Regionalism : Development News

Residents of Columbia Tusculum have pride in their neighborhood, and to showcase that, they hold the Columbia Tusculum Home Tour every two or three years. This year, the tour will be held Oct. 6 and will feature about 15 houses, a handful of businesses and a few historic buildings in the neighborhood.
 
Columbia Tusculum was established in 1788, making this year its 225^th anniversary. It’s a relatively small neighborhood that thrived in the 1700s, but has seen its share of decline and dilapidated and run-down buildings.
 
“Columbia Tusculum has been in a state of transition over the past few decades, and residents have made it a mission to restore the beautiful homes,” says Janette Yauch, the chair of the home tour.
 
Yauch and the tour want to showcase the work and beauty of the original houses and the effort the homeowners have invested in ensuring long-term sustainability of their homes.
 
Most of the houses in Columbia Tusculum were built between the late 1700s and late 1800s, and are Victorian (also called “painted ladies”) in style. As of now, there will be one craftsman style house included in the tour. The houses included in the tour aren’t for sale, but Yauch is looking into partnering with local realtors to include a few open houses.  
 
The tour includes homes throughout the neighborhood. All of the houses are within walking distance, but there will be a trolley running for those who don’t want to climb the steep hills, Yauch says.
 
Like last year, the tour committee hopes to partner with the Riley School of Irish Music and have live Celtic and Irish music in every house. Day-of ticket sales are sold in front of the Green Dog Cafe, and the committee hopes to partner with them to create food specials for tour-goers.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Imagine the walls from Professor Dumbledore’s office in the Harry Potter movies—space covered with framed photographs. That’s what the four walls of Over-the-Rhine’s newest business, Frameshop, will look like, but they’ll be covered in framed posters, neon signs, taxidermy and other oddities.
 
“We want customers to get creative, and we’re trying to do that with a more creative space,” says Frameshop co-owner Jake Gerth.
 
Frameshop happens to be across the street from Gerth’s apartment. “I wanted a business that would be part of the community,” he says. “We want to let Cincinnati know that people are moving to OTR, that it’s a good place to be.”
 
The storefront was in pretty good shape when Gerth and his business partner, Jake Baker, rented it—the floors, walls and hand-painted ceiling tiles are all original. The front of the store is the retail floor, where Baker and Gerth will showcase their talents, and their shop is in the back of the building.
 
While Frameshop isn’t quite finished, Gerth and Baker are excited for their Final Friday opening Feb. 22. They’re going to have a grand opening party that night, and start taking framing orders from customers.
 
The two Springdale natives have been friends since first grade. After college (Baker went to Ohio University; Gerth went to AIC College of Design in Springdale), they decided to open a business together. They had lots of ideas, but their experience in framing lead them to Frameshop—Baker worked in retail framing for a brief time; Gerth has a creative background.
 
“You can’t get what we do at Michael’s,” Gerth says. For example, they have an OTR print in a black wood frame made from 100-year-old reclaimed wood from OTR.
 
All Frameshop pieces will be custom, and the owners plan to turn around orders faster than a typical frame shop that takes about two weeks to complete a job—Baker and Gerth will have orders finished in about an hour.
 
“Our goal is to have customers come in, drop off a piece, go have dinner and then come pick it up,” Baker says.
 
Frameshop opens at 6 pm on Final Friday. There will be a DJ, food and tours of the store. Plus, customers can start placing orders that day.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Russian-based Unipack Group, a full-service glass container decorating and packaging company that has served the alcohol beverage industry since 1995, is expanding into the United States. Westpack, a new branch of Unipack, will soon have a plant in Covington.
 
Currently, Kentucky is home to about 420 internationally based companies from 30 countries that employ about 80,000 people.
 
“With decoration plants in Russia and Europe, expanding into the U.S. market was a natural next step,” Westpack Managing Director Simon Mnoyan said in a press release. “And selecting the right state for our production was a function of customer logistics, business operating costs and quality of life. The Commonwealth of Kentucky provided and met all three requirements for our expansion. We would like to express our gratitude to the Commonwealth and the City of Covington for guidance and support in our endeavor.”
 
