Development News

For most people, a vacant funeral home might not seem the optimal office and retail space.

Matt Kotlarczyk and a business partner aren't most people. When they saw the vacant Chas. A. Miller funeral home in Northside, they saw opportunity. The Northside landmark that has been vacant for the past three years is currently being remodeled into office and retail space. Kotlarczyk hopes to have the space ready for tenants by April.

“I’ve been looking for a project in Northside for a while,” Kotlarczyk says. “It’s an interesting building, and it can be a very unique space.”

Renovators are tearing up carpet and building walls to create offices, but the building will still keep its character. Kotlarczyk  says only minor changes are being made--for example, the former viewing room will be turned into a conference room.

The 16,000-square-foot space, including the three-car garage, is already being leased. The entire first floor is being rented by Caracole, a center that provides housing and supportive services for those living with HIV/AIDs. The first floor will serve as an office for the non-profit's 30 employees.

Half of the second floor is rented to Future Life Now, a center that works with individuals and groups to makes changes in all aspects of life, which is currently based in College Hill. FLN is doubling its current space with the move. FNL had been looking for a new space for more than a year.

“It will give us more space and a better location to serve our clients from all areas,” says Cynthia Allen, owner of Future Life Now. “We always wanted to support the revitalization of an urban neighborhood. Northside really has shown that it has the moxie to bring diversity together and create a healthy neighborhood.”

The second floor still has 2,500 square feet for rent, as well as the three-car garage behind the building. The garage has high ceiling and a bathroom. According to Kotlarczyk, a sculptor himself, it would make a great studio.

By Evan Wallis

According to Michelle Lightfoot, chef and owner of deli seven 20, ketchup and a gallon of milk don’t make tomato soup.

Lightfoot, a Cincinnati native, graduate of the Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State, ran the successful downtown deli, Poppies. For the past six years, she has been serving the downtown area from her deli on Pete Rose Way. But she may not have become a business owner if she didn’t see poorly made food being served at a restaurant she worked in.

“I worked somewhere where the tomato soup was made every day with a can of ketchup and a gallon of milk,” Lightfoot says. “I couldn’t take it anymore. I wanted to work somewhere that served good, fresh food.”

Lightfoot did just that. She estimates that she serves more than 1,000 walk-in and catering customers each week. Soups, sandwiches and salads are all made in-house to ensure quality. Lightfoot also allows customers and employees to help dictate the menu.

“If someone wants us to make a crazy sandwich and we end up liking it, it could end up on the menu,” Lightfoot says.

Lightfoot changes her menu often, but one thing stays the same; you won’t just get traditional deli sandwiches at seven 20. Instead of a ham and cheese sandwich, you can order the ‘ring dang doo,’ roast pork loin, smoked Gouda, roasted red peppers and sweet chili mayo on focaccia.

Besides allowing input from customers and employees, Lightfoot also lets her employees use their other talents, like  website construction. Lightfoot never focused much on the website for seven 20, but knows it can make a difference. After one of her employees expressed an interest in making a new website, Lightfoot let her begin the process. The website will be updated soon.

“We want to make this a place we want to come to every day,” Lightfoot says. “If you don’t like what you’re doing, it’s not worth doing.”

By Evan Wallis

University of Cincinnati interior design students brought home more prizes than any other school in the world after the Planning and Visual Education Partnership.

Fourth-year interior design students Liz Baverman of Green Township, and fellow student Kayla Reinbold, brought home two of three prizes awarded in the Store Design Category of the contest, which asked design students across the nation to envision, research and design new retail environments for beauty retailer Sephora.

Baverman won $5,000 for first place, and Reinbold won $2,500 for second place. Fellow student Joanna Chen won second place in the competition’s Visual Merchandising Category, earning $2,500, while student Diana Stercula of Medina, Ohio, received an Honorable Mention and $500 in prize money.

Further money, $3,000, will be given to DAAP because of the students' outstanding performance in a field of almost 500 entrants.

“While the prize money is appreciated since it will help fund my current cooperative education quarter in San Francisco, the gala itself was an incredible experience,” Baverman says. “We made professional contacts, and we were able to see that professionals in the field appreciated our work, valued our ideas and, overall, validated our potential. It encouraged me to continue in what is becoming a retail design specialty.”

