In late August, Trinitas Ventures opened the Deacon, a student housing complex, as the first phase of a $420 million mixed-use development known as The District at Clifton Heights. The Deacon now houses roughly 1,000 students from the University of Cincinnati, with plans for additional multifamily housing in future phases.
Upon completion, The District will include a combination of student, market-rate and senior housing, at least 60,000 square feet of retail, and a hotel.
“It's an incredible location that's next to the front doors of the University of Cincinnati, and we look at it as a continuation of the Calhoun and McMillan commercial corridor,” said Mark Becher, Director of Development, Trinitas Ventures. “And for us, it's rare that you have an opportunity to develop in such a dynamic neighborhood across from a first class institution like UC, and we're really, really excited about the opportunity.”
The District is located in CUF at the site of the former Deaconess Hospital, which was demolished earlier this year.
Over the past year and a half, Trinitas has worked diligently with the community to provide transparent communication and receive feedback on development plans. In July 2018, Trinitas hosted a week-long public design meeting to understand the community’s needs and receive input from residents and stakeholders from the community and university. In addition, representatives from Trinitas attended every CUF Community Council meeting throughout the past year to ensure that neighborhood residents were informed about development decisions and had opportunities to provide input throughout the process.
“We'll continue to engage with the community as we work through the design, construction and operation of project. We view that as a really valuable piece to the design and making sure that the project meets the needs of both the community and the university,” said Becher. “We got a lot of great feedback from local stakeholders, and that really helped us to understand what the community wanted, what the university wanted, and how to blend those needs and desires together,”
According to Becher, much of the feedback centered around how the development interacted with the neighborhood, which helped shape Trinitas’ master plans.
“Trinitas has been incredible for the second and third phases of the development. They’ve tried to incorporate a lot of the things we wanted, which was market rate housing and some larger entertainment venues,” said Jack Martin, board member, CUF Community Council. “For everything they’ve done, they’ve come to us at least to let us know and, for the most part, we’ve approved of everything they’re doing.”
The next phase of development is set to begin construction in the spring of 2020 with an expected completion date in the summer of 2022. Susequent phases will likely follow 12 to 18 months after.
“The District contributes to the ongoing renaissance in Uptown around the University of Cincinnati,” said Beth Robinson, President and CEO, Uptown Consortium, Inc. “We hope that the development increases housing opportunities and retail amenities for everyone who lives and works in the community.”
For more information about Trinitas Ventures and The District, visit www.trinitas.ventures.