Cincinnati Enquirer
BY PAMELA FISHER | PAMFISHER@ENQUIRER.COM

This weekend it was the Contemporary Arts Center. Next month it will be the Cincinnati Opera.

A group of 70 twenty and thirtysomethings – all members of Greater Cincinnati’s coveted “creative class” – gathered for brunch and a tour of the Contemporary Arts Center as part of Arts Allies, a program launched by the mayor’s office to help keep young professionals in town by connecting them to the culture scene.

Mayor Mark Mallory says engaging the creative class is crucial to the city’s economic development. “There’s a need to highlight the arts and their power to transform neighborhoods and economies,” Mallory has said.Several of those networking at Saturday’s event agree.

“A strong urban core is essential to the success of our region,” said economic development specialist Candace Klein, 26. She is president of the mayor’s Kitchen Cabinet, a group of 100 young professionals advising the mayor on YP retention.

“My clients look for three things in a city: strong arts, strong education and an eclectic work force,” Klein says. “I think Arts Allies has been one of the most impactful things we’ve done since starting the cabinet nine months ago.”

Dan Korman, 39, grew up in Madeira, then moved back from Chicago to Over-the-Rhine two years ago to launch Park+Vine, a general store selling environmentally friendly goods and gear.

“Arts is so central to our city and it’s important to engage the creative class,” Korman says. “People decide where they’re going to live at 22 or 23 years old and we need to attract them young to keep them.”

Korman’s partner, Cory Shafer, 29, is an SCPA graduate who returned to Cincinnati after working in New York City. Now he’s studying graphic design at the University of Cincinnati. “I wanted to come home and find a lifestyle I could never afford there – I wanted a loft,” he says.

Another Arts Allies participant Saturday was Les Stoneham, a UC alum who stayed in town to run Rohs Street Café in University Heights, which offers lectures on peace along with live music three nights a week.

“Communities that have vitality are centered around arts and culture,” Stoneham says.

Arts Allies plans to partner with a city cultural organization each month.

“We’re definitely making progress in attracting the creative class,” said Marcelina Robledo, 36, who lives in Over-the-Rhine and serves on the mayor’s Kitchen Cabinet. “Although it’s definitely more challenging to get YPs to the opera or symphony than to a MidPoint or Fringe Fest.”

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Park + Vine turned three weeks old June 22 and this past Saturday saw our most consistently busy day since the grand opening weekend. Because we believe in supporting our city’s network of community organizations working to keep life and character in our neighborhoods, we hosted two groups, YPWired and Green Drinks Cincinnati, at the store, and sponsored Enjoy the Arts‘ Green Brunch at the Contemporary Arts Center last week.

And the (healthy) busyness continues. In an effort to keep the store fresh and current, we are continually editing everything around us. There are regular adjustments to displays, the addition of new products and the phasing out of things that don’t resonate with customers for some reason. Two of the coolest new products you’ll find are bike chain bowls and vegan guitar straps and belts.

The designers at Mosier, Ore.-based Resource Revival have magically spiraled links of reclaimed bicycle chains to create beautiful 10-inch diameter decorative bowls ($88). They’re ideal for keys and wallets after a long day. The bowls are not intended for food and may rust if they get wet. In addition to these cool bike chain bowls, we carry Resource Revival key chains, bracelets, clocks and picture frames.

Couch Guitar Straps makes cruelty-free vegan guitar straps and belts made in sweatshop-free environments. Based in Sunset Beach, Calif., Couch straps are made of vinyl and car seat belt material, and adjust up to six inches longer than the average guitar strap. Prices range from $18 to $40.

See these cool new items in person and be sure to check out Cory Shafer’s and Jim Guthrie’s artwork 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. June 29 during the Final Friday gallery walk.

xo
Dan

CINCINNATI – New Over-the-Rhine retailer, Park + Vine, 1109 Vine Street, has turned its walls over to local artists and is keeping its doors open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. June 29 during the Final Friday gallery walk.

An evening reception from 6 to 10 p.m. features the artwork of Cory Shafer and Jim Guthrie. Cory Shafer, an Over-the-Rhine resident and graphic design student at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning, recently found new life through the lens of a camera. Shafer spent the better part of the last 15 years in New York City. Since age 11, he had a career on stage, in film and on television. For two years he was a host on Nickelodeon’s The Big Help, traveling the country while helping kids help their community. Back in Cincinnati with a passion for photography, Shafer is exhibiting his work for the first time at Park + Vine with four series of black and white photography. Shafer’s central work is a 10-print series, TOM, which gives viewers a look inside a men’s public restroom.

Guthrie, an architect and artist, recently debuted his artistry through paint. Inspired by his personal writings, he paints for himself. His soul is revealed through layered color and words, leaving only the viewers to complete the meaning for themselves. Guthrie, who lives in Newport, Kentucky with his wife, Deanna, and three children, is showing three large works at Park + Vine. Guthrie’s centerpiece is a series of nails he salvaged from the house he and his family renovated and installed on a large sheet of plywood.

