Reid and I spent Sunday afternoon working on the building. This week was very frustrating as US Bank told us they won't give us a loan 3 days after we were supposed to close on it. US Bank appraised the finished property at $500,000, which is what we needed in order to take out a loan to finish the project. Unfortunately, the loan's underwriters decided against funding the project because there is a commercial space involved (the storefront). Never mind that the storefront is only 3 blocks away from a multitude of bars and restaurants currently comprising the hottest nightlife in Cincinnati! It makes me wonder how anyone can rehab old buildings in business districts and it reinforces the need for 3CDC. They're getting the work done when we cannot.
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| Stairwell perspective |
On a more positive note, I uncovered this remnant of ceiling painting/mural in the stairwell of what will become our living space. The most interesting part of this find is that it confirms the previous architecture of the building. We had found this same ceiling detail in the storefront - and since it is also in our stairwell, it confirms that - at one time in the past - the storefront comprised the entire first floor and the residential entrance was actually elsewhere (most likely from the back of the building through the breezeway). This is what we had suspected, since the ceiling clearance is unusually low in the residential entrance (especially given that the living spaces have 11' ceilings), but it is nice to have some confirmation.
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| ceiling detail |
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