Enquirer editorial

The Stough Group tried to make the case last month that a building it owns in Over-the-Rhine is in such poor condition that it cannot be saved. The Historic Conservation Board denied Stough's request to demolish the Davis Building, but the company has threatened to sue. That got us to wondering, how far gone is too far for an old building?

So we looked at the fate of other badly dilapidated buildings in OTR – one of the largest intact historic districts in the United States – in the past decade.

CROWN BUILDING

Developer: Kevin Pape and Kim Starbuck

Location: 1739 Elm St.

Building size: 14,000 square foot

Crown Building: $1.5 million

Financing sources: Federal and State Historic Tax Credits and city of Cincinnati LEED tax abatement

Use: Four apartments, 2,800-square-feet of leased office space, and a 4,500-square-foot first-floor restaurant space that's available.

ELM STREET SENIOR HOUSING

Developer: Over-the-Rhine Community Housing and the Model Group

Location: 1500-1506 Elm St.

Building size: 14,500 square feet

Project cost: $4.1 million

Financing sources: HUD 202 Program, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, State and Federal Historic Tax Credits, city of Cincinnati LEED tax abatement

Use: 15 one-bedroom senior apartments, two community rooms and a resident lobby

DUVENECK FLATS

Developer: 3CDC/Urban Sites

Location: 1212-1220 Vine St.

Building size: 28,000 square feet

Project cost: $5 million

Financing sources: 3CDC equity fund, federal New Market Tax Credits and $600,000 from the city of Cincinnati

Use: 15 condos and ground-level commercial, including Senate, Abigail Street and Sloane Boutique

THE MESSURACAS

Developer: Ryan Messer and James Musuraca

Location: West 14th St.

Project cost: $650,000

Financing sources: Private loan

Use: Two-family

The only buildings torn down in Over-the-Rhine in recent years have been those that weren't historic, stood in the way of large redevelopment projects or collapsed on their own.

"In many cases these buildings are overbuilt by today's standards," said Kevin Pape, who developed the Crown Building with wife Kim Starbuck. "They've got great bones. You just need someone who's able to hang muscle and tissue from them."

Having successfully tackled the Crown, the next projects for Pape and Starbuck are two buildings next door on Elm, one of which was literally crumbling. Pape is confident that both can be redeveloped for a profit.

Here, look at the living, working and eating spaces that we have because of the efforts of 3CDC, private developers, nonprofits and individuals who had a vision and the will to realize it.

3CDC and others have offered to buy the Davis Building for more than the Stough Group paid for it, but the company is expected to appeal Historic Conservation Board's decision to the Board of Zoning Appeals this month.

We hope that in this case and others, OTR property owners will cooperate with good-faith efforts to preserve the fabric of this truly irreplaceable historic neighborhood.