On any given Final Friday visitors to Over-the-Rhine can take in galleries and meet artists, gallery owners and people who love art. There are no rules for Final Friday, except that it is the last Friday of the month, and most galleries in the neighborhood are open 6 to 10 p.m. Most Final Friday activities center around the Pendleton Art Center, 1310 Pendleton Street; along Main Street between Central Parkway and Liberty Street; and in the area immediately surrounding the Art Academy of Cincinnati, 1212 Jackson Street.

Park + Vine, which opened June 1 along with Vine Street retail neighbors Metronation and City Roots, is among a wave of stores nationwide focusing on ecologically friendly and environmentally sustainable merchandise. It is the first retailer in Cincinnati to specialize solely on these products, which range from home furnishings and personal care products to home improvement items and apparel and footwear. Featured lines include nonprofit social enterprise The Enterprising Kitchen’s natural spa and bath products, Clovernook Center for the Blind’s environmentally friendly paper cups, Sameunderneath’s bamboo clothing line, and more. Creative programming such as art installations, lectures and film screenings on sustainable living is also scheduled.

Park + Vine is partnering with Everybody Rides Metro Foundation so that shoppers can earn “carbon credits” to offset the environmental impact of their trip to the store with a donation to the organization. Customers are encouraged to ride their bike, walk or take Metro to Park + Vine, which offers free indoor and outdoor bicycle parking.

Park + Vine has an online survey about shopping preferences, and is looking to expand its network of friends at www.myspace.com/parkandvine. Survey respondents receive 10 percent off their first purchase. To take the survey or sign up for the store’s free electronic newsletter, go to www.parkandvine.com.

Press contact:
Dan Korman
dan@parkandvine.com

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Cincinnati Business Courier
by Lucy May
Senior Staff Reporter

Gateway Quarter along Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine has more than 35 percent of its condominiums either sold or under contract and is selling and leasing commercial space even faster.

The project has transformed the corner of 12th and Vine streets, once a notorious crime center in the historic neighborhood.

“That was a rough corner,” said retired Kroger Co. CEO Joseph Pichler, who now chairs the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp.’s effort to revitalize Over-the-Rhine. “When you have a corner with one business and 170 police calls, you know something’s wrong.”

But instead of people hanging out on the street waiting to buy or sell drugs, contractors are hanging drywall in condos fetching anywhere from $90,000 to more than $300,000. Metronation is selling coffee tables with woven leather tops. And architects are drawing up plans for Jean-Robert de Cavel’s latest café concept.

In all, 93 condo units are being developed along Vine Street, with 34 sold or under contract. And 10 of 13 commercial spots are either sold, leased or under letters of intent.

“It’s the start of a long process, but it’s a good start,” Pichler said. “I’m guardedly optimistic about the continued sales and success. And the great thing is we own 100 buildings. If the sales are successful, and the debt reloads our financials, we can develop some of the other 100 that we own. The pieces are in place.”

The nonprofit development agency known as 3CDC quietly assembled the buildings along Vine Street for the project. Four different developers are revamping the properties in this first phase of work – Urban Sites, the Model Group and the team of Northpointe Group and B2B Equities.

Sales are going so well that 3CDC is laying the groundwork for the project’s second phase. Cleanup on a building at the corner of 13th and Vine streets has begun, and another 40-plus condo units in that building and others nearby could be on the market by next summer, said Chad Munitz, 3CDC’s executive vice president of development.

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Munitz said. “It feels good to be ahead in the first part of it, but we’re in this for the long haul. That’s the only way that this thing is going to survive – to be steady and move forward.”

Veteran Over-the-Rhine property manager and developer Jim Moll is selling the condos on behalf of the developers out of a Gateway Quarter sales office at 12th and Vine streets. He said 3CDC’s involvement has made all the difference.

“They made it easier,” said Moll, who is representing the developers for Builder Resources, a residential brokerage firm. “There are so many fewer hoops than dealing with the government directly. And the No. 1 hardest thing in this neighborhood is acquisition.”

Plus, buyers understand that 3CDC owns many more properties for future phases of development, said Matt O’Connor, sales and marketing director for Builders Resource.

“People know it’s not just 11 buildings being rehabbed, and they’re out of here,” he said. “I think it’s been successful because it has a long-term plan behind it that’s going to work. And I think people see that.”

It certainly helped convince George Crawford and his partners to relocate their Metronation store. For nearly a year, they looked for a larger space to add a furniture line. They shopped all over downtown and were approached by Kathleen Norris, who is marketing the commercial space for Builder Resources.

“We said no,” Crawford said. “Then we came up and looked and were impressed.”

Metronation moved from Elm Street on June 3. It sits next to the future home of de Cavel’s new café, which Munitz said is looking to open by October.

Around the corner, Fifth Third Bank is planning a City Living mortgage office with an ATM, Moll said, and Model Group will have its real estate office, too. A second location for MiCA Contemporary Crafts and a hair salon are planned for Vine Street between 12th and 13th streets. And south of 12th Street, City Roots, an urban gardening store, and the environmentally focused general store Park + Vine are open.

