Union commissioners discussed the businesses slated to open at the new Union Promenade development during Monday night’s meeting, and some were concerned that the businesses weren’t “high end” enough.
So far, those businesses include include Schlotzsky’s deli, an unnamed yoga studio, an unnamed restaurant with a drive-thru, a Tropical Smoothie shop, a Fifth-Third Banking location and a Chick-fil-A restaurant with a drive-thru.
“This is not the high end stuff that we wanted,” Commissioner Doug Bine said.
However, Mayor Larry Solomon said he has a different outlook on the admittance of businesses into development.
“They appeal to Union demographics,” Solomon said. “As long as it keeps the promise of the entertainment district.”
Early concept drawings and market analyses of the Union Promenade illustrate the vision that planners and commissioners were expecting: high-end restaurants that would appeal to Union’s “…wealthy, middle-aged, and mostly empty nesters.”
“Businesses in this economy are having trouble paying for what the developer is asking,” Bine said. “But chains like Chick-fil-A have the volume and money to do so.”
Despite these unfulfilled expectations, city commissioners hope that the establishment of well-known brands in the early days of the site’s development will give other businesses a sense of confidence and draw them to the growing commercial district.
Announced in 2021, Union Promenade is a 61-acre project on the north side of Union, which, according to an initial press release, will allocate space for 350 total residential units and 13 commercial-use buildings.
In 2022, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center announced plans to break ground for specialized and primary care facilities. As of 2024, only one of the 13 lots have already become operable in the form of a United Dairy Farmers gas station and convenience store.
The commercial properties are expected to be fully operable by the end of 2024.