Eight of the nine spaces in
Bakery Lofts, the historic 1421-23 Race St.building just a half block from Washington Park, are already on "hold," according to developer
3CDC, as interest in and development around living spaces in Over-the-Rhine continues its brisk pace.
3CDC is currently working on a three-phase, $62 million project that encompasses two city blocks on 14
th Street between Vine and Walnut, says Anastasia Mileham, communications director for 3CDC. Included in the
Mercer Commons project are 19 historic building renovations and new construction on 26 vacant pieces of land.
The project will ultimately contain 96 market-rate apartments, 30 affordable apartments, 28 condominiums, 17,600 square feet of commercial space and 359 parking spaces, says Mileham.
The first phase of development began on June 30—it will yield a 340-space parking garage; 11 condos housed in four historic rehabs on Mercer, which will open in March 2013; a mixed-use building on Vine that will have 12 condos and 3,900 square feet of commercial space; and Mercer Townhomes, with five living units. The mixed-use building and the townhomes are slated to open in September 2013.
Phase 2 includes 13 historic rehabs that will house 46 mixed-income apartments, 6,000 square feet of commercial space and a mixed-income building on Walnut with 21 apartments and 4,600 square feet of commercial space. Phase 3 of the project includes two historic building rehabs with eight apartments; eight new construction, three-story townhomes with 16 apartments; and a new building with 35 apartments, 3,100 square feet of commercial space and 19 parking spaces.
One of the highlights of the project is the affordable housing that will be available. It’s also the first of its kind with a mixed-income building.
“We worked really hard to get low-income tax credits for affordable housing,” Mileham says. “It was difficult because OTR is saturated with low-income tax credits and vacant housing. We wanted to show the community that you can have affordable units that at the same time are nice.”
The new development in OTR will help create a walkable community with residential, commercial and office space all in one area. It will also help rejuvenate yet another part of the neighborhood.
In all, 3CDC has completed four phases of development in OTR, including 186 condos and 91,000 square feet of commercial space. All but three of those condos have sold and about 90 percent of the commercial space is leased. 3CDC also has seven other projects around OTR, with 65 condos, 23 apartments and 17,900 square feet of commercial space.
By Caitlin Koenig
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