to form a Main Street organization and first approached Pendleton about opening the art center, now caddy-corner from BeauVerre. News of Cincinnati State and the opening of Pendleton was a tipping point, Moorman said. He said he never thought five years ago, things would be where they are now. “People want to get involved in downtown and care,” he said. “I couldn’t be more encouraged.” NOW, DOES ANYONE THINK THE OUTCOMES ARE ANYWHERE CLOSE TO THE PREDICTIONS MADE TWO YEARS AGO? REMEMBER THE KAY PREDICTION THAT THINGS WOULD START "EXPLODING" IN MIDDLETOWN? HOW ABOUT THE STATEMENT FROM MOORMAN CONCERNING PEOPLE WANTING TO GET INVOLVED IN DOWNTOWN AND CARE? ANYONE THINK THAT THE STATEMENTS ABOVE REFLECT REALITY? IT IS WHAT IT IS AND NO AMOUNT OF EMBELLISHMENT CAN CHANGE THAT. I WOULD HOPE MOST CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH THE PR FLAK DELIVERED BY THE USUAL SUSPECTS ABOVE. ------------- I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over. |
Replies:
Posted By: Middletown29
Date Posted: Dec 05 2014 at 8:08am
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Vet Your analysis and comments continue to be shallow and short sighted. |
Posted By: Vivian Moon
Date Posted: Dec 05 2014 at 9:15am
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Posted By: Factguy
Date Posted: Dec 05 2014 at 9:19am
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Its the inner beauty that counts, not physical. Come on all. Get on the band wagon and have Tony Anthony hypnotize you to find the inner beauty in Middletown! Its' the Shallow Hal effect. http://youtu.be/NMLZnY2nLcw" rel="nofollow - http://youtu.be/NMLZnY2nLcw |
Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Dec 05 2014 at 10:41am
Ok Middletown29. Suppose you elaborate on your statement here. My analysis and comments are short sighted in what regard? Tell us about the "long term" situation if it is short-sighted on my part. And just how is talking about reality being shallow? How much "in-depth" do you need? Please provide specifics so that I may learn another perspective. Tell us of all the successes in this city. Tell us how the city has done things correctly and done eye-opening things as the supporters have mentioned.......and for every positive point you make, I can mention three that were miserable failures. City endeavors like Cincy State don't count as a success as it has yet to meet the projected success rate. Same goes for anything attempted downtown. None have met the projected sidewalk traffic or community interest projected and still, many empty storefronts from a decade or two ago. The few artzy businesses and coffee shop/fru fru food places haven't made a dent in interest. Can't mention economic development either. That's not close to being successful enough to have a major impact on the community either. The Bash has seen the most interest and it is not associated with the inner sanctum group downtown. It does offer something that generates the most interest from Middletown residents. There are some specifics from me. You're up next. ------------- I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over. |
Middletown29 wrote: