New apartments meet growing demand near UC's campus

A partnership between Uptown Rental Properties and North American Properties will add 237 apartment units near the UC campus in the next two years.

The largest project, called 65 West, will open late this summer. Construction on the second project, which consists of two buildings in Corryville, will begin in 45 days. All three buildings are expected to receive LEED silver certification, Uptown Rentals' owner Dan Schimberg said.

Schimberg said there is a growing demand for new, safe, energy efficient housing within walking distance to the UC Campus. 65 West is almost 50 percent leased several months before its completion.

The success of 65 West led the partners to pursue the second project in Corryville. It will include one five-story mixed-use building on Short Vine at the old Benchmark site, and a larger residential complex facing Euclid Avenue and Van Street nearby. Those two buildings will add housing for 150-200 people in the Short Vine area, Schimberg said.

"Short Vine has had twenty years of decline, and we think the time has come for Short Vine to come back," Schimberg said. "And in order to build the vitality of the Short Vine business district, you need a critical mass of people living around it."

A new hotel, a city-funded streetscape project, and new Kroger and Walgreens stores are also on the horizon for Short Vine.

Schimberg began rehabbing buildings in the Uptown district in the mid-1980s, after graduating from the University of Cincinnati. Since then his business has grown to manage over 2,000 rental units.

The most recent partnership began when North American Properties purchased the old Friars Club building, which was adjacent to properties that Uptown owned. The two groups decided to work together to redevelop the block, and conceived the 129-unit apartment complex called 65 West. Schimberg said the partnership will continue to look for land in the Uptown area for similar projects.

Writer: Henry Sweets