Westpack will mainly serve bourbon, spirits and wine producers, and the perfume and cosmetic industries, but the company will also produce promotional tumblers and other items for the tableware industry, according to Sam Popianksy, director of business development for Westpack, in a press release.
 
The company’s services include screen printing, etching and frosting, electrostatic and liquid organic spray coating, automated hot stamping, PSL and decal application.
 
Unipack’s expansion will create 63 new, full-time jobs and will represent a $4.49 million investment in Northern Kentucky. The 126,000-square-foot facility at 200 W. 43^rd Street in Covington’s Latonia neighborhood isn’t on the riverfront, but in a residential area with retail and other industries.
 
Not only is Westpack creating jobs, but it’s making use of an existing, vacant building. “The redeveloped building will hopefully attract new companies to the area and breathe new life into the market,” says Karen Finan, senior VP at Northern Kentucky Tri-County Economic Development Corporation.
 
Construction is to begin on the Westpack plant this spring.
 
Interested in working at Westpack? Send your resume to: sunny.saloman@west-pack.com.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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University of Cincinnati graduates Greg and Ryan Geisting didn’t find jobs after graduation; Greg, 29, has a degree in criminal justice, and Ryan, 24, has a degree in sports administration. So they decided to stick with what they knew: pizza.
 
The brothers started working for Mio’s in Mt. Washington when they were in high school. They have 20 years experience in the restaurant business combined, and when they couldn’t find jobs, they decided they would go into business together and open a Mio’s franchise in Blue Ash.
 
“We love the product Mio’s offers,” Ryan says. “We also really like the neighborhood atmosphere of Mio’s. When we worked in Mt. Washington, we had regular customers who came in on the same night every week.”
 
The Geisting brothers want to become a staple in the Blue Ash community, Ryan says. Although this is the 10^th Mio’s location in the Cincinnati area, they don’t want to be seen as another chain. Greg and Ryan plan to sponsor a few of the Friday night concerts at the Blue Ash Amphitheater, which you can see from the restaurant’s patio.
 
Before they found the location in Blue Ash, Greg and Ryan bid on a location in Northern Kentucky, but they lost it to another bidder. After a week, they heard about the location in Blue Ash opening up (it used to be the Cactus Pear), and by the end of the week, they had it.
 
To make the restaurant their own, Greg and Ryan repainted the dining area, put up new decorations, installed a new whiskey barrel floor, reupholstered the seat cushions, and replaced a wall mural across from the bar with a rock wall that accents the whole restaurant, Ryan says.
 
The restaurant has become a family thing. Their father helped rebuild the inside, and their uncle, Howard Cohen, has done marketing and will be tending the bar once the restaurant opens March 4. Two of their sisters and their brother-in-law are going to help out, and their aunt might be making all of the desserts they serve to help start her own business, Aunt T’s Treats.
 
In the long run, Greg and Ryan can see themselves opening another Mio’s location, and maybe a bar. “There’s a full bar at the Blue Ash location, and it’s definitely a stepping-stone to opening a bar,” Ryan says.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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With a new business name, a liquor license and sole ownership of S&J Bakery Café in Findlay Market, Stefan Skirtz is about to get even more creative with his offerings. Which is saying something for a baker who already serves a blueberry pancake cupcake with maple buttercream icing and topped with a garnish of chocolate-dipped bacon. Mmmm, bacon.

As his storefront nears its third anniversary at the Over-the-Rhine landmark this May, Skirtz remains dedicated to keeping things local and making a stop at his flourishing shop just one part of a varied market experience. 

“The reason why I wanted to come to Findlay Market was to strengthen the Findlay Market experience,” says Skirtz, 44, who grew up in Clifton Heights. “I go out every Saturday and buy our produce for the week.”

Skirtz, who opened the shop with a partner, reports that they spent 96 percent of the capital costs for the business within the 45202 zipcode. After making it through the first year in business, sales doubled in year two. He’s hopeful about the prospects for year three, during which he opened a second location—the S&J Café in the Main Library downtown.

“The sales have been very strong,” Skirtz says. “It’s given us an opportunity to constantly adapt and adjust.”

