Norwood : Development News

Looking for a place to let loose and dance? Then The Shakti Factory is for you.
 
The Shakti Factory is a movement studio, gathering place and dynamic learning community that is focused on creativity, freedom, embodied spirituality and evolutionary human potential. Owners Meredith Hogan and Lisa Stegman wanted a place for themselves to dance and gather, but they couldn’t find anywhere that fit their needs in Cincinnati. They opened their business in December near Xavier University.
 
“We want to continue to build a tribe of dancers and help set our bodies into a healing, natural rhythm,” says Hogan.
 
“Shakti” is defined as the divine, feminine power that animates and brings life to everything that is.
 
But The Shakti Factory isn’t just a place for performance artists. The studio is currently displaying a print show by Hans Waller; he also painted a mural on one of the walls. In the future, Hogan and Stegman want to host art shows regularly.
 
“It’s about pushing boundaries, and offering things that aren’t found elsewhere in town,” says Stegman. There are plans for salons that will create conversation about subjects like sexual health.
 
The Shakti Factory currently offers three dance classes each week. In July, Hogan will be adding a yoga class to the studio’s offerings. There will also be one-time workshops, such as the Warrior 101 yoga class in August that will be taught by a friend.
 
“Our vision of the space is a flexible concept that is always evolving,” says Stegman. “It might not be the same next year because it will always be changing.”
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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For 15 years, Jeff Ledford ran some of the finest restaurants in Cincinnati. But in February, he and his wife Melissa turned a culinary dream into a reality when they opened their food truck, Catch-A-Fire Pizza.
 
Jeff has a degree from Cincinnati State’s Midwest Culinary Institute, and trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park and Napa Valley. Besides fine dining, he’s also worked in catering.
 
The truck is a 26-foot mobile kitchen that features a wood-fired oven that reaches temperatures of up to 800 degrees. The Ledfords use fresh ingredients and are very selective about the flour, cheese, sauce and toppings they use on their pizzas, Jeff says.
 
“We wanted to bring our product, our passion and our philosophy of food and beverage to people, which is a very gratifying experience,” he says.
 
Catch-A-Fire’s best-seller is the Cornerstone, which is a pepperoni pizza topped with a fire-roasted red sauce and a five-cheese blend. The truck also features specials that rotate regularly to keep the food interesting.
 
The Ledfords are passionate about food and beverage and appreciate craft beer, so they decided to partner with a few local breweries. Catch-A-Fire can be found at Rivertown Brewing, and they’ve done events at Mt. Carmel Brewing Company and Listermann Brewing.
 
“Pizza and beer are like ketchup and French fries—it’s a great combination everyone knows,” Jeff says. “Lots of breweries have taprooms, but they’re not able to offer food, which is where we come in.”
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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On March 27, the Greater Cincinnati Indpendent Business Alliance is hosting a workshop that will focus on the unseen benefits of nurturing and supporting local independent businesses.
 
“This event provides a unique opportunity to explore the beneficial impact an independent business alliance can provide Cincinnati and the community,” says Owen Raisch, CiNBA’s founder.
 
CiNBA was started in March 2012 Raisch visited the American Independent Business Alliance’s national conference. Since then, Raisch has been working with businesses around Xavier University, including Betta’s Italian Oven, Betta’s Café Cornetti, Center City Collision, Baxter's Fast Wheels, Listermann Brewing, Kleen Print Products, Cincinnati Cash Mob and Beans and Grapes.
 
All of CiNBA’s members except Center City Collision worked with Xavier students to assess business models and develop their businesses. Over 60 students were involved in classes that range from an MBA management project to undergraduate graphic design courses.
 
CiNBA is the recipient of a Fuel Cincinnati grant that funded Raisch’s trip to the AIBA conference, and paid for CiNBA’s first year of membership to the organization.
 
“The grant and membership to AIBA provided startup support and promotional materials that were critical to the current level of CiNBA’s development,” says Raisch. “I’m very appreciative of Fuel’s support. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
 
The workshop will feature a presentation by Jeff Milchen, founder and director of the first International Business Alliance. The free event will be held at Beans and Grapes in Pleasant Ridge at 8:15 a.m. Contact Raisch at 937-402-6596 for more information.

