Two buildings on Republic Street in Over-the-Rhine will soon become a 14-unit affordable housing project called Beasley Place. Redevelopment of 1405 and 1407 Republic St. will begin this fall, and should be finished by fall 2014.
The project is named for Willie and Fannie Beasley, who were former residents of one of the buildings. They were long-time residents of the building, and their roots ran deep on Republic Street—everyone knew them, says Ashleigh Finke, project manager at
Over-the-Rhine Community Housing.
“I think the story behind the name really captures why we as an organization exists,” she says. “There are many wonderful people like the Beasleys who have strong roots in the neighborhood and contribute so much to the heart and soul of OTR that we want to make sure are able to continue to live in OTR.”
Beasley Place, which is a five-story historic building with about 23,000 square feet, will contain six one-bedroom units, four two-bedroom units and three three-bedroom units, ranging from 681 to 1,402 square feet. Ten of the apartments are designated for people with incomes below 60 percent of the Area Median Income, and three units are earnarked for people with incomes below 30 percent of AMI.
There will also be about 1,200 square feet of first floor, storefront commercial space, plus an elevator and on-site laundry for residents. The building will meet enterprise green communities requirements and will have Energy Star appliances and lighting.
The total cost of the Beasley Place project is just under $3 million. The buildings are owned and will be developed by
OTRCH, and
HGC Construction is the general contractor of the project.
The project is receiving state and federal historic tax credits, City of Cincinnati HOME funding,
City of Cincinnati Lead Education and Remediation (CLEAR) grant funding, and
Housing Development Gap Financing from the
Ohio Housing Finance Agency.
By Caitlin Koenig
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