As a valued partner of the East Walnut Hills (EWHA) Assembly Board and Business Association, the DeSales Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (DCDC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community development corporation collaborating with business owners, developers, the City of Cincinnati, and other key partners on the strategic growth of the East Walnut Hills community. DCDC improves the lives of residents throughout East Walnut Hills and the neighboring communities of Evanston, O’Bryonville, and Walnut Hills by focusing on equitable, inclusive development, while acting to preserve historic buildings and places and the unique history of East Walnut Hills. DCDC is currently collaborating with Cincinnati Preservation on the possible expansion of the Cleinview/Hackberry Historic District.
DCDC’s elected officers:
Drew Gores, President
Ben Strohm, Vice President
Freeman Durham, Treasurer
Steve Ramos, Secretary
Tony Fischer
Michael Murrison
Cleinview-Hackberry Historic District Proposed Expansion
The DeSales Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (DCDC) is the community development corporation for East Walnut Hills. DCDC and EWHA are seeking your input regarding a possible expansion of the existing Cleinview-Hackberry Historic District north to Dexter Avenue and south to William Howard Taft.
Our neighborhood is fortunate to have four historic districts. These historic districts help ensure that our neighborhood’s unique history and architecture are not lost to unsympathetic alterations, demolitions, or out-of-scale new construction. Each historic district provides guidelines for future changes, ensuring that the historic physical character of our community remains intact and distinct. The existing Cleinview-Hackberry Historic District map and Guidelines can be found here.
Expanding the Cleinview-Hackberry Historic District (proposed boundaries shown here) will help preserve the character, heritage, and historic significance of our neighborhood, stabilize property values, continue to preserve the existing economically and architecturally diverse mix of properties in the district, and reduce the pressure created by relaxed zoning laws that could otherwise lead to the demolition of historic houses to build multi-family apartment buildings or luxury condominiums and townhouses.
When a property is within a historic district, changes to exterior architectural features visible from a public way are reviewed through the Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) process by the City’s Historic Conservation Office or the Historic Conservation Board. Inclusion in a historic district does not affect the zoning or permitted uses of your property. It does make it less likely that someone will buy historic properties to tear them down.
An initial public presentation took place at the February EWHA community council meeting, as the first of a number of outreach activities by DCDC and EWHA in 2026 to keep you informed and to solicit your input. No decisions were made at this meeting.
Please click here for the full presentation made at the February 2026 EWHA meeting.
If your property is in the proposed historic district, you have likely already received a letter addressed to you at your property informing you of the meeting and presentation.