It’s a far cry from the rundown buildings that stood mostly empty just a year ago.

“There’s a great energy in the neighborhood,” Crawford said. “It has a very good vibe.”

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Cincinnati Business Courier

City of Cincinnati officials and developers of the Edge Condos announced Tuesday it will be the first residential project to earn city tax incentives for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.

LEED certification, a designation by the U.S. Green Building Council, rates a construction project according to its energy and waste reduction, water conservation and air quality. The city announced earlier this year that it would incentivize with tax abatements the owners of certified projects and the developers who build according to these standards.

The 77-unit downtown condo project features loft-style units ranging in size from 1,700 square feet to 4,000 square feet and ranging in price from $165,000 to more than $1 million.

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We’re officially a downtown merchant and we love it. People are coming in from all over to check us out and we already have repeat customers. Co-workers traveling in small herds keep us busy during the long lunch hour, while downtown/Over-the-Rhine dwellers tend to visit between 4 and 7 p.m.

We’re already placing reorders and have added some new products including peppermint and tangerine flavored Glee Gum made from sustainably harvested rain forest chicle, all-natural Stretch Island Fruit Company fruit leather, reasonably priced and very fashionable purses from Better Way Imports, and cruelty-free/sweatshop-free guitar straps and belts from Couch Guitar Straps. To suggest a product, complete our online customer survey.

There are a lot of people–many more than we can list here–who supported us along the way, but we have to call out this group for going beyond the call of duty and making this dream come true:

• Brilliant architects Deanna Heil and Jim Guthrie for guiding Park + Vine’s space planning process and helping us find the right contractor (Model Group) and suppliers;
• Rob Bennett of Model Group for working within our budget and building our cool space;
• Chris Wiedeman for beautifully painting the interior of the store;
• Cory Shafer for incorporating Park + Vine’s identity into countless print materials and sharing his incredible photography that currently fills the store’s walls;
• Scot Conover of Sign Graphics Design for walking us through the signage maze;
• Michael Girgis and Betsy Seff for building the Park + Vine Web site;
• Papa (Ron) and Gloria Korman for keeping our financial books in order;
• Everyone at Cincinnati Temporary Labor for being a great landlord and neighbor;
• Nick Ruehlman for editing our business plan and financial statements;
• Brother-in-law Rob Ruehlman and baby sister, Kelly, for creating Park + Vine’s visual identity;
• Jessica Andrews (Shoe-topia), Diane Christian-Budd (Indigenous), George Crawford and Jerry Schmidt (MetroNation), Crow Grando (Mahatma), Christie Reinshagen-Wallace (Mustard Seed Boutique), and Jason Reser and Sarai Snyder (Reser Bicycle Outfitters) for being great retail role models;
• Ryan Carden, Marge Hammelrath, Diana Klau, Judith and Peter Lloyd, Sandy (mom) and Paul Jacob, Aunt Joyce, Aunt Denise and Uncle Ken, Katie Spacek and Aunt Mary for merchandising the store in time for the grand opening;
• Brian Tiffany, Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce president, for championing our entrepreneurial dream and putting us in touch with the right people; and
• Everyone at Builder Resources, 3CDC, Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber and Downtown Cincinnati Inc. for giving us the right business networking tools.

Park + Vine, 1109 Vine Street, is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Check us out. We love visitors.

xo
Dan

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Tips & Trends
Shopping, style, beauty and other fashion-y stuff
JULIE FITZGERALD | CIN WEEKLY

From natural sodas to organic cotton tees, newly opened Park+Vine stocks a wide range of planet-friendly products all in one place. Owner Dan Korman, who has dubbed his mod spot a “green general store,” carries only organic and natural items including face wash, clothes, shoes, cleaning supplies and more. Personal water bottles made from nonleaching plastic ($4) have been one of the biggest sellers.

A crowd of more than 200 came to check out the store’s sneak preview event, which coincided with Final Friday. Park+Vine is located at 1109 Vine St. (across from the Gateway condos), Over-the-Rhine.

Call 513-721-7275 or visit www.parkandvine.com.

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Cincinnati Business Courier

A free lunchtime trolley bus service will operate in downtown Cincinnati every Friday from June through August, Downtown Cincinnati Inc. announced Friday.

The ‘Round Town Trolley begins June 1, running from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on a route that loops from Fountain Square, to Central Parkway, Sycamore Street, Fourth Street and Elm Street.

The service, operated by Metro and sponsored by Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) and the Cincinnati USA Regional Tourism Network is meant to offer downtown workers and visitors more shopping and dining options outside their immediate area, according to a news release.

“The ‘Round Town Trolleys will offer the downtown community a fun and convenient way to experience downtown and the programming on Fountain Square during their lunch break,” said Louise Hughes, director of government and community relations for Procter.

On several occasions during the summer, live music will be featured on the trolley buses, according to the release. For more information and a route map, visit www.downtowncincinnati.com.

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