Cincinnati Business Committee (CBC)
HR&A designed and established the Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) to steward Downtown Cincinnati’s revitalization. Our work creating this innovative public-private partnership led to Fountain Square’s $49 million renovation, over $125 million in additional private investment, and Over-the-Rhine’s transformation from a troubled neighborhood into a nationally recognized success story.
Working with the City of Cincinnati, Downtown Cincinnati Inc., the Cincinnati Business Committee, and master planning firm Cooper Robertson & Partners, HR&A crafted a strategic investment plan addressing downtown planning and development challenges. Fountain Square, Cincinnati’s traditional heart, suffered from poor design, lack of programming, and absence of maintenance, creating a void of activity downtown. Over-the-Rhine experienced residential and commercial disinvestment, retail deficits, and entrenched crime. HR&A designed 3CDC to guide revitalization, conceived innovative financing structures, framed programming strategies, and shaped public plaza redesign. For Over-the-Rhine, we recommended targeted public investments including signature open space redevelopment, new parking options, and rehabilitation of deteriorated multifamily housing, plus robust public-private partnership and revised design guidelines celebrating the neighborhood’s historic architectural fabric.
3CDC has proven a successful public-private partnership serving as principal advocate and steward of Downtown Cincinnati. Fountain Square’s completed renovation brought people back to downtown in record numbers and continues catalyzing new residential, retail, and restaurant development. Over-the-Rhine is now the center of Cincinnati’s thriving arts community with renovated historic buildings, diverse housing and retail options, major new mixed-use projects, and substantially decreased crime. This comprehensive revitalization established Cincinnati as a national model demonstrating how strategic public-private partnerships can transform struggling urban neighborhoods into vibrant community assets.
