De Cavel plans restaurant in ‘Gateway Quarter’

By Joe Wessels
Post contributor

Cincinnati restaurateur Jean-Robert de Cavel plans to open a new restaurant late this year or early next in the city’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, joining a growing group of business owners giving the troubled neighborhood a chance.

The owner of popular downtown restaurants JeanRo Bistro and Jean-Robert at Pigall’s said he plans to open a café akin to his Greenup Café, near the foot of the Suspension Bridge in Covington’s Licking Riverside neighborhood.

The site of the new restaurant is now a vacant building on Vine Street between 12th and 13th streets in the newly dubbed “Gateway Quarter” area – where 93 moderately priced condos are under construction in an effort spearheaded by the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp., or 3CDC.

“I think it will be a perfect combination for the neighborhood, with a young, hip crowd,” de Cavel said Thursday.

De Cavel’s new venture will follow the opening of MetroNation, a contemporary downtown gift shop and home accessories store that has agreed to expand by 66 percent and relocate to 1213 Vine St., next to de Cavel’s business. It hopes to open by early June.

And Below Zero, a martini and piano bar, open in the location of the former Alchemize Bar on Walnut Street early this summer. Its owner is former Hamburger Mary’s/Universal Grille co-owner Nigel Cotterill.

No name is picked out yet for the de Cavel’s new eatery. He is referring to it as the “Greenup Annex,” until the project is further along, he said.

The café, which will have a European feel and operate at first for breakfast and lunch only and specialize in pastries and food made from scratch, will have outdoor seating on the sidewalk and on a rooftop outdoor patio, he said.

Over-the-Rhine supporters began wooing de Cavel about a year ago. He said initially said he wasn’t interested, but encouraged them to contact him later. They did and said things felt different when he toured the neighborhood a second time.

“We were very impressed with how the neighborhood is being built,” he said. “They put a lot of things into it. They are doing the best they can to make this a hot area.”

Renovations should begin by year’s end, de Cavel said.

George Crawford and Jerry Schmidt, a couple who own MetroNation and live in the Betts Longworth neighborhood on downtown Cincinnati’s western edge, said they also felt leery about moving their successful business into an area that has been battered by crime and blight. But the recent development in the area changed their minds.

“I told them definitely no,” Crawford said. But months later he and Schmidt’s opinion changed.

“You can feel the energy up there,” Crawford said. “If people haven’t been up there, they are going to be very shocked. People who have been leery of Over-the-Rhine and stayed out, they are going to be shocked when they see how those blocks have been brought around.”

Their new store will have 2,650 square feet. Crawford and Schmidt also plan to now carry a large line of furniture, designed specifically for urban living, among other home goods-type items, Schmidt said.

The MetroNation owners are friends with Dan Korman, who will open Park + Vine, a new “green” general store in the next block south, and Cotterill. Both stores are aiming to open by June 3, in time for the Over-the-Rhine Summer Tour of Homes that day.

Cincinnati Post

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BY JON NEWBERRY | JNEWBERRY@ENQUIRER.COM
March 27, 2007

OVER-THE-RHINE – Looking for an affordable and not-too-adventurous way to become a part of Cincinnati’s urban revival? Four developers think they may have the answer at 12th and Vine streets.

B2B Equities, Model Group, Northpointe Group and Urban Sites have banded together to market 93 new and renovated condominiums within a block of 12th and Vine. Including the new Gateway One condos on Vine between Central Parkway and 12th, they’re being marketed as a group under the common name “Gateway Quarter.”

The Gateway One condos are the area’s only new-construction residences. They were completed in May 2006, and seven of 28 units have been sold. List prices of those remaining range from $99,450 for a 663-square-foot unit on the lower level to $261,872 for a 1,150-square-foot condo on the top floor. Monthly condo fees range from $108 up to $305 for the largest unit.

