Wal-Mart Supercenter To Open Soon

A little non-CBD news for those of you who think we're too downtown-centric on the blog.

Wal-Mart is set to open its Supercenter in Red Bank Village (on Red Bank Road in Fairfax) on October 28. According to news reports at the time Wal-mart announced the new store, it should have about 200,000 square feet of retail space. At about the same time, the company will close its "general merchandise" store on Highland near Ridge.

For those of you wondering about the employment impact of the new store: the employees and management of the Highland store will transfer to the new supercenter. Wal-Mart will also hire additional associates, though I've not heard how many or when applications will be accepted. My own experience with Wal-Mart (now almost a decade in the past) is that about 50 new associates will be needed, and hiring will be about 30-45 days prior to grand opening. If the company still operates as it did in the past, associates in surrounding stores will be given the opportunity to transfer to the new store (and some from nearby supercenters may be assigned there temporarily to help with grand opening). So in addition to the possibility of positions available in the Red Bank Village store, there may also be a few jobs open at nearby Wal-marts, too.

Yes, folks, I do shop at Wal-mart. Not often, and only for certain things (four-dollar prescriptions come to mind), but I do shop there. And I'm not apologizing.

For what it's worth, I'll give a shout-out to the Highland Avenue store. Five or six years ago, you couldn't have paid me to walk into that store and shop. It usually felt dirty and its in-stock position was terrible (in other words, there were often a lot of items that were out-of-stock on any given day). The last couple years, though, the store has really turned around (at least in my opinion). The store is usually clean and I don't have trouble finding what I'm looking for; the associates all generally seem to be in better spirits than in the past. My guess is the store has benefitted from a new management team. Wait times at the check-outs during peak hours remain a problem, but that seems to be a chain-wide problem the company is willing to live with(I'm not sure the company even pays lip service to the notion of "speedy checkout" anymore.)

So look for the new store, and a few new employment opportunities in the next couple months.

Song Remains The Same

Once a name for something has taken hold, it sticks. This is not a surprise in the least. If the name "The Banks" was so horrible, then it should have been excluded. I actually voted for the River District. Is that any better? No. If the County put it up to vote to rename Great American Ball Park and Great American Ball Park was included as an option, then when it would win, there shouldn't be any shock. The Banks was branded and just ask a steer, that branding doesn't go away.

Tower Place Revisited

The power of blogging is its instantaneousness.  You can read something, react to it, and share your reaction with the universe.  And sometimes, that can be its downfall, as well.

Earlier this week, I criticized Chris Bortz and City Council for delaying action on a request by Northeastern Security Development Group to vertically divide the property that includes Tower Place Mall into two separate lots.  Since then, I've talked with (and been chewed out by) a couple of people whose opinions I respect and who know far more about real estate than I do, and it seems that Bortz is probably taking a fairly prudent course of action.  

(Mr. Bortz, by the way, graciously offered to speak with me about the issue....I called him back--in hindsight, probably when he was in the middle of Wednesday's Council meeting--but didn't start a phone tag game, because sometimes I have to pretend to actually be a lawyer who blogs rather than a blogger who practices law.)

NSD is an out-of-town development company and, as far as I can tell, doesn't have any history of development projects in Cincinnati.  So Council doesn't have any basis on which to simply trust in their promises of pouring money into Tower Place.  Granting their request would make it a lot easier to sell off the mall and retain the parking garage.  Yes, it's possible (as I pointed out) that they'll let Tower Place die in the absence of action from Council.  But Council doesn't want to act in such a way as to make it easier for them to kill off Tower Place.

So Council just needs a clear picture of what NSD has in plan for Tower Place.  They need to see a real commitment to turning Tower Place around.  No one wants to see the mall fail.  Council has limited power to help it succeed, and in this instance, they're doing what they can to make sure an out-of-town developer with no local ties doesn't turn a quick buck at the expense of a key downtown attraction.

So there you go.  I'm wrong, again.  And apologies to Council and Chris Bortz for my too-quick reaction.

New Hope For Tower Place, If Bortz Doesn't Get In The Way....

The Enquirer reports that Northeastern Security Development, the owner of Tower Place Mall, is hoping to revitalize the mall by attracting new, "unconventional" tenants. The company needs, though, to arrange some financing to make improvements both to the parking garage and the exterior of the building. As I blogged over a year ago, improvements to the exterior are much needed and would be extremely welcome.

