BY LISA DONOVAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati city officials would like to expand the urban home show Citirama to two sites - the original site in Mount Lookout and a second location in Price Hill.
That recommendation is contained in a city report that also addresses some of the questions city council members raised about a proposed $550,000 subsidy for the show and related development in upscale Mount Lookout.
"It is our belief that the purposes of Citirama should be to encourage the development of houses in the city for homeownership in neighborhoods where such investment could spur additional improvements," City Director of Neighborhood Services Cheryl Meadows wrote in a report dated today.
She said any city contribution to Citirama should be for the purposes of making housing affordable to "persons of modest means" as well as making projects economically viable for home builders. Her conclusion? The Mount Lookout development, with homes worth up to $300,000, does not meet the criteria.
Nonetheless, a deal has been inked for Citirama 1999, sponsored by the city and the Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati, in Mount Lookout.
So officials are recommending the city kick in $415,000 for sewer and road improvements and the developer spend $1.7 million for infrastructure and site improvements.
The Mount Lookout site , just west of the intersection of Delta Avenue and Mica Street, will include 25 homes.
City officials propose a second Citirama site in a section of Price Hill known as Queens Pointe. The city would kick in a $450,000 infrastructure subsidy for the proposed 11-unit housing development. Each home would cost $120,000 to $150,000.
Few details were available about the proposed site late Monday. "Inclusion of this project in the mix for 1999 helps to further the city's objectives by providing a range of ownership housing for a broad range of families," Ms. Meadows wrote in her report. "By tying these two developments together, we broaden the base of owners we can attract to the city."
Citirama will be discussed in council's neighborhoods committee today at 2 p.m. at City Hall, 801 Plum St.
Council is expected to take final action on the recommendations during Wednesday's council meeting.
