MASON, OH ‒ Mason, one of Greater Cincinnati’s wealthiest suburbs, almost has it all.
The city boasts top-rated schools, international companies that attract top talent and tourist destinations including Kings Island and the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
But Mason lacks one thing: a thriving downtown.
“This truly is about the only thing that is missing here,” said Todd Hudson, owner of the Wildflower Cafe and Wine Shop on East Main Street.
“Other cities have advanced themselves and put way more focus on their downtowns over the last 15 to 20 years,” he said. “Downtown Loveland has rebuilt their entire downtown while we’ve been having the conversation about it.”
A new master plan for Mason’s mile-long business district could finally kick-start the kind of concrete change that would make it competitive with other parts of the region. The plan is the brainchild of the new Mason Deerfield Chamber Community Development Corporation, also known as MADECDC, an economic development group established in 2018 charged with bolstering downtown.
Over 700 people in Mason told the development corporation in a survey they also wanted more brunch spots downtown, restaurants with live music, an amphitheater and an indoor music venue.
The plan outlines goals to:
* Enhance pedestrian safety along a heavily trafficked corridor.
* Make room for new small businesses, including restaurants, among the more than 100 that already exist downtown.
* Create outdoor gathering places for the public to socialize and increase parking.
* Identify infill lots for new development, including multifamily housing for empty nesters and young professionals.
The overall idea is to “remake the mile,” said the development corporation’s president and CEO Sherry Taylor.
And it’s been a long time coming. Engagement on the project has been going on for years.
Mason’s council unanimously approved the plan and new zoning for downtown on Nov. 10.
Inside the Mason Mile master plan
For an outsider walking around downtown Mason, it might be hard to see why it needs to be revitalized. It’s not dead by any means. But it is sleepy.
That’s in part due to its zig-zag-shaped layout. While technically walkable, Mason’s compact downtown comprises three busy streets: Main Street, Reading Road and Mason-Montgomery Road. All of these corridors are overrun with traffic at peak hours.
It’s intimidating to cross the road, and it takes more time than it should. There are uneven, narrow sidewalks, cracked curb cuts and power lines that hover over the single-family homes-turned-businesses on East Main. The rest of downtown to the west feels completely different with its low-rise brick buildings, tree-lined sidewalks and clean pavers.
“Right now there’s a divide that exists between East and West Main, and it feels very neglected down here,” said Chuck Pfahler, who opened Adesso Coffee on East Main in 2020. “It doesn’t feel fully connected, and I want to see that brought together.”
These are complaints that pop up regularly on Mason’s neighborhood Facebook group, as well.
Mason’s master plan, created with a slew of external consultants hired by the development corporation, includes recommendations to reconnect downtown. It also suggests slowing traffic and improving the pedestrian experience by minimizing turn speeds, adding decorative crosswalks and building bump-outs by the sidewalks.
For beautification, the plan highlights the best locations for branded downtown signs, bike trails, public art, landscaping, light and outdoor seating.
There are about 30 different improvements that could make a big impