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Why are so many buildings in Over-the-Rhine abandoned? More to the point, what will happen to them? The answer inevitably varies from building to building. Beginning this week, CityBeat showcases a series of blighted buildings in Cincinnati neighborhoods. This is our effort to highlight a resource too often overlooked as the city looks for ways to revitalize neighborhoods, address the demand for affordable housing and spur economic development. Where better to start than in City Hall’s own backyard, Over-the-Rhine, a community praised for its architectural treasure and sometimes reviled as a haven of hopelessness.
Address: 1828 Elm St.
Owner: City of Cincinnati
Purchase date: July 24, 2000
Sale price: Gift, from Eleftherios and Mercene Karkadoulias, who bought it in 1972
Current value: $9,200, down from $9,800 in 1998, according to the Hamilton County Auditor.
Comments: 1828 Elm St. is part of a nine-building plan called “Findlay Market Housing Initiative One,” including buildings along Elm and Elder streets. The request for development went through 14 months ago, and the details are just now being finalized with the city and the developer, Sheer and Sheer.
Plans call for selling the buildings for $115,000 to $345,000 each after renovation, according to Herb Washington, senior community development analyst in the Department of Community Development.
Washington says the city hopes the new owner offers a market-style business for the first floor.
“All buildings will be stabilized, gutted and cleaned, designing interiors to accommodate the needs of the new owners,” Washington says. “Someone who is spending that much on a unit, they may like the façade, but not like the interior. Since we aren’t working with the constraint of time, we are able to have an end product that would accommodate the user.”
Once Sheer and Sheer gets the go-ahead from city council, the work will take 18 to 24 months to complete. The first step is to repair the building’s “shell,” including the roof, masonry and floors, and cleaning the exterior before buyers are identified and plans made for the interior.
“What somebody chooses to make out of them is up to them,” says David Sheer of Sheer and Sheer. “It will make it a really delightful neighborhood, changing drastically in the next few years, transforming into a mixed income society. These will be fantastic places. It will be alive with life and specialty shops.” ©
This article appears in Mar 6-12, 2002.