WOW- Cincinnati State.

Will be interesting to see how this unfolds but it could have great potential for Middletown.

New branch campus in works for Butler County
Cincinnati State officials agree to partner to open new school in Middletown

CINCINNATI — More educational opportunities may be headed to Middletown as Cincinnati State Technical and Community College officials passed a resolution to partner with the city to establish a branch campus.

As part of the agreement, announced during the board of trustees meeting Tuesday night at the school’s main campus, the college will begin negotiating a long-term agreement to open a branch campus while Middletown will offer buildings “free and clear” to Cincinnati State for its use.

The initial start-up would center on the school’s culinary arts and hospitality programs. College President Dr. O’dell Owens said eventually the school would offer its full line of courses in Middletown.

Dan Cayse, vice president of strategic initiatives and entrepreneurial development, said the college is interested in acquiring the Manchester Inn and Conference Center, the former Middletown Senior Center at 140 N. Verity Parkway and the former CG&E Building at 1 N. Main St., the current home of The Middletown Journal.

Owens said the college has a key interest in the Manchester since it is “the heart of Middletown” and would work “to protect the Manchester” by rehabbing the building and adding green energy such as solar panels and a geothermal system. Meanwhile, the CG&E building would serve as the campus hub for classrooms, laboratories and administrative services.

The deal has been in the works since September 2009 when late local businessman Perry Thatcher invited Cincinnati State’s resident chef to cook at the Manchester, Cayse said.

School officials estimate 15 percent of Cincinnati State’s students come from the Middletown area. Coupled with the city’s central location and public transit system that can bring students from across the Butler County, Owens said the branch campus is poised for success.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and this really ensures the longevity of Cincinnati State,” he said. “It will give us the opportunity to grow and expand and for Middletown to gain another tool to draw business to the city.”

In the coming weeks, city and school officials will be negotiating financing and building acquisitions, as well as a time frame for campus start-up.

Mayor Larry Mulligan said the branch campus should have a positive impact the region.
“There is a big untapped market in Middletown and the whole region. (The college) offers a curriculum our residents haven’t had access to in the past.”

If this happens, Middletown will have three institutions for higher learning:

Miami Middletown
Greentree Health Science Academy
Cincinnati State

Not to mention the proposed Kingswell Seminary, if that ever gets off the ground.

I am cautiously optimistic that this is great news for the city.  Credit goes to the city staff and whoever else helped to bring this to fruition (assuming it actually happens, of course).  Good for Middletown!

swohio75 wrote: The initial start-up would center on the school’s culinary arts and hospitality programs. College President Dr. O’dell Owens said eventually the school would offer its full line of courses in Middletown.

This is the part that excites me the most.

Full line of courses could mean students downtown--likely both day and night.

15% of 20,000 (their project current enrollment) would be 3,000.

Even if we could get half that # at a Middletown Campus--1,500

The one issue with using the Cinergy Building is that Casper and Casper is located on several of the floors. If they need to be relocated to another facility, I would hope effort is made to keep them downtown.

As part of the agreement, announced during the board of trustees meeting Tuesday night at the school’s main campus, the college will begin negotiating a long-term agreement to open a branch campus while Middletown will offer buildings “free and clear” to Cincinnati State for its use.

perpetual denigration and negativism from troll mtown--so predictable and non-productive.

Cincinnati State has many excellent Associates Degree programs in medicine, culinary, fire safety, IT, et al. IBM hires a number of Cincinnati State students whom have been excellent employees at many top tier companies. What is exciting and POSITIVE about this development is it expands the attractivemenss of Middletown for residents to move in to have access to so many excellent feeder institutions. These includeMUM, and the others spiderjohn referenced or others. 

Mason does have an income tax rate of 1%. 

West Chester, Liberty and Deerfield Townships are not allowed to have an income tax because they are townships.  One of the strongest arguments against West Chester becoming a city is the income tax argument.

Regardless, both SJ and accarlo make excellent points.