Adapting and adjusting comes naturally to the entrepreneur who started his working life far from a kitchen. He worked summers at Kings Island, then stayed with the park as its owners shifted from Kings Productions to Paramount and Viacom, where he produced live shows and planned events. 

But the Cincinnati native, who once again lives in Clifton Heights, grew tired of constant travel. He decided to pursue his lifelong love of cooking at the Midwest Culinary Institute, where he could turn his hobby into a career.

Skirtz’s theme park background makes him particularly sensitive to his customers’ feedback, which he has already incorporated into his business plans. For example, the dining room section of the Findlay store was intended for storage, but customers enjoyed having a place to sit and enjoy breakfast and lunch so he made the cheerful space permanent.  

“People instantly started coming down and starting their Findlay Market experience with us,” Skirtz says. Regulars bring their own coffee mugs, cloth napkins and silverware. Some stop in for the same menu items every Saturday at 8 a.m. sharp; others make S&J a midway break during their trip; still others end their shopping with a leisurely lunch. 

“It’s really about listening to your guests,” says Skirtz, who works with a wide range of market and local vendors, from Coffee Emporium (which created a special blend for S&J) to Bender and Eckerlin Meats for sandwich fillings.

Feedback has also led Skirtz to sell his bread in demi-loaves—customers told him that whole loaves were too big for them to finish. He’s also expanding the shop’s weekday hours to 6 p.m. to accommodate a second baguette baking in the afternoon; baguette-lovers pushed for an option to stop by S&J on their way home from work to buy a warm loaf.

Skirtz was also granted a liquor license this month as part of the newly formed Findlay Market Entertainment District, and is deciding how to incorporate it into his plans for rebranding, which will include a new menu, brunch, special programs and live entertainment.

One thing is for certain: Skirtz will continue to see Findlay Market as a “destination attraction,” reminiscent of his theme park days. “My goal is that anybody who comes in my door and eats my food, I want them to go into the Market House and start shopping,” he says. 

By Elissa Yancey
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Northside is known for its eclectic mix of restaurants and shops, but new projects focus on on adding to the population as well.
 
“New developments are critical for the health of the city so that there is a stable population that supports small businesses,” says Cincinnati Northside Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation’s Executive Director Stefanie Sunderland. “There’s also a potential to increase business investment and generate increased tax revenue.”
 
Two houses in the neighborhood will soon receive national attention on the HGTV program “You Live in What?” The program focuses on people who live in buildings that were originally built for other purposes, then converted to single-family homes, Sunderland says.
 
One of the houses, located at 1760 Hanfield, was built in the late 1800s, and records indicate that the first business to occupy the building was a tinner. The redevelopment of the Hanfield property was done by CNCURC. The other house at 1615 Springlawn Avenue used to be Hogan’s Meat Market and was recently converted to a single-family home with a three-car garage. (There’s another house in Cincinnati on McMillan that will be featured on the program as well.)
 
The biggest future project in Northside is a three part development that includes the Myron G. Johnson & Son Lumber Company site and the old Mergards Bowling Alley at Hamilton Avenue and Blue Rock Street, American Can Lofts at Blue Rock and Fergus, and a tract of land north of the lofts at the corner of Fergus and Knowlton.

The Johnson building has been vacant since 2005, and the City recently awarded an RFP to Indianapolis' Milhaus Development for the project. Plans include a mixed-use development of several three- to four-story buildings on Hamilton that will provide retail or commercial space on the first floor with apartments above, several apartment buildings, possible town houses, and the redevelopment and repurposing of the historic railroad building in the area. In all, the project will yield up to 140 rental units.

The American Can Lofts project was the conversion and development of a large, historic manufacture building by Bloomfield/Schon + Partners, which includes up to 110 apartments, with a long waiting list. There's also three large retail or commercial bays on the first floor of the building. The third piece of the project, which is owned by Bloomfiled/Schon, will provide 54 senior housing units and amenities, and is designed by the Model Group.
 
CNCUR is also working on converting four rental properties on Witler into single-family homes. One of the houses is finished, and the other three are close to completion.
 