So NSD has come to City Council looking for help. What do they want? A chunk of money? Stimulus funds? A tax break? No: they just need City Council to divide their property into two lots, one for the garage (which is profitable) and one for the mall (which currently is not). Such a division is apparently required in order to secure financing. Chris Bortz,--the chair of Council's Economic Development Committee--is standing in the way. According to the article:

At issue is whether Northeastern has a long-term commitment to the mall–or if it’s just asking for the separation so that it’s in a better position to sell the less lucrative retail space.“The question remains, ‘What if?’” says councilman Chris Bortz, who chairs the economic development committee. “We don’t want to be left in a situation where we have a dark mall and the attached parking garage is doing just fine. They may have the best intentions, but we can’t predict the future.”
Davis said the concern is unjustified. “What good is it to own a parking garage next to property that is vacant?” he said. “We’ve spent millions of dollars to buy this, and we want it to be successful. Fourth Street has great potential, and to say we helped turn Tower Place around, I’d love to put that feather in my hat.”
Bortz said he’s doesn’t plan to revisit Northeastern’s request until the council receives the firm’s plan for the mall. “It’s in a holding pattern for now,” he said.

So let's review. Tower Place Mall wants to bring new in new tenants. Its ability to do so is derived, at least in part, from its ability to secure financing to upgrade the facility. And its ability to get financing is dependent on the lot subdivision it is requesting from Council. But Bortz won't even take the matter up for consideration until Tower Place tells him who its tenants will be--which it can't do, because it's likely no one will commit until the financing is in place. Brilliant.

One wonders what the problem is here. Why does the legal division of the property make it more likely that we'll have a "dark mall" with a vibrant parking garage? That's nearly what we have now. And if NSD isn't able to secure financing, that is what we'll end up with for sure.

Chris Bortz's experience with residential development has been an asset for City Council the last few years. But this is another example of how City Council is, on balance, pretty inept when it comes to downtown, non-residential development.

For those of you who favor the streetcar (as Bortz does), remember: a streetcar is great, but no one will ride it if there's nothing to do once you get off. Tower Place Mall sits just a block off the proposed streetcar route, and if it's revitalized properly it will be a significant draw downtown.

We threw millions of dollars at Saks to stay in town. We can't help another company out with a simple administrative matter? Why does it seem lately that if a development project isn't being run by 3CDC, Council just doesn't care about it? With regional unemployment at its highest in a quarter-century, City Council should be making it easier for business to operate, not harder.

Vernon Manor Closing

The Vernon Manor will close its doors at the end of the month. I don't have much to say, other than it's unfortunate. The Vernon Manor has been a terrific, historic, non-downtown place for guests to stay. When I was in law school, it was where we housed out-of-town judges (primarily federal appellate judges and state supreme court judges) who came in for the annual moot court competition, always to positive reviews.

JenJen (a/k/a Tavern Wench, my favorite bartender blogger), alerted us to the news on her own blog and in the comments to the post below. I wanted to bump the story to provide a thread for folks to share their thoughts.

Hook Us Up, Kroger: An Open Letter to Mr. Dillon

David Dillon
CEO, The Kroger Company
1014 Vine Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202


RE: Downtown Cincinnati


Dear Mr. Dillon:


I write concerning the critical gap in the grocery market in downtown Cincinnati. As a downtown resident and worker, this is of serious concern to me. But more importantly, the issue raises a pressing business opportunity for your company.


Kroger has regularly been criticized for its only downtown/Over-the-Rhine store at 1420 Vine Street. We've even done our fair share of lambasting at the Cincinnati Blog. We certainly appreciate the company's efforts to revitalize the store during a few years ago. Ultimately, though, the store's footprint is simply too small for the store to one that your company can be proud to have in the shadow of your corporate headquarters.

A few days ago, because I was "in the neighborhood," I made my first visit to your "Fresh Fare" store in Kenwood. I'd never been to a "Fresh Fare" Kroger; I was impressed. Comparing the Vine Street Kroger to the Kenwood store is like comparing a summer weekend festival's attractions to those at King's Island. Wow. Wow, wow, wow.

