$27 million initiative transforms Cincinnati’s Walnut Hills neighborhood with  high-quality, mixed-income housing

Pennrose, Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation (WHRF), and project partners gathered today to celebrate significant progress on Thatcher Flats, the $27 million Lincoln & Gilbert redevelopment to transform a full city block into 86 high-quality, mixed-income rental homes in the Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati. The event commemorated two milestones: the grand opening of Thatcher Flats Phase I and the start of construction on Thatcher Flats Phase II.

Speakers at the ceremony included: Geoff Milz, Director of Development, Pennrose; Samantha Miller, Executive Director, Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation; Mona Jenkins, President, Walnut Hills Area Council; Aftab Pureval, Mayor, City of Cincinnati; Alicia Reece, County Commissioner, Hamilton County; Roy Hackworth, Housing Division Manager, City of Cincinnati; Grant Miller, Legislative Liaison, Ohio Housing Finance Agency; Luke Blocher, General Counsel & Chief Strategy Officer, Cincinnati Development Fund; Annie Ross, Vice President, Development, Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing; Jilson Daniels, Senior Vice President of Economic Equity, The Port; Nadir Rasheeds & Korey Thatcher, Family of Ernest and Georgia Thatcher, Thatcher’s Fish and Poultry; Geoff Milz, Director of Development, Pennrose; and Tom Anderson, Senior Vice President, Pennrose.

Thatcher Flats Phase I delivers 50 affordable apartments for individuals and families in two low-rise buildings utilizing the competitive 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). The $15.2 million development offers a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments available at 30% to 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI), roughly $20,070 - $40,140 for a one-person household.

Thatcher Flats Phase II, expected to be completed in the fall of 2025, will add 36 mixed-income rental apartments to the community utilizing the 4% LIHTC with OLITHC. The $13.3 million project will offer one-, two-, and three-bedroom units at 50% to 60% AMI.

Residents of both phases will have access to robust community amenities delivered in Phase I, including on-site management office, community room, laundry facilities, fitness center, parking, and more. The brand-new apartments feature modern kitchens with electric range and dishwasher, spacious closets, luxury vinyl tile flooring, ceramic-tiled baths, central A/C, and more. In addition to on-site amenities, the community’s prime location offers excellent connectivity to public transportation and nearby amenities, education centers, and job opportunities in Over the Rhine, Downtown, and Uptown.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to see a formerly neglected site transformed into the development team’s shared vision of quality, affordable housing available for families at a range of incomes,” said Geoff Milz, Director of Development for Ohio at Pennrose. “We’re proud to join the investment being made in the Walnut Hills neighborhood, and we look forward to welcoming residents into their brand-new, high-quality homes in a vibrant, thriving community.”

“Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation is proud to have worked with intention, perseverance, and tenacity to bring the neighborhood's vision to reality,” said Samantha Miller, Executive Director of the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation. “Family affordable housing is one piece of a thriving community and Thatcher Flat's is a welcome addition to our growing neighborhood.”

 Once complete, the two-phase redevelopment will transform the full city block bounded by Lincoln Avenue, Gilbert Avenue, Foraker Avenue, and Monfort Streets. Thatcher Flats builds upon the growth and economic development underway in Walnut Hills, spurred by the I-71 / Martin Luther King Drive interchange, while preserving housing affordability in the rapidly changing neighborhood.

The name Thatcher Flats was inspired by the history of the Lincoln Avenue Business district, which in the late-1800s and through the mid-1900s was a thriving African American business district. In 1933, Ernest and Georgia Thatcher, an entrepreneurial African American couple, moved to Cincinnati and created Thatcher's Fish and Poultry on what is now Thatcher Flats. Their work is representative of the thriving Black business community that enlivened Walnut Hills for decades and to this day.

Thatcher Flats Phase I was financed with 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, the City of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Development fund as well as other sources. Thatcher Flats will help meet the demand for quality, affordable housing in the region. According to a the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the Greater Cincinnati Metro region has a shortage of nearly 50,000 affordable rental units.

With a regional office in Cincinnati, Pennrose is committed to developing high-quality, transformative affordable housing across Ohio and the Midwest region, including John Arthur Flats, Cincinnati’s first LGBTQ-affirmative affordable housing community for seniors, and HaNoBe at Linden Square, a mixed used development with 171 residential apartments in partnership with the College Hill Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (CHCURC).