Historic Tax Credits
$3.7 Million Federal
New Markets Tax Credits
$4 Million
Total Project Cost
$27 Million
Project Partner
The Model Group
Impact
Affordable Housing
Small Business Support
Economic Development
History
Over-The-Rhine
Over-The-Rhine (“OTR”) is one of the country’s largest, most intact, nineteenth-century urban historic districts and is believed to contain the nation’s largest contiguous collection of nineteenth-century Italianate Architecture. While the specific details of the eight buildings included in the Jobs Cafe at Findlay Market project aren’t fully known, most of OTR’s ornate brick buildings were originally built by German immigrants from 1865 to the 1880s.
The neighborhood has suffered from significant neglect in preserving the historic heritage of the community and its economic condition. Since 1930, approximately half of OTR’s historic buildings have been destroyed, and in 2006, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named OTR one of the eleven most endangered historic places in America.
Revitalization Efforts
Transforming a Neighborhood
The Model Group, one of the most experienced developers in Cincinnati, led the transformation efforts of these historic scattered buildings into connective services that help nurture new businesses, grow the housing stock, and further revitalize the nearby Findlay Market. These transformations become the catalysts for or the continued momentum of broader neighborhood revitalization strategies.
The Model Group began acquiring the scattered historic properties over a two year period starting in 2014 with a vision of a vibrant, mixed-use, and mixed-income Market District anchored by Findlay Market, Ohio’s oldest continually operated public market.
Today, the Jobs Café project has created a mixture of nearly 70 mixed-income residential units, as well as an expansion on the greater Jobs Café at Findlay Market project, a social enterprise restaurant concept that provides job training and placement for restaurant industry positions.
Several of the restored storefronts are leased back to graduates of the existing Findlay Kitchen incubator program at below-market rates, so small businesses can grow to scale and maintain their own street-facing storefronts.
Community Impact
Nurturing a Community
The eight mixed-use apartment buildings restored by this development include a mixture of residential and commercial elements, helping to transform this community into a true live/work environment.
The residential component created housing opportunities for individuals and families at a mix of income levels; 30% of the units are restricted to households earning 120% of area median income; 26% are restricted to those earning 80% of area median income; and the remaining 44% are market-rate.
The Jobs Café is part of the greater Jobs Café at Findlay Market project, and provides job training and placement for positions that pay a livable wage with benefits and offer advancement opportunity within the local restaurant industry. This program targets low-income persons and residents of the surrounding severely distressed low-income community. It is a partnership between CityLink Center, an integrative social services nonprofit devoted to breaking the cycle of poverty in Cincinnati, and the Corporation for Findlay Market. The Jobs Café trains and places 75-100 individuals annually.
The Corporation for Findlay Market leases several retail storefront spaces and subleases back to graduates of their existing Findlay Kitchen incubator at below market rates as part of a small business development program. Findlay Kitchen is a non-profit organization that supports local new and existing food entrepreneurs by providing affordable access to commercial-grade kitchen equipment and ample storage space, all within a licensed kitchen facility adjacent to the Project. Findlay Kitchen partners with external programs and organizations to provide the necessary training, mentorship, and resources to aid business growth. Findlay Kitchen also serves as a conduit to wholesale and institutional customers, helping local entrepreneurs to get their products in more places.
Other retail tenants include local small businesses and a restaurant that staffs with graduates of the Jobs Café program. The office space is leased in its entirety by a local architecture firm that was already located adjacent to the Project, but it required additional space to grow its business.
68
Housing Units
56%
Income Restricted
75-100
Jobs Cafe Participants Annually
22,687 sq ft
of Commercial Space
NTCIC & Progress
Economic Impact
Jobs Cafe at Findlay Market was made possible, in part, by NTCIC through an equity investment in the $3.7 million in federal Historic Tax Credits (HTC) generated by the project as well as a $4 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation.
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