Pouring the footers for the new building & staircase

Clearing the way for the garage

The concrete pad on the Hamer Street side of the lot has been torn out. This is where the new 2-car garage will be built. The granite curbs were sunk deeper so that we can pull cars in.

Thanks Keep Cincinnati Beautiful

KCB is beautifying the plywood on our storefront today. Much appreciated!

a really nice overview of OTR, by Mike U.

http://www.blogotr.com/otr/michael-a-uhlenhakes-personal-history-of-over-the-rhine-in-the-past-20-years/

Phase 1 Contruction Begins

Last Wednesday, June 27th, we started digging out for the new foundation that will be built between the 2 existing structures. There used to be a structure in this area - it was actively falling down when we purchased the property and is largely the reason for condemnation orders. Here's a picture of it from 4 years ago:

                       The before picture - South Wall. The exterior steps were obviously rotted.

The before picture - North Wall. The wooden area is the exterior stair for the Hamer St building. It's easy to see how the addition - built in the 1890s - is peeling off the original 1700 Vine Street building. The water pouring through the structure didn't help matters.

We demolished this structure shortly after purchasing the property. The plan for this space is to rebuild both the exterior steps for the Hamer St building and a one-story structure attached to the back of the 1700 Vine St building. This will allow for storage for both the storefront and our home and for a deck for our home, adding approx 400 sq ft of outdoor living space adjacent to the kitchen.

City Lofts is managing the construction. The final product will include a garage, new entrances to both basements, new stairwell, new one-story structure with water retention tanks underneath and deck on top.

Because it has taken us 4 years to get to this point, I'm wondering if I can really call this new construction "Phase 1", although that is what the architectural plans call it. Either way, construction has started and it's very exciting to see progress.