Prices for 65 renovated condos on Vine, 12th, Republic and Race streets range all the way from $85,000 for a 636-square-foot unit at Bremen Lofts on Republic Street to more than $360,000 for certain units at Duncanson Lofts and Duveneck Flats on Vine Street. All of the renovated units offer off-street parking but not garages.

The renovated condos in 14 older buildings are expected to be available for occupancy by June. A Gateway Quarter sales office in space formerly occupied by the Bank Café officially opens for business Wednesday. Builder Resources, a Blue Ash-based real estate brokerage, has been hired to manage sales.

The 12th and Vine intersection not long ago had the dubious distinction of being one of the most popular sites in the city for Cincinnati Police calls. It’s now the hub of an arts-oriented residential and commercial district that’s springing up around the nearby Art Academy, Ensemble Theater and Know Theater.

The developers, who all build and sell other condo renovations on their own, decided to pool their efforts in this instance because of the projects’ proximity and the area’s potential. Cincinnati Center City Development Corp., better known as 3CDC, arranged for about $17 million of the financing for the privately owned projects.

“We thought it was important to create a sense of place,” said Bobby Maly, vice president of development for Model Group. “We’re selling a lot more than just condos.”

Brandon Smith, partner at B2B Equities, said it’s the first time developers have been able to rebuild a whole block of Over-the-Rhine at one time.

The name was chosen because it’s suggestive of the French Quarter in New Orleans, Maly said. But there’s no Bourbon Street in the Gateway Quarter, as 3CDC has already shut down just about every alcoholic beverage outlet in the area except the 1132 Bar at the corner of 12th and Race. Main Street, which is known for its nightclubs and restaurants and where redevelopment efforts began in earnest many years ago, is two blocks east.

Steve Leeper, 3CDC’s chief executive, said its strategy will be to keep about 100 new residential units coming onto the market every year for the next few years. It controls scores of additional vacant buildings and empty parcels, many in the blocks just north of the current projects and soon-to-be-expanded Washington Park.

“We intend to just keep rolling,” Leeper said.

The non-profit development corporation recently closed on two acquisitions in the immediate area, including the parking lot at the northeast corner of 12th and Vine, for which it paid $375,000 according to Hamilton County property records, and two adjacent buildings up the block at the southeast corner of 13th and Vine, for which it paid $500,000.

Darrick Dansby, 3CDC’s development director for Over-the-Rhine, said it’s going to resurface and landscape the parking lot. Simply removing a chain link fence that used to surround the lot has made a significant improvement to the intersection, he said. Parking spaces will be available for clients and customers of the businesses in the newly renovated ground floor spaces along Vine Street.

Signed tenants include a Fifth Third Bank mortgage office; Park + Vine, which bills itself as a “green” general store; a new restaurant by an operator who already has several downtown; and Metronation, a retailer of specialty home accessories and gifts that’s relocating from 9th and Elm.

Leeper said the parking lot, part of which extends to Jackson Street across from the Art Academy, could be redeveloped in the future as a building site. There are no firm plans yet for the buildings at 13th and Vine, he said.

Rick Kimbler, partner at Northpointe Group, said the Gateway Quarter units coming on line should take three or four years to sell at a rate of 20-to-25 condos a year. One benefit of marketing the units as a group is that, together, they have units that appeal to and are affordable for a wide variety of potential buyers, he said.

Leeper said there’s a fine line between building too many units too fast and building enough new units to keep the momentum going so that new residents don’t get the feeling that they’re pioneers for too long.

Colin Groth, 24, a community and government relations coordinator for Metro and the Southern Ohio Regional Transit Authority, recently signed a contract for the top-floor unit at Bremen Lofts on Republic Street. He cited his desire for an urban lifestyle, the ability to walk to Findlay Market and downtown, and his office in the Kroger Building.

“I can see my office from my home, and vice versa,” Groth said. “I like the fact that I’m going to give up my car, walk and enjoy the scenery.”

Get rid of his car?

