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New District 5 Site Search Down To Two Locations

Michael E. Keating
/
WVXU

Two sites are still in the running to be the permanent home for the Cincinnati Police Department's District 5 headquarters.
Acting City Manager Patrick Duhaney updated Mayor John Cranley and council members on the search in a memo Tuesday.

Those locations are:

  • 3300 Central Parkway, which is the site of the city former Permit Central facility. The site is owned by the city and would make use of an existing building shell and foundation. The cost to develop this location into District 5 would be about $9.7 million.
  • 5837 Hamilton Avenue, which is the site of the temporary District 5 location. The city estimated the cost for a permanent location at this site is about $22.45 million. The additional costs are to keep the temporary location open during construction, and buying the property and the leases of the existing tenants.

The city manager said in his memo there is enough money in the original project budget for the Central Parkway location, but not enough for the Hamilton Avenue site.
Once a site is selected, officials said it will take 18-24 months to complete the new facility.

The city considered 37 potential sites for the new District 5 headquarters, and then narrowed that down to four.

The memo said the city administration is awaiting city council's direction on which of the two sites to ultimately select as the location for the new headquarters.

"If the Hamilton Avenue site is chosen, it is the administration's recommendation that the city use some of the project funds to acquire the site and postpone the start of construction to allow for the existing tenant leases to expire, which will bring down the overall cost of the project," the memo said. "In this scenario, District 5 headquarters would remain in the current temporary headquarters until the new facility is constructed. As required per the Ohio building code, the administration would make additional improvements, estimated at roughly $2.6 million, to make the current location more suitable as a long-term headquarters."

District 5 officers were relocated last year after some officers and council members expressed concerns about the working condition at the old location at 1012 Ludlow Avenue. Those included cramped office space and health problems.

District 5 serves nine full neighborhoods in the city: Camp Washington; Clifton; College Hill; CUF Heights; Mt. Airy; Northside; Spring Grove Village; and Winston Hills. It also serves small parts of Carthage, Corryville, South Cumminsville and Westwood.

Jay Hanselman brings more than 10 years experience as a news anchor and reporter to 91.7 WVXU. He came to WVXU from WNKU, where he hosted the local broadcast of All Things Considered. Hanselman has been recognized for his reporting by the Kentucky AP Broadcasters Association, the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and the Ohio AP Broadcasters.