“Our goal is to reduce blight through the redevelopment of vacant houses,” says Sunderland. “We’re working in areas that are seriously depressed, and have been impacted by foreclosures and abandonment.”
 
With the near-completion of the infrastructure and road improvements along Colerain Avenue, the Virginia Place development will start to fill up, says Sunderland. The project includes 40 single-family suburban and neo-traditional houses that are being completed by a handful of builders.
 
Groundwork Cincinnati was recently awarded grant money to work on the West Fork flood plain on the western side of the neighborhood. Before the grant, FEMA money was used to purchase and demolish the buildings located in the flood plain, pay for the relocation of homeowners, and naturalize the creek.
 
“I think it’s important to repurpose what you already have instead of destroying green spaces,” says Sunderland. “It makes sense to recycle existing communities, rather than affect the environment and build new ones.”
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Construction on one of Over-the-Rhine’s 19^th century buildings will soon be finished, and will open up new office space for members of the community. Rehabilitation began on the Cogswell Building in November and should be completed by March.
 
“I visited the Cogswell when it was CS13 Gallery and really liked the space,” says Pat Feghali, the building’s owner. “I used to drive by the building on the way home and saw that it was for sale, and eventually bought it.”
 
According to records, the Cogswell Building at 1219 Sycamore Street was built in the 1880s, and the first tenant was a shoe and boot store. The storefront was later converted into apartments. A bit of renovation work was done in the 1990s, but nothing major.
 
The building has been vacant since 2010, when CS13 occupied the space. Before that, it was a bar called The Cabaret. Both tenants only used the first two floors of the four-story building. When Feghali purchased the building in 2012, the fourth floor didn’t have heat and the plaster was peeling off of the walls.
 
Even though the Cogswell will have new office and conference space, all of the original detailing was kept intact, including the doors, trim, windows and floors. The first floor will have conference rooms available to those with offices in the building or members of the community who need meeting space for an hour or two, Feghali says.
 
The second and third floors will contain offices for individuals or small companies, and the fourth floor is now one room with open access for occupants of the building who need more room to spread out to do their work.
 
“I hope the building will bring more people to Sycamore,” Feghali says. “It’s a weird street, with only a few blocks of inhabited buildings. The Cogswell is on the corner, and you can see it from quite a distance.”
 
Feghali has a few tenants lined up, but she’s still looking to fill offices. If you’re interested in renting space in the Cogswell Building, contact her at p.feghali@gmail.com.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Did you recently buy a historic home and need help getting renovations underway? Or do you want to learn more about living green? Then NKY Restoration Weekend is for you.
 
The second annual Restoration Weekend is from 9 am to 5 pm on Feb. 23 at the Gateway Community and Technical College's Urban Campus in Covington. The event will feature many opportunities for historic home owners, including classes and demonstrations on how to make historic houses and surrounding property more energy efficient and sustainable; researching historic homes; utilizing the Kentucky homeowner’s rehabilitation tax credit; Rookwood tile history and maintenance; historic ironwork; window restoration; plaster; masonry repair and maintenance ask the expert.
 
There will also be a vendor fair with more than 20 booths featuring craftsmen and contractors that represent all aspects of the renovation process.
 
“The weekend is about combining sustainable and green practices with historic homes,” says Beth Johnson, preservation and planning specialist for the City of Covington. “The vendors are a huge part of the event, and helps connect homeowners with good products and contractors.”
 
But Johnson says the highlight of the event is the keynote speakers, Matt Grocoff. He’s a nationally known TV personality who turned a 100-year-old folk Victorian house into net zero, which means it’s historically sensitive, but doesn’t use energy.
 
“There’s such an amazing stock of historic homes in Northern Kentucky and the surrounding area, and people need to be responsible homeowners and be better stewards of historic homes,” Johnson says. “DIY is really big, and they need to know the proper ways to do things.” 
 
The event is partially funded by the Certified Local Government grant that’s given to the cities of Bellevue, Covington and Newport from the National Park Service and administered by the Kentucky Heritage Council.
 
NKY Restoration is an unincorporated association and collaboration of businesses, artisans and craftsmen, nonprofit organizations, cities and the Historic Preservation offices in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati.
 
