NewsLocal NewsHamilton CountyCincinnatiAvondale

Actions

Avondale Town Center construction passes halfway mark

Posted at 2:38 PM, Sep 14, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-14 14:38:22-04

CINCINNATI -- Redevelopment of the Avondale Town Center, which began in October 2017, has just passed the halfway point, and community members are already looking forward to the changes they say it will bring the community.

"I don't know if Avondale has ever had anything on the level of what we're getting ready to do here," said Dr. Robert E. Baines, Jr., pastor of Southern Baptist Church.

The redevelopment is the third phase of a $29.5 million Choice Neighborhoods grant received in December 2012 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"You won't even recognize it," Kathy Schwab, executive director of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, told WCPO previously. "Then there's multiple buildings. There are apartments in both phases over retail, over a health clinic. There will be laundry facilities for the entire community. There is a very significant space -- I don't know the amount of square footage -- but there is a significant amount of space for a grocery store."

One and two-bedroom apartment units available for rent, said Libbie Au, senior project manager for the Community Builders; some of those units will be reserved for low-income families.

"So, the idea," Au said, "is to have rent that is affordable for those families so they can take advantage of the new development."

The construction is expected to last until Spring 2019.