Friday, July 09, 1999
Housing demand near stadiums
expected to rise
River views at a premium
BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
David Imboden stands on the deck of his East End condominium and gazes across the Ohio River at the green hills of Northern Kentucky. “That,” he said, taking in the view, “is why you should have housing on the riverfront.”
While Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky have hundreds of apartments and condominiums with views of the river, those who sell and rent the properties know people are hungry for more.
To capitalize on the river's pull, the advocacy group Downtown Cincinnati Inc. (DCI) is pushing planners to recommend new housing be built between the Bengals' Paul Brown Stadium and the new Reds ballpark.
A new study commissioned by DCI predicts the demand for such housing exists and that rents could support such a development with little or no public subsidy.
The study by PMD Advisory Services, a ZA Consulting Co., makes clear it's difficult to predict such demand years into the future. But it concludes that “demand for downtown housing is very strong and prospects for self-sustaining residential development on the Central Riverfront are extremely bright!”
The study also says:
• The people most likely to live on the central riverfront are “20- and 30-something” professionals, empty-nesters and active retiree households with incomes higher than $50,000.
• Riverfront housing and retail developments must offer “luxury living spaces, parking and security with easy access to amenities.”
• Demand for such housing will be there as long as the regional economy continues to be as healthy as it is today.
“The real key is to create that one-of-a-kind destination attraction,” said PMD Director Bob Bode, who wrote the study. “To transform the riverfront into a very friendly, urban environment.”
The demand for city housing with river views is no surprise to developers such as Mr. Imboden. But nobody expects housing on the central riverfront to duplicate the projects built by Mr. Imboden, president of Alumni Builders Inc.
His Riverfront East Condominiums are garden-style townhouses, with decks and private garages; and the dramatic vistas offer an almost bucolic view. Prices range from $375,000 to $500,000, and he is building 15 more homes called Riverfront Terrace. He plans to show them off at his “River Rama” open house later this month.
Developments with river views range from $79,000 for a one-bedroom Riverside Terrace condominium in Covington to $1.5 million for a three-bedroom condominium at Adam's Place in Cincinnati, according to the PMD study. Rental property ranges from $470 a month for a studio apartment in Highland Tower in Mount Adams to $1,550 a month for a two-bedroom apartment in that same building, the study said.
In Covington, Corporex Cos. is planning to build a new $34 million office tower with 12 upscale condominiums just west of the new Cincinnati Marriott Hotel on RiverCenter Boulevard.
City officials there think the demand for housing with river views is just as strong — if not stronger — on the south side of the river, said Covington Economic Development Director Ella Frye.
“There's a pretty strong market in Northern Kentucky because one of the things we always celebrate is our views of Cincinnati,” she said.
In fact, Covington officials are studying the possibility of developing more housing on that city's western riverfront, she said.
But Cincinnati's central riverfront offers a setting that's entirely different from existing developments or any in the works. Apartments and condominiums there would be part of a bigger mixed-use development with shops, restaurants and office space.
The housing also would be flanked on either side by massive structures — the football stadium to the west, the Reds new ballpark and Firstar Center to the east.
“How do you make it feel comfortable and residential in the shadow of these huge structures? I'm not certain,” said Neil Bortz, who would like for his Towne Properties to be part of any riverfront housing development. “But can it be done? I think so.”
In fact, PMD expects central riverfront housing to be so desirable, the study estimates rents could fetch as much as $2,200 a month for a three-
bedroom apartment and that a three-bedroom condominium could sell for as much as $935,000.
Central riverfront apartment buildings and condominiums would sit atop large garages stretching between the two stadiums. The garages probably wouldn't provide the exclusive parking that other developments offer.
The central riverfront housing would be the low-rise neighbor to the 26-story One Lytle Place apartment building.
The buildings being discussed for the central riverfront would sit six or eight stories high. (Taller buildings are prohibited under Hamilton County's lease agreement with the Bengals because they would block the views from the stadium.)
Opened nearly 20 years ago, One Lytle Place sits just east of the Firstar Center arena, much closer to the hustle and bustle of the riverfront than other river-view housing developments.
That activity is what many residents have come to love.
“It's as close to heaven as you can get,” said Phyllis Karp of Main Auction Galleries, downtown, who has lived there for nearly 19 years.
“I was the first person to ever rent an apartment there,” she said. “It's been a joy. When you can come home at night after a hard day at work and look at the river — the river's so soothing.”
The proximity to the action also offers its perks, she said.
“On fireworks night, you can hold your hand out and almost touch them,” Ms. Karp said.
But the big hurdle for the development of housing on the central riverfront is parking.
The garages that Hamilton County plans to build between the two stadiums will offer as many as 8,500 spaces. But the Bengals will be entitled to as many as 5,000 of those on game days, and the Reds will be entitled to 3,500 of them, based on the agreements the county has with the teams.
In addition, the Firstar Center has parking guarantees from the county, and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, to be built atop the garages, is guaranteed several hundred spaces, too.
And officials planning a waterfront park south of those garages want to be able to host 100,000 people at a time on the riverfront for events like Oktoberfest and Taste of Cincinnati.
So where would residents park on days when there's lots of action on the riverfront?
“For nine games out of the year, people aren't going to be able to park there,” said Kathy Laker Schwab, who is leading DCI's efforts to increase downtown housing. “I don't think it's a monumental problem.”
Mr. Bode calls parking “a planning challenge” but said he's comfortable that parking problems will be addressed in any development plan.
It's something the Cincinnati Riverfront Advisory Commission continues to study as it prepares its recommendation for what kind of development should be built between the two stadiums, said Mark McKillip, principal architect for the city of Cincinnati who works with the commission.
Commission Chairman Jack Rouse has said his group's plan will include housing on the central riverfront, to keep the district vibrant and alive 24 hours a day.
And that, Mr. Bortz said, will be the key to the central riverfront's success, whatever is built there.
“If we can make our riverfront our equivalent of the North Shore in Chicago and connect it seamlessly with the core, we'll have a leg up on our competitors,” he said. “This is really exciting stuff.”
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