Bambi Merz of Cincinnati’s Western Hills area was there, looking for a Hamilton site for her award-winning Tickled Sweet chocolatier business, a 2-year-old company that has a Milford location.
“We’re definitely looking for a satellite location,” Merz said. Her company, which makes and sells chocolate from a 2,300-square-foot location, has won five awards in the past year.
“Milford loves us,” Merz said. “We took a boarded-up building (in Milford’s downtown), gutted it, and in 57 days converted it, put in a commercial kitchen — 57 days from permit to opening. Closed one day, moved, relaunched.”
She said there are “fantastic possibilities” available in Hamilton. She hadn’t been in the city in many years.
“It is definitely looking so much more developed, more relevant, more current,” she said. “They’re doing a fantastic job. And German Village, incredible: The streetscape and what they’re doing, so much possibility.”
The proposed Spooky Nook project, planned for the former Champion Paper mill, is to be on about the same scale as the existing, gigantic Spooky Nook, which has been described as the largest indoor sports complex in North America, if not the world.
Others were there, interested in opening a store that sells books and beer.
City Manager Joshua Smith was among those who gave presentations to the interested parties.
Among the highlights was Smith’s assessment that, considering Spooky Nook owner Sam Beiler has visited “like clockwork ” every two to three weeks for probably two years.
“In my mind, it’s going to take something absolutely catastrophic for that project not to happen,” Smith said. “Because he’s spending a lot of money to make it happen.”
Smith said German Village and Main Street are the two neighborhoods that are going to see the “most impact” from that complex.
“When you put a Top-2-in-the-world sports complex right in the backyard of German Village — within easy sight distance of German Village — you know it’s going to take off,” he said. “And it’s just a matter of making sure we’re doing everything we need to be doing in German Village to take full advantage of that.”
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After she and others highlighted the city’s rebound in recent years after the Great Recession, Sheryl Silber of Hamilton’s German Village Inc., promised prospective new neighbors: “We will be here to help you.”
She and others described the neighborhood as a nice mix of homes and businesses.
Here are properties available for occupancy in Hamilton’s German Village:
- 241 North Third Street - restaurant/bar space (for lease or sale, contact Lauren Gersbach 513-785-7278).
- 347 North Third Street - restaurant/bar space (for lease, contact Village Properties 513-867-9997).
- 416 North Third Street - James Cullen/Hiram DeVore House circa 1889 (contact CORE 513-334-4565).
- 331 Buckeye Street - Oscar N. Ritchie Residence circa 1895 (bank owned, contact CORE 513-334-4565).
- 417 North Second Street - William Hurin House circa 1885 (bank owned - up for sale through realtor).
- Marcum Retail (2 retail 1,500 sq ft or 1 retail 3,000 sq ft)- Dayton Street, new construction (contact Pete Montgomery, 513-771-1212 or springdaleoffice@cmcproperties.com).
Source: Hamilton’s German Village Association
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