For more than a year, Uptown Consortium, Inc. (UCI) has been working with its planning and design firm, Sasaki, and its development partners to create plans for a large green space within the developments at Martin Luther King Drive and Reading Road. The multi-acre greenspace—called the Innovation Greenway—will offer new benefits and amenities to the surrounding community, building tenants, and anyone who lives in, works in, or visits Uptown.
Before UCI and its partners move forward with any additional planning efforts, UCI is working to engage Avondale residents and stakeholders to provide input on design plans. This process is critical to all of UCI’s development projects to ensure that community members have a voice in determining the future of their neighborhood.
This month, UCI and Sasaki virtually presented on the Innovation Greenway to both the Avondale Community Council and the Avondale Development Corporation board. UCI also recently shared the plans with the MLK Steering Committee—a group UCI formed in 2013 to help guide the construction of the I-71 interchange at Martin Luther King Drive and the surrounding developments—that includes representatives from neighborhood organizations, the Uptown anchor institutions, development partners, the City of Cincinnati and more.
This isn’t the first time UCI and Sasaki have shared information about the Innovation Greenway with the surrounding community, but these meetings included the most detailed plans to-date. Fred Merrill and Alan Ward, both principals at Sasaki, walked through a presentation highlighting the different elements of the Innovation Greenway and how it will be incorporated into the new developments and existing neighborhood infrastructure.
“We're supporting this overall idea of an innovation ecosystem with a network of outdoor spaces and connections—such as bicycle paths—that link to the community. We're trying to create a sense of community by having people who work here, visit here and live here come together in these open spaces,” said Ward. “We’re also aiming to attract developers to these sites along the open spaces, so the idea of the central open space is to enhance real estate values and attract and create jobs.”
Plans for the Innovation Greenway include several key elements: a large, open green space, a promenade and a network of bike paths that connect to others in the surrounding area, including Wasson Way. UCI’s goal is to improve connectivity between the neighborhood and the developments, increase access to economic opportunities, and provide new amenities for the community.
The entire area will be open to anyone in the community for recreation, and UCI hopes that the finished space will include programming as well, such as exercise classes, concerts or other events. The surrounding developments are being designed to open up to the Innovation Greenway, with entrances to lobbies, collaboration areas and other meetings spaces facing the Greenway to increase activity in the space.
To date, feedback on the Innovation Greenway has been largely positive. However, UCI and Sasaki are continuing to gather input and recommendations and will analyze those and adjust the plans as needed. Then, Sasaki will move into the design phase to determine how the planning framework will come to life. As new designs are created, UCI and Sasaki will share them with community partners again to ensure that the community is aligned with the vision for the space.
UCI is hosting a virtual open house where community members and stakeholders can attend to listen to a presentation by Sasaki describing the Innovation Greenway plans, ask questions and provide feedback. The interactive event is scheduled for October 7 from 2–3 p.m. Individuals can register for the open house through the Avondale Development Corporation.
This is just one example of UCI’s robust community engagement initiatives, which are implemented for every UCI led or funded project. UCI believes that it’s critical to work with the community from the very beginning of any development project and to continue engaging neighborhood residents and stakeholders throughout the planning, design and development process.
For more information about UCI’s community engagement efforts, contact Brooke Duncan, Director of Community Development, at bduncan@uptownconsortium.org.