A car crashed into an apartment building near the University of Cincinnati, leaving severe damage at the intersection of McMillan and Hollister streets, according to WKRC. The impact struck the Melbourne Flat apartments, a multi-unit apartment property in the 30 block of West McMillan Street near the corner of Hollister Street, in the Heights/Clifton area that borders the UC campus.
A West McMillan Building's History
A separate building at 21 W. McMillan St. had a bedroom mattress fire in May 2023 that required a 44-firefighter emergency response, injured one civilian, displaced two residents, and caused $15,000 in structural damage, according to the City of Cincinnati. That building sits in a high-density stretch of student and resident housing just south and east of UC's main campus.
The crash arrives as the surrounding corridor undergoes a massive transformation. The University of Cincinnati is scheduled to occupy a $326 million, 546,606-square-foot residence complex spanning two city blocks at East McMillan and Vine streets in fall 2027, adding more than 1,300 student beds to the immediate intersection area. That expansion follows the fully leased Arc housing complex that opened nearby at McMillan and Auburn, underscoring how quickly new residential density has piled onto this stretch of road.
Long-Standing Speed Complaints on McMillan
McMillan Street's hills and curves have drawn safety complaints from residents for years. In the 2022 City of Cincinnati Resident Survey, community members warned that drivers regularly speed along the corridor, creating high risk of losing control and striking sidewalks and buildings. Those concerns followed a September 2022 crash involving a suspected stolen vehicle near campus that killed one UC student and injured another, a tragedy that intensified scrutiny of vehicle speeds and enforcement near campus boundaries.
A Vision Zero traffic-calming pilot run by the city and the Devou Good Foundation cut reckless speeding above 50 mph by 90 percent and reduced overall crashes by nearly 28 percent along urban corridors between August 2023 and January 2024, though it is not clear whether that pilot covered the McMillan and Hollister intersection specifically.
A Known Traffic Hotspot
City traffic engineers have flagged problems nearby before. An Auburn Avenue corridor study by the Cincinnati Department of Transportation and Engineering identified the intersection of East McMillan Street and Auburn Avenue as a hotspot plagued by turning conflicts, bus stop hazards, and weaving traffic.
It remains unresolved whether the crash at the Melbourne Flat apartments displaced any residents or how extensive the structural damage turned out to be beyond what WKRC described as severe.
