Like many American cities' downtowns in the 1980s, Cincinnati's was becoming an office ghetto, a process accelerated by spec office development and the continued movement of people and businesses into the suburbs. During this time the population south of Central Parkway hovered around 2,000 and included mostly residents living in subsidized housing and single-room occupancy units in buildings like the Dennison Hotel, the Fort Washington, and the Anna Louise Inn.
Adopted by the city in 1982, the Cincinnati 2000 Plan set a goal of 6,000 new residential units downtown and identified the Garfield Place area as one of the sites where they wanted to encourage housing development, and upgraded Piatt Park to make the area more attractive to prospective residents.
Over a period of ten years, two different developers explored the city's idea for high-rise residential projects in the area, but each handed the development rights back after failing to make the numbers work.
Towne Properties approached the city with a scaled-down, more realistic option for the site and was eventually selected through the city's RFD (request for developers) process in 1990.
On May 7, the Architectural Foundation of Cincinnati will honor Towne Properties Partner, Arn Bortz with the Alice and Harris Weston Apple Award in recognition of his contributions to the reinvention of downtown as a desirable place to live.
'You need a mix'
Mark McKillip, who worked in the City of Cincinnati's development department, will chair the event.
"The development around Garfield Park was really precipitated by the Cincinnati 2000 Plan, which was developed in 1982," McKillip says. "It envisioned buildings at a taller scale, and would have involved quite a few teardowns."
For a number of years, residential development of downtown had not been officially addressed. The working plan, the 1964 Plan for Downtown Cincinnati, had attempted to stem the tide of business and retail relocation to the suburbs by replacing the neighborhood’s older buildings with new office blocks, connected together by a series of elevated skywalks.
The result was a 9-to-5, Monday-Friday downtown.
"There wasn't any real reference to residential development in the 1964 plan," McKillip says. "You need a mix. There are workers in the office buildings, retail - but you also need residential."
Bortz 'retires'
Bortz served as Cincinnati’s Mayor from 1983-1984 and had served on city council for nearly a decade before eventually retiring in 1988.
"I left for three reasons, really," he says. "I had two toddlers, and I wanted to spend more time at home. And I felt like it was time to let others serve. I was tired of raising money for myself."
Being selected as the preferred developer for the Garfield Place area resulted in a plan that was more compatible with the surrounding buildings, utilizing mid-rise structures rather than high-rises.
"High-rises were just not right for the market," Bortz says. "We always felt you had to start with [mid-rise] apartments to establish the viability of downtown living."
Towne Properties had been developing apartment properties since 1961, beginning with smaller projects in Mount Adams and eventually moving on to larger garden apartment communities in the suburbs. But nothing similar had been built in the urban core.
"We advised the city that since we were pioneering and since the city is not Manhattan, something medium in size was where we should start," Bortz says.
Because they were starting from square one, Towne chose to develop their first downtown project as mostly one-bedroom apartments in order to keep rents low.
"The city said, 'Show us examples of other successful housing developments in downtown'," Bortz says. "We told them that we couldn't give them any comps [comparable properties]. They would have to bet on Towne Properties."
The former CEO of Fifth Third Bank, Clement Buenger, decided that financing Towne's first project was worth the risk.
"He believed in us," Bortz says.
The Gramercy on Garfield was completed in 1992 and rented out quickly, establishing that there was an untapped demand for downtown living. In 1994, the development received the Design Showcase Award from Units Magazine, published by the National Apartment Association, as the outstanding new development in the nation. A companion building, the Greenwich on the Park, was completed four years later.
In 1997, Bortz and Towne Properties were on the forefront of the local loft movement with their Groton Lofts project, the redevelopment of a Class C office building located across from the Aronoff Center.
Their largest and most challenging project was the rehabilitation of the former Shillito's department store in 1999. Abandoned by the Lazarus department store in 1997 after their move to Fountain Place, the hybrid 1878/1938 building would require strategic demolition – and the addition of windows.
''This is the ultimate white elephant. The ultimate developer challenge as large as any that exists around the country,'' Bortz said at the time.
The resulting mixed-use project consisted of the Lofts at Shillito Place, with 97 market-rate apartments; and Shillito Center, office space developed with Landor Associates as the anchor tenant. In 2001, the National Apartment Association named the development the Best Rehabilitated Apartment Community.
Towne's continuing work
Towne Properties is currently focused on Adams Landing, a string of developments that extend along Riverside Drive from the Montgomery Inn Boathouse to the railroad overpass. The developments include condominiums and landominiums at Twain's Point, Foster's Point and Captain's Watch. Bortz reports Towne will be back to work on Adams Landing when the market bounces back.
"We have a very long-term interest in the site," he says. "We have the ball, and we're running with it."
Towne plans two additional buildings to the east of Captain's Watch, which may include a market-rate apartment component.
Developers get things done
The downtown apartment and condominium market has over 2,600 units, according to Downtown Cincinnati Inc.'s State of the Downtown report for the fourth quarter of 2007, with nearly 2,800 more units proposed, in pre-development, or under construction.
"I'd like to think that we helped," Bortz says.
And he's quick to acknowledge the recent players who have entered the game.
"I think 3CDC deserves a lot of credit," Bortz says. "A lot of the developers deserve a lot of credit. They're taking huge financial risks."
Downtown is definitely on the upswing for a number of reasons.
"As suburban areas become harder to access, gas prices rise, and the suburbs begin to look the same, urban living is becoming much more attractive," Bortz says.
McKillip says that Bortz deserves much of the credit for the resurgence in downtown living, and is deserving of the Apple Award.
"Arn ended up doing projects others attempted, but weren't able to build," McKillip says. "He's a unique combination of a visionary with a practical sense, not overreaching or doing too much. He's a very calculated risk taker who's able to get things done."
Lead photo by Joe Harrison
Photography by Scott Beseler
Arn Bortz
Garfield Place
Adams Crossing
The Greenwich on the park