The future of downtown Cincinnati is being built now

A new era for Downtown Cincinnati is emerging, and The Enquirer is launching an interactive series on its future.

Over the next several months, we will explore the state of living and working Downtown, as well as what future development may look like. We'll host in-person and online engagement opportunities with you to gain insight into what you care about when it comes to Downtown.

We're asking you: If Downtown is going to prosper well into the 21st century, what needs to change? What should stay the same? What is going to bring it back to economic vitality after a pandemic obliterated much of the daytime population?

We want your help mapping out Downtown Cincinnati's future.

Weigh in Future of Downtown: Take our poll

The time is now to reimagine Downtown Cincinnati

For the majority of the last 100 years, Downtown Cincinnati has been a vibrant place to work, bringing tens of thousands of people to the urban core every weekday. Historic buildings such as the Carew Tower and mid-century ones like the Fifth Third Bank Center at Fountain Square were maxed out with activity.

Today, many of those commercial towers are being converted to residences, new hotels are popping up and the city plans to promote tourism with a new convention center hotel. City leaders are banking on these projects to bring more people Downtown to live, work and play.

Take the Foundry building west of Fountain Square, for example. It was the Downtown Macy's until 2018 but was recently redeveloped into a 3.5-story, glass-and-stone office building with prime real estate on the ground floor for brands like Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse and Five Iron Golf. The conversion of even older office buildings are happening too − some dating back 120 years. Many are national historic landmarks such as the Formica Building on Walnut Street or the Textile Building on West Fourth Street. Downtown already boasts an estimated 6,000-plus residents (more than the population in half of Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods). But these projects could add up to 1,500 units Downtown once complete − and that's not including what kind of redevelopment could happen at the 49-story Carew Tower.

New buildings that have risen over the last half-decade demonstrate the types of ground-up residential projects that could be in Downtown's future: 4th & Race is a 14-story retail-and-apartment complex with 264 units, all of which have been fully occupied since it opened in 2021. A few blocks away, 1010 On the Rhine, with its 139 apartments, offers the same thing to locals wanting to live closer to the northeastern edge of Downtown. City officials are banking on these conversions to catalyze retail and restaurant growth. Over the last year alone, Downtown Cincinnati lost Saks, the last department store of its kind, as well as Akash India, Wahlburgers and Fausto, among other eateries.

What do you want to see Downtown?

This series isn't just about changes coming to the physical city − though these developments will shape the way we think about Downtown in the future. Instead, this series is meant to encourage you to think about what you want from your city and what it will take to get there.

A sneak peek of what's ahead:

• What are the new buildings and renovations reshaping Downtown?

• A look into the faces of the people (and the dogs) that make up Downtown Cincinnati.

• Our guide to Downtown's best kept secrets.

• Meet the developers and powerbrokers reshaping Downtown.

• Is Downtown still the economic engine of the city of Cincinnati?

• The future of parking Downtown: problems and solutions.

• What's next for Downtown restaurants.

• How Cincinnati can bring back a robust shopping scene Downtown?

• Checking in: Why are so many boutique hotels opening Downtown?

Throughout 2023, we'll host both online engagement sessions and in-person events for you to get to know our reporting team on this project and share your feedback on coverage.

Our first event will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 15, at The Hearth Room in Downtown Cincinnati. Non-alcoholic drinks and coffee will be provided. Stay tuned for more details.

Contact us at localnews@enquirer.com or on Twitter or Instagram via @enquirer, with all the downtown-related questions you want answered or the story topics that matter to you most.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Downtown Cincinnati: What is it like, what is being built