Sharon Coolidge

scoolidge@enquirer.com

Fresh off successfully redeveloping the Hanke Building on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine, Scott Stough and his family turned their attention to the crumbling building across the street – the former Davis Furniture building.

But what was once so full of promise has morphed into a bitter battle with the city of Cincinnati.

It's another example of how difficult it is to balance business investments with preservation. And on a smaller scale, it gets to the heart of what that block of Main Street should look like.

Knocking it down would mean a third of Main Street in Over-the-Rhine is a parking lot.

The building is too decrepit for them to profitably develop, argued Stough, the marketing director for Stough Development Corp. So his company sought to knock it down. But because it's in Over-the-Rhine, a designated historic district, the company needs permission from the city.

It's not that they want the building gone. It's just that it's such a blight to neighborhood as is, they say they need money from the city to fix it up themselves, want it torn down or redeveloped by somebody who can afford the proper fix-up.

The Stoughs – who work in the Hanke Building – have have been looking out their windows at the eyesore for nearly a decade and say they're tired of it.

The city's Historic Conservation Board is against demolishing the building, though it stopped short of staying no. In February it instituted a 180-day delay during which it is seeking alternatives to demolition. It's now just past the halfway mark.

At the end of the period Cincinnati's urban conservator, Larry Harris, will make a recommendation to the conservation board, which will will make the final decision.

"It's been an eyesore on the street for years, a detriment to the neighborhood," said C. Francis Barrett, who represents Stough. "We're just trying to make the neighborhood better."

Harris said the building is worth saving. He has 25 years of experience in construction and architecture. "In my 25 years practicing I have seen much worse buildings," he said.

Harris said the building is "structurally sound" and "not in jeopardy of falling down."

"I would like it to remain there," he said. "It is the last part of the streetscape from Central Parkway and Main up to 12th Street."

The Stoughs are best known for developing the Hanke Building on Main Street, which they bought from the city for $1, then poured $5 million into rehabilitation. It now serves as offices for several businesses; U.S. Bank, Lucy Blues Pizza and Teach for America are among them.

The Davis Furniture store – which encompasses two properties, 1119 Main St. and 1123 Main St. – closed in 2004.

Eventually it fell into the hands of a temporary employment service company that put some money into the building, but not enough. An improperly installed roof on part of the building actually made things worse by leaking.

Maintenance orders piled up. There was a half-million dollar tax lien on the property. It was condemned due to structural issues; parts of the chimney fell down, said Ed Cunningham, who manages the city's property maintenance code enforcement division.

The property was foreclosed on; the Stoughs bought it last May for $125,000 at auction – but like all properties in sheriff's sales, potential buyers aren't allowed inside before purchase.

Nobody bid against the Stoughs.

"It was clearly economically infeasible," Barrett said.

Once inside, they found that the Davis Furniture building was crumbling. Experts told the company it would be impossible to develop and be profitable. The company sank about $100,000 making it safe enough to just sit there; they rent parking spaces next to the building, roping them off so people aren't hurt.

They asked the building department to declare it an emergency because of public safety issues, which would force them to knock it down. But the city said it didn't rise to that level of emergency.

So in February the Stoughs reached out to the city again, seeking permission to demolish the property.

The property is for sale, but there is no specific asking price. To sell, the Stoughs want a promise the building will be rehabilitated.

The Cincinnati Center City Development Corp, or 3CDC, which is redeveloping Over-the-Rhine, has made an offer. The Stoughs would not say how much the offer was for, only that it wasn't satisfactory because they don't believe it includes a promise that 3CDC would fix it up after the purchase. A representative from 3CDC at a recent public hearing on the matter said her agency was willing to renovate it, but Barrett countered he didn't have that promise in writing.

A call to 3CDC was not returned.

DAVIS FURNITURE: IN ITS HEYDAY

Davis Furniture closed in June 2004. Bertram Davis owned Main Street. For much of its 102-year reign, the store founded by Davis' late father was a retail powerhouse, drawing customers to its six-story brick showrooms and its cavernous array of furniture, appliances and other household items.

In an era long before the big chains, D. Davis Furniture was a home-grown superstore. But shifting consumer habits, the onslaught of suburban chain stores and time finally caught up with Davis Furniture.

"During their heyday, I don't think there was any store that could compete with Davis," Aubrey "A.J." Johnson, Davis' longtime caretaker, told The Enquirer in 2004. "There were a lot of stores around, but Davis at that time was the tops."

It was difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for the closure. The store's manager claimed the catalyst was the city's 2001 riot that left the store's front display window smashed and drove customers away. But Johnson said the store had been in decline for more than 20 years as other retailers around it vanished.