The event is free, but reservations are requested to ensure a spot at the keynote luncheon.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Downtown Horseshoe Casino doesn’t open until March 4, but it has a power-packed restaurant line-up sure to please casino-goers and foodies alike, including Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, Jack Binion's Steak and the latest addition, Bobby Flay’s Bobby’s Burger Palace.

Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville will have an outdoor entrance off Broadway, adjacent to that of the casino. The 14,000-square-foot restaurant will have seating for about 400, and feature an outdoor patio and Margaritaville retail store.

Named for the founder of the original Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, Jack Binion's Steak will offer traditional beef cuts, dry-aged prime rib, American Wagyu beef, lamb and veal, plus seafood, poultry and a potato car that will have tableside preparation of sidedishes. The 200-seat dining room will overlook downtown and have a private dining room equipped with audio and visual equipment available for rent for meetings and special events.
 
The new Burger Palace is Flay’s 14^th location, but the first in the Midwest. Located on the casino’s gaming floor, the 3,500-square-foot restaurant will have seating for about 90 people, and 10 signature burgers that are inspired by Flay’s travels across the United States and his love of grilling.
 
The menu’s highlights include the Buffalo Style Burger with Red Hot sauce, topped with blue cheese dressing and watercress; the Dallas Burger, which is spice crusted and topped with coleslaw, Monterrey Jack cheese, BBQ sauce and pickles; and the Palace Classic Burger, which has your typical cheeseburger toppings (American cheese, lettuce, tomato and red onion). The menu also features a Burger of the Month; all of the burgers can be prepared with Certified Angus Beef, ground turkey or a grilled chicken breast. 
 
Flay opened his first BBP in 2008 on Long Island. “At any time of year, my favorite thing to eat is a cheeseburger,” he said in a statement. “I’m very excited to open the first BBP in the Midwest and be able to share this with the families and residents of Cincinnati.”

Flay and his business partner, Laurence Kretchmer, look for areas where they can open several restaurants and create synergy. "There is a lot of breadth in the Ohio market, and good potential opportunities," says Kretchmer. "Opening Bobby's Burger Palace in the casino is a great springboard opportunity for future expansion in the region."

Flay and Kretchmer have done business with Caesars before, and they're one of the developers of Horseshoe in Cincinnati. The team has a high-end restaurant at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and two of the BBP are in casinos.
 
Flay is an award-winning chef, restaurateur and the author of 11 cookbooks. He is owner and executive chef of Mesa Grill, Bobby Flay Steak and Bar Americain, with locations across the U.S. Flay has also starred in countless Food Network and Cooking Channel shows, served as Resident Chef and Lifestyle Correspondent for “The Early Show on CBS” and “CBS Sunday Morning” for over a decade, and is a regular contributor on NBC’s “The Today Show.”

Horseshoe Casino is a $400 million venture between development partners Caesar and ROC Gaming. It will feature a 100,000-square-foot gaming floor, complete with 2,000 slot machines, 85 game tables and a 31-table World Series of Poker room.  

By Caitlin Koenig
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The Original Makers Club is a fairly new startup from Louisville—it was founded in 2011 by photographer Josh Merideth— but it already has branches in Lexington, Cincinnati and Brooklyn. OMC is an aesthetically minded brand and publication that curates, highlights and looks to elevate the culture, society and local business scenes of cities.
 
“A few years ago, Louisville was going through a similar revitalization to Cincinnati’s current one, which makes it a prime time to celebrate local culture,” says Mike Brady, managing partner and events director of OMC.
 
Comprised of design-conscious, forward-thinking local businesses, Cincinnati’s branch of OMC has about 60 members, including A Tavola, Ensemble Theatre, Sloan Boutique, 21c Museum Hotel, 3CDC, Smart Fish Studio, 5 Dot Design, Bakersfield OTR, Paolo Modern Jewelers, Japps, 4EG, MiCa, Taste of Belgium, DIGS and Jaguar Land Rover.
 