The people of downtown and Over-the-Rhine deserve a quality grocery store from the grocery company so closely identified with the Queen City. But that's an argument that's been made for a long time, and one that repeatedly falls on deaf ears in the Kroger hierarchy. So let's focus on why Kroger's interests are served by an expanded downtown location.

More people live downtown and in Over-the-Rhine than did a few years ago. And while the Vine Street store is sufficient if we need a few things, it's not good enough for weekly shopping. That means that people who can do so drive outside of downtown to buy groceries. But once I'm leaving downtown, the chance that I go to Kroger (either to Bellevue or Hyde Park, most likely) is only one-in-three, at best. I might go to Meijer. I might go to Bigg's. Or maybe, I'll get wild and crazy and head all the way out to Jungle Jim's.

There's land available for a Fresh Fare Kroger. There's a big parking lot on the eastern edge of downtown known as "Broadway Commons." The owners don't seem really married to hanging onto the property. They wanted to sell to permit the building of the baseball and football stadia there. More recently, they were hoping a casino company would buy them out. I'm sure they'd sell to Kroger.

Think about the business a Fresh Fare store would do at that location. New residential buildings are opening all time in downtown and OTR. Within the next half-decade, residents will start occupying housing in the Banks. Kroger should already have a store in place by then; it's much easier to attract business from those looking to develop habits, rather than to change pre-existing habits--which is what will happen if Kroger continues to take a wait-and-see approach to downtown residency.

But it's not just your neighbors who would frequent a Fresh Fare store. Think about all the people who, on their way home from downtown jobs, would stop in your store to pick up dinner. Broadway Commons is on the way to I-71 from downtown. It's perfect!

I realize it's tough to think about expansion in this economy. But downtown and OTR is one of the few areas to which people continue to relocate. Kroger should take advantage of this, rewarding both itself with lots of new business and longtime OTR residents who have steadfastly patronized the vastly inferior OTR store out of loyalty to your company.

Kroger is a great Cincinnati company. It should have a great Cincinnati location.

Sincerely,

Donald Caster

Streetcar Debate

Just over a week ago, advocates for the Streetcar held a debate at UC about the Streetcar plan. Here's the video:

The video is from Explorecincinnati.com via Bearcast Radio.

I as of this point have not watched the debate, but there is coverage from the CincyStreetcar blog, Urbancincy, and Start Working, Start Living.

Since I couldn't attend and haven't watched the video yet, I will reserve judgment. If you were there, how did it go?

The Opportunity for OTR

Friday's Enquirer ran a pretty good article about the efforts to remake OTR from a rundown neighborhood into a thriving area which would be a model for urban revitalization in the country.

The article discusses some of the opposition, mostly those who fear displacement of the poor. When I write "poor" I don't mean those living in the DIC or squatting in an abandoned building. I mean people who legally have their own residence. The displacement of this group is the issue where criticism bears the most merit. Efforts need to be made to help anyone forced to move because of a building being rehabbed and turned into market rate living space. Those efforts should include relocation expenses up front to help people find a new place well ahead of their move. Efforts need to be made also to provide affordable apartments as well. The problem that remains is looking long term. So far most of the buildings that were in use for housing and remodeled were run down to nearly an uninhabitable state. Progress needs to be made and thorns (anti-development zealots) should not hold us back, but accommodations need to be made.

Moerlein Buys Little Kings

Christian Moerlein is continuing to bring home Cincinnati's Beers with its purchase this week of Little Kings. While the brewery will not be located in Cincinnati, this is another step for the Cincinnati based Christian Moerlein in its goal of brewing its beers here in Cincinnati.

It has been a long time since I've had a Little Kings Cream Ale. I have two memories of them from College. One is using plasti-tac to spell words on the dorm room wall with Little Kings' bottle caps. The other memory is seeing how fast and in how few gulps we could guzzle the 7 ouncers. Oh the memories that brings back, and the realization that I can't to that any more!

Large Banks Ignoring Foreclosed Properties

Below, Griff notes the Enquirer's growing tendency to shift local news coverage from its newspaper (both print and online editions) to its blog. Symptomatic of that tendency is this post on the Politics Extra Blog by Jane Pendergrast, which reports that last week, the City of Cincinnati filed suit against Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo for failing to properly maintain properties upon which they have foreclosed.

