Death on Dandridge

Due to a poor economy and a lack of City attention, Over-the-Rhine's Pendleton neighborhood has more abandoned buildings added to its collection.

The first phase of the Galleries at Pendleton project, a string of eight townhomes along Dandridge Street, has stalled indefinitely.

"The main thing that contributed is the economy," says Gary Zakem, owner and founder of developer Gary Mark Custom Homes. "We're just caught in the crossfire."

As envisioned, the two-phased project would have included 17 townhomes - with eight on Dandridge Street, five on Pendleton Street and four on Spring Street - on land obtained from the Over-the-Rhine Foundation and from the City of Cincinnati.

Units would have ranged from between 1,100 and 2,500 square feet and would have been priced from $165,000 to $400,000.

Zakem says that Dandridge Street was the best place to start because it was considered the cheapest site for the first phase, and there were pre-existing plans.

"The City held this big ceremony, with all kinds of public officials," he says. "And everyone was talking about how great it was going to be."

After investing more than $500,000 in retaining walls and other infrastructure in the project, things began to fall apart quickly.

Zakem says that the City refused to issue him building permits until he replaced the entire street's water line - including new tap-ins to existing properties - at a cost of $75,000.

"They told me that the original, old water line wasn't sufficient to service eight condos," he says. "And then the Cincinnati Water Works goes out and replaces every single water line in Pendleton except for the one on Dandridge."

To make matters worse, open-air drug dealing was allowed to continue at the corner of Pendleton and 13th streets despite numerous attempts to have the dealers run off.

"To be honest, with the sheriff's patrols, it got a little better," Zakem says. "But it was hard to bring people down there with a dozen young guys hanging out on the corner. Some people were too afraid to even get out of the car."

In addition to feeling unsafe, the street was unattractive due to the inattention of street sweepers and litter crews.

"They said that the litter was my problem," he says. "It's a real shame. That could be a really nice area with places like the Pendleton Art Center around."

Though most of Zakem's work has occurred in the region's northern suburbs, he does have City building experience at the Villages of Daybreak in Bond Hill.

But Zakem says that this time he felt "jacked around" by the City's permitting process.

"I couldn't get someone to pass off a permit to a person in another department, who was literally 20 feet away," he says. "It just sat there on the desk. I went in there personally to get it done, and the person had left for the day early."

Despite the problems, Zakem did have two buyers place deposits on units in 2006, but eventually lost them when the promised improvements never came and the project stalled.

"We had a lot of interest in it," he says. "But then we'd bring people down there to see it, and they'd be turned off. You'd have to be pretty liberal-minded to want to live there."

So what is the future of the Galleries at Pendleton?

"It's dead in the water," Zakem says.

Zakem says that there's no way that he can possibly complete the project, and that no City officials have offered any assistance in getting the project done.

"It's going to sit there until someone purchases it, I guess," he says.

Still standing are two vacant 1870s-era buildings at 1333-1335 Pendleton Street, which were to be demolished for the project's second phase.

Now, they'll likely remain there until the City tears them down.

"The roofs are damaged and it's just letting the water in," Zakem says. "They're pretty much just shells, and they're not structurally sound."

Zakem says he never did ask for any City money, but they could have done other things to help.

"The City could have supported the surrounding area more," he says. "They could have made it safer, and more desirable. Looking back, we could have partnered together to help me avoid all of these problems."

Previous reading on BC:
Galleries at Pendleton photo update, 2/16/08 (2/22/08)
Photo update: The Galleries at Pendleton (8/31/07)