“We are less about adding anything than we are about showcasing the culture and talent that exists here,” Brady says. “We want to insure that those visiting the city get a real taste of her. We also wish that those currently living in Cincinnati are experiencing it to the fullest.”
 
On Feb. 8, OMC is hosting its launch event for the Cincinnati branch. Members of OMC will be providing appetizers, drinks, music and neat things to look at—including A Tavola, 5 Dot Design, Marti’s Floral Designs, Parlour, Christian Moerlein, Matthew Metzger and Jaguar Land Rover.
 
Besides the launch event, OMC is working on creating a mural with help from Artworks and hopes to co-host larger events like a Dinner Series, which would showcase member chefs and entertain a group of people in an exotic location in or near the city, Brady says.
 
There are only a handful of tickets available for the launch event for non-OMC members, so get them while you can.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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The property at Fifth and Race streets has seen its fair share of change in the past 14 years. Plans for a Nordstrom, a skyscraper, even condos came and went. The parking lot stayed. But by December 2014, the new dunnhumby Centre will occupy the space.
 
Construction began on Jan. 31 on the nine-story, $122 million building that will house the branding giant’s headquarters. When completed, the project will include a three-level parking garage with 1,000 parking spaces; 30,000 square feet of retail space; and 280,000 square feet of dunnhumby office space.
 
Building plans boast lots of open space and glass windows, plus a wide staircase that will allow for more interaction between employees and less time at their desks.
 
In the future, dunnhumby can expand downward by taking over the parking garage, if needed.
 
dunnhumby currently has about 650 employees, and it plans to grow to more than 1,000 by 2018, which is one of the reasons for the new building. Also, the current dunnhumby headquarters is in the right-of-way for the proposed new Brent Spence Bridge, says Ann Keeling, public relations representative for dunnhumby.
 
Turner Construction Company is building dunnhumby Centre; it’s funded by new market tax credits, 3CDC-managed corporate loan money, and state and conventional loans.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Some of the city's biggest bike-related projects in the works for 2013 are still in the planning stages, but a few will continue and build on the momentum from last year. 

This year, the city's Bicycle Transportation Program includes plans to finish more than two miles of bike lanes along Riverside Drive, a project that was started in 2009. Plans are also in the works to extend the Spring Grove bike lanes from Hopple to Bank Street downtown; proposals have been drafted for rehabilitation projects along Dalton Street, Bank, Western Avenue and Langdon Farm Road. 

The City also hopes to continue its design work on the Ohio River Trail, extending bike-friendly paths from Salem Street to Sutton Road and Collins Avenue to Corbin Street.
 
The City is also in the early stages of looking to put Ohio’s first cycle track on Central Parkway between Ludlow Avenue and Liberty Street. “Cycle tracks aren’t mainstream yet, but New York City and Washington, D.C., have quite a few,” says Melissa McVay, senior city planner in the Division of Transportation & Engineering. “They’re the most family-friendly bike facility you can build.”
 
A cycle track is like a bike trail or shared path, but it’s in the street, for bikes only and separated from cars by a physical barrier, such as planters, trees or a curb. Cycle tracks are meant to keep cars from veering into bicyclists’ paths.
 
“A typical bike lane is usually enough to encourage cyclists to try them, but sometimes, they don’t make everyone feel comfortable,” says McVay. “The physical barrier of a cycle track is meant to make cyclists feel safe.” 

One of the most exciting developments for bicyclists last year was the addition of a green bike lane on Ludlow last year. “It started the conversation among people who don’t ride bikes, and they’re beginning to see the infrastructure,” McVay says. “I feel like the bike community has grown, and there is now a growing city-wide awareness.”

Approved by the City in 2009 and put into action in 2010, the Bike Plan outlines bicycle-related projects over the next 15 years. In all, the plan recommends 445 miles of on-street and off-street bike facilities, such as bike lanes, bike racks and multi-use trails.
 
In 2009, there were about seven miles of bike lanes and sharrows in Cincinnati, says McVay. In 2010, 2.3 miles were added; in 2011, 4.5 miles; in 2012, five more miles were added, for a total of 19 miles.
 
