Port grant aids Harrison Terminal apartment project

The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority has received a Clean Ohio Assistance Fund grant that could bring new apartments to the Queensgate/Camp Washington area.

The $148,122 grant will be used to perform Phase II Environmental Assessment on the 2.4-acre Harrison Terminal property at 1220 Harrison Avenue, site of the proposed Lofts at Harrison Terminal market-rate apartment and office project.

In its 100-year history, the building has housed a furniture manufacturer, a bakery supply company, several transportation companies, a trailer sales and rental company, and various advertising and music recording companies.

The assessment will allow developers E&T Real Estate Holdings, LLC to prepare cost estimates for any remediation that might be necessary to clean the site of any industrial contaminants.

The Lofts at Harrison Terminal will include 18 market-rate apartments on four of the five floors, with 11,000 square feet of commercial or office use on the first floor.

So far, E&T, made up of Elwood Jee and his nephew Tim Mahurin, has installed a new roof, windows, and fire stairs.

"I always wanted to live and build apartments in an old warehouse," Jee says.  "Very few places are doing them nicely with apartment rentals.  I want to do apartment as nice as some of the condos."

Jee says that they'll work from the top down, restoring and then renting out one floor at a time.

Two-bedroom units of between 1,800 and 2,200 square feet will likely rent for between $900 and $1100 a month.

Loft spaces will stay true to the building's industrial roots, with exposed beams and original brick, and units on the top floors will feature sweeping views of the city skyline.

"To get apartments or condos with that kind of view, that's an asset," Jee says.

Jee says he hopes the area will become similar to Cleveland's Warehouse District, an entire neighborhood built around the re-use of old warehouse and manufacturing facilities.

"It just takes the first person to jumpstart it," he says.  "I've always been like that.  I like to take a chance."

Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Source: Elwood Jee, E&T Real Estate Holdings, LLC; Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority
Photography by Scott Beseler