Author Topic: Cincinnati: Downtown - Enquirer Building mixed-use renovation (Read 32121 times)

BDRUF · « **Reply #70 on:** April 28, 2009, 12:08:01 AM »

Does anyone know if this project is off the table? I'm looking at moving back to Cincy in 1 year and my g/f isn't comfortable with OTR yet so I thought this would be a great place to get a start.

The Nati Life · « **Reply #71 on:** April 28, 2009, 03:37:32 PM »

From what I hear, details are to come very soon.

BDRUF · « **Reply #72 on:** April 28, 2009, 11:07:41 PM »

Great! Thanks.

sheady · « **Reply #73 on:** September 24, 2009, 12:58:18 PM »

Quote from: The Nati Life on April 28, 2009, 03:37:32 PM

From what I hear, details are to come very soon.

All this talk of the Metropole makes me wonder about this...anyword on the details?

Sherman Cahal · « **Reply #74 on:** September 24, 2009, 12:59:10 PM »

I've not seen any work going on for a while.

sheady · « **Reply #75 on:** September 24, 2009, 01:19:33 PM »

Quote from: UncleRando on October 17, 2008, 03:03:46 AM

This project was awarded the maximum $5 million allotment from the State in historic tax credits.

I am also concerned about this tax credit expirering

sheady · « **Reply #76 on:** October 21, 2009, 02:26:59 AM »

Doesnt look good for this project!

Middle Earth faces tax problems
By Lisa Bernard-Kuhn • lbernard@enquirer.com • October 19, 2009

Camp Washington-based Middle Earth Development Inc. owes Hamilton County more than $51,000 in delinquent taxes on a dozen properties, including several at the firm's recently finished downtown condo development Parker Flats.

Investors will get a chance to purchase the debts at public auction of tax liens slated for Friday at 6 p.m. at the Hamilton County Administration Building, 138 E. Court St.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091019/BIZ01/910200312/1076/BIZ/Middle+Earth+faces+tax+problems

so it goes · « **Reply #77 on:** October 23, 2009, 04:41:05 AM »

Stories of it's demise have been greatly exaggerated

Middle Earth pays county tax bill

Camp Washington-based Middle Earth Development Inc. says it has made payment arrangements with Hamilton County for more than $51,000 owed in delinquent property taxes.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091021/BIZ01/910220330/Middle-Earth-pays-county-tax-bill

sheady · « **Reply #78 on:** March 16, 2010, 06:21:10 AM »

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20100316/BIZ01/3170317/Tobacco+store+closing++building+shuttered
Tobacco store closing; building shuttered
By Laura Baverman • lbaverman@enquirer.com • March 16, 2010
-----------------------
Doesnt sound like this is going to happen anytime soon. Anyone have any inside info?

The 34-year-old business, one of just two smoke shops downtown, is in the process of selling its inventory and closing its shop in the historic Cincinnati Enquirer building at 617 Vine St.

The building's owner, Middle Earth Properties, notified Tobacconist owner Pat Coldiron Feb. 1 that the building could soon close.

The Camp Washington-based developer, which has plans to spend $20 million to renovate the Enquirer building into apartments, office and street-level retail, is facing foreclosure at several of its local apartment buildings and is fighting other lawsuits associated with its condo projects.

prolix · « **Reply #79 on:** April 22, 2010, 01:01:03 PM »

just found this after wondering what was up with 617 Vine - bad news, but then again MED would have screwed this project up beyond belief - would be better off in the hands of someone else (Northpointe gets my vote)

doesn't MED also own the lot across from 4th & Plum?

feel bad for MED property residents, but the idiots that run that company had it coming

UncleRando · « **Reply #80 on:** May 12, 2010, 08:44:23 AM »

Quote from: sheady on March 16, 2010, 06:21:10 AM

Doesnt sound like this is going to happen anytime soon. Anyone have any inside info?

Representatives from MED quit responding to my emails and phone calls months ago.

Quote from: prolix on April 22, 2010, 01:01:03 PM

doesn't MED also own the lot across from 4th & Plum?

