CINCINNATI — Bond Hill homeowners said they feel ignored after Cincinnati City Council approved building a new multi-family development next to their houses.
Residents said they were promised more condos in 2003, but the council has ignored their concerns about this recent development.
"There are people who have moved here thinking that this was going to be 43 condos and it's going to be drastically different," homeowner Angela Howard said. "That's a problem for us."
Instead of a few dozen condos, Louisville-based developer LDG will build a complex with 150 apartment units.
"I’m angry too because when you look at it, the entire community for the most part is against LDG building here," said Tara Harris, another homeowner. "The Bond Hill Community Council are against it. They wrote a letter saying that they were not in agreement and so we feel like we are not being heard."
The council approved the development in a 6-1 vote.
"So for 20 years, existing developers haven't taken the bait with this piece of land that has been empty for 20 years. The numbers do not pan out for single-family ownership," council member Reggie Harris said at the meeting.
Council member Scotty Johnson was the only person to vote against the project.
"Absolutely, we need housing, affordable housing, in the City of Cincinnati," Johnson said. "We definitely need it, but ... to be quite frank, I'm going to support the citizens of Bond Hill that have invested in this city."
In the Village of Daybreak, 95% of homes are owned by Black residents who say the new apartment complex lowers their property values and reduces opportunities for home ownership in the area.
"You can't build generational wealth when you're living in an apartment," Harris said. "You want to know who you're building generational wealth for? The person who is building the apartments."
The date of the start of the project has not been announced. Now, residents are concerned about the development's impact on traffic, public safety and a further drain on limited resources in their neighborhood.
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