By Caitlin Koenig
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Coffee and a good book go hand-in-hand, but what about a good book and lunch? Joseph-Beth Booksellers at Rookwood Commons recently remodeled its full-service restaurant, Brontë Bistro, to better serve its customers.
 
Joseph-Beth opened at Rookwood Commons in 1986. At the time, the Bistro was a smaller component, and was added on to in the early 1990s. But there haven’t been any significant changes to the Bistro—until now.
 
The remodel began on Jan. 7, and was 99 percent complete as of Wednesday. The entire restaurant was gutted and remodeled, from the kitchen—where new equipment was put in, including a grill—to the front of the house—where there is now a coffee kiosk for customers on-the-go. Before renovations, the only entrance to the Bistro was through the bookstore; now, there’s a front entrance that is accessible from the parking lot.
 
“The remodel really adds more offerings to our customer base,” says Joseph-Beth Booksellers’ CEO Mark Wilson. “Our goal is to create an experience for our customers. We want them to find a place where they can broaden their perspective and deepen their thinking, and the bookstore and Bistro provide that now with a nicer ambiance.”
 
The Bistro’s menu isn’t going to change much, but there will be a few new entrees available for dinner, says John Gains, general manager of the Bistro. In April, the Bistro will roll out a new dinner menu, which will include about two-thirds of the Bistro’s favorite lunch offerings, plus the new dinner offerings.
 
A meeting space was also created at the far end of the Bistro, complete with presentation screen that has the ability to house 50 people for business meetings and community events. There’s also a smaller part of the large meeting room that seats 20.

"With the remodel, we wanted to make seating more comfortable," says Gains. "Before, the dining room was loud, but we put in booths and put a wall up between the restaurant and the kitchen so people would be able to enjoy a meal and have a conversation."
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Although there won’t be a West Sixth Brewing taproom or beer garden in the Cincinnati area, beer lovers will still be able to buy the new brewery’s beer around town.
 
West Sixth opened in Lexington on April 1, and founders Ben Self, Brady Barlow, Joe Kuosman and Robin Sither have already seen the demand for their beer go through the roof. “We’ve had people drive down from the Cincinnati area just to buy our beer,” Self says.
 
The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area was the last part of Kentucky that West Sixth added to its distribution network—the taproom and beer garden are in Lexington, and West Sixth’s beer is available in Louisville, too.
 
The quartet has heard from lots of retailers, bars and restaurants that they’re excited to be getting West Sixth’s brews, Self says. West Sixth beer became available locally about two weeks ago. The brewery kicked off its expansion at Cincy Winter Beerfest, which featured the West Sixth IPA and Deliberation Amber.
 
West Sixth does things a bit differently than other breweries, Self says. It’s the only brewery in Kentucky to can its beers; and Self and his co-founders are not only committed to brewing great beer, but to giving back to the community. They give six percent of the brewery’s monthly profits to local charities and nonprofits to support environmental packaging efforts and rehabilitation projects in Lexington.
 
You can order West Sixth’s beer at Gordo’s Pub in Norwood and Bakersfield in Over-the-Rhine. You can also purchase it at:

• Party Source
• Liquor City
• Party Town
• DEPs
• I-75 Liquors
• Valley Wine and Spirits
• United Liquor
• Hyde Park Wine and Spirits
• Root Cellar
• Listing Loon
• Gramer’s Meat and Produce
• Country Fresh Farm Market
• One Stop Liquors
• Luckie’s Pony Keg
• Antone’s Wine and Spirits
• Bluegrass Carryout
• Churchill Market
• City Beverage

By Caitlin Koenig
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For the first time since 1988, Cincinnati will play host to the 2015 MLB All-Star Game. And by that time, the Greater Cincinnati area could have a rail service, Oasis Rail Transit, which would be part of the Eastern Corridor program of multi-modal transportation improvement projects.
 
The Oasis project is the first proposed leg of the new regional rail system that will provide a new and much-needed transportation alternative for area residents. The Oasis line would span 17 miles between downtown Cincinnati and Milford. There are existing tracks along the route, but a number of miles of new track would be laid as well.
 
