Real Estate Information

Two Appalachian/Mountain Music Festivals are in dueling locations in the Waynesville area the weekend of June 25-27th.

At Pioneer Village in Caesar's Creek State Park, you can attend the Ole' Tyme Music Festival. Plan to enjoy the sounds of the past with hammered dulcimers, banjos and guitars, while touring the Village brought to life by historical re-enactors.  They will perform on two music stages and many porches.  It is open Friday from 5-10 PM, Saturday 10 AM- 10 PM and Sunday 10 AM - 4 PM.

In downtown Waynesville at the Bicentennial Park on Dayton Road, attend the Appalachian Mountain Music Festival. They will feature traditional bluegrass, gospel and Celtic music concerts, old time fiddle and banjo contests, music workshops, storytelling, dancing and jamming.  A special children's area will enhance the day.  Hours are the same as above.  Admission is charged.

A juried  Fine Arts show and sale will be held in historic downtown Lebanon on Saturday June 26 from 10-6 PM.  Additional attractions include music throughout the day, a youth and teen talent show, children's art activities, demonstration artists, plus street performers and vendors.

A Block Party with music will be held Friday night on Mulberry Street to kick off the event.  Over 50 artists are expected to attend representing a variety of specialties.  You can expect to see fibers, garden art, ceramics, jewelry, stained glass, photography, acrylic and oil paintings, glass and clay. Interspersed will be plenty of places for food and drink on a hot day.  Have fun!     

S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G with the Museum Shops of Greater Cincinnati

Sharon Center at Sharon Woods will be open on June 26-27th for a showcase and sale of unique merchandise from gift shops associated with local museums and cultural centers.  The shop will be open one weekend only from 10 AM to 6 PM. 

Shops bringing merchandise will represent a variety of goods rarely seen in one location.  Items will be available from: the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati Nature Center, Taft Museum, Krohn Conservatory, Beringer Crawford Museum, the National Underground Railroad Center, Hamilton County Park District and more.

The City of Cincinnati has numerous projects underway to reduce the overall environmental impact of hardscaped surfaces. 

Oakley Square is receiving new streetscaping which includes pervious concrete sidewalks, gutters and pavers as well as rain gardens and urban bio-retention planters.  These planters reduce water runoff and the urban heat island effect.  As the Geier Esplanade is redesigned, the overall amount of impervious (concrete) pavement will be decreased and greenspace will increase.  This is being done in conjunction with new water lines along Madison Road, all the way to Ridge Road.

Spring Grove Avenue will have similar improvements done.  There will be 77 new street trees planted and over 6,000 square feet of rain gardens added to the public right-of-way.  It will transform the street.

Rain gardens allow rain water to flow into the ground where pollutants are cleared out.  Overall, they will reduce the storm water runoff and prevent overflow problems of sanitary waste into the Mill Creek waterway. 

In Camp Washington along Hopple Street, the pervious paver system will be installed along with recycled granite curbs. 

In downtown areas, the city plans to create "Green Alleys" that reuse historic clay bricks that have been salvaged and cleaned to build additional pervious pavement systems.  When building those, an underground storm water storage area composed of rocks and gravel is built, so that the water can filter through the pavement system and be held until the ground naturally absorbs it.  These areas compose between 5-10% of the total surface area of Over the Rhine and the Central Business District.

No wonder we see orange barrels everywhere we go!

Have you driven along the riverfront between the Great American Ball Park and Paul Brown Stadium? Yes, the Banks are becoming a reality. 

Have you been watching the tiara go up on the Great American Tower at Queen City Square? Then you shouldn't be surprised about this honor for Cincinnati!

For the second year in a row, Cincinnati ranked among America's top 10 cities for corporate real estate projects.  In 2008, we were ranked fourth and in 2009, we came in sixth in the nation according to Site Selection Magazine.  Isn't that great...considering the challenging economy!

In 2009, the Cincinnati metropolitan area recorded 89 corporate real estate projects, sixth best for metropolitan areas of over one million people.  Ohio did well...Dayton took the top spot for the second year in a row for cities between 200,000 and 1 million people.  Dayton had 46 projects listed.

All these projects provide employment and build the city's stature with the building industry.