The conduct of banks that have foreclosed on properties is a real problem in Cincinnati. The banks just let the property sit until they can find someone to buy the property. Generally, banks entirely ignore Cincinnati ordinances, including requirements to properly maintain the structures and to obtain vacant building maintenance licenses. In its 22-page verified complaint, the City does an excellent job describing the situation and the reason it filed suit:

This is an action by the City of Cincinnati against two lenders that
regularly appear in Hamilton County Courts to prosecute foreclosure actions but have consistently refused to appear when summoned by the City of Cincinnati for the basic maintenance of abandoned and vacated properties titled in the names of Defendants. The City of Cincinnati seeks to hold these entities accountable in the same manner that individual property owners are held accountable for abandoned and vacated properties and seeks injunctive relief, declaratory relief, and money damages. Over the past three years, the City of Cincinnati and its departments have made several attempts to communicate with Defendants regarding the numerous properties and buildings throughout the City that were and are in violation of City health and housing codes. Defendants have consistently failed to take responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of such properties; in fact, Defendants have gone so far as to deny ownership of these properties.

Defendants have consistently refused service of process and ignored summonses pertaining to criminal complaints filed by the Property Maintenance Division . . . as well as notices sent . . . regarding civil fines for failure to comply with the Cincinnati Municipal Code.

(Verified Complaint, paras. 1 & 16.) As Pendergrast notes, the defendants have removed the case to federal court, where it is now pending before Chief Judge Beckwith. Part of what the City sought in Common Pleas court was an injunction preventing the banks from transferring the property (the City claims they have a history of transferring nuisance properties once legal action is filed in order to avoid liability). While the defendants claim they have already divested themselves of some of the property at issue in the new suit, they and the City have agreed that no further transfers (of property named in the litigation) until the case is concluded or the federal court orders otherwise.

The City, joined by the County (which is also named as a defendant, in that it has an interest in the properties as holder of various tax liens against them) has asked Judge Beckwith to remand the case back to state court. The banks have been ordered to file their response by January 22. Given the surge of foreclosures in Hamilton County, this is an extremely important issue--and one that merited more attention from the Enquirer than relegation to its blog.

It's Ba-ack: Uncle Woody's

I'm a little late on this, but Uncle Woody's, the combination neighborhood/campus bar on Calhoun near Clifton (across the street from the UC College of Law) has reopened. Apparently, it did so in late November, under new ownership and management. I'd noted the bar's passing (which is joyfully short-lived) back in June.

Uncle Woody's will host a New Year's Eve Party. You can opt for one of two different cover charges: $25 gets you unlimited domestic beer, and $35 gets you unlimited well drinks, domestic beer, and food. But those prices require an RSVP; showing up without a reservation will cost you an extra ten bucks. Either way, the midnight champagne toast is included in your price.

And if you're the Facebook-type, you can join the Uncle Woody's group.

The return of Uncle Woody's is welcome news, at least for this UC law alum.

Downtown: Quick Bites

Three tidbits of downtown news:

First, the Fountain Square Chipotle is now open during the same hours as are most of the Chipotle restaurants: 11 am until 10 pm, seven days per week. (When the restaurant opened, its closing time was 8:00, with plans to be open only on "special event" weekends.)

Second, the building that previously housed the troubled Phoenix Cafe (Walnut between Sixth and Seventh) has new life: it will host the Righteous Room, an upscale bar to be opened by the spring. The new bar will be owned by the same folks who own the Pavilion and aliveOne in Mt. Adams. (The building is owned by 3CDC.) Also planned are three condos in the space above the bar, priced at around $220,000.

Finally, Wah Mee (on Elm between Fourth and Fifth) will close by the end of the year. The owners cite the high rent as the reason for the closure. It's a tough location (in a basement, on a block without a lot of foot traffic). No word on a successor in that space (or in the space previously occupied by a florist at Elm and Fifth).

I Get Lost In Mt. Adams, And They Want To Build A What?

There's a group in town whose mission is "to help facilitate the sale of the Cincinnati Bengals and the creation of a massive stone labyrinth in Paul Brown Stadium." Called the "Cincinnati Labyrinth Project," it even has its own blog.

In the short-term, I suppose the construction of the labyrinth could be a public works project that would fit in nicely with President-elect Obama's proposed economy recovery package. In the long-run, though, how much are people willing to pay to wander around in circles? And what's wrong with Ohio's abundant corn mazes? The CLP is trying to take money out of Ohio's farmers' pockets!