1.)    Old Senior Building: I believe the city owns it.  So no cost there to the city.  Attractiveness of this building to CSC is that it has a commercial kitchen for a culinary program

2.)    Manchester Inn: It’s been stated here several times that the owners received a loan from the city several years ago, and this loan has not been repaid.  Perhaps that will be used as a negotiation tool by the city.  The obstacle here: I believe there are three partners: Levy Estate, Thatcher Estate and Bill Akers.  Not sure if Levy Estate disposed of its share or not.  Attractiveness of this building to CSC is that it can provide hands-on experience to students in both the culinary and hospitality programs.  Plus for the city in that a downtown hotel and banquet center remain open

3.)    Cingery:  This one is a bit more complicated.  Originally, this building was purchased by both Perry Thatcher and Peggy Blakely under the guise of Venture 3 Enterprises.  Not such of both parties are still involved.  I’ve heard the Blakely’s have fallen on hard financial times.  Casper Law occupies floors four and five.  Middletown Journal and additional law office(s) are at street level.  Would these be relocated?

More long-term thinking: What kind of student housing might this project bring.  One of the downfall’s of MUM is that there isn’t any student housing.  Which is typically the case of a branch of MUM’s size especially when the main campus is so close.  Plus there are plenty of apartments in close proximity.

But could a downtown campus support student housing?  The city has acquired the old Orman building on  Verity.  Ideally, they would like to preserve part or whole and find a redevelopment partner to build out loft-style units.   Could a downtown campus build a stronger case for redevelopment? 

Lots of good questions here. 

Oh, and SJ - get ready to open that gourmet grocery store downtown to support the cuilnary school and tis students

Tax Summary for Cinergy.  Looks like payments are behind for 2010:

acclaro, while I agree this is an optimistic development, I do wonder if this really improves the real estate market.  You mention that people might move here for the educational opportunities.  Really?  Most people are OK with commuting 25-45 minutes to college, so would anyone really move here because of Cinti State?  I don't know if MUM has caused anyone to actually move here even though certainly MUM is an asset to the community.

Cincinnati State Technical & Community College is a commuter school. There won't be student housing. The other urban community college campus in the area is Sinclair CC in Dayton - again no housing and on a much larger scale.

Sinclair offers a technical curricula as does the Clifton campus of CST&CC. Hospitality & culinary curricula are a good start but I'd like to see more offerings especially in areas where MUM falls short: engineering and industrial technology. Service industries are fine but we need more skilled technical people.

The boost to business can come from meeting student needs - gas, food and if I remember, coffee as they won't always want to eat or hang out where they go to school.

I speak as an alumnus of, what was then called, Cincinnati Technical College.

squeemy wrote: Cincinnati State Technical & Community College is a commuter school. There won't be student housing. The other urban community college campus in the area is Sinclair CC in Dayton - again no housing and on a much larger scale.Sinclair offers a technical curricula as does the Clifton campus of CST&CC. Hospitality & culinary curricula are a good start but I'd like to see more offerings especially in areas where MUM falls short: engineering and industrial technology. Service industries are fine but we need more skilled technical people.The boost to business can come from meeting student needs - gas, food and if I remember, coffee as they won't always want to eat or hang out where they go to school.I speak as an alumnus of, what was then called, Cincinnati Technical College.

I wasn't suggesting student housing owned by the college, but housing catering to students per se in the private sector.

No negatives here Mtown. This appears to be a good thing for the downtown area initially. Questions: The article says that Cincinnati State will lease the buildings after the city purchases them, they are renovated and turned over to the college. If that is the case, the city is still in the real estate business as the owners, they still haven't passed the buildings on to a permanent owner and they will be liable for the taxes and general upkeep on the buildings in the future, won't they? Or, will the college be responsible for the taxes (accounted for in the lease) and any further building upkeep? Who will be paying the insurance premiums for these buildings if the college is just leasing? What will this mean for the taxpayer down the road? How much will we be paying for this transaction later? Is there a minimum time that the college is to occupy these sites? What happens if this doesn't work out in the next 3 years and the college decides to vacate the premises? Same questions go for Verdin's art building. The city, in their negotiations, needs to get some hint as to the commitment on deals like this. Otherwise, there is no long-term stability to these programs.