No, that was a myth perpetuated by a Business Courier article writing about the speculative future of the site. The price the existing owner was asking for the land was far too much for MED to bear, thus resulting in no purchase by MED.

prolix · « **Reply #81 on:** November 05, 2010, 07:37:15 AM »

has anyone heard anything about this project? I walk by it everyday and wish someone would do something with this beautiful building

I did notice that on Wednesday it appeared someone was in the building b/c the lobby lights were on. Couldn't tell for sure what was going on. There are also notices of water disconnect hung on the front

sheady · « **Reply #82 on:** January 28, 2011, 06:11:50 PM »

Stalled downtown condo project could get new life

Middle Earth agrees to sell Enquirer Building to N.Y. firm
Business Courier - by Jon Newberry , Courier Staff Reporter
Date: Friday, January 28, 2011, 6:00am EST

Middle Earth Developers has agreed to sell the 85-year-old Enquirer Building on Vine Street to a New York developer that intends to revive a stalled $30 million downtown condo conversion project.

Read more: Stalled downtown condo project could get new life | Business Courier

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/print-edition/2011/01/28/stalled-downtown-condo-project-could.html

Sherman Cahal · « **Reply #83 on:** January 29, 2011, 02:47:13 AM »

Eh, hope you don't mind me posting a better article that requires no $ subscription...

Old Enquirer site may become apartments
By Lisa Bernard-Kuhn • lbernard@enquirer.com • January 28, 2011

DOWNTOWN - A New York-based developer is eyeing a nearly $40 million plan to renovate the former Cincinnati Enquirer building on Vine Street into more than 160-apartments with new street-level retail space. The project could get underway as early as this summer.

Landwhite Development LLC is under a contract to buy the 14-story building at 617 Vine St. from Camp Washington-based Middle Earth Developers - but only if the New York firm can land state and federal historic preservation tax credits as well state brownfield dollars to help fund the estimated $38 million project, said David Roos, COO and executive vice president of Landwhite.

Named Harkness Lofts, the plan calls for 167 apartments, 19,000 square feet of retail and office space on the building's second and third levels, Roos said.

sheady · « **Reply #84 on:** January 29, 2011, 05:02:22 AM »

Quote from: Sherman Cahal on January 29, 2011, 02:47:13 AM

Eh, hope you don't mind me posting a better article that requires no $ subscription...

Old Enquirer site may become apartments
By Lisa Bernard-Kuhn • lbernard@enquirer.com • January 28, 2011

DOWNTOWN - A New York-based developer is eyeing a nearly $40 million plan to renovate the former Cincinnati Enquirer building on Vine Street into more than 160-apartments with new street-level retail space. The project could get underway as early as this summer.

Landwhite Development LLC is under a contract to buy the 14-story building at 617 Vine St. from Camp Washington-based Middle Earth Developers - but only if the New York firm can land state and federal historic preservation tax credits as well state brownfield dollars to help fund the estimated $38 million project, said David Roos, COO and executive vice president of Landwhite.

Named Harkness Lofts, the plan calls for 167 apartments, 19,000 square feet of retail and office space on the building's second and third levels, Roos said.

Good call

JYP · « **Reply #85 on:** December 14, 2011, 04:45:22 AM »

Looks like Middle Earth still is sitting on this property. It's a shame because it could be a great apartment community right in the heart of downtown.

jdm00 · « **Reply #86 on:** December 27, 2011, 02:40:15 AM »

It is a beautiful building. It would have to be in my top 3 downtown buildings I would like to see get re-done.

The_Cincinnati_Kid · « **Reply #87 on:** January 27, 2012, 12:57:57 AM »

Old Enquirer building on Vine gets sales push from CBRE
Business Courier by Tom Demeropolis, Staff Reporter
Date: Friday, January 27, 2012, 6:00am EST

A vacant downtown building that was once home to the Cincinnati Enquirer has a chance at new life as an apartment building.

The 617 Vine Street building has been in receivership since September. Its owner, an affiliate of Middle Earth Developers, purchased the building in 2007 with plans to turn it into condos, but wasn’t able to develop the property.