The Federal Tax Stimulus drove sales in April, 2010, pushing Buyers to purchase by April 30 and demanding that Sellers price their homes to sell.  Traffic exceeded the usual expectations of Realtors for the April time frame.  Additionally, prices improved in the lower price ranges.

In fact, traffic was skewed to the lower end of the market.  First time buyers represented the majority of demand.  Homes listed for over $300,000 continue to be more difficult to sell than in the recent past.

There are currently 406 active listings in Hyde Park, Mt. Lookout, Oakley, and Columbia Tusculum.  There are 114 pending sales and 73 homes closed in April. 

The Federal Tax Stimulus drove sales in April, 2010, pushing Buyers to purchase by April 30 and demanding that Sellers price their homes to sell.  Traffic exceeded the usual expectations of Realtors for the April time frame.  Additionally, prices improved in the lower price ranges.

In fact, traffic was skewed to the lower end of the market.  First time buyers represented the majority of demand.  Homes listed for over $300,000 continue to be more difficult to sell than in the recent past.

There are currently 291 active listings in these neighborhoods in the Sycamore School distirct.  There are 83 pending sales and 59 homes closed in April. 

The Federal Tax Stimulus drove sales in April, 2010, pushing Buyers to purchase by April 30 and demanding that Sellers price their homes to sell.  Traffic exceeded the usual expectations of Realtors for the April time frame.  Additionally, prices improved in the lower price ranges.

In fact, traffic was skewed to the lower end of the market.  First time buyers represented the majority of demand.  Homes listed for over $300,000 continue to be more difficult to sell than in the recent past.

There are currently 452 active listings in Anderson Township and Newtown.  There are 113 pending sales and 44 homes closed in April. 

The Federal Tax Stimulus drove sales in April, 2010, pushing Buyers to purchase by April 30 and demanding that Sellers price their homes to sell.  Traffic exceeded the usual expectations of Realtors for the April time frame.  Additionally, prices improved in the lower price ranges.

In fact, traffic was skewed to the lower end of the market.  First time buyers represented the majority of demand.  Homes listed for over $300,000 continue to be more difficult to sell than in the recent past.

Currently, in the Mt. Adams market, Mt Adams has 35 active listings and 7 pending sales.  There were no closings in April.

The Greater Cincinnati area has some interesting historic tours available.  For instance, Newport Walking Tours has allowed over 4000 people to explore Newport's glamorous (gangster) past.

This year, they are expanding by offering a tour of Over the Rhine, because of its hundreds of historic buildings and famous residents. The first tours will be from May 27 through Memorial Day as an area fundraiser.  After that, the tours will be every Saturday.

Dubbed Queen City Underground: Bosses, Brewery and Burials, the tours will explore the people and events that shaped Cincinnati from the 1810's to the 1950's.  Sometimes, we think there are characters living there now, imagine how many characters have lived there over the 150 years this tour reviews!

They will explore the story of immigrants who built the area and key things that shaped the city.  Obviously, the beer brewing history of the area will be discussed.  George "Boss" Cox, an infamous Cincinnati mayor shouldn't be left out!  You'll hear about the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Harriet Beecher Stowe's school, Ezzard Charles's training grounds, buildings where Wild Bill Hickok and Charlie Chaplin performed, etc.

It is a testiment to the legacy of the Over the Rhine area that so many buildings still remain!

Other Tours                                                             

If you are interested in other unique Cincinnati tours, you should visit:

The Ghosts of Cincinnati at www.hauntedCincinnatiTours.com

Historic tours offered by Architrecks feature historic properties and walking tours of Downtown, Over the Rhine, Findlay Market/Brewery District, Mt. Adams, Walnut Hills, Northside/Cumminsville, and Clifton plus additional one-time tours.  Particularly explore the  "Outside-In" tours that allow you to get inside private buildings along tour routes.  Find out more about these at: http://cincinnatipreservation.org/architreks

From Tenements to Townhouses: Multi-Family Housing in Cincinnati display is presented at Betts House until Sept. 30th, 416 Clark Street, West End.  One of the walking tours is of Multi-Family Living in Walnut Hills on May 22, 10 AM.