A proposed $70 million redevelopment project in Cincinnati’s Linwood neighborhood would transform the original headquarters of the once-renowned R.K. LeBlond Machine Tool Co. into a luxury apartment complex with hundreds of new units.
The Cincinnati Planning Commission on Friday voted unanimously to rezone a 7.28-acre site that includes the old R.K. LeBlond buildings from manufacturing to multi-family to allow for residential construction.
The Jasper apartment complex would be located at 4575 Eastern Ave. on the site of the abandoned factory complex, where custom wine cellar maker, Wine Cellar Innovations, was most recently located, according to Downtown-based developer, CIG Communities.
CIG requested the zoning change to build 271 apartment units with onsite amenities such as a pool, dog park, and pickleball courts with 417 parking spaces, mostly in parking garages.
The zoning change must receive final approval from the Cincinnati City Council.
The project would involve the demolition of most of the existing buildings, some of which date back to 1898 when Richard Knight LeBlond opened a factory there to make metal cutting lathes used for precision machining, according to historic records on file with the Library of Congress.
In 1917, the company moved from Linwood to the site of an old dairy farm at Madison and Edwards roads in Norwood, where the Rookwood Commons & Pavilion shopping center now stands,
Over the decades, LeBlond became one of the premier tool companies in the world and a preferred supplier of gun-boring lathes for the U.S. military during World War II. It also dominated the auto industry with lathes used to manufacture crankshafts and other engine components, according to VintageMachinery.org.
In 1981, LeBlond was purchased by Japanese machine tool maker Makino Milling Machine Co., which shut down the Norwood plant in 1989.
The old Linwood plant was later occupied by the Wheatley Pottery Co. in the 1920s before it was sold to paper company Georgia-Pacific in the late 1960s, according to CIG.
CIG plans to preserve a stone clock tower at the center of the factory complex and at least one of the factory buildings at the site near Lunken Airport.
Rents for 244 of the units would be at market rates, which haven’t been determined, according to Danny McKelvey, development manager at CIG.
But at least 27 units would be kept affordable for people earning between 80%-100% of the area median income for the Cincinnati metro area, or an income range of $56,650 to $72,500, McKelvey said.
McKelvey called the proposed apartment project “catalytic” and said it could bring throngs of new customers to businesses in the tiny enclave of Linwood, which is Cincinnati’s smallest neighborhood with a population of just over 700, according to the Enquirer’s neighborhood report card. McKelvey told the planning commission.
Members of the public who opposed the development during the planning commission meeting expressed concerns that it would remove commercial space that could be used to create jobs and would bring more transient renters than permanent homeowners to the neighborhood.
An email seeking comment from the Linwood Community Council was not immediately returned.
Read More: Linwood apartment project would include 271 new units, pool, dog park