The challenge was to design a 1,000-square-foot environment for a typical Sephora store, the sponsor of the competition, but as a more temporary, concentrated brand experience. Baverman’s first-place entry was a pop-up store and beauty bar that could be set up on college campuses.

The UC students not only had to envision improved retail environments and tools on behalf of Sephora for the contest, they also had to conduct research to determine the feasibility of their plans.

By Evan Wallis

One downside to traveling by bike is the lack of cargo space, especially if it’s produce to sell at Findlay Market or other farmers’ markets.

Permaganic, the Over-the-Rhine non-profit that sustainably grows produce and teaches teenagers gardening techniques, is pairing with a lead volunteer of Mobo, a volunteer run, bicycle co-op, to build a pedal-powered produce cart. The cart will be another asset for Permaganic’s youth internship program, which pays inner-city teens to work the garden. In turn they learn how to grow, sell and cook with fresh garden produce. Luke Ebner and Angela Stanbery, founders of Permaganic, approached Mobo about building the cart.

The cart will help Permaganic lower their carbon footprint, as well as remove barriers between customers and sellers for a more intimate interaction. The cart will be hand-built by Rob Grossman, a volunteer at Mobo and freelance designer. Once finished, it will serve as both a produce transport and an interactive point-of-sale, complete with a cooler that can hold a couple of hundred pounds of produce, a blackboard, shelves and an awning that is collapsible when not in use.

“We are trying to add to the overall charm of the city,” Grossman says. “We hope people will walk into Findlay Market and see this big, colorful tricycle and want to approach it and find out more.”

Grossman will also create a jig to help in production of more produce carts in the future. For funding, Grossman and Permaganic launched a Kickstarter campaign. The overall goal is $4,000. The cart is a couple years in the making, but Grossman remains optimistic. If the Kickstarter campaign doesn’t raise the funds, Grossman says they will still move forward with the produce cart, but maybe not make it a top priority.

“We’ve drawn out the design and researched all the parts we need,” Grossman says. “It’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of when.”

By Evan Wallis

Fairmount, which had one of the largest concentrations of Section 8 housing in Cincinnati, was just awarded one of 13 grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The $200,000 Choice Neighborhoods Initiative grant was awarded to the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority (CHMA) to formulate a comprehensive plan, over two years, to transform Fairmount into a viable community. Out of 70 applicants nationwide, Fairmount was chosen, due in part to the current lack of resources in the community.

Without a grocery store or a school, an estimated 50 percent of residents living below the poverty level and a 70-acre vacant lot that used to house the public housing community English Woods, Fairmount is in dire need of revitalization.

Out of all recipients of the CNI grants, Fairmount is the only one to list a school as a partner in the planning process. The Ethel M. Taylor Elementary School, which is located outside the limits of Fairmount, only met one state requirement in the ‘09-‘10 school year. The school will be a main focus of the planning process to rejuvenate the community.

“The next two years will be spent making a plan to make this a vibrant community,” says Kelly Kramer, senior communications coordinator at CHMA. “It will have resources that will drastically improve the quality of life in the neighborhood.”  

Housing, people and neighborhood are the three main focus areas that the CHMA will address over the next two years. Distressed and empty lots will be transformed in to mixed-income housing; families and residents will be supported to help increase education, employment and mobility, all with the end goal of creating a renewed neighborhood with well-functioning services.

The CNI is a national organization that chooses neighborhoods in the most need of the grants and first awards them with the planning grant, which Fairmount received. After the two years are up and the plan is formed, neighborhoods can apply for implementation grants.

“The hope is to put together such a good plan that it will move toward future funding,” Kramer says.

By Evan Wallis

University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music has added another degree to its already nationally esteemed programs for the upcoming fall semester.

Applications have come in from all over the world for CCM’s newly announced Commercial Music Production degree. The highly selective program will only enroll about 10 students per year. The degree will mix music theory, composition, studio techniques and film scoring and be paired with a minor in music business entrepreneurship aimed to give graduates all the training they need to run their own, studio.

“They will learn how to write music from the ground up,” says Scott Belck, director of the commercial music production program. “In a strong sense, it’s a music writing degree, but then they will know how to go out and be their own recording studio.”

The possibilities for careers after completing the degree are varied, but Belck says many graduates might produce original content for use that could range from movies to commercials to albums.

“So much of the technology needed to make music is accessible and affordable anymore,” Belck says. “A graduate will be able to work on their own in whatever space they have.”

