Uptown Cincinnati:
Progress and Accomplishments to Date

The Uptown Consortium, Inc. was founded in 2004 as a non-profit development company dedicated to building the human, social and physical improvement of Uptown Cincinnati.  Uptown Cincinnati generally includes the neighborhoods of Avondale, Clifton, Clifton Heights, Corryville, Fairview, Mt. Auburn and University Heights.

Community and Economic Development

In February 2006 the consortium closed a $52 million New Markets Tax Credit Fund which has since funded $15 million in project investments. The Uptown Cincinnati Development Fund has leveraged $100 million in project investments.

Urban Design and Transportation

• The Uptown Consortium has completed baseline studies on the constituent attitudes (residents, employees and visitors) about Uptown, including perceptions of safety.  These studies inform the consortium’s investments in housing, public safety, commercial developments and community initiatives.
• The consortium and its partner organizations partnered with the Cincinnati Park Board on a master plan for Uptown parks.  This historic venture is seeking to improve neighborhood development through investments in and around Uptown’s extensive green space and park system, including Avondale (Fleischmann Gardens and the Cincinnati Zoo), Clifton (Burnet Woods), Clifton Heights-Fairview (Bellevue Hill Park and Fairview Park) and Mt. Auburn (Jackson Hill Park and Inwood Park).
• The consortium continues to make progress implementing recommendations from the Uptown Transportation Study (administered by the Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana Regional Council of Governments, or OKI) which addressed such topics as parking, public transit, wayfinding and alternative designs for an interchange at I-71 and Martin Luther King Drive.
• The City of Cincinnati and OKI have agreed to provide nearly $1 million in 2007-08 for design of a new wayfinding system for Uptown.
• Several alternatives to improving access into Uptown from I-71 are being evaluated, including the creation of an interchange at Martin Luther King or improving the Taft interchange.  These alternatives will be sent to the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) for further study and prioritization.
• A transportation management association is being evaluated to implement other study recommendations  to improve parking, traffic circulation in the Uptown area and connectivity between Uptown’s major employers, tourist attractions and business districts.  Funding strategies are currently under evaluation.
  

Avondale
History of Key Redevelopment Events

         

   Harvey Commons

                   

• 2004 – Burnet Avenue Revitalization Team (BART) – including Avondale residents and homeowners and representatives from the Avondale Community Council, Avondale Business Association and Uptown institutions – is formed to guide the redevelopment process.
• 2006 – Consortium begins property acquisitions.  By June 2008 secures more than $11 million in real estate required to begin work on North Burnet Phase I without use of eminent domain.  Provides relocation assistance to over 60 families and homeowners.
• 2007 – Site preparation begins for North Burnet Phase I, including the removal of more than 60 blighted structures.
• 2007 – North Burnet Phase I development plan begins with the Consortium serving as master developer.  Construction underway for an $85 million mixed-use development featuring office space, retail and parking between Burnet Avenue, Harvey Avenue, Erkenbrecher Avenue and Northern Avenue.
• 2007 – The City of Cincinnati approves a grant for $1.3 million to help with site acquisition and redevelopment for Phase II of the Burnet Avenue Revitalization Plan.
• 2008 – Consortium hires The Model Group, a residential development firm, as residential advisor for the North Burnet Phase I housing component.  Partnership secures $13 million in low income housing tax credits to help transform Burnet at Rockdale.
• 2008 – Consortium receives grant from major partners:  $100,000 Fannie Mae grant to expand affordable housing in Uptown; and $35,000 grant from the Greater Cincinnati Foundation to study the feasibility of the Burnet Avenue Gateway Center, envisioned as a means to foster entrepreneurship in the neighborhood.

Neighborhood Services:

• $75,000 grant to Avondale Community Council for community capacity building.  Grant was used to pay rent for the Avondale Pride Center office and provide program staffing and support
• $35,000 to LISC for Avondale for safe and clean initiatives via collaborations between the Avondale Community Council, Community Police Partnering Center (Ceasefire) nad Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC)
• $122,000 pledged for surveillance cameras to assist law enforcement, solve public safety issues in high crime or heavy pedestrian areas

Clifton & Clifton Heights
 History of Key Redevelopment Events

      Ludlow Avenue

                             

Clifton:

2007 - The consortium approved matching funds for a part-time executive director in support of the community’s application for a “Main Street” program on Ludlow Avenue.  The consortium provided $45,000 in Neighborhood Services grants to Clifton community partners.

2007-2008 - The consortium supported a State of Ohio capital funds request for the redevelopment of the Clifton Elementary School as the Clifton Cultural Arts Center.  The center was recommended for $250,000 in grants.

Clifton Heights:

2005 - The redevelopment pipeline of Clifton Heights Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (CHCURC) includes more than $200 million in mixed-use development projects (office space, retail and parking) along McMillan and Calhoun streets between Vine Street and Clifton Avenue.

Corryville
History of Key Redevelopment Events

   Hampton Inn                                                              Kroger’s
        

Pre-2007 – University of Cincinnati provides jump start to Corryville redevelopment by helping form the Vine Street Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (VCURC) and providing more than $3 million in financing for VCURC to purchase 20 parcels scattered over an eight block area.

2007 – Uptown Consortium unveils Short Vine “bookend” strategy, calling for $50 million in development projects on both ends of the street, working toward the middle.  Consortium retains Towne Properties as its development advisor.

2008 – Anchor Properties, one of the Midwest’s premier developers of regional shopping centers, secures site control of University Plaza.  Consortium pledges its support and makes Towne Properties available as an advisory resource to Anchor.

2008 – Towne Properties releases its “University Village Plan,” which defines four “character zones” (neighborhood retail, entertainment, civic and hospitality/retail); Anchor Properties site plan for University Plaza is folded into the overall plan.

2008 – Consortium affiliate acquires VCURC portfolio for $3 million and earmarks additional $2 million for future acquisitions.

2008 – Uptown Cincinnati Development Fund issues term sheet for nearly $20 million to finance Hampton Inn development.

 
 
Mt. Auburn:
History of Key Redevelopment Events

Riddle House

 


2006 – MAHAP Properties, LLC was formed to guide redevelopment progress in Mt. Auburn and begin property acquisitions.  UCI affiliate owns over $1 million in real estate property – purchases, subdivides and re-sale the historic Adam Riddle House Estate.

2007 – Working with the Cincinnati Park Board, concludes land use studies to leverage Uptown’s plentiful green space in the area’s revitalization and redevelopment.  The redevelopment target area is focused at Hopkins and Jackson Hill Parks.

2008 –Redevelopment plans for Mt. Auburn deferred pending the Christ Hospital decision to join Uptown Consortium.

Communications, Neighborhood Services and Public Safety

In Collaboration with community stakeholders and key partner organizations, the consortium has:

• Provided $260,000 in grants to community organizations
• Completed the development of a brand identity for Uptown Cincinnati and began to initiate brand-building activities through a series of meetings with neighborhood community councils, business associations, consortium member employees and other key stakeholders
• Reviewed academic performance data for all Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) in the Uptown area and engaged in ongoing dialog with CPS
• Sponsored and engaged in community improvement programs such as Community Care Week (in conjunction with United Way) and World Changers
  

In Collaboration with the Cincinnati Police Department, the consortium has:

• Budgeted more than $100,000 to hire off-duty police officers to reduce crime in Uptown’s identified “hot spots”; hot spots are high crime areas that have been identified by police reports, community complaints and tracking reports provided by UC’s School of Criminal Justice
• Sponsored “Operation Cease Fire,” a community meeting to present and discuss solutions for eliminating gun violence in Uptown at Avondale.