Bowdeya Tweh

btweh@enquirer.com

After 14 months of planning, Cincinnati's Uptown has a grand new vision: An innovation corridor supporting medical research at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Reading Road. A regional bus and shuttle system that gets workers to and from the University of Cincinnati and Pill Hill hospitals. Updated housing in walkable neighborhoods. Vibrant new retail and commercial space.

The Cincinnati Planning Commission on Friday approved a plan that will leverage hundreds of millions of dollars in public and private investment already at work in the area.

With 55,000 employees, the University of Cincinnati and major medical facilities, Uptown already is the region's second-largest jobs center after Downtown.

Planning became more urgent when money became available last year to fund construction of the $118 million MLK interchange at Interstate 71. Cincinnati business leaders lobbied heavily for the project, which also was embraced by Gov. John Kasich for its economic development benefits. Construction is expected to begin next month and be completed in fall 2016.

The interchange could lead to 7,000 permanent jobs at new commercial developments and expanded companies and institutions in Uptown, according to a UC study. The Cincinnati Business Committee and Uptown Consortium funded a study that determined the interchange would unlock access to 670 acres of underused and vacant land in Avondale and Walnut Hills.

"We're excited for this project to get underway because it is the icing on the cake to an even further enhanced Uptown," said Greg Vehr, University of Cincinnati spokesman. "It bodes well from an economic development standpoint and in terms of access to the hospitals, especially in life-saving situations. It is something that Cincinnatians have deserved for some time."

Uptown residents and officials from large institutions are calling for wide-ranging investments in infrastructure, housing and commercial and office space. More than 51,000 people live in neighborhoods considered part of Uptown: Avondale, Clifton, Corryville, Clifton Heights-University Heights-Fairview and Mount Auburn. Walnut Hills joined as part of the study area.

The plan approved Friday puts the city, residents, institutions and planners all on the same page for future development. Advocates will use the plan to help influence new features in an updated city zoning code, expected soon.

The plan calls for improving pedestrian and bicycle connections with public spaces along MLK and Reading. It supports establishing a neighborhood identity to connect communities along the main streets.

It advocates building new developments on MLK at Eden Avenue, Reading and Burnet. Old retail spaces would be shut down, upgraded or replaced completely.

A coordinated transportation plan should include a regional bus and shuttle system with a single, crosstown transfer hub closer to the district core on Burnet. Provisions should be made for Cincinnati's streetcar, in case a future, second phase connects the Downtown loop with Uptown, planners said.

Capital improvements on MLK, Reading, Burnet and Eden are expected to be part of 3 million square feet of real estate developments in the next five years. Within the next two decades, 15 million square feet of property could be developed.

Councilwoman Amy Murray, who voted in support of the plan, praised the Uptown Consortium and the city planning department for working together to plan developments in advance.

"We're so pleased by the good reception we got," Beth Robinson, president and chief executive of the Uptown Consortium, said Friday. The community development corporation, founded by some of the area's largest employers, played a major role in the Uptown plan.

Robinson said planners worked to ensure concerns from residents and business owners were addressed. Letters of support from multiple community groups for the plan were presented at Friday's meeting.

Robinson said her group's members will continue to talk about their development opportunities. UC, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, UC Health, TriHealth and the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Gardens own a significant amount of land in Uptown that's being held for future development.

"We are looking forward to working with the city and other entities to try and take advantage of assembling some properties to work toward creating jobs and creating opportunities that will benefit people here and around the world," Vehr said.

The Uptown Consortium, the city of Cincinnati and UC worked with GBBN Architects, Sasaki Associates, Robert Charles Lesser & Co. and Xavier University's Community Building Institute on the study's design.