“Not immediately, but I’m hoping to in the next couple of years,” he said, adding that he hopes the city has streetcars running through the neighborhood by then.

Groth grew up in Cincinnati and has been living in Hyde Park. He plans to entrench himself in the Over-the-Rhine community, but he also thinks his condo is a good investment.

“The affordability is pretty amazing for a metropolitan area of this size,” he said.

His 1,400-square-foot condo, plus a 200-square-foot deck with “a great view of Music Hall,” was listed for $174,000, or less than $125 per square foot. By comparison, list prices for renovated condos downtown, just a few blocks south, generally start at $200 or more per square foot and go up from there. High-rise condos on the riverfront are being marketed for $400 and more per square foot.

Cincinnati Enquirer

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March 27, 2007

The first step in Cincinnati’s effort to redevelop the southwestern end of Over-the-Rhine will be unveiled Wednesday.

The city, the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. (3CDC), and local developers will hold a grand opening for the Gateway Quarter at 12th and Vine streets, according to a news release. The development includes almost 100 condominiums, ranging from $90,000 to $300,000, in 15 renovated buildings, plus 20,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.

The condos come with tax abatements, off-street parking, hardwood floors, loft features and modern finishes, the city said in the release.

The Gateway Quarter is the first phase of a redevelopment plan that will include the area around Music Hall and Washington Park, along with a new School for Creative and Performing Arts to be built at Central Parkway and Elm Street.

Cincinnati Business Courier

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March 27, 2007
By Nicole Hamilton

DOWNTOWN – Start asking those who cycle Downtown why they do it and you’ll get all kinds of answers. Is it for the exercise? Sure. To save money? Absolutely. To help the environment? You bet.

Whatever the reason, Cincinnati cycling advocates are laying the foundation for a greener Downtown, and a lot of people are riding it.

“It’s definitely a growing lifestyle,” says Adrienne Hardesty, a longtime Downtown resident, who took up biking as her main mode of transportation about 10 years ago.

“I think biking makes for a cleaner, healthier way of life,” she says.

Along with her husband, Chris Carmichael, the two have logged serious miles biking daily to places like Findlay Market, Eden Park and Northern Kentucky. They own a car, but say it takes a far commute get them to put the thing into drive.

“I even got my bike out during the last crazy snowstorm,” say Hardesty. Committed to using the car as little as possible, they say they would rather walk and use Metro buses.

“Biking Downtown is pretty easy,” says Carmichael, who owns about five bikes. “Of course, it gets a little trickier when you try to go other places – the topography makes it tough.”

Hilly landscapes aside, the City has been key in helping make Cincinnati an easy ride for cyclists. There are eight bike lanes in the City – one links the Eighth Street viaduct to Downtown. Others can be found on Erie Avenue near Roselyn Avenue in Hyde Park; on Gilbert Avenue and Victory Parkway in Walnut Hills; and on Winchell Avenue in the West End. There are also bike lanes in the Clifton area between Eden Avenue and Vine Street.

Cincinnati’s Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (Bike/PAC) has been pivotal in getting bike racks on Metro buses and along City streets. They are also instrumental in getting the roadside sewer grates changed so that wheels don’t get stuck.

According to city engineer and bike enthusiast Jim Coppock, 51, every time the City plans major construction on a city street, they consider widening it to accommodate bike traffic.

“You can definitely tell if you are riding on a street that is widened,” says Carmichael. “It just seems a lot safer – you’re away from the cars.”

Coppock also says that the City’s current emphasis is on developing the community’s bike trails. One of the largest, he continues, is the expansion of the Lunken Bike Trail to Downtown. The route takes bikers along the Ohio River. Coppock says the plan is for the trail to be completed by the time The Banks open in Spring 2008.

And there are longer trails in the works. Carmichael says one of his and his wife’s favorite rides is up the Little Miami Bike Trail that starts in Milford and goes to Xenia – a hub for five major trails.