According to a press release, using existing track is a less expensive way to build a foundation of regional transportation. It would allow a passenger rail service network to advance more quickly and could serve as a national model for other commuter rail projects.

“Regional passenger rail isn’t a pipe dream, nor is it something for the far-off future,” according to Todd Portune, Hamilton County Commissioner and chair of Hamilton County Transportation Improvement District, in a press release. “It is here. Now. We can make this happen by 2015, but it will take a regional commitment from our local municipalities, chambers of commerce, state agencies and leaders to remove any barriers.”
 
The rail project was awarded funding last fall from the Ohio Department of Transportation’s House Bill 114 to help secure the right-of-way for extending the existing rail line from the Boathouse downtown to the Riverfront Transit Center. HCTID has also been working with local groups to explore joint-use opportunities, such as bicycle and walking paths, within the rail corridors. 
 
There are other rail lines in the works for the region that would connect Hamilton, Clermont, Butler and Warren counties in Ohio, and parts of Northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana as well. The future rail line will travel from Xavier University to Fairfax to Eastgate (Wasson line); along I-71 from Cincinnati/NKY International Airport/Florence to Blue Ash; along I-75 to Union Centre; along the I-471 corridor to Northern Kentucky University; and along western I-74 to Green Township and US-50 to Lawrenceburg.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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The City of Cincinnati has taken out the back-and-forth that can occur when residents try to reach them to report issues in their neighborhoods. At the Neighborhood Summit on Feb. 16, Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls announced that the Cincinnati City Hall mobile app is available to the public.
 
With the app, residents can look up trash, recycling and street sweeping days, and set reminders; locate and report problems by address; bookmark locations for quick reporting; and track the status of reports. City Hall mobile also has GPS, so users can report issues, even without an address. There’s even a searchable map with property owner information, which enables residents to see if a property is occupied or vacant.
 
A few years ago, residents had to use the Yellow Pages to look up the number for city departments to file complaints, says Kevin Wright, executive director of Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation. The city then implemented a hotline for all complaints, but residents never knew the status of their reports.
 
“It’s amazing how comprehensive the app is,” Wright says. “If you see a broken window, pothole, graffiti, hanging gutter or anything else that is physically wrong with your neighborhood, street or community, you can report it in an instant. It’s a great tool for neighborhood redevelopment.”
 
The app can also be used as a community-organizing tool, Wright says. For example, if there is a property owner who historically hasn’t taken care of his or her property, social media can help organize a community and target the property to enforce codes until the property is fixed, which is what neighborhood councils and organizations like WHRF do.
 
“We’re really putting power in the hands of the citizens of the neighborhoods,” he says.
 
As with most tech programs, the app has room to grow, too. In the future, it could be linked with Facebook or Twitter, so your friends and followers will know who reported problems and where they are.
 
Cincinnati residents can download the app in the Apple App Store or download it through Google Play.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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In Evanston, faces of the community have become an integral part of the landscape, literally, representing a worldwide challenge from an award-winning artist.

JR, a French street artist, started taking up-close, black-and-white portraits of people and pasting enlarged versions of them in public spaces in locations around the world. His work started as an illegal project, but become known by many. In March of this year, JR was presented with the TED Prize for innovation and creativity.

In his TED speech, JR urged people to follow his lead; to create art for the sake of making art. Art can turn the world inside out, he explains. As TED Prize winner, he is granted one wish. His was to create a movement in which people stand up for what they care about by contributing to a large-scale, participatory art project, now known as the Inside Out Project.

Locally, the Contemporary Arts Center, along with arts groups, took up the Inside Out Project initiative. In Evanston, the CAC, Xavier University’s Eigel Center for Communtiy-Engaged Learning, Flavor of Art Studios and artists’ collective Satellite Projects brought together community leaders to begin the project. The Evanston Group, as they call themselves, have since created a community-centered art project.

Portraits from groups like the Evanston Group are being uploaded to the Inside Out Projects website, adding to an expansive collection of portraits from around the world, all stored and showcased on one site.

