Development News

This weekend marked the grand opening of Roosters Men’s Grooming Center in Mariemont. It’s the chain’s second location in the Cincinnati area—the Mason location has been open for just over a year; Dub Nelson and his wife, Lisa, own both.
 
“We have three adult sons who were frustrated with where they were getting their hair cut,” Nelson says. “When I retired from Fidelity, I came cross the Roosters concept, which offers a great experience, and thought, ‘Why not?’”

The first Roosters location was opened in Lapeer, Mich., in 1999. Joe Grondin, Roosters' founder, wanted to re-establish the traditional barbershop of the 1960s. Today, there are Roosters locations in 19 states.
 
Roosters offers five different haircut options for men: the Young Men’s Cut, for those under the age of 15; the Student Cut, for ages 15 to just graduated from college; the Roosters Club Cut, for those out of college but under the age of 65; the Senior Cut, for those 65 and older; and the Hero’s Cut, which is the full Roosters Club Cut at a discounted price for members of the military, policemen and firemen.
 
And Roosters doesn’t just cut hair. They also offer shaving and waxing services, camouflage color to hide gray hair, manicures and shoe buffing. All of the haircuts except the kids’ cut come with hot towels and a light scalp massage during shampooing.
 
“It’s a very relaxing environment,” says Nelson. “Some guys that come in right after lunch fall asleep in the chair.”
 
During the grand opening, the Nelson donated money to the Mariemont Civic Center to provide scholarships for children who can’t afford to go to preschool.
 
The Nelsons have lived in Cincinnati for about eight years. They have always thought Mariemont was very community-oriented and wanted to be part of that. “We want Roosters to be a great partner in the community, providing community sponsorships and making Mariemont a great place to work and live,” Nelson says.
 
Nelson also wants a trip to Roosters to be a family outing, a place where fathers and sons can come in and get their hair cut, and bond, at the same time.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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When it was founded in 2005, Barking Fish Lounge focused mostly on corporate internal and external videos. There was more focus on post work, such as editing and graphics, but the company did offer some production services at the time.
 
Since then, Barking Fish has expanded its entertainment production and content development divisions. Some of the company's recent projects include the 2010 Pete Rose documentary 4192: The Crowning of the King and 7 Below, which is a psychological thriller starring Val Kilmer and Ving Rhames.
 
“We’ve become more recognized for this type of work, which is great, but we didn’t want to lose our core business and clients,” says Aymie Majerski, producer and one of the co-founders of Barking Fish. “That’s why we’re expanding and promoting this side of the company more than ever in 2013.”
 
In addition to continuing to grow the entertainment side of Barking Fish, Majerski and her team will be working with existing and potential clients to expand the commercial side of the business. This means offering more creative services than before, as well as more production services.
 
“We’ve hired an amazing production manager who will head the production side of the business,” Majerski says. “We’ve always been known for doing things ‘outside the tank,’ and we want to continue to push the boundaries and create experiences for our clients and partners.”
 
Founders Majerski, Terry Lukemire (senior editor) and Joe Busam (design director) have more than 30 years of combined experience in creative production and post-production services. Barking Fish was founded on their desire to work on a more intimate level with clients in order to create and produce quality content that animates, elevates and motivates.
 
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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Need a funny card to send to the special someone in your life? Look no further than Colette Paperie, a new-to-Cincinnati online stationery business.
 
Keli Catalano, 30, started Colette Paperie back in 2008 when she was a designer at Target in Minnesota. At the time, stationery was something she liked to do on the side, but when Catalano moved back to Cincinnati in 2010, she decided to make it her full-time job.
 
“I’ve always loved paper,” says Catalano. “Even though I don’t have a need for them, I still buy cards.”
 
Catalano designs and illustrates the cards herself. She usually draws the designs by hand and then touches them up on the computer.
 
The majority of Catalano’s business is through online sales, but she does visit craft shows and sells her products wholesale to boutiques across the country. They’re available on Colette Paperie’s website, or at Boutique 280 in Madeira and Wholly Craft in Columbus.
 
Colette Paperie offers cards for all occasions, plus journals, calendars, stationery sets, pencils and magnets. The products' messages say exactly what you want to say, but in unique ways.
 
The baby cards are some of Catalano’s craziest designs, and they tend to be the most popular among buyers. “Some of them are ridiculous, but they’re funny,” she says.
 
Catalano does take custom orders for wedding stationery, but she hasn’t concentrated on that side of her business yet. She also customizes messages on the insides of the cards for customers.  
 
Catalano’s goal is to create a new reason to send paper mail instead of email. “I love seeing people send cards for no particular reason,” she says.
 
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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Grocery stores and farmers markets aren’t the only places in Cincinnati to buy locally grown produce. Urban Greens LLC is a garden that gives its customers the opportunity to grow their own food in a community-owned plot.
 