Three weeks after opening up the application process, CCM has received applications from all over the world. Faculty is looking for the best young potential in the world. Applicants have sent Youtube videos of their singing/songwriting style, while one applicant from Thailand sent a fully completed film score.

“We’re going to prepare them to be successful in the recording business,” Belck says. “We’ll follow their creative side, regardless of style.”

While some schools such as Belmont New York University and USC have programs similar to the Commercial Production degree, Belck says it is the first of its kind in the region.

By Evan Wallis

Strata-G Communications, one of the leading advertising and public relations companies in Cincinnati, will merge with Eric Mower + Associates, one of the largest marketing agencies in the country.

The downtown-based agency has more than 35 employees, all of whom stay on staff and be overseen by the two founders of Strata-G, Jeff Eberlein and Tony Magliano. The firm now joins the ranks of a company that has offices in New York, Atlanta and North Carolina, to expand the EMA to more than 250 employees and an estimated $250 million in billing in 2012.

"The combination of EMA and Strata-G makes good business sense in many ways and brings two excellent agencies together. Combining our full-service capabilities, including strong digital and public relations expertise, and enlarging the footprint our organization makes, means more and better resources to clients, greater opportunities for employees, and a bigger profile to attract new and larger clients, regionally and nationally," says Eric Mower, chairman and CEO of EMA.

Strata-G launched in 1994 when Eberlein and Magliano acquired the six-person graphic design firm, Hsiung and Associates. It has grown by serving clients such as the CVG airport, White Castle and Convergys. EMA is an integrated marketing communications agency with specialized expertise in business-to-business marketing and public relations.

Both firms have a long history of community engagement and providing pro-bono services for local organizations, such as Madcap Productions and the Requiem Project. To celebrate the merge, the two companies have formed an online fundraiser named Coming Together For Good, which will donate $1 per unique visitor to Habitat for Humanity, with a max contribution of $5,000.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for our employees and our clients," says Eberlein. "As part of EMA, a much larger organization with a more significant footprint, we are positioned for greater growth, enhanced services and the ability to provide more career opportunities for our staff."  

By Evan Wallis

A new startup accelerator, UpTech, is partnering with NKU’s College of Informatics to create an incubator that will give 50 new businesses $100,000 to and developmental support over the next three to five years.

The application process opens February 1 and closes on March 1 for early-stage informatics companies from all over the world. The 50 winners will receive the startup funds, as well as six-months of office space in Newport, access to the College of Informatics, and even interns from NKU to help with the startup process. The program will run for three to five years, dealing out portions of the $5 million investment in rounds of ten.

A panel of national informatics, futurists, business and investment experts from leading companies such as CBS, Cisco, Dell, Procter & Gamble, SAP, Scripps, and Summus Software will serve as the contest judges. Winners will be determined through an online application and review process, which will look at seed level ideas to support five sectors of informatics: health information technology, cloud computing virtualization, business analytics, and digital media, and cyber security.

UpTech is a partner of Vision 2015, an organization that has made a plan to economically transform Northern Kentucky. UpTech is in line with the plan of 2015 because it aims to bring some of the most innovative and forward-thinking companies to Northern Kentucky.

The partnership with the NKU College of Informatics, which is one of only a few in the country, is beneficial for both NKU and UpStart. UpStart will receive access to the $60 million state of the art facility, while NKU will receive the presence of the companies and well as recognition that could bring the college national attention.

“Several Greater Cincinnati-area companies have joined forces with UpTech to provide the winners with the critical business support they need during the early foundational stages,” said Bill Scheyer, co-founder of UpTech. “These local companies will provide the legal, financial, accounting, and marketing/public relations support startups need to become strong, successful businesses."

By Evan Wallis

With an idea as good as an app that predicts whether or not school will be cancelled due to inclement weather, two students didn’t let having to learn to program and develop the app stop them.

Scott Fink, a UC engineering freshman, and his high school friend and William and Mary student, Matt Sniff worked through the warm summer months to create the app, the Snow Day Calculator, that calculates the possibility of a snow day based on several algorithms.

“After all, what more do students want than to know they could potentially have a snow day? Fink says. “The Snow Day Calculator popped into my head, and we started writing the algorithm and developing graphics.”

The app was released for both Android and iPhone platforms in December the 99 cent app has since been downloaded hundreds of times, even reaching number 26 in the Apple App store weather rankings.

