Urban Fast Forward was commissioned in 2015 to provide retail and restaurant tenants for this new development. Our vision was to fill vacancies with local businesses in line with Northside's quirky ethos. With that in mind, our team worked with Wellman Brands to move long-beloved Northside restaurant Melt into a new home that better suited their growing needs, Higher Gravity to bring a bar featuring 500 taps and a bottleshop to the area, and Lucy Blue's to offer local, fresh pizza. 

The Gantry is a mixed-use development combining 131 apartments with 8,000 SF of retail space in the heart of Northside. Located on the site of a former lumber yard, this building re-purposes empty urban space into a walkable, liveable community minutes from Northside's main street. Indianapolis-based firm Milhaus Ventures was chosen to design and construct the project by a steering of local architects, nearby residents, and community members.

“The community had a bigger hand in this than nearly any other development in Cincinnati. Milhaus came to the table and was open to community input. It was to their credit that they solicited our input and actually listened to it.” -Northside Business Association President Bruce Demske to The Northsider, Jan 12, 2016

The successful implementation of a retail strategy in line with Northside's quirky ethos has resulted in increased walkable neighborhood amenities to support and encourage increased density and the pace of housing growth in Northside.