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/print-edition/2012/01/27/old-enquirer-building-on-vine-gets.html

RockyMountainHigh · « **Reply #88 on:** July 29, 2012, 02:59:27 AM »

According to a Facebook post from Building Cincinnati this morning, the Enquirer building will be a hotel and not residential.

The post:

People, a hotel is going to be in the old Enquirer Building at 617 Vine St. Story to come. You heard it here first.

CincyGuy45202 · « **Reply #89 on:** July 29, 2012, 05:05:45 AM »

My buddy emailed me the city link yesterday. It showed up on the City's website a couple days ago under the Budget & Finance Agenda for Monday.

Item #5.

http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/noncms/council/uploads/agendbf.pdf

I'm mixed on this... I think I would have rather had 100 apartments...

northsider · « **Reply #90 on:** July 29, 2012, 07:34:35 AM »

I would have preferred more apartments too, but getting this building filled and re-activated is still a Good Thing, especially if it leads to some street-level retail or a restaurant.

looking at the hotel company's web site (http://www.sree.com), it looks like they work with multiple hotel chains, including Comfort Inn, Fairfield Inn, Marriott, Westin, aloft, and Courtyard.

The_Cincinnati_Kid · « **Reply #91 on:** July 29, 2012, 12:30:29 PM »

Ditto! Nice to see something going on in that building. If they were going to do a hotel though, the old Terrace Plaza would be much easier to renovate I would think (unless those owners are still holding out for a high price).

mcadrenaline · « **Reply #92 on:** July 30, 2012, 12:21:14 AM »

This news is bittersweet, but I'll reserve full judgement until there's a full press release on this project. I agree that this building would be excellent for apartment or condo conversion, but I also think downtown Cincinnati is underserved in the hotel arena (particularly by mid- and upper-midscale brands)

The real question is... where does this leave the Terrace Plaza? With 4 (!) new hotels in the pipeline downtown (Holiday Inn Broadway, 21C, Enquirer, Banks) and a Hyatt rennovation, I don't see how they'll be able to re-open as a hotel anytime soon, but the developers have also stated that it's a poorly situated building for condos because of the small windows and lack of natual light.

RockyMountainHigh · « **Reply #93 on:** July 30, 2012, 02:50:27 AM »

Quote from: mcadrenaline on July 30, 2012, 12:21:14 AM

This news is bittersweet, but I'll reserve full judgement until there's a full press release on this project. I agree that this building would be excellent for apartment or condo conversion, but I also think downtown Cincinnati is underserved in the hotel arena (particularly by mid- and upper-midscale brands)

The real question is... where does this leave the Terrace Plaza? With 4 (!) new hotels in the pipeline downtown (Holiday Inn Broadway, 21C, Enquirer, Banks) and a Hyatt rennovation, I don't see how they'll be able to re-open as a hotel anytime soon, but the developers have also stated that it's a poorly situated building for condos because of the small windows and lack of natual light.

And doesn't the casino gain rights to build an on-site hotel after a few years? Perhaps in the space currently occupied by Greyhound?

LesterLyles · « **Reply #94 on:** July 30, 2012, 02:50:38 AM »

I agree that it is bittersweet. on the positive, a classic building will find new life and I think a newly done hotel will continue to boost the visitor perception of downtown (can't tell you how many visitors are ho-hum on our hotel offerings). That being said, it does in fact limit the possinility Terrace Plaza being renovated for hotel purposed and in the banks for that matter. By the same token though, wouldn't 100 units of resendential lessen the possibility of new downtown condos being built, perhaps on surface lots? I guess the argument goes both ways.

JYP · « **Reply #95 on:** July 30, 2012, 03:01:19 AM »

I don't believe it lessens the demand for both because demand in both uses is so strong for downtown. Downtown needs both more hotels and more residential. The disappointment here is that previous hotels like Terrace Plaza continue to linger abandoned as new hotels are developed from previous office (Old Enquirer Building, Old Red Cross Building), residential (Metropole & Phelps buildings) or on new ground (Casino & the Banks). And even though new residential is planned at the Banks and 5th & Race, there are no plans for conversions of old Class C spaces such as the Bartlett Building into residential.