Since 1993, many bike-friendly projects have been implemented, including striping 12 miles of bike lanes, creating 21 miles of shared-use paths and trails and installing six miles of sharrows, or shared lane markings, throughout the city.
 
The bulk of the Bicycle Transportation Program's focus is on developing on-street and off-street bike facilities as outlined in the Bike Plan, but it also organizes bike-related events, proposing policy and zoning changes, and working on advocacy projects with Queen City Bike and Mobo Bicycle Co-op.
 
The public played a huge part in developing the Bike Plan by utilizing online tools to show the City where bike facilities were needed.
 
Even though there has been an outpouring of public support for bike facilities, there are still issues when it comes to removing parking. The City proposed a project along Spring Grove Avenue this past summer that would consolidate on-street parking to one side of the street, but businesses liked having parking available on both sides of the street.
 
“The project will be successful if the community comes together and rallies around the project, and the trade-off of on-street parking for a bike lane will ultimately benefit both business owners and bicyclists,” McVay says.

The City wants to hear from you! Take the survery and grade Cincinnati on different bike-friendly aspects around town.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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The idea for Happy Chicks Bakery began in Jessica Bechtel’s kitchen. She and Jana Douglass, 31, have been friends and colleagues for about 10 years, and over those years, they’ve made many batches of cookies together. Since they love to bake and are both vegans, the pair figured they could make it into a business.
 
Douglass and Bechtel started Happy Chicks, a vegan bakery, in April of last year. Happy Chicks doesn’t have a storefront, but they sell their products wholesale to Park+Vine and the Family Enrichment Center in Northside. In the summer, Happy Chicks has a booth at the Northside and Madeira farmers markets. Bechtel and Douglass also do custom orders and cater special events.
 
“Our goal is to have a storefront in the next few years,” says Bechtel, 33. “We’re trying to do the business without taking out loans. When the time comes, we’ll probably look for a space downtown.” 

Happy Chicks is also in the process of looking for other wholesale opportunities to help expand their business.
 
Happy Chicks makes cakes, cupcakes, cookies, macaroons, pies, scones, muffins, a vegan croissant, breakfast roll and coffee cake; the breakfast items are popular at both Park+Vine and the Family Enrichment Center, Bechtel says.
 
The black raspberry chocolate chip cookie is a top-seller, as are the tiramisu and caramel chocolate stout cakes. They also offer seasonal-flavored treats, such as the Snowball, which is a coconut cupcake topped with coconut frosting and filled with a cranberry sauce.
 
All of the bakery’s goodies are dairy and egg-free, and most of the recipes are also soy-free. Many can be made gluten and nut-free, too.
 
Need to satisfy your sweet tooth before Valentine’s Day? Visit Happy Chicks at Sweet Victory, a wedding dessert tasting and cake-decorating contest, Feb. 6 at Cooper Creek Event Center. Or get tickets to Cupcakes & Cocktails, a ladies-only event that benefits the Eve Center, Feb. 8.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Kitchen 452’s small dining room only holds six tables, but the restaurant is going to pack a big punch. Its menu is full of comfort food, such as sandwiches and soups, all delivered with fun twists.
 
Kitchen 452 will open from 6 to 9 p.m. on Jan. 25 during Walk on Woodburn, but the restaurant’s official grand opening is Feb. 1, when it will begin its regular lunch hours, from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
 
Jen Lile, 39, and her business partner, Leah Joos, 29, began looking for restaurant space last May. Neither went to culinary school—they were academic advisors at the University of Cincinnati’s honors college, and through helping their students follow their dreams, they realized what their own was.
 
“After doing some research, we found out about SpringBoard Cincinnati,” says Joos. “We enrolled in courses there, then found the space on Woodburn, solidifying our idea.”
 
Joos’ interest in food started in her grandmother’s kitchen. She and her sister considered it a playground, and their grandmother let them make whatever they wanted.
 
But she didn’t really start cooking until graduate school. “I wasn’t good at it, but it gave me a good sense of focus and a creative outlet when my brain was drained,” she says.
 
Lile spent time in Europe and saw a difference between how food was appreciated and prepared that she didn’t see in the United States. When she came back, her idea of food changed and she became interested in learning about food. “Before my trip to Europe, I considered boiling water cooking,” she says. “My kitchen became the space where I really wanted to be.”
 