Just like many other apps, once a good idea was seen, people try to copy and compete with apps by making modified versions.

“Someone copied our idea about a week after us and came out with a similar app for $1.99. So, we have had to effectively market the app and prove that ours is just as good or better for less money,” Fink says.

Fink and Sniff have other Internet and computer related ventures they are trying to capitalize on. Photorankr.com, an amateur photography website, where people can share and rank photos. The site uses algorithms to find which photos are being ranked highest and trending the most at any moment. Another venture is one Sniff has developed at William and Mary is collegecambio.com, a site were students can not only buy and sell textbooks, but they can buy and sell just about anything else, talk about professors and classes, arrange rides home, or anything else they could possibly need.

“It has been extremely rewarding to see some real results from our hard work. It's important to translate learning into real world experience,” Fink says.

By Evan Wallis

What makes a business district more friendly than puppets? In Westwood, neighborhood redevelopment gets a boost from some of the city’s most colorful characters, the troupe from Madcap Productions, which moves into a bigger, better space this year.

For more than 30 years, Madcap’s traditional and contemporary puppeteering have engaged audiences of all ages. Thanks to a new grant, Madcap can move from its Glenway location to a bigger space that will include a theater.

In a partnership with the Westwood Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation, Madcap was invited to the new space in an effort to help restore the historic business district in Westwood.  The grant came after a two-year search by Madcap leaders who found the Neighborhood District Development Fund and received the capital grant from the City of Cincinnati.

“We are working with several private and public community organizations,” says John Lewandowski, artistic director at Madcap. “We are excited to reanimate the district and become an anchor for the community.”

Performing hundreds of shows each year for tens of thousands of people each season, Madcap has garnered national and international attention. The troupe travels around the country, performing at schools, with symphonies and even with local artists such as Know Theater.  

“We’ll be able to open our new shoes in our own theater,” Lewandowski says. “We’ll be able to invite local and regional audiences.”

The new building, on Harrison Avenue in Westwood, will give Madcap a 200-seat performance space, a space to display their 600-plus-puppet collection and opportunities to expand workshops and educational offerings. Lewandowski hopes to have the doors open this spring, but he has no set date for performances.

Working with teachers to immerse children in the arts is the backbone of Madcap’s educational programs. With the added square-footage, Madcap will be able to host larger workshops that focus on children in grades K-6, where they learn about storytelling, literature and even get to make their own puppets. While children remain a large focus of the non-profit, Lewandowski makes sure the performances appeal to adults as well as children.

“We reach an enormous span of ages,” Lewandowski says. “Puppets can reach four-year olds, all the way up to adults.”

By Evan Wallis

Next month, Over-the-Rhine will be filled with the blues—as the new home neighborhood for the region’s Winter Blues Fest, which will feature 25 local and regional bands over the two-night festival with two touring acts, Kelley Richey and RB Stone.

The last five of the seven Cincy Blue Society’s annual winter festivals took place at Southgate House in Newport, which closed at the end of 2011. Organizers quickly picked OTR as the fest’s newest locale.

“There are so many venues within walking distance (in OTR),” says Mary Beth Weaver, PR coordinator for the Winter Blues Fest. “Many had already featured blues bands and business owners were very receptive, so it worked out very well.”

The four Blues Fest venues are: the Drinkery, Below Zero, Japp’s Annex, and the former Harry’s Pizza space across from the Drinkery.

The Harry’s Pizza stage will be an all-ages venue that will showcase Blues Society and Blues in the Schools Band (BITS). The BITS band travels to schools in the area to expose children to the long-lasting art form of the blues through presentations and performances. Students can join the band, where members are taught by the same musicians who travel to the schools.

The Winter Blues Fest is just one aspect of the Blues Society, which was formed in 1990 as a non-profit. The group has been hosting the much larger Cincy Blues Fest in Sawyer Point for 20 years. The smaller Winter Fest provides one of the largest fundraising opportunities for the BITS program.

“The Cincy Blues Society is a non-profit with the mission of keeping the blues alive,” Weaver says. “Our Blues in the Schools program is one of the biggest parts of that.”

Each winter, the student-formed band plays at the Blues Fest and shows off their new blues skills. Weaver says many students end up forming their own bands and eventually playing in the Blues Fest.

The Fest runs Feb. 10-11 and costs $25 per person.

By Evan Wallis