Urban Greens was founded in 2010 by 15 families who wanted to grow their own produce, but didn’t necessarily have the space in their own backyards. Ryan Doan, founder of Urban Greens, was introduced to community gardening by a Mt. Washington resident who grew 90 percent of his family’s food on a plot in his backyard. Doan also took classes at the Civic Garden Center; he then found the plots in the East End by the Ohio River. The plots are owned by FEMA and can’t be bought or sold for development projects because they have been designated for agriculture purposes or parks.  
 
Customers have fresh produce about 26 weeks out of the year, and during the winter, their shelves and freezers are stocked with homemade goodies from the gardens.
 
In order to keep up with the plots, Urban Greens sells Community Supported Agriculture shares. Customers pay an upfront fee of $600 per year for three to 10 pounds of produce per week. There is also a work share program, where customers pay $450 and work 20 hours in the garden. The shares not only pay for seeds, fencing, cages and water, but for the garden manager’s and a few part-time employees’ salaries.
 
The community garden will have three plots in Cincinnati this year—two in the East End and one that’s new for 2013, plus one in Hamilton—for a total of two and a half acres of fresh produce. The Hamilton plot is on the grounds of one of the local high schools and is tended by a student.
 
Urban Greens will offer 35 CSA accounts in the East End, 20-25 in Hamilton and about 15 at the new garden. CSA customers pick up their pre-packaged produce once a week from the garden plots.
 
Besides selling produce to its CSA customers, Urban Greens is the sole provider of produce for a local company. They sell to the businesses’ employees on Tuesdays, and pick for CSA customers on Thursdays. During the summer, weekends are reserved for selling produce at local farmers markets.
 
“We set aside a certain amount of produce to sell to the general public at farmers markets,” Doan says. The rest of the produce is divided evenly among Urban Greens’ customers, so that nothing goes to waste.
 
This year, Urban Greens is also offering 30 Flexible Market Accounts to those who want to choose their own produce. Customers load $100 at a time onto a card, come down once a week and pick out the produce they need. FMA is like a grocery store that offers local produce, plus local cheeses, granola and handmade soap, says Doan.
 
“FMA allows people to get the tomatoes they need to make spaghetti sauce or salsa, rather than the bunches of kale they might grow themselves,” he says.
 
FMA also makes Urban Greens accessible to more people, as the CSA can be too expensive for some. “I don’t want Urban Greens to be for rich people buying organic vegetables, but for everyone,” says Doan.
 
Doan is also looking to develop a gardening program with a few local schools. He wants to have gardens on school grounds, and when school is in session, the produce will be incorporated into the students’ lunches. Urban Greens would also teach students how to harvest and seed the gardens, and they would be the ones farming the land, not school personnel.
 
“I’d like to continue the gardens at the schools during the summer and sell the produce at farmers markets,” Doan says. “But once school is back in session, the produce would be for the cafeteria.”
 
To reserve a CSA share or more for more information about FMA, email Urban Greens at urbangreensllc@gmail.com.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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Find home-made bacon, sausage and pastrami, along with a selection of local craft beers and one of the best views in town at the new Incline Public House in Price Hill, which opens Feb. 1.

Brothers Tony and Dominic Cafeo have been planning the restaurant, which also features a 1,400-square-foot deck, for a few years. It is part of a new development at the top of the stories Price Hill Incline that includes 15 condo units. “We’ve always wanted to be in Price Hill,” Tony says.
 
The restaurant will have an in-house smoker and a brick oven; the bar menu will focus on craft beer from local craft breweries, but there will be a small wine menu too, Tony says.
 
“We’re hoping to get lots of traffic, which will make the people of Price Hill feel safer,” Tony says. “Hopefully, people from outside of the neighborhood will come and get a better perception of the area.”

For more information aobout Incline Public House's opening day, "like" it on Facebook or follow it on Twitter.
 
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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Everything But The House, an online personal property and estate sale service provider was founded in 2006. Although the business is based in Cincinnati, founders Brian Graves and Jacquie Denny haven’t stuck to those boundaries.

EBTH has an online sales platform, so buyers can be anywhere in the world and participate in local auctions. This month, EBTH opened two new locations, one in Lexington and the other in Fairfield County, Conn.

EBTH’s president and CEO Andy Nielsen and Jon Nielsen, partner and CBDO, took time to answer a few questions about the company’s recent expansion.
 
What prompted EBTH’s expansion to Lexington and Fairfield County, Conn.?
We’re really excited for 2013 and all of the growth that it will bring. In fact, we have plans to enter four to six new markets this year. 

Lexington was an easy choice for us because EBTH has grown organically into the state of Kentucky over the last few years. We have buyers and sellers in Lexington who have been loyal customers of EBTH in Cincinnati, so expanding to Lexington and opening a local office there just made sense. 

