Cincinnati has wrapped up a 30 day neighborhood enhancement effort in Walnut Hills. And the City unveiled plans for renovated apartments and new retail space along McMillan Avenue.
Trevarren Flats will include 30 market rate apartments and retail space along McMillan Avenue, just off of Gilbert.
Kathryne Gardette is chair of the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation; and while sees the neighborhood as uniquely positioned for redevelopment, she is concerned about what the definition of market rate is.
Gardette says they have watched development in Over-the-Rhine and are committed to avoid some of the growing pains that neighborhood has encountered, like current residents not being able to afford the rising cost of housing.
“If you have community engagement, then the opportunity of people not being priced out is alleviated,” she says.
The monthly Walnut Hills Community Council meetings, according to Gardette, attract between 40 and 75 people. On Wednesday, The Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation will hold a “listening session” where residents can talk about their visions for the neighborhood. She says they held five such meetings over the summer over the summer so people could talk about housing.
Gardette says they want to attract new people while not chasing current residents out. “We need to make a balance, we don’t want to kick anyone out who is here, but we want people to be invested in the community,” Gardette says. And that investment, she says, means taking care of one's property, and not engaging in criminal behavior.
Work on the first phase of Trevarren Flats is scheduled to start this month, and be completed by fall of next year.