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Cincinnati subcommittee launches Bond Hill investment push; $6.5 million held for neighborhood projects
Summary
The Community Investment Subcommittee met Oct. 30 to review zoning, financing tools and neighborhood capacity programs for Bond Hill and the Redding Road corridor; city staff flagged roughly $6.5 million available for strategic Bond Hill projects and residents urged more resident-led decision-making and better meeting timing.
Cincinnati’s new Community Investment Subcommittee convened Oct. 30 to start turning neighborhood plans into projects in Bond Hill, hear how city financing tools could support development along the Redding Road corridor, and listen to residents who said they want more voice in what gets built.
The subcommittee, chaired by Councilmember Evan Nolan, focused on practical tools city staff can deploy: zoning changes under the Connected Communities program, tax-increment financing (TIF) options, commercial tax abatements and neighborhood-directed accounts. Greg Koehler, Neighborhood Development Manager in the Department of Community and Economic Development, told members the Bond Hill neighborhood revitalization account — funds reclaimed from a Mercy Health job-creation incentive — currently holds about $6,500,000 that could support major projects in Bond Hill. He also said the Bond Hill TIF has roughly $2,200,000 in available cash.
Why it matters: City incentives and a clarified development pipeline could unlock mixed-use and housing projects along Redding Road and at Midpoint Crossing, a large vacant site adjacent to the neighborhood. Staff described how “project” and “district” TIFs and commercial CRA (community reinvestment area) tax abatements can be layered with other subsidy programs to close development gaps.
What staff said: Department of City Planning and Engagement Director Catherine Keough Jurz and Deputy Director Emily Ahaus walked the committee through Bond Hill’s zoning map and the effects of Connected Communities rules, including allowances for 2–4 unit homes in areas that had been single-family and reduced parking requirements in impacted zones. Ahaus described the business district as a commercial-community mixed transportation corridor with permissive height and setback rules intended to support a walkable streetscape.
Koehler summarized the incentive toolbox: district and project TIFs, a NOFA-driven subsidy process for residential projects, commercial CRA abatements of up to 15 years under the current school board agreement, and the Affordable Housing Leverage Fund. On the Bond Hill revitalization account he said: “So at this point, I don't believe a decision has been made on precisely what to use that for, but it's going to be within Bond Hill,” and that whether funds require council approval depends on the proposed project and ordinance language.
Neighborhood capacity and funding programs: Homebase Cincinnati representatives described technical assistance and funding streams that help community groups and nascent CDCs (community development corporations) manage neighborhood projects. Executive Director Rosa Cristobal and Program Manager Alexis Wimbush outlined Homebase programs including VITICA (developer payment accounts routed to neighborhoods), the Empower Neighborhoods CDBG/HUD-funded program, the Quickstrike acquisition fund and operating support grants. Homebase said Bond Hill’s VITICA balance is meaningful for a neighborhood-scale project (about $167,000 currently) and that Quickstrike is the faster acquisition tool, while CDBG-funded Empower Neighborhoods must support completed projects and is slower.
Resident concerns and public comment: Bond Hill residents used the public-comment period to press elected officials on process and timing. Lakita Cole, vice president of the Bond Hill community council, said it felt “disingenuous” to schedule a midday meeting when many residents cannot attend and urged the subcommittee to hear resident priorities before developer presentations. Multiple commenters asked the council to honor earlier promises (cited by residents as a 2004 Villages of Daybreak plan that emphasized single-family housing on a specific parcel) and said the neighborhood already faces a saturation of affordable housing, a lack of grocery and pharmacy access and limited resident voice in property decisions. Denise Hill, a long-time Bond Hill resident, asked that “we should be given the opportunity to see what's available, when it's available.”
Next steps: Members said this meeting was an initial, information-gathering session. Staff offered to meet directly with Bond Hill leadership to scope a neighborhood plan or shorter strategic steps; Homebase and DCD said they are available to provide technical assistance and to help neighborhoods navigate funding cycles. The subcommittee did not take any formal votes.
Reporting note: Quotes and attributions in this report come from the meeting transcript and public comment record. The subcommittee session included presentations from Department of City Planning and Engagement, the Department of Community and Economic Development, Homebase Cincinnati and local community organizations and industry groups.
