"All of Uptown could be called an innovation district, because of all the research that goes on here," says Uptown Consortium CEO Beth Robinson. Maybe so, but construction for the defined project will soon be underway.
It's called the Uptown Innovation Corridor, and it is split into four quadrants at Reading and Martin Luther King Drive. Groundbreaking will likely happen in April for Phase I, "Uptown Gateway," in the southeast quadrant.
WVXU reported on the scope of the project and the first tenant, UC's Digital Future's Building in this story. Another UC building, a block away, is also key, as reported here.
Phase I for the Uptown Innovation Corridor is heavy on office space, green space and housing, including a hotel. "We want to make an environment where talent wants to be because that's the name of the game now: talent. That's what every company is fighting for," says Robinson.
The Uptown Consortium re-development company is funded by UC, UC Health, Tri-Health, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the Cincinnati Zoo.
"We don't want to wall off this development," says Robinson."We want to integrate it into a community. And one of the ways we think we can do that is through green space, walking paths and good pedestrian connectivity." She says the consortium would like to work with the city on pedestrian safety.
It appears there will be a broad array of technology. Robinson says it could be focused on biohealth, biomedicine or even something else.
The 20-year vision of the project will span 45 acres and beyond.
