A Hamilton County office building on Madison Road could trade fluorescent lights for fresh leases, as Uptown Rental Properties rolls out early plans for a five-story apartment building at 1520 Madison Road in East Walnut Hills. The concept, a stacked residential block perched on a parking podium, carries an estimated price tag of about $45 million and would fully replace the existing county office. Neighbors showed plenty of interest at a recent community meeting, and developers were quick to stress that the drawings are still very much rough drafts.
As reported by Local 12, Uptown Rental Properties and Cincinnati architecture firm GBBN unveiled the renderings at the East Walnut Hills Assembly on May 6 and framed the concept as a potential “signature” project along the Madison Road corridor. The early images riff on the neighborhood’s historic character while stacking apartments over a structured parking base, and the Cincinnati Business Courier has pegged the development cost at roughly $45 million. Project representatives reminded attendees that the designs are preliminary and could shift as the proposal moves through formal review.
County-Owned Site
Hamilton County’s own records confirm that 1520 Madison Road sits in the public portfolio. The county property inventory lists the parcel, identified as Property Code 061-0001-0092-00, as an office site of about 1.576 acres. Hamilton County notes that it purchased the site in 2006 and still holds it under its facilities inventory.
Neighbors and Process
The project is already on the neighborhood’s radar. The proposal surfaced at the East Walnut Hills Assembly, where the DeSales Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation and other local committees have been tracking the site’s future, according to meeting notes. East Walnut Hills Assembly documents show the development committee has been in conversation with county staff about the parcel and potential redevelopment scenarios. Residents at recent gatherings have raised concerns and questions about demolition, parking capacity, and whether a taller building will sit comfortably with the existing corridor scale.
How It Fits Into Uptown Growth
The Madison Road plan would add another piece to Uptown Rental Properties’ growing portfolio in and around Uptown. In recent years, the company has stepped up its development activity, with a mix of adaptive reuse and student housing projects near the University of Cincinnati. Uptown Consortium materials highlight several of those recent conversions and ground-up builds. The proposed East Walnut Hills infill project slots neatly into the broader trend of new construction reshaping the area’s housing stock.
What Comes Next
For now, the building exists only on paper. The renderings are conceptual, and the developer still has to submit formal plans and secure zoning approvals, plan review sign-offs, and building permits from the City of Cincinnati before any demolition or construction can start. City of Cincinnati guidance lays out the review steps and notes that projects within or next to historic districts may also need a Certificate of Appropriateness. Neighbors can expect more public filings and additional community meetings as the proposal works its way through those channels.
Developers have not yet provided a construction schedule or detailed unit breakdown, and the May 6 presentation was billed as an early look rather than a final pitch. As Local 12 notes, more specifics are likely to surface as formal applications, staff reviews, and public hearings get underway.
