What's happening in downtown Blue Ash? Your questions answered

(April 20, 2021 - Blue Ash)

The Hosbrook Corner

Hosbrook Image

You may have noticed some activity at the northwest corner of Kenwood and Cooper Road. While there are currently no official development plans for the Hosbrook property in Downtown Blue Ash, a developer who controls the adjacent properties recently presented an informal development proposal to City Council. At this time, there is no formal approval timeline or process in place, and Council has not made any decisions.

In 2020, Blue Ash City Council authorized the purchase of the 2.5-acre Hosbrook property (shown in blue above). The City of Blue Ash is in the process of demolishing the structures located on this property to remove the dilapidated buildings and minimize liability. The adjacent 3.8-acre property (shown in orange above), which includes Blue Ash Chili and Ringo Lanes, is controlled by Circle Development Company. The developer is planning to demolish the structures on the property at a later date. 

Circle Development has expressed an interest in working with the City to develop both pieces of land as one cohesive development, which would be bounded by Kenwood Road, Cooper Road, the railroad tracks located on the west side of the property, and Keystone Plaza to the north. At the April 8, 2021, City Council Meeting, Circle Development gave an informal presentation with conceptual designs for the site and answered questions from Council Members. Click here to read meeting minutes. 

The design proposal included a mixed-use development with office, retail, restaurants with outdoor dining options, a 250-unit apartment complex, a 75-85 room boutique hotel, a 600-space parking garage, and an outdoor gathering space.

Again, there is no formal approval timeline and Council has not made any decisions. When the time comes, there will be a public input process and a formal zoning approval process. Residents will be able to stay informed about these steps at blueash.com. Any development plans will be guided by the City’s downtown strategy plan.

Towne Square
Towne Square Timeline
The City of Blue Ash is now in the early stages of turning your vision for Towne Square into a reality. Using your feedback from the Towne Square Survey, the City now has a design project schedule in place.  (Click here to see a high-resolution PDF of the timeline above.)

This month, design firms are submitting their qualifications for the project, the City will evaluate the submissions and create a shortlist of firms.

In early May, the City will interview the shortlisted firms and recommend the best qualifying firm to City Council.

In mid-May, City Council will review the recommended firm and award the design project contract.

From May through September, the City will use the Towne Square Public Input Survey results as a guideline as it holds multiple design meetings with the selected firm. 

In late September, the completed designs and construction documents will be presented.   

Click here for updates and more information on the Towne Square project.

While various blogs, private websites, and posts on social media may discuss these and other City projects and events, the City of Blue Ash website and social media channels are the only official sources of information.