The Evanston result features photos taken by Xavier students and local photographers, John Curley, Greg Rust, Alyssa Konerman and Sean Dunn. They captured images of community children, parents, teachers and leaders. Now images are posted at the Evanston Recreation Center, the Evanston Employment Resource Connection, two other locations on Montgomery Road and Dana Avenue, as well as several locations around Xavier University. One temporary billboard, at the corner of Dana and Montgomery, displays one of the portraits.

The Evanston Group began its work by asking neighbors to illustrate their value, their place in their part of the city. Throughout the course of five different photo shoots, the community of Evanston was captured, on camera and in black and white.

“There’s a story behind each picture that is fascinating,” says Sean Rhiney, director of the Xavier University’s Eigel Center for Communtiy-Engaged Learning and former Soapbox managing editor. “We asked people to bring an object that represents what the feel they bring to the community. For some people, it was their smile.”

The CAC is working with several neighborhoods around the city to participate in the Inside Out Project.

By Evan Wallis

Xavier University will offer a wealth of support to Brad Roger’s start-up company Urban Harvest. Rogers won the Xavier Launch-A-Business (X-LAB) Competition, sponsored by the university’s Williams College of Business and Sedler Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Judges announce the complete list of winners 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 30, in the Grand Atrium of Smith Hall. Winners, such as Rogers, will develop a business plan and receive consulting services, networking opportunities and a meeting with possible investors. The competition included a questionnaire submission, and 30- and 60-minute interviews with panels of experts.

In a preview interview with Soapbox, Rogers, a project manager for a home remodeling company, explained that Urban Harvest aims to bring more fresh fish and produce, and employment, to area communities. He says the company plans to use an innovative, cost-effective system called aquaponics, a hybrid of aquafarming (fish raising) and hydroponics (growing plants without soil).

In this system, when fish are fed, he says, fish waste provides nutrients that are circulated into the planting beds. The plants, in turn, filter the water for the fish. “It’s like a mini eco-system.”

“Ideally, with the system I want to setup, ” he adds, “it will produce 10,000 heads of lettuce and some herbs every week, and produce about 10,000 pounds of fish a year.”

Rogers was the local expert behind the development of an aquaponics system at H.J. Benken Florist & Garden Center in Blue Ash. Launched in November, it was treated as a beta test for an aquaponics system planned for a village outside Jos, Nigeria. The local, faith-based company Self-Sustaining Enterprises (SSE) helped install the system there in March. Pete West, a Procter & Gamble engineer, was among the locals who traveled to Nigeria.

“The idea was twofold,” he says. “To provide gainful employment for people in the village area, and to provide food that village will eat.”

Rogers and SSE hope to expand that idea in the Greater Cincinnati area, employing community members and engaging farmers.

“The goal is to have a main campus, where I teach people about aquaponics, but then I want to establish other aquaponic centers in neighborhoods,” he says. “Some communities have to hop on three buses to get to a grocery store.”

By Rich Shivener

The Cincinnati Development Fund has been a financial resource for affordable housing development in the city's neighborhoods for 23 years. And that long track record of helping spur development -- and redevelopment -- in some of Cincinnati's underserved areas recently earned the CDF a $1.5 million federal grant to support its mission.

The grant comes from the U.S. Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI). The CDFI awarded $142,302,667 to 155 community development financial institutions -- like CDF -- nationwide. CDF received $750,000 from the fund in 2010, making this year's award a very pleasant surprise, says CDF president and CEO Jeanne Golliher.

"We were really expecting something along the lines of what we got last year," she says.

The $1.5 million sum is the maximum any single organization could receive from the CDFI. Golliher credits CDF's long-standing role in the community as reason for the high award.

"We're really in touch," she says. "We know where the needs are."

A main focus of CDF's efforts, she explains, are smaller developers -- sometimes individual homeowners, sometimes development companies focusing on one or two buildings -- who wish to revitalize property in parts of the city suffering from high foreclosure and vacancy rates. The smaller developers fit a niche that complements larger development organizations, such as the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC), which is in the midst of redeveloping a large portion of Over-the-Rhine. Golliher refers to many of CDF's borrowers as "urban pioneers:" people willing to be early redevelopers in areas that have yet to see widespread revitalization.