We take tremendous pride in the service we provide and we’re confident that EBTH will be embraced by cities cross the country. As such, we decided to expand our reach a bit further by opening in the state of Connecticut. Fairfield County is located about 45 minutes outside of New York City, has a dense (and thriving) housing market, and is home to some amazing antiques and collectibles.
 
Are either of the new locations open for business yet?
Yes, both locations are now open for business. The Lexington location opened Jan. 7 and the Connecticut location opened on Jan. 15. Our representatives in both locations are working on booking their first sales so please be sure to keep an eye on our website.
 
Will the new locations run like Cincinnati’s EBTH?
Each and every EBTH location will offer the same tremendous services, online personal property and estate sales. Whether you’re in a situation where you need to sell a large collection of personal property, including antiques, furniture, artwork, collectibles and more, EBTH is the solution to sell everything quickly, easily and profitably.
 
How do the new facilities compare in size to the Cincinnati location?
At onset, our new offices in Kentucky and Connecticut will be slightly smaller than our facilities here in Cincinnati, but with year-over-year growth that averages nearly 75 percent, we anticipate that our new locations will quickly scale to the size of our Cincinnati location.
 
Did founders Brian Graves or Jacquie Denny have a hand in the new EBTH locations?
Absolutely. As partners and original founders, Brian and Jacquie have been instrumental in our growth and they will have a hand in each and every new location that we open. The growth that we’ve experienced over the past five years has been extraordinary and we’re excited to carry that momentum into new cities across the country.
 
How did EBTH decide where to open new locations?
We have been blessed with tremendous ‘word of mouth’ marketing. Our customers are amazing, and as they’ve told their friends and families about the service that EBTH provides, we’ve been lucky to earn business from people across the country. 

Our growth into Kentucky was largely organic, and our decision to open in Connecticut was strategic, based on an effort to grow into a number of major metropolitan markets across the country in the coming 12-24 months.
 
How do you think EBTH’s expansion will help its current customers?
Our growth is great for everyone—buyers as well as sellers. As a buyer, our expansion into new locations means that you’ll have access to more sales and an increased variety of unique pieces from across the country. As a seller, it means that you’ll finally have one expert service provider that can handle the sale of your contents quickly, easily and profitably.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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The European notion of car sharing has found broad appeal around the world because of its environmental and economic sustainability. In December, the City of Cincinnati brought Zipcar to downtown to make commuting easier.

Metro and Zipcar then formed a partnership. It's an ideal selling point because using one or both of the transportation services is environmentally conscious, saves money and gives people the freedom to get up and go. It’s a win-win for Metro and Zipcar.

Zipcar, a business with a mission to create a future where car-sharing members outnumber car owners, offers a self-service alternative to car rental. Intended for the technologically savvy commuter, Zipcar members log in online or through the mobile app, see where vehicles are located, choose one and unlock the car by holding their Zipcard against the windshield. 

Its successful rollout on the University of Cincinnati’s campus last year prompted Larry Falkin, director of the City’s Office of Environmental Quality, to bring the program to Over-the-Rhine and downtown. 

Kim Lahman, Metro’s ridership development manager, says that using both Metro and Zipcars eliminates excuses that not owning a car limits commuters’ ability to travel when and where they need to.

“We thought this was a great opportunity to say, ‘If you ride the Metro downtown and don’t have to worry about parking or the hassle of traffic, and you need a car to use during the day, all you would need to do is take a Zipcar,’” Lahman says. “You would have it out for an hour or a couple of hours, and then take it back to the lot and go back to your office. How convenient would that be?”

Walking from your downtown apartment or office to somewhere close by, like Garfield Place, would be very convenient for many urban dwellers. According to Falkin, 20 percent of Cincinnati households do not own a car, or own less than one car per licensed driver. 

“More and more of us are choosing a sustainable lifestyle, in which we walk or bike first, use transit as the second choice and drive as a last resort,” Falkin explains. “Using Metro and Zipcar, a person can go anywhere, anytime, without being burdened by car ownership.”

“It can also save money,” says Jill Dunne, Metro public affairs manager. “If you’re riding Metro, you’re saving money, versus the gas and the parking expenses you would pay if you had your own car. And then if you’re able to give up that car payment and you pay per trip the fee for a Zipcar, that could really save you a lot.”

The partnership also means that Metro riders get a special incentive to register and become “Zipsters.” Besides already saving money on gas and parking, Metro riders can expect to see interior advertisement cards in February from Zipcar with a discount code redeemable for up to $60 worth of free Zipcar rental.

Zipcars are parked next to blue signs that say “City of Cincinnati Car Share Parking Spots.” 

