Monday, January 07, 2002
City short of housing goal, but closing in
By Ken Alltucker
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken nearly reached his goal of building 1,000 homes during 2001 — a year when the economy stumbled and April's riots scared many away from downtown and adjacent neighborhoods.
Even though the 930 units were the most new housing built in the city in a decade, records indicate Cincinnati still faces an uphill battle in turning around years of residential decline.
That's because there were far more homes demolished in the city than there were new homes built over the last decade, a period when Cincinnati lost 9 percent of its population.
Mr. Luken said he plans to “pick five things or less — things I'm going to focus my energy on” in 2002. “From my point of view, (housing) is at the top of that list.”
The mayor will outline his housing goals Thursday at the mayor's annual State of the City speech — the same forum he chose a year ago to unveil the 1,000-home goal, along with improving race rela tions, as priorities.
Housing is a crucial challenge because so many problems that the city faces relate to housing — economic development, revitalizing neighborhoods and stemming population loss, Mr. Luken said.
The city hopes to improve the home ownership rate — now 38 percent, which is among the nation's lowest. Key to that is building new homes and improving the city's aging housing stock.
City records show Cincinnati did much better in the first category in 2001. Building permits were issued for 732 new homes and apartments; two former downtown factories also are being converted into more than 200 apartments.
The second problem is tougher. Cincinnati added 3,729 homes from 1990 through 1999, while it demolished 4,214 during that same period.
Red tape a problem
No matter if they're planning construction or renovations, developers who choose to build in Cincinnati say it's difficult and frustrating to wade through City Hall's red tape.
“It's been an absolutely bizarre ordeal,” said developer Joe Gorman, who says attempts to build six homes on Mulberry Street in Mount Auburn have been bogged down by the city's bureaucracy and April's riots. “If I had known this time period was going to happen to me on the Mulberry Homes project, I would never have gone to the city.”
Mr. Gorman owns the property but needed to assemble a complex funding package from public and private sources to actually build the homes.
The Cincinnati Development Fund agreed to help finance the $1.5 million project, but only after Mr. Gorman sold four of six homes and received extra funding from the city of Cincinnati.
Mr. Gorman appealed to the city for financial help in July 2000, but his request wasn't approved until April 2001 — just days before the riots.
He didn't market the homes before the city approved the $180,000 because, without city funds, the project wouldn't get built.
The delay cost Mr. Gorman. He had trouble selling homes after the riots and eventually teamed with another builder, Vineyard Homes, to tackle a smaller, four-house project.
“I'm hoping to be part of Luken's strategy here,” Mr. Gorman said. “I'm trying to jump start this street.”
Since Mr. Gorman began acquiring property on Mulberry Street in 1980, 15 homes have been demolished, he said. No new homes have been built.
Changes coming
Mr. Luken is familiar with developers' complaints and hinted that changes are in the works.
Possibilities range from a one-stop permit shop where builders can get answers from various city departments, to friendlier city employees.
“I call it customer service,” Mr. Luken said. “You get in the habit of not just enforcing codes, but helping them move through all the regulations.”
Developers like that kind of talk, but turning those words into actual practice will be the job of the city manager selected by Mr. Luken.
“The selection of the next city manager will have a huge amount to do with the culture at City Hall,” said Arn Bortz, owner of Towne Properties and a former Cincinnati mayor. “The next city manager has the ability to dramatically change the mind set.”
Issue 5 is another powerful club Mr. Luken and his hand-picked city manager will wield. It gives the city manager the ability to hire or fire the city's top 98 managers, who are no longer protected by civil service laws.
That will remove the feeling of invincibility held by many city employees, Mr. Bortz said.
Departments merged
Mr. Luken already has merged the city's department of neighborhood services and economic development under the management of Peg Moertl, recruited to City Hall over a year ago from the private sector.
“Charlie has the ability to wipe the slate clean,” Mr. Bortz said. “Many of the people who have driven developers nuts for years will be history, and deservedly so.”
The idea is to create a more nimble city bureaucracy that can respond quicker to developers. As in the case of Mr. Gorman, opportunities to build projects can be fleeting, and the quicker the city responds the better chance the project will be built.
“There are so many different departments you have to go through,” said Jerry Honerlaw of Vineyard Homes, a developer of this year's Citirama home show in Northside. “Sometimes people are just not interested in giving you an approval.”
Many of the changes are already in the works. In addi tion to merging neighborhood services and economic development departments, the city is undergoing an ambitious plan to rewrite its zoning code.
The zoning code changes intend to spur development of more single-family homes in neighborhoods that have been saturated with homes built or converted for two or more families. It will have the biggest impact on one dozen neighborhoods close to downtown such as East Price Hill and Walnut Hills.
The old zoning code “really destabilized a lot of our older, traditional, single-lot neighborhoods,” said Planning Director Liz Blume. “You had these historically single-family neighborhoods that became denser.”
Downtown demand
Mr. Luken realizes it's a critical period for the city to capitalize on a nationwide trend of more young professionals and adults with grown children seeking homes downtown or neighborhoods near downtown.
The demand for downtown housing will be tested over the next several months as major projects are completed.
The first 108 of nearly 1,100 apartments and homes are nearing completion in the West End. It's part of the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority's redevelopment of two public housing projects.
The conversion of the Krippendorf and Power buildings downtown are scheduled to be completed later this year, adding more than 200 apartments.
There are also long-term projects in the works.
Developer Tom Williams has reached a deal to purchase 201 apartment buildings and 99 vacant properties in Over-the-Rhine from Hart Realty. He eventually plans to rebuild those units.
Towne Properties is studying the possibility of building large condo developments downtown and at the base of Mount Adams. The Banks riverfront development between the two sports stadiums could add hundreds of new homes.
Mr. Luken sees these future housing developments as an important part of making Cincinnati a “24-hour” city where people shop, live and work.
“This hits on all the things we want — economic development, revitalizing neighborhoods and improving the number of residents,” Mr. Luken said. “There is nothing I will be working on more. Will it be successful? I think it will.”
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