PC to consider final plan of first Burnet phase

On Friday, the City Planning will consider the final development plan for Phase I of the Burnet Avenue project.

The $52 million redevelopment of 8.48 acres bounded roughly by Burnet, Harvey and Maple avenues and Hickory Street was approved in August 2006 as part of the Burnet Avenue Urban Renewal Plan.

The final development plan, which was prepared by Al Neyer, Inc. and DNK Architects, differs from the concept plan only in building square footages and in parking spaces provided. The differences are negligible.

The preliminary concept plan establishing PD (Planned Development District) 50 was approved by the City Planning Commission on May 18 and by City Council on June 6.

Approval by the City Planning Commission is expected. City Council would then have to approve of the final plan, which would clear the developers to begin.

Most of the project site has already been cleared. Only a few single-family homes remain.


Medical office building

The largest structure to be built will be a six-story, 126,000-square-foot medical office building.

The building will be clad in Prodema, aluminum panels, and "curtain walls", which will be used to break up the building's mass.

On the north side of the building, the sixth floor will be cantilevered slightly over an outdoor dining area.


Mixed-use building for the Cincinnati Herald

A three-story, 44,000-square-foot mixed use building will occupy the corner of Burnet and Northern avenues, just to the north of the medical office building.

The top two floors of this building will be occupied by offices of the Cincinnati Herald. At street level, storefront windows will contain either retail or a restaurant.

This building will also consist of Prodema, alternated with horizontal bands of windows. Curved aluminum canopies will bracket the corners at the second floor and at the roofline.


Parking garage

Tucked within the block will be a six-level, 1,450-space parking garage.

Most of the visible facade of the garage will be along Northern Avenue, where two entries will be located.

The most visible treatments on the facade will be curved mesh panels and lighted stair towers of glass and aluminum curtain walls.


Other notes

* Up to 56 Condominiums along Harvey Avenue are part of Phase IA. City Council will have to approve the final development plan for that phase at a later date.

* A pocket park containing an outdoor dining area will be located between the two commercial buildings.

* Streetlights will be similar to those used along Martin Luther King Drive (between Burnet and Vine), and pedestrian walkways will be lit by lighting similar to that within Theodore M. Berry International Friendship Park.

* Unifying signage design is in the very early stages.

Further reading on BC, including site plan, map and aerial:
City sells land to Uptown Consortium for $1 (6/25/07)
City rezoning advances Burnet project (6/20/07)
Avondale: Burnet Avenue Zoning Study (5/1/07)