“Eventually, you’ll be able to ride the Little Miami trail all the way to Cleveland,” says Carmichael.

Don Burrell, 61, the bicycle and pedestrian coordinator for OKI – the area’s regional planning agency – says that one of the more exciting trails recently developed by the Adventure Cycling Association, links spots along the Underground Railroad from Mississippi to Ontario, Canada. A “spur” or day trip for cyclists on the route includes one to the Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati.

Burrell is the real deal. For more than two decades, he has been riding his bike from his home in Delhi Township to his job at OKI Downtown. He also writes a monthly column for the Cincinnati Cycling Club called “In My Backyard,” that tackles bike-advocacy issues.

To many cyclists living in the urban core, environmental and community activism is a major part of the lifestyle. Carmichael says he bikes so that he doesn’t have to give oil companies more money. The Cincinnati Cycling Club hosts bike outings where participants collect litter along the streets. And soon, the City will have a brand new bike cooperative, thanks to cyclist Julie Graff.

Called the MoBo Bike Co-op in honor of her late friend and fellow bike enthusiast, Justin Morioka, Graff has teamed up with Northside’s Green Village Gardening Community to offer a space where cyclists can repair their own bicycles.

Graff, 23, who says she was inspired by bike co-ops in places like Montreal and Boston, says the co-op offers classes on bike safety to cyclists as well as drivers.

“We want to make biking accessible to everyone,” says Graff.

The co-op will also help refurbish bicycles and sell new accessories.

And along the lines of making the City greener one cyclist at a time, Dan Korman, an Over-the-Rhine resident, will open his store Park + Vine, Downtown, in May. His store will feature goods for the ecologically-minded and will include an indoor bike rack. No stranger to cycling, Korman, 39, recently worked in marketing and communications for Chicago Bicycle Association.

And while he says there’s no point comparing the Windy City’s cycling initiatives to Cincinnati’s, he is positive about our Downtown community’s efforts to use more bikes. “If you go to the American Bike League’s Web site, you’ll read that a bike friendly community is one where municipal workers use bikes.”

Look around Downtown, says Korman, and you will see Cincinnati Police officers on bikes, as well as Downtown Cincinnati Inc.’s Downtown Ambassadors, who are on hand to assist Downtowners and help keep the streets safe and clean.

“I think we’re pretty bike-friendly,” he says.

And Cincinnati may be one pedal ahead of Northern Kentucky when it comes to urban cycling issues.

Jason Resor, owner of Resor Bicycle on Eighth and Monmouth Streets in Covington, hopes the government on his side of the River will sit up and take notice.

“Northern Kentucky isn’t as focused and directed [in bike-advocacy efforts],” says Resor, who has operated Resor Bicycle for about seven years.

He says that although the Kentucky Mountain Bike Association is active in getting new trails completed, there is not much happening in the way of better policies for the urban cyclist.

There are many governing bodies within a smaller area (than in Cincinnati) says Resor. And that can make things complicated, although there is progress.

“Boone County has been really stepping up. It has been widening some roads,” says Resor. “We are just trying to be a part of a greener Downtown [too].”

And many think that that may be happening, as more people witness such changes in other cities.

“Chris and I were in Portand, Oregon, recently,” says Hardesty. “We rode our bikes to a park in the middle of the city that didn’t allow cars. I mean, we’re talking a forest right in the middle of the city.”

Hardesty says she looked over at her husband, and asked him if he thought something like that could ever work in Cincinnati. He wasn’t so sure, she says.

“But I really think it could be done. Some day I think people here will be open to something like that.”

And she could be right. As more trails open and roads widen for cyclists, and as more living in the City’s core forego cars for bikes – even if it’s just to the market and back – Downtown may just be getting greener – one cyclist at a time.

Nicole can be contacted via e-mail at nhamilton@townmediainc.com.

