Bringing ‘Nawlins to the ‘Nati

On October 25, The Port hosted a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony for K&J Seafood’s newest location, in Bond Hill. K&J Seafood has been serving authentic Creole meals in Cincinnati since 2018, and is the 3rd minority/women-owned small business to open in the Bond Hill Business District, joining The Davis Cookie Collection and Gi’Zelle’s Head 2 Toe. Approximately 40 neighborhood and community leaders attended the grand opening, which included complimentary menu items. If you haven’t been to K&J Seafood, you’re in for a culinary experience!

Putting Our Properties To Good – and Sometimes Unique – Use

As we continue to evaluate options for the planned redevelopment of 435 Elm in the City’s Central Business District, we discovered a new, temporary use for the property: training firefighters. The City of Cincinnati Fire Department needed a new training location for its new recruits and asked to use 435 Elm for its training. In late September, about 40 rookie fire fighters spent 3-4 days navigating rigorous training exercises inside the vacant building.

County Commissioners Approve Port’s Ownership of Blighted Hotels

In September, the Hamilton County Commissioners approved a resolution to fund The Port two million dollars for the purchase, remediation, demolition and site readiness of The Carrousel and Drake Hotels, located in Sycamore Township along the Reading Road Corridor. The acquisition of these two properties is the first step in turning 93,000 square feet of high potential real estate back to its highest and most productive use. The Port intends to prepare both properties for advanced manufacturing to attract high paying jobs to our region. When properties like these are in such neglected shape, it’s important they are in public control because they can be demolished and made pad ready much sooner, efficiently ridding the area of the blight.

Port Shorts: TriVersity Groundbreaking

In the thriving Walnut Hills Business District, The Port has been a key cog in supporting multiple minority-owned businesses since 2017. In this Port Short, we showcase how The Port supported minority-owned TriVersity’s move to Walnut Hills.

Port Shorts: Property Maintenance

The Hamilton County Landbank was established in 2012 by Hamilton County under the Ohio Revised Code to create a tool for communities to deal with vacant and abandoned property after the foreclosure crisis. Most of these properties are dangerous eyesores to their neighborhoods and are hotspots for criminal activity. In this Port Short, we examine the work required to help keep the County and City clean.

Deborah joined The Port in 2004 as Director of Economic Inclusion and has over 25 years of experience in management of award winning economic inclusion programs. A long time advocate for affordable housing, Deborah became Director of the HURC and Residential Sales in 2015. Since then, she has managed the 501c3 non-profit entity and has overseen the rehab of over 33 homes for low to moderate income buyers. Deborah also received her real estate license in 2016 and is responsible for the sale of most Port single-family homes. Deborah is passionate about bringing affordable housing to Hamilton County residents and is equally passionate about creating generational wealth through homeownership for African American home buyers.