Downtown development should focus on both restoring, rehabilitating and adapting old buildings as well as new construction, both of which appeal to different markets. The population downtown is still too small for a full service grocery store however small steps are being made (at least in OTR) to provide more services for residents. New residential and mixed-use construction on existing parking lots and renovations of smaller buildings have a better chance of happening with the removal of parking requirements.

mcadrenaline · « **Reply #96 on:** July 30, 2012, 06:22:31 AM »

"I think a newly done hotel will continue to boost the visitor perception of downtown (can't tell you how many visitors are ho-hum on our hotel offerings)."

I cannot agree with you more on this and that is why I can't be too upset about a hotel over residential. It's ultimately a win-win: new hotel downtown, vacant space in an architecturally significant building is filled.

I won't beat a dead horse here, but for how vibrant the business community is downtown, our hotel offerings are for the most part an absolute insult. Cities like Cleveland, Indy (especially Indy, in fact), and Pittsburgh have far, far better hotel choices than we do. Having the Hyatt remodel and likely 4 new properties downtown will really force the others to reconsider putting off major renovations much longer. The Hilton Netherland doesn't even have WiFi in their guest rooms. Are you serious?!?

bfwissel · « **Reply #97 on:** July 30, 2012, 06:33:19 AM »

Worst case with this becoming a hotel is that it could be converted relatively easily to apartments/condos in the future with no lead remediation or major interior rehabbing necessary.

ColDayMan · « **Reply #98 on:** July 30, 2012, 02:01:36 PM »

Here's hoping for something like an Ace Hotel for that building.

Cygnus · « **Reply #99 on:** July 31, 2012, 07:18:17 AM »

Historic Enquirer building will have two Hilton brand hotels
Business Courier by Jon Newberry, Staff Reporter

The proposed hotel to be developed in the former Enquirer building at 617 Vine St. in downtown Cincinnati will be a dual-brand facility featuring two Hilton limited-service hotels, according to the project’s developer.

Parag Patel, chief finance and development officer for Charlotte, N.C.-based SREE Hotels LLC, said the Enquirer building project will feature two of three Hilton brands among Hampton, Homewood Suites and Hilton Garden Inn. It will be the group’s first historic renovation and first hotel in the region, he said.

As the Business Courier reported earlier, a tax abatement deal was approved by Cincinnati City Council’s budget and finance committee on Monday and goes before the full council on Wednesday. The 75 percent abatement equates to about $7 million over 12 years.

Cont

mcadrenaline · « **Reply #100 on:** July 31, 2012, 07:32:04 AM »

Okay, I'm 100% on board with this now. This fills a huge gap in Hilton family brands downtown as well as limited service hotels downtown.

These dual branded properties are becoming more and more common as a single property can use the same infastructure to cater to two different sets of guests: in this case, extended stay and non extended stay, but with one set of laundry facilities, one pool, etc etc. It brings the costs down significantly for owners I believe NYC and Atlanta have a few like this.

Here's the link to the Atlanta property: http://www.homewoodsuitesmediacenter.com/index.cfm/newsroom/detail/20067?ref=hww

OTR · « **Reply #101 on:** July 31, 2012, 11:32:00 AM »

Quote from: Cygnus on July 31, 2012, 07:18:17 AM

It will be the group’s first historic renovation and first hotel in the region, he said.

I'm really interested to see how they handle the renovation.

Does anyone have interior pics?

ink · « **Reply #102 on:** July 31, 2012, 02:05:58 PM »

^There are a few interior photos at this link, but all of the lobby:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63837784@N08/sets/72157627138162558/with/5911672711/

jmblec2 · « **Reply #103 on:** July 31, 2012, 02:10:04 PM »

Why did the apartments project fail?

OTR · « **Reply #104 on:** July 31, 2012, 02:39:25 PM »

Quote from: ink on July 31, 2012, 02:05:58 PM

^There are a few interior photos at this link, but all of the lobby:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63837784@N08/sets/72157627138162558/with/5911672711/

thanks, ink.

it's a beautiful building and should leave a nice impression on visitors to the city

News:

Author Topic: Cincinnati: Downtown - Enquirer Building mixed-use renovation (Read 32121 times)