Rossville Flats will be directly across the street from the proposed Agave & Rye, which will be in the former Ritzi Body Shop property and close to the newly opened HUB on Main outdoor/indoor bar, which has an area for several food trucks. The complex is to open April of 2023.
At least two tenants already are planned:
- Frost Factory, which makes real-fruit slushies for adults (with alcohol) and kids; and
- Papi Jocho’s Street Dogs & Cantina, which is to have a drive-up window near E Street.
“When we started The Marcum less than five years ago, downtown revitalization was still just a dream for this city,” Cohen said. “People questioned my sense in investing in downtown Hamilton, and now they all want to be here.”
The Marcum is a $15 million development with 99 apartments, plus bars, restaurants and a salon that faces Marcum Park downtown.
Cohen added: “As we break ground on Main Street, the first ground-up residential construction in over a century, the story is clear: Businesses are expanding, shops are opening, and restaurants are packed.”
When Hamilton and Rossville merged in early 1855, “one side of the river joined the other, and with the construction of three bridges, business boomed, and the high tide truly did raise all boats,” Cohen said, adding the marriage of two cities “has been remembered as one of the brightest periods in the history of our community.”
“That same sentiment can be said for much of what is happening today,” Cohen said. “We are experiencing a resurgence similar
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
in scope to the economic expansion that happened with that historic unification between the east and west sides of the river.”
Apartments will be similar to those at The Marcum, but smaller. Single-bedroom units will range from 600-1,000 square feet and rent for $800 to $1,100. Three two-bedroom units will rent for $1,500, said Kelley Geerkin, CMC’s regional manager of its residential division.
“Hamilton is hot,” said Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Dan Bates. With recent development of The Marcum, Third+Dayton and other apartments downtown and in upper levels of buildings along Main Street, “everything that is built gets rented immediately, so we’re very excited,” Bates said.
Much of Hamilton’s economic resurgence is in anticipation of the under-construction Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill, a gigantic indoor sports complex scheduled to open in early 2022. It is expected to attract 10,000 or more athletes and their families most weekends of the year.
Two people in the crowd at the groundbreaking were Jamie Gregory and Kei Gregory, owners of Frost Factory, which has a store in Liberty Center. The Rossville Flats location will be 1,600 square feet, about double that at Liberty.
“We’re excited to open in Hamilton and be part of the growth here in the city,” Jamie Gregory said.
Bates said about 60 percent of customers for Main Street come from outside the city, but having people living along Main Street “who can walk across the street, they’re a built-in consumer, and that’s just going to add to success of the businesses.”
Also, people tend not to enjoy walking past vacant lots. With new businesses like Agave & Rye, Hub on Main and Rossville Flats filling those gaps will “add to the vibe” of the area, Bates said. Having more people living and walking along Main Street also will help people feel safer there, he said.
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