To date, 3CDC has played a direct role in over $2 billion in development projects in downtown Cincinnati and the adjacent neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine. This investment has yielded 210 buildings restored, 49 new buildings constructed, 20 acres of restored civic space, three civic buildings restored, as well as the creation of 2,303 residential units, 156 hotel rooms, three comprehensive residential and service facilities for the homeless with 345 beds, 2,178,711 square feet of commercial space, and 5,918 parking spaces.
In completing this work, the organization's staff has developed expertise in utilizing complex capital stacks comprised of multiple types of financing. In addition to traditional bank loans, 3CDC regularly uses various types of tax credits to make projects viable, including New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs), Historic Tax Credits (HTCs) and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs). The organization’s NMTC lending arm, the Cincinnati New Markets Fund (CNMF) has utilized $198 million in allocation across five NMTC awards to invest in projects focused on positively impacting neglected low-income residents in Cincinnati’s center city. Over 50 of 3CDC’s roughly 100 completed projects have received at least a portion of their funding through NMTCs. 3CDC also manages three loan funds, Cincinnati Equity Fund (CEF), Cincinnati Equity Fund II (CEF II), and Cincinnati Equity Fund III (CEF III) which provide patient capital for investment in the organization's real estate projects. These revolving loan funds, comprised of an initial investment of roughly $199 million from more than a dozen major Cincinnati-based corporations, have been utilized to make 200 loans totaling $647 million in investment.
OUR PROJECTS
Civic Spaces
Projects that create a vibrant urban core3CDC has developed seven major public spaces in its 21-year history. The revitalization of these spaces has been vital to creating a welcoming urban core brimming with energy. From parks to performance venues to hardscapes/plazas, 3CDC's work reimagining these community gathering spaces has had a tremendous impact on the overall development of Downtown Cincinnati and OTR. Perhaps the most catalytic civic space project 3CDC has completed is Washington Park. Additional highlights of civic space development include Fountain Square, Ziegler Park, and Music Hall. In each case, 3CDC worked with the City of Cincinnati to enhance public funding with significant outside resources to transform dilapidated and underutilized public spaces into attractive amenities during the revitalization of the area. 3CDC's civic space projects include:
Civic Space ProjectsMixed-Use Residential
Residential units above street-level commercial spaceMixed-use developments are a key component to 3CDC's strategy for revitalizing Cincinnati's urban core. The residents are the lifeblood of urban communities and go hand-in-hand with vibrant street-level commercial spaces filled with small, locally-owned businesses. These businesses also serve as an attractive amenity for residents, making this mixed-use approach an ideal setup.
3CDC has completed dozens of mixed-use residential developments, resulting in nearly 600 condos and more than 1,700 apartment units and creating over 2 million square feet of commercial space. Like 3CDC's Civic Space projects, several mixed-use residential projects, including Court & Walnut, 4th & Race, and 8th & Sycamore, among others, have featured a parking component. Prominent mixed-use residential projects completed by 3CDC include:
- Court Street Condos
- Court & Walnut
- 4th & Race
- Duveneck Flats
- Rennen & Beecher Flats
- The Allison
- The Stanley & Moore Flats
Mixed-Use Commercial
Adding density through office space is key3CDC is focused on supporting small businesses and creating more street-level activity by adding more office space to the urban core. The foot traffic generated by having more employees in Downtown Cincinnati results in safer streets, increased vibrancy, and additional support for locally-owned businesses. Offices can increase density by adding many more people on a per-square-foot basis than residential projects can yield. Similar to mixed-use residential projects, the office users view street-level restaurants and retailers as an amenity, and serve as a built-in customer base for these small businesses. 3CDC is currently under construction on one of its most high-profile mixed-use commercial projects to date—The Foundry. However, the organization has completed several other significant mixed-use commercial projects over the years, including:
Mixed-Use Commercial ProjectsAffordable & Supportive Housing
Creating housing for people of all income levels3CDC has spent the past several years working with community partners to advance a comprehensive strategy to address affordable housing issues in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. To date, 3CDC and its partners have developed 460 affordable units. This accounts for 70% of the total units 3CDC has developed in OTR. In addition to projects that are fully filled with affordable apartments, these numbers include special needs housing and mixed-income developments. The majority of these projects are also mixed-use residential projects, featuring street-level commercial space along with the residential units on the upper floors.
Additionally, 3CDC worked with several partners on the $42 million Homeless to Homes initiative, which resulted in the creation of three comprehensive residential and service facilities for the homeless. 3CDC's affordable and supportive housing projects include:
- Willkommen
- Perseverance
- Esther Marie Hatton Center
- City Gospel Mission
- Abington Race & Pleasant
- Mercer Commons
- David and Rebecca Barron Center
CURRENT PROJECTS
Since 2004, more than $2 billion has been invested in redevelopment and new construction projects that 3CDC has been involved with in downtown Cincinnati and Over-the-Rhine. 3CDC projects support the organization's four strategic goals – to create great civic spaces; create high-density, mixed-use development; preserve historic structures and streetscapes; and build diverse mixed-income neighborhoods supported by local businesses.
For a complete list of all 3CDC real estate projects, click here.
