Over-the-Rhine Community Housing will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday for Gloria’s Place, a new 44-unit permanent supportive housing community built on a former parking lot at 2000 Dunlap St. near Findlay Market. The $14.9 million project pairs long-term affordable apartments with round-the-clock services meant to help residents who have experienced chronic homelessness find stability and address physical and mental health needs.
“Gloria’s Place is exactly the type of supportive housing that the community needs to reduce homelessness,” Kevin Finn said in comments included in a media release, as reported by WKRC. The four-story building was designed by New Republic Architecture and constructed by Model Group, and according to Over-the-Rhine Community Housing, it combines a single secured entry point with 24-hour front desk staffing, case management offices, space for visiting medical professionals and a community kitchen.
Andy Hutzel called the development “the gold standard for serving the community’s most vulnerable homeless individuals,” per the same WKRC report. Gloria’s operating model follows Housing First principles, offering permanent apartments without requiring prior sobriety, an approach the nonprofit first established more than a decade ago at the Jimmy Heath House in Over-the-Rhine, the organization notes.
A Year of Legal Delays Before Groundbreaking
Getting to opening day wasn’t simple. A Hamilton County judge in December 2023 dismissed a lawsuit that had challenged a Cincinnati City Council zoning variance allowing 44 units instead of 14 at the Dunlap Street site, according to WVXU. That yearlong dispute delayed construction and drove up costs as inflation and interest rates climbed, illustrating how zoning fights over supportive housing in urban neighborhoods often draw legal challenges from nearby landowners…