Joos and Lile designed Kitchen 452’s menu around traditional comfort food. “We like to play around with different flavors and try different flavor combinations together,” says Lile.
 
For example, their turkey sandwich is on bread fresh from the bakery, with a cranberry and orange chutney, which is balanced with crispy shallots on top; Kitchen 452’s tomato soup is topped with a parsley and garlic gremolata. Joos and Lile also wanted to focus on foods that feel like the seasons, so when it’s dark and wintry outside, there will be warm and hearty dishes on their menu.
 
“We want people to feel like they matter,” says Joos. “We want to get to know our customers, because we know that people make a decision when they go out to eat, and we want them to choose Kitchen 452 and keep coming back.”
 
Joos and Lile want to do things that can connect them with people on different levels as well. They plan to offer themed dinners at Kitchen 452, and possibly offer educational classes. One of their ideas is an oil and vinegar tasting that will teach customers how to incorporate different oils and vinegars into dishes they cook on a daily basis.
 
Kitchen 452 will also offer catering for business meetings and special events, with menus tailored to customers’ needs.
 
“It’s exciting for us and for our customers to try out different recipes that aren’t necessarily on our menu,” says Lile. “We want to help create custom menus and be part of important events in other people’s lives.”
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Yoga is usually accompanied by soothing background music, but at OMYA Studio in Northside, that background music is an important aspect of every class.
 
Co-owners Hollie Nesbitt and Mark Messerly both have musical backgrounds. Nesbitt is a former music teacher, and Messerly is a music teacher at the Cincinnati Gifted Academy and plays in several bands, including Wussy and Messerly and Ewing.
 
About four years ago, Nesbitt started Little Yoga Sunshine, a yoga program for children. She has taught yoga to Girl Scout troops and church groups; she also used to teach yoga to students at Cincinnati Public School’s after-school program. Over the years, Nesbitt has taught yoga at Wyoming Youth Services, The Women’s Connection, Lighthouse Youth Services, the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati, United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Museum Center.
 
OMYA, which stands for Outreach, Music, Yoga and Arts, offers yoga classes for children, adults, families and those with special needs. “Yoga gets the body moving and helps with concentration and calming down,” says Nesbitt.
 
Yoga can teach children with autism the skill of stopping with the four “Bs” (brakes, brain, body, breath). It can also help non-ambulatory people with muscle tone and physicality, and those with Down syndrome with strengthening their joints and muscles.

“We offer lots of kid, family and special needs classes, which is something that many yoga studios don’t have,” says Nesbitt.
 
Messerly doesn’t teach yoga classes, but he’s planning to offer several music classes at OMYA. In the future, he plans to offer an early childhood music class for children with autism and ADHD. He also wants to start a guitar club for beginning and intermediate guitar players and a songwriting class for older children and adults. He’s also in the process of developing a six-week course for kids with autism, a program that doesn’t exist elsewhere.
 
“It’s always struck me that kids love music, but adults say they can’t carry a tune,” Messerly says. “I want to give music back to people. Not everyone will be a musician, but they should have music in their lives.”
 
Not only will Messerly teach a few music classes at OMYA, but he has incorporated yoga breathing and movements into the music classes that he teaches at Cincinnati Gifted.
 
OMYA also has a working relationship with WordPlay, which is housed in the same building as the studio. “We want to do some cross-curriculum work with WordPlay, where kids will write poems or song lyrics and then I’ll teach them how to add music,” Messerly says.
 
OMYA is right across the street from Yoga-Ah, the yoga studio where Nesbitt learned to teach yoga. She says they do lots of cross-promoting for the studio. “While your child is taking a class at OMYA, you can take one for adults across the street.”
 
Currently, OMYA offers one or two classes per day, with no classes held on Tuesday. Nesbitt is one of two yoga teachers, and Robyn Holleran, a professional belly dancer, teaches belly dancing classes for girls ages 12 and up; April Eight also teaches Songs of Peace classes. Classes are $10 for adults, $8 for kids and $15 for families.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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