Downtowner

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Out-of-town friends and Park + Vine advocates, Chris Brunn and Sujata (middle and right in photo below), visited the Queen City this past weekend. After a Saturday morning visit to Findlay Market, we walked through Over-the-Rhine and downtown with a stop at 1109 Vine Street. Afterwards, we headed to Newport, KY to rent bikes from Reser Bicycle Outfitters for Chris and Sujata so the three of us could explore the city on two wheels. It was an electrifying day and Chris documented it all on film. Chris plans to return June 1-3 for Park + Vine’s grand opening, while Sujata is heading to Cincinnati later this summer after a job assignment in Washington, DC.
There’s big news at the storefront. Model Group started interior demolition and electrical work on the space. Model is a major player in the revitalization of Over-the-Rhine, especially in the area of 12th and Vine Streets where multiple developers are bringing newly rehabbed units to the market. The Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation is hosting a grand opening 10 a.m. to noon March 28 at the Gateway Quarter sales office on the southwest corner of 12th and Vine Streets. Model Group President Steve Smith is speaking at the ceremony along with other city leaders. The public is invited.

This coming week we’re talking to more vendors, picking up more store fixtures, finalizing (hopefully) flooring and lighting selections, and talking up the store to as many willing ears as we can find. Stay tuned here for more updates.

-Dan Korman

We have to wait just a little longer before showing photos of the store’s progress, but that will change once construction starts. This could happen any day now and we mean it, especially since we’re opening in time for Bike To Work Week May 21-26, Final Friday May 25, and Fringe Festival May 30-June 10. The grand opening is June 1-3 in conjunction with the Over-the-Rhine Summer Tour of Homes.

Last week was busy. There was lunch with local writer and parrot aficionado Connie Menefee at Shanghai Mama’s, 216 E. 6th St., followed by a walk-through of 1109 Vine Street with her husband and son (both named John). There were a couple of appointments about setting up the point-of-sales system. Boring? Not really. The store has its first large fashion poster featuring a pouty model wearing a sweater and jeans. Park + Vine is a “lifestyle” store so hopefully this fixture will help create a fun shopping vibe. We’re looking for a poster with a woman to balance things out. Cincinnati family man and urban planner Sam McKinley is building the store’s palette bike rack as featured in the book ReadyMade so customers can park their bicycles inside with ease. Tom Duvall and Chris Glass, two of the creative forces behind Wire & Twine in Oxford, Ohio showed us their wares and discussed the possibility of putting them on Park + Vine’s shelves.

This coming week we’re meeting with lighting and flooring suppliers, talking to a vendor about setting up the online store, getting together with a local sales rep to discuss potential products for the store, picking up more store fixtures and nudging the contractor along. Stay tuned here for more updates…and photos.

-Dan Korman

St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner, and that always gets me thinking green. Of course, all things green – actions to protect the environment – are hot right now.

Whether you call it global warming or climate change, whether you want to help make America more energy independent or just want to reduce your energy bills, going green makes good sense.

It’s easy for small businesses to step up to the plate to do their part.

Reduce waste. Waste is something you paid for and didn’t consume – whether it’s packaging, excess raw materials or supplies, or keeping the heat or lights on in an empty room. Examine your production and operations to see how you can reduce waste and save money.

Replace high-energy-use light bulbs, fixtures, and equipment. Switch to low-energy use fluorescent light bulbs. Next, if you have old equipment, it may be time to upgrade. Look for energy-efficient office and production equipment. And unplug printers and monitors overnight and on weekends.

Buy recycled products. Look for “post-consumer waste” products, including stationery, packaging materials, paper towels and other kitchen and bathroom supplies.

Buy environmentally friendly products. The market for non-toxic supplies has exploded, giving you more affordable choices in items such as cleaning supplies, inks, and other materials.

Use recycled and non-toxic materials for production. If you’re a manufacturer, ask suppliers for environmentally-friendly materials. Who knows, they may even be less expensive than the raw materials you’re currently using.

