The Equitable Growth and Housing Committee voted to approve a zone change for 1813 Race Street from Park and Recreation to Commercial Community Pedestrian Transportation Corridor to permit an operations center for the Corporation for Findlay Market.

The zoning change, recommended by the Department of City Planning and Engagement, would allow a four-story mixed-use building the applicant says would house an event room, maintenance garage, a storefront for the Findlay Market shopping app, office and storage space, merchant space on the fourth floor and a retained refuse/waste management area on the north side of the site. "This operation center would include an event room, a maintenance garage, a storefront space for the Findlay Market shopping app," Planner Sophia Ferris Roe said during the presentation.

The proposal is intended to replace the site’s current use as a parking lot and waste-management area. "Findlay Market has been an anchor institution and a city asset for 173 years," Kelly Lancer, president and CEO of the Corporation for Findlay Market, told the committee, describing lost space and recent rent increases that have pushed market operations to find consolidated facilities.

Why it matters: Committee members said the change would reactivate an underused parcel near Findlay Market and support market operations, deliveries and vendor services. The planning staff found the requested CCPT zone consistent with Plan Cincinnati and the Brewery District master plan, and the City Planning Commission recommended approval after coordinated site review.

Key details: Planning staff said the site is currently zoned Park and Recreation, a mapping that dates to city ownership in the early 2000s even though it has functioned as a parking lot; staff advised the PR designation was never updated when the lot converted. The application will still require zoning relief and approval from the Historic Conservation Board because the site is in the Over-the-Rhine Historic District. Transportation staff removed proposed on-street parking spaces after identifying conflicts with the streetcar alignment, and the applicant adjusted the lot layout and moved waste-management functions farther north. Planner Sophia Ferris Roe said the coordinated site review raised right-of-way and parking issues that the applicant has worked to resolve.

Public comment at the committee hearing included both support and opposition. Resident Riley Owens, speaking from Over-the-Rhine, said he supported denser development and opposed selling the adjacent right-of-way: "Let's not rip up the right of way and lock in a bad land use for many years or decades." Tanya Chavez, a Findlay Market vendor, said rezoning was needed so merchants could scale their businesses. A representative of the City Lofts at Findlay Market homeowners association said the building’s neighbors opposed a four-story structure immediately north of their property, citing loss of views, potential construction impacts to Sulu Alley, increased pedestrian and vehicle traffic and concern about property values.

Committee action and next steps: The committee recorded a roll-call vote in favor of the recommendation (Jeffries, Owens, Vice Mayor Kearney, Johnson, Walsh, Albee and Nolan all voting yes). The staff presentation and members’ comments noted the proposal still requires Historic Conservation Board review and any necessary zoning variances or relief before building permits can be issued.

The committee’s approval moves the zone-change recommendation forward in the city process; additional design review and historic approvals will determine whether the project proceeds as presented.