Bowdeya Tweh

btweh@enquirer.com

The city's zoning appeals board voted 3-2 Friday to overturn a decision from another city panel to block a demolition permit on the former Dennison Hotel.

The fate of the Downtown Cincinnati building along the streetcar line has been in limbo for most of 2016. Building owner Columbia Development Group sought a permit to raze the 124-year-old structure at 716 Main St.

Board members Reginold Lyons, Michael Moran and Ron Koetters voted to overturn the Historic Conservation Board's decision. Emily Supinger and Diana Vakharia voted to uphold the decision.

But before demolition could happen, the city's Historic Conservation Board had to approve a certificate of appropriateness, a step required in the zoning code before any building that's a historic landmark or is within a historic district is significantly changed. The building is part of the city's Main Street Historic District. In June, that panel voted to reject the certificate of appropriateness in a 3-2 vote.

Columbia, which has common ownership with Downtown-based Joseph Auto Group, appealed the Historic Conservation Board's decision to the Zoning Board of Appeals. In its legal arguments, attorneys for Columbia said the firm could not generate an economic return from a full or partial reuse of the building. The company has owned the property since 2013, buying it from the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp., or 3CDC, after that group's building renovation bid failed.

A majority of voting members determined the building represented an economic hardship for Columbia and the company would not have been able to secure tax credits to renovate the property profitably.

"We are obviously pleased with today's vote of the Cincinnati ZBA, which allows the planning for the eventual redevelopment of the Dennison Hotel site to move forward," according to a statement from Columbia. "We knew all along that our plans for the property and our arguments in favor of redeveloping the site would prevail. We thank the ZBA for making the right decision regarding the future of the Dennison Hotel property."

But don't expect the building to be torn down immediately. Both parties have to receive the decision in writing before Columbia can continue its pursuit of a demolition permit. The board's decision can also be challenged in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.

"There are next steps available," said Sean Suder, an attorney who was working on behalf of the Cincinnati Preservation Association and Cincinnati Preservation Collective on the case. "We’ll look at those and go from there. We fought the good fight on this. We won round one. They won round two. Stay tuned."

The former Dennison Hotel was built by famed Cincinnati architecture firm Samuel Hannaford & Sons, the same firm that designed structures such as City Hall and Music Hall. Initially built as an ironworks, the building was converted into a hotel in 1932. The Dennison was the last of about two dozen single-room occupancy hotels that began operations downtown in the early 1970s. The building has been vacant for about five years.

Over-the-Rhine resident Derek Bauman has worked for several months to organize events and call attention to the potential loss of the Dennison. Bauman said although he was disappointed with Friday's decision, there may be an opportunity to give the building new life.

"Now many other new and rehabbed buildings are coming to life around her offering new living spaces for people," Bauman said. "I continue to call on the Dennison’s owners to find a creative way forward to keep her safe, and the people safe, and bring her back to life in the burgeoning Main Street Historic District. The imagery of a wrecking ball slamming into her side isn’t what anyone who loves Cincinnati and the historic fabric of our city wants to see."

Although Columbia has filed for a demolition permit on the building, it's not immediately clear what would replace it. Columbia officials told The Enquirer earlier this year the Dennison could be razed and become a home for a Fortune 500 company's headquarters.

During previous hearings, multiple historic property advocates and developers said Columbia has rebuffed discussions about selling the building. Columbia attorney Fran Barrett said to date, there have no bona fide offers made to the Joseph family for the Dennison.

"The building is a blight on the neighborhood," Barrett said.

Columbia has been acquiring property around the Dennison since the 1960s, according to Hamilton County property records. It demolished the Becker Building at 711 Sycamore St. in the 1970s and the five-story Berning Building, the former home of Jos. Berning Printing, on Eighth Street in the late 1980s. The Enquirer wrote about the company's pledge to develop an office building near the Dennison in 1987 while writing about the demolition of a nearby building.

"Architecturally, it’s a good example of a multi-story loft building with Romanesque Revival influence and rich masonry detailing," said Margo Warminski, a historian and preservation director of the nonprofit Cincinnati Preservation Association. "Historically, it represents the manufacturing and wholesaling district that grew up in the eastern section of downtown close to the canal and the railroads. Tearing down the building would knock a hole in one of the most intact downtown streetscapes in America, lined with good examples of commercial and industrial buildings spanning three-quarters of a century."

Links to past coverage:

Oct. 17: Vote delayed on Dennison demolition appeal

July 15: Dennison 'net' can stay without permit

June 16: City historic board: Dennison Hotel cannot be razed

May 24: Is the Dennison a sign of more historic teardowns?

May 18: Dennison Hotel, Sorg Opera House named 'endangered' historic sites

April 14: City staff: Reject Dennison Hotel demo request

March 15: Is the end near for a former Downtown hotel?