Hearing on Oakley Station remediation tonight

Residents can learn more about what it will take to clean up the former Cincinnati Milling Machine industrial site in Oakley for redevelopment during a public meeting at 6:30 P.M. tonight at the Oakley Recreation Center, 3882 Paxton Avenue.

Developer and property owner Vandercar Holdings is seeking up to $3 million in Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund (CORF) program funding to remediate the 74-acre site for its $120 million Oakley Square project, a mixed-use development including a movie theater, apartments, offices, retail, and restaurants.

Attendees will be able to see the plans and provide comments on the CORF application.

Planning for the site has been in the works since 2003.

In 2008, Vision Land Development signed a development agreement with the City to build a $300 million, 2 million-square-foot mixed-use project including office space, retail, residential, hotels, and a village square.

A soft economy and delays on the $30 million Kennedy Connector road project killed those plans, and Vandercar purchased 67 of the 74 acres in December 2010.

A contractor for the demolition of the nearly 2 million square feet of dilapidated industrial buildings is expected to be named this month.

On April 1, the Cincinnati City Planning Commission will review the most recent development plan. The Oakley Community Council will provide an update at its April 5 meeting.

Vandercar Holdings developed the adjacent 440,000-square-foot Center of Cincinnati power center featuring big box retailers such as Sam's Club, Target, Meijer, and PetSmart.

Previous reading on BC:
Cincinnati to apply for federal transportation grants (4/1/10)
Oakley open house shows Kennedy Connector preferred alternative (6/25/09)
Vision Land puts Millworks plans on website (7/22/08)
Newest Millworks site plan (2/5/08)
Millworks site plan and TIF projects (11/20/07)