The Cincinnati neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine has, over the past decades, suffered from disinvestment and population loss. However, it is a historically, architecturally and culturally important urban district in Cincinnati. The community and the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) have turned their attention and resources to the neighborhood. The new housing has been extremely successful; however, the commercial and retail development was not keeping pace. MSI worked with 3CDC and neighborhood stakeholders to devise a strategy to locate and develop commercial uses in a way that maximizes their impact, encourages additional investment, and supports the neighborhood residents. The strategy developed by MSI includes ways to create better connections throughout the neighborhood and fosters an environment conducive to business development. By creating nodes of commercial uses, a critical mass will be achieved more quickly, creating a vibrant commercial destination in which continued investment will occur.