"We've had so much activity with our small loan program," she says. "There are a lot of cases where people want to buy and fix up a building on their own, and they come to us."

Golliher says her team is in the process of planning how to best use the grant funds. Some of it may be used as matching funds for $3.3 million in low-interest funding CDF has requested from the U.S. Treasury to help fund small business development in the city.  She plans to present a proposal for how the funds will be used at CDF's August board meeting. In the meantime, she says she and her team are thrilled by this recent show of federal support.

"I think it speaks to our track record," she says.

By Matt Cunningham

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A group of residents from several Cincinnati neighborhoods spoke at the June 7 meeting of Cincinnati City Council's Quality of Life Subcommittee. Their subject? A recently closed railroad spur and a proposal to change it into a 6.5-mile cycling and walking path.

"This could really serve as an important connector for the many [multiuse path] projects Cincinnati has going on," said project advocate Jay Andress.

The proposed project would convert a Norfolk Southern Railroad spur into a path that would connect with the Little Miami bike trail in Newtown and run into the heart of downtown. Advocates at Tuesday's meeting pointed out that the path would only cross seven roads in its entire length, making it a true rarity: a nearly uninterrupted trail running through several neighborhoods in a major urban area.

But beyond the health benefits and transportation options that the path could provide, some residents at the meeting brought up another point: building the path could resolve a growing problem with the semi-abandoned line.

Hyde Park Neighborhood Council President Anne Gerwin said the point where the line crosses Wasson Road has been a maintenance and safety issue for years. "We struggle many times each year to have the city and railroad maintain it," she said. The neighborhood's council passed a resolution supporting the project.

Likewise, Hyde Park resident Lindsay Felder, who said her home is within sight of the track, said there's been a visible deterioration of it - and an uptick in people loitering along the weedy path - since it became inactive in 2009.

"We've always wondered about the tracks," she said, explaining that she began going door to door to drum up local support after meeting Andress and learning about the proposed project.

"We see it as a great upcycling of existing property that is underutilized," she said.

Subcommittee chair Laure Quinlivan said there are a number of details to clarify before the project moves further forward, such as determining if Norfolk Southern has future plans for the line, and if an arrangement can be made that would allow the city to adapt the path into light rail if that becomes a future transit option.

"This is really a great proposal," she said. "The best ideas don't always come out of City Hall. If we could make this happen, it would be such a great asset to so many residents."

Story: Matt Cunningham
Photo: Wasson Way Project

Diners at Xavier University's Gallagher Student Center now have new dining options, in some very familiar places. Local restaurateur Andy Hajar officially took over management of the university's Ryan's Pub and Fusions Café, incorporating the Middle Eastern fare of Andy's Mediterranean Grille into these popular campus restaurants.

"We are very excited to have Andy become part of the Xavier family," said Tom Barlow, XU's director of auxiliary services. He pointed out that Andy's, which was started 10 years ago by Hajar after he immigrated to Walnut Hills from Zahle, Lebanon, fits well with the university's commitments to both local business and creating a diverse campus culture.

"As a commitment to Xavier's mission to support our local community, we seek only local, family-run businesses," Barlow said.

Greg George, business manager for Andy's Mediterranean, said the warm regards are mutual.

"Andy thought this was a fabulous opportunity to team up with an institution like Xavier," he said. "It offers him a great environment to improve on the brand, and lays the platform for expanding the brand."

George noted that, although the healthy, natural ingredients in the Andy's menu may be a shift for some diners, the look and feel of XU landmark Ryan's Pub will remain mostly unchanged. The pub was built and named in honor of Steve Ryan, friend of building patron Charlie Gallagher, and the new manager intends to respect that history.

"Ryan's won't look any different beyond the branding," George said.

Both Ryan's Pub and Fusions opened under Andy's management June 2. And George said that excitement at the restaurants remains high.

"This is a dream come true for Andy," he said.

Writer: Matt Cunningham
Photo provided by Xavier University