Offer environmentally-friendly alternatives. If you’re a retailer, look for non-toxic, recycled, or organic products to sell. More and more consumers want such products.

Reduce commutes. Encourage carpooling. Perhaps some employees could telecommute – work from home – a few days a month or work four 10-hour days instead of five 8-hour days.

Conduct more of your business online. Do you really need to take the trip to the bank to transfer funds? Can you send a document via e-mail rather than by delivery service?

Open the windows or doors when the weather turns warm.

Buy hybrid cars.

Find innovative uses for excess inventory or waste or recycle. If your business generates a lot of waste, sit down with your employees to come up with ways to turn that waste into something useful.

Check online information sources. Start with the Federal Government’s Energy Star Web site for small business, www.energystar.gov/smallbiz. Another resource for businesses wanting to do something to help the environment is Greenbiz, www.greenbiz.com, which has links to and directories of Web sites with environmental information, including a searchable database of government programs and assistance.

Remember, little things add up. Turn off extra lights. Put recycling wastebaskets throughout the office. Turn off office equipment overnight and on weekends. Wear a sweater when you’re cold and open a window when you’re warm.

Rhonda Abrams writes books for entrepreneurs. Her latest is “Trade Show In A Day.” Register for Rhonda’s free business tips newsletter at www.PlanningShop.com.

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OVER-THE-RHINE – Dan Korman has returned to the Queen City to launch Park + Vine, a “green” general store that is expected to open in May at 1109 Vine St.

A Cincinnati native, Korman signed a lease to occupy a 2,000-square-foot space. He moved back to Cincinnati a month ago after living for about 11 years in Chicago and New York.

Korman, 39, said the store will focus on offering goods that satisfies basic needs and improves quality of life while minimizing use of natural resources, toxic materials and animal by-products.

The store will sell accessories, apparel, footwear, personal care products, home furnishings, home improvement supplies and other items.

Park + Vine also plans to offer creative programming on site, such as art installations, lectures and film screenings on the environment.

Park + Vine joins a growing number of stores nationally focusing on ecologically friendly and environmentally sustainable goods.

Korman said he looked at a variety of downtown spaces before choosing his location at Central Parkway and Vine Street.

Park + Vine got a $20,000 grant from the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce’s Business First AdVenture initiative to help with start-up costs.

“Park + Vine is near the Ensemble Theater, the Art Academy and the Know Theatre,” Korman said. “It’s an ideal spot for budding entrepreneurs.”

Contact: parkandvine.com

E-mail jmckinney@enquirer.com or call 513-936-3363 to submit suggestions for The Marketplace.

The Cincinnati Enquirer

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There is much traction here at Park + Vine and we’re more than happy to share our love affair with this exciting venture.

So where are we now? We have a signed lease for 1109 Vine Street. The city of Cincinnati approved our permit drawings. The Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce recently awarded us a grant through its First AdVenture initiative. Our “coming soon” sign is in the window. Our MySpace page continues to gain new friends. If you haven’t already, be sure to complete our online customer survey linked from our homepage and receive 10 percent off your first purchase.

And there’s more.

Other merchants are signing leases and letters-of-intent in the blocks surrounding us. The energy level is high. Once construction starts, we’ll have a better idea of when our doors will open. Hopefully, we’ll have in-store customers in May. In the meantime, our grand opening is scheduled for the first weekend of June, in conjunction with the Over-the-Rhine Summer tour of Homes June 3.

Be sure to check this blog for regular updates on the store’s arrival along with photos of our progress, courtesy of Cincinnati photographer and family man, Corey McKinney.

Co-op America is encouraging investors to urge corporations to reduce their climate change emissions, but so far, America’s largest mutual funds are asleep at the wheel. With trillions of dollars in assets, Fidelity, Vanguard, and American Funds could play a vital role in encouraging corporate responsibility on climate change and protecting the assets of their investors. Tell them it’s time to wake up and take action.