By Randy Tucker
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Barrels and a newly installed sidewalk line Colerain Avenue in Colerain Township. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

Almost $25 million in new construction and redevelopment has been pumped into Colerain Township in the past nine months, township officials say, giving a face-lift to the retail corridor along Colerain Avenue near Northgate Mall.

Once littered with empty storefronts, the corridor is now home to a Target store, Jeff Wyler Honda dealership, Panera Bread bakery and restaurant, and the Colerain Brewing Co. bar and pub. Construction is under way on a Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant and Gold's Gym as well as several smaller retailers, including Mike's Express Carwash, and a Midas muffler and brake shop.

For Colerain Township residents, the wave of new development means they no longer have to trek east to larger retail areas near Tri-County Mall and Kenwood Towne Centre to find more of their favorite stores and restaurants.

And those residents have their new neighbors to thank, said Frank Birkenhauer, Colerain Township's assistant administrator.

"The demographics in Colerain Township are changing, and it has changed the whole face of retail in the area,'' Birkenhauer said. "There are seven subdivisions under construction in the area now, with homes ranging from $250,000 to a half a million dollars. Retailers are noticing that the Colerain Township area is becoming more affluent and that those residents want more service in their retail.''

Also aiding the township's renaissance and helping attract retailers to the area has been an explosion in office space, Birkenhauer said.

An Armed Forces Career Center is set to open soon just south of Northgate. One of Greater Cincinnati's biggest real estate companies, Star One, is to open a new office building just south of Interstate 275 on Colerain Avenue. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, Birkenhauer said.

"All these new office workers will want to be near places to have lunch and to shop, and the new development in the area is reflecting the needs of the community and wants and desires of the community,'' he said.

To accommodate the influx of new retail and office developments and the traffic they will bring, Colerain Township leaders - with financial assistance from the state of Ohio and Hamilton County - had to make some much-needed improvements to Colerain Avenue.

With four lanes to accommodate more than 60,000 cars a day, Colerain Avenue didn't even have a median until recently and is known for congestion.

Close to $15 million has been invested in sidewalks, a median and deceleration lanes to channel traffic into turn lanes along Colerain Avenue, Birkenhauer said. A new pedestrian bridge near the intersection of Springdale and Colerain avenues has been erected to provide safe passage for people who want to visit the mall and the new shops and restaurants across the street from the mall.

"In the past, when people would speak of traffic and poor planning, they would think of Colerain,'' Birkenhauer said. "Now, Colerain Avenue is being used as an example of how to rectify problems of the past.''

E-mail rtucker@enquirer.com