Current locations are:

• NW corner of 12th and Vine (on the north side of 12th Street)
• Court Street between Walnut and Vine (angled parking spaces)
• NW corner of Garfield and Race (on the north side of Garfield Place)

To join or for more information, visit Zipcar's website. 

By Mildred Fallen

Sarah Dworak and Iwona Przybysz started Babushka Pierogies in July 2012 with a vegan pierogi tasting at Park+Vine. At the same time, they gave a sample of their traditional potato and cheese pierogi to  Findlay Market favorites Bryan and Carolyn Madison, who liked them and agreed to sell them at their store.
 
Both Dworak, who is of Ukrainian, Croatian and Polish descent, and Przybysz, who is from Poland, learned to make pierogies from their babushkas—their grandmothers. Their pierogi recipe is a combination of their family recipes, Dworak says.
 
Currently, Dworak and Przybysz make pierogies in a kitchen in Glendale, then deliver them to Findlay Market and Park+Vine. When the weather permits, Babushka Pierogies also hold pierogi tastings outside of Madison’s at Findlay Market on Saturdays.
 
They only spend two days per week in the kitchen, making about 500 pierogies in that time. Dworak and Przybysz are the only official employees, but Dworak’s boyfriend, Josh Mrvelj, helps out whenever he can. He designed their logo and fries up the pierogies at Findlay Market during tastings.
 
Babushka Pierogies is looking for a storefront near Findlay Market, Dworak says. They also want to expand the number of stores that sell their products.  
 
“The store will allow us to offer more varieties of pierogies, in addition to other Eastern European foods we love, such as borchst; halushki, a cabbage and noodle dish; and stuffed cabbage,” she says.
 
Babushka Pierogies sells a potato, cheese and onion pierogi; a potato and sauerkraut pierogi and a vegan potato, cheese and onion pierogi. The potato and cheese and potato and sauerkraut pierogies are $5 per half dozen, and the vegan pierogies are $5.75 per half dozen.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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The former home of the Hamilton-Journal News will soon become Butler Tech’s School of the Arts, Hamilton City School’s Adult Basic and Literacy Education program and the Miami Valley Ballet Theatre.
 
The building, located at 228 Court Street in Hamilton’s downtown, was built in 1886; additions were added in 1914, 1956 and 1959. The Journal-News vacated the building in 2011, and Akron Legacy Real Estate Development LLC, a group of five Ohio developers that work together on different projects, including historic restoration projects, purchased it.
 
Akron Legacy also did a $10 million restoration of the historic Hamilton Mercantile Lofts. The project included 29 market-rate residential units and three spaces of street-level retail.
 
“We want to see Hamilton’s older, beautiful buildings repurposed into mixed-use buildings, rather than sitting dark,” says Joshua Smith, Hamilton’s city manager.
 
The Journal-News restoration project received $804,122 in Ohio Preservation Historic Tax Credits. The money from the tax credits will support phases two and three of the project, which will be completed in mid-February. Initial construction on the project began in the late summer of 2012.
 
All three arts programs were in need of new spaces. Butler Tech’s School of the Arts is temporarily housed in downtown Hamilton at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts. High demand for Butler Tech’s program led to its need for a new home, says Smith. The move will allow the program to double or triple in size.
 
“It’s refreshing to see young, creative folks walking around downtown, and adding to the vibrancy of the town,” says Brandon Saurber, assistant to the city manager.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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The branding firm Rocket Science now occupies a third-floor space in downtown Cincinnati’s Eighth Street Design District. The branding and design firm relocated from Mason at the beginning of December to be closer to major companies like P&G, Kroger and Macy’s, as well as other design firms.
 
“We really felt that being in the suburbs precluded us from being part of the local advertising and branding community,” says Chuck Tabri, director of business development and client strategy for Rocket Science, and one of the company’s three partners.
 
Greg Fehrenbach and Joel Warneke founded Rocket Science in 1999 under a different name. The company merged with one in Dayton, then de-merged, and in 2005, became Rocket Science in its current form. At the time of the merge, the firm was based in Mason; it then moved to a space in Deerfield Towne Center.
 
Rocket Science employs about 15 people, and it recently added in-house digital capabilities to its traditional print offerings to assist its clients' shift from print to digital. It made more sense for the company to develop its own digital branch rather than farm it out to another company, Tabri says.
 
Rocket Science had begun to outgrow its space in Mason, and after talks with 3CDC in the fall, the right space opened up. 

And from a talent standpoint, moving downtown gives Rocket Science greater access to young, fresh designers.
 
“Young designers want to be in a more urban environment,” says Tabri. “They get more inspiration from the creativity in a downtown environment than from a strip center in the suburbs.”
 
Because of Rocket Science's size, it can offer new thinking and capabilities that larger firms might not have, says Tabri. He adds that the move will help Rocket Science expand its consumer, business-to-business and healthcare verticals.
 
By Caitlin Koenig
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