I like having an NFL team in town, even if the Bengals have a winning record only once every quarter-century or so. So I'm against the proposal. I'm willing to change my mind, though, if the Project can promise to have a minotaur roaming the labyrinth. That would be cool.

And actually, with a labyrinth and a minotaur, we could get rid of City Council elections. Just send everyone in, and the first nine to the center and back are on Council. Everyone else is minotaur-food.

Hat tip: The Dean of Crazy Cincinnati.

KZF Design Renovating Building Downtown

KZF Design Inc., an architecture, engineering, interior design and planning firm, announced in a press release that they will be renovating a 36,000-square-foot space in two connected structures located at 700 Broadway, at the junction of Seventh and Eighth streets. According to KZF this will be a 6 million dollar project that will comply with LEED-Silver certification. A target date for completion of the project is the Summer of 2009.

Currently KZF is located in the Baldwin Building in Walnut Hills.

There is no news for increasing jobs at KZF, but this demonstrates their stability and their investment in the future of Downtown Cincinnati. Their press release does indicate that they will have 30% more space than their current space in the Baldwin Building, so expansion would not be hampered by a lack of space.

For more info on KZF, check out their website.

What Do You Want at the Emery?

I've been very excites about this year Music CEAs taking place at the historic Emery Theater (Get your tickets NOW!). Efforts are underway way by the Emery Center Corporation to restore the grand theater to the greatness and huge relevance it held for most of the 20th Century. For a taste, check out this photo gallery from CityBeat showing just a little of the storied past of this great venue. Estimates are that the restoration will take at least 3 million dollars to complete. See below for a press release on the efforts.

The key element I want to find out is what do you want to see take place at a restored Emery? Give me your ideas in comments. Here are some of mine:

1. Where better to see the headliners for Midpoint?
2. Music Now! needs a bigger venue!
3. Why Can't the Oxford Film festival move again?

What else comes to mine? Post your thoughts and get your ticket to the CEAs today!

If you want to help out raising some of the money needed to make this happen, send me your contact information (email: cincyblog@aol.com) and I'll pass it along to Emery team and get your efforts moving in the right direction. If you have limited time, at least spread the word about this effort to bring more hands on culture to OTR and Downtown. This is a chance to have a world class venue be the home for great music, theatre, film and events that will augment the growing arts community in Cincinnati.

Here are the details on Saving the Emery from the ECC:

$3 Million Projected to Reopen the Emery Theatre

The board of the Emery Center Corporation (ECC) has been working on plans to reopen the Emery Theatre. After lying dormant for about a decade, this historic concert hall/auditorium will host 650 guests for the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards on Sunday evening, November 23. The ECC hopes that this event will demonstrate the potential of the hall to fill a niche in Cincinnati’s varied array of performing arts facilities and that other events will follow.

Vision

A restored Emery Theatre is envisioned as a mid-sized performance venue and an educational, community-based arts facility with world-class acoustics. The concept is to operate the Emery as a presenting hall for performances aimed at a young urban audience. The Emery can accommodate local and touring musicians, choral groups, lectures, movies and multi-media presentations, festivals, corporate meetings and conventions.

Current Activities

In January 2008, the University of Cincinnati (UC) charged the ECC to identify a viable manager and program for the Emery Theatre by the end of this year. After several years of dormancy, the ECC’s board of trustees has been meeting regularly and working intensively on this challenge. Numerous professionals and volunteers have participated in preliminary construction work and planning.

• Urban Sites carried out $15,000 of interior demolition and debris removal.
• Over 100 Give Back Cincinnati volunteers participated in a major cleanup, painting and cleaning of the lobby and orchestra level.
• GBBN Architects have produced a code analysis and scope of work to establish the minimum work required to reopen the hall.
• Al Neyer, Inc., has prepared a cost estimate.
• Property Advisors has produced a valuation study establishing the market value and equity in the building.
• A new preliminary operating plan projects a $500,000 annual operating budget.

Phased Revitalization

The ECC believes the revival of the Emery Theatre can be accomplished in a two-phased restoration. The first phase could open the orchestra and first balcony (1100 seats total) by the end of 2011, in time to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the hall in January 2012. The second phase could open the second balcony for a total of 1600 seats at some future date.

