Gorman: City needs 'hillside charrette' to connect OTR, Uptown

In order to facilitate market-rate development of the hillside between Over-the-Rhine and Uptown, Mulberry Views LLC president Joe Gorman suggests that the City convene a Hillside Charrette.

In a letter to City Council, Gorman says that, without public participation, development of the area dense with empty lots is "impossible".

"The charrette is a collaborative planning process that harnesses the talents and energies of all interested parties to create and support a feasibile plan that represents transformative community change," he says. "With a completed charrette study, developers will be able to create housing around design guidelines that are already in place."

Gorman says that with 3CDC's work to the south and the efforts of the Uptown Consortium to the north, Cincinnati has a "grand opportunity" to attract new development to the hillside.

The targeted area includes city view property roughly bounded by Sycamore, Dorsey, Rice and Peete streets.

"The Mulberry hillside in Cincinnati's Mt. Auburn and Over-the-Rhine neighborhoods is an asset that offers unlimited residential, transportation, and commercial keystone development opportunities," Gorman says.

Although half of Mulberry Street's 110 houses have been lost since 1975 due to fire, demolition, neglect, speculators, and other negative practices, Gorman says that it's the City that deserves much of the blame.

"The most pervasive problem was the City of Cincinnati's neglect as the area suffered from substandard public services - poor police coverage; minimal building inspections and compliance to building codes; rare street cleaning; weakening retaining walls; old water and sewer pipes; and streets, stair steps, sidewalks all in terrible shape."

Gorman does say that the limited amount of work that the City has done - in addition to improved police and fire protection - has resulted in strong market-rate housing development, such as:

* Mulberry Views, four new single-family houses on Mulberry Street and the first new construction there since 1892
* Excelsior Row, ten single-family houses on Sycamore Street built by Vineyard Homes
* Dorsey Mews, five single-family houses built by Dorian Development
* Breen-Fisher's two single-family houses on Dorsey Street and seven attached townhomes on Boal Street
* Five houses on Boal Street, built by Doug Spitz

He also notes that work has begun on a 16-unit market-rate project by Doug Spitz in the area of Hughes and Schiller streets, and that the efforts of individual rehabbers continue to benefit the hillside.

"They have taken formerly distressed, dense rental units and completely rehabbed them into larger units using high quality materials," Gorman says. "This investment in the housing stock further strengthens the quality of life of the hillside."

Gorman hopes that the City will provide the infrastructure necessary to make the hillside attractive for private development.

"The City of Cincinnati needs to contribute resources for retaining wall construction and repair, new water and sewer lines, new sidewalks and curbs, streetscaping (including underground utilities), lighting, etc.," he says.

A report from City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. is due before council in early August.