In Cincinnati's West End neighborhood, one of the closest places to live near TQL Stadium is in City West, a 48-acre mixed-income residential complex built two decades ago. It houses 686 apartments but part of it was never finished.
Enter City West Development LLC, a new group that wants to add 69 new townhomes to the mini-neighborhood, 10% of which will be income-restricted. The $34 million project will begin construction in July. Listing prices have not been revealed but the market-rate units will likely start above $500,000, the developers said.
Why does this matter?
Owner-occupied homes in the West End are hard to come by. It's a community predominantly covered in low-income rental housing.
City West, a $200 million mega-project born from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Hope VI program, was always meant to offer an array of housing options at all price points. The city demolished the historic Lincoln Court and Laurel Homes, two public housing complexes, to build it. Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority, or CMHA, owned it, and Drees Homes was the primary developer. The group completed 18 townhomes on the site before the grant money fell through in 2007.
Fast forward 17 years later and City West Development LLC is making up for the lost time. The group, which won a contract from CMHA last year, is comprised of Funke Real Estate Group, Vertice Capital Partners and Sterling Designs by Michael VanHuss (the man behind Tri-County Mall's potential conversion into Artisan Village.)
The townhomes will rise on multiple vacant lots on the north side of Ezzard Charles Drive and Laurel Park Drive. Each will be around 2,700 square feet with three bedrooms, three bathrooms, rooftop decks and private, two-car garages. Buyers will be able to add an in-unit elevator for an additional cost. The developers are aiming for LEED Silver certification, meaning the project will include materials and mechanical systems that make it energy efficient. It will also have a 15-year tax abatement.
Construction will be phased, with all 69 townhomes expected to be up by 2029.
Interest in purchasing the yet-to-be-built townhomes is already growing, according to John Cioffi, III, CEO of Vertice Capital Partners and a professor of finance at the University of Cincinnati. He expects the project to attract international buyers, as well, because of its proximity to entertainment in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine.
"We have the confidence in the locale," he said. "The fact we get to control 69 lots and they are all contiguous ... You won't find that opportunity."
A housing boom in Cincinnati's West End
The Enquirer reported in December that $1 billion in development is set to transform the West End over the next few years through the addition of more housing and amenities for longtime residents. Both locals and the leaders of the West End Community Council want more investment in the neighborhood to help improve quality of life.
Building for-sale housing is a focal point for many local developers and nonprofit organizations. The goal: to boost opportunities for low-income families to grow in wealth and attract a more diverse population to the West End. Deconcentrating poverty by adding more expensive housing can also aid in crime reduction, experts say.
"Safety is a concern but we think the more you invest and the more we stand together as a community the more we can accomplish," said City West Development's Cioffi.
North of Liberty Street, several townhome projects are also underway.
Nick Johnson of B.O.C. Development is building both affordable and market-rate townhomes starting at $250,000 and $680,000, respectively, on Freeman Avenue. Around the corner, developer Chauncy Walker, in partnership with Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses, is renovating several existing structures into for-sale townhomes, too.
FC Cincinnati is also aiming to add condos to its future mixed-use district north of TQL Stadium. Once built, those apartments will be the closest you can get to living on the pitch.
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