Projected at just $3 million, Phase I could open the Emery’s doors at relatively low cost and capitalize on this currently underutilized resource. The viability of the project is enhanced by potential income from the apartments, either through rent or condominium sales, which could yield $1 to 2 million in equity toward the theatre’s renovation.

History

Completed in 1911, the Emery Theatre/former Ohio Mechanic’s Institute-College of Applied Science (OMI-CAS) Building has a distinguished heritage, having been endowed by philanthropist Mary Emery and designed by architects Samuel Hannaford & Sons. The Emery Theatre has the highest quality acoustics and was compared to Carnegie Hall by the renowned conductor Leopold Stokowski. This nearly flawless concert hall was the home of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 1912 to 1936.

Many Broadway stars and world-renowned performing artists have appeared on the Emery stage, including Russian ballet dancers Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova, actresses Bette Davis and Katherine Cornell, and composers John Philip Sousa and George Gershwin, who played his famous "Rhapsody in Blue" with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra here shortly after premiering it at Carnegie Hall in New York.

Recent Redevelopment

The Emery Theatre/former OMI-CAS Building came under the ownership of the University of Cincinnati in 1969. When OMI-CAS moved to its new Edgecliff Campus in 1988, the building sat vacant, and the theatre was operated for a decade by the American Theatre Organ Society. The Emery Center Corporation (ECC) was created in 1988 to promote the restoration and sustainable operation of the Emery Theatre.

While restoration of the theatre was delayed, the rest of the complex was redeveloped in 1999-2001, with 59 units of market-rate housing, interior parking, and commercial office and retail space. The $9.7 million project included exterior renovation and interior stabilization of the theatre. The complex is leased long-term (40 + 40 years) to the Emery Center Apartments LP (ECALP), and the ECC holds a sublease for the theatre.

Need

Cincinnati has pent-up demand for a mid-sized theater. The Emery will have 1600 seats, as compared with 3400 in Music Hall, 2700 in the Aronoff, 2400 at the Taft, and 900 at CCM’s Corbett Auditorium. Cincinnati needs a hall for mid-sized audiences to complement our other performing venues. Cincinnatians drive to other cities in our region such as Louisville, Columbus, Indianapolis, Lexington, and Dayton to enjoy entertainers who skip Cincinnati for lack of a suitable venue for their touring shows.

Key characteristics

* Proscenium: 54 feet wide, 45 feet high at the top of the arch
* Stage depth: 35 feet deep, could be expanded to 60 feet
* Stage loft: 72 feet high
* Wing space: 15 feet wide (both sides)
* Rigging: New counterweight system needed
* Gym: 54 X 80 feet (for rehearsals and events)


Open to the Public

The Emery is scheduled to be open to the public one night only this year. On November 23, the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards will be held in the Emery and all bar proceeds will be given to Save the Emery. Tickets are required and can be purchased at cea.citybeat.com This event is happening with a temporary certificate of occupancy. Stop in to enjoy the award show and take a look around. Then buy a drink and tip heavily! There is more work to be done.

Bootsy Ruby's News

Julie from wine me dine me (and Cincy Blog too!) has some inside news on the new Jeff Ruby/Bootsy Collins restaurant opening up in December on Walnut St.

5th and Race Under 3CDC?

The city has taken another step(next to last paragraph) in turning over development of the empty parking lot at the corning of 5th and Race Streets Downtown.

The Enquirer reported on the plan last week.

Will a Hotel Replace Condos in Phase 1 of the Banks?

The Enquirer is reporting the Banks condos may not be in the first phase and could be replaced with a Hotel next door to Great American Ball Park.

So, is this the first step in changes that will alter the purpose of the Banks? Is this going to be nothing but a tourist area? That is what the suburbanites and John Cranley are clamoring for when they spout off asking when they will get to drink a beer at the ESPN Zone.

OTR in the NYT

A wow article in the New York Times about street cars and how it helps out communities. It includes comments from Jean-Robert de Cavel while being interviewed at Lavomatic. Great press for street cars, OTR, Cincinnati, and urban development.

Fire at Bootsy's

I am glad they have made an arrest for the fires set, but is there any word on the level of damage at the under construction restaurant on Walnut Street in Downtown? It was reported to be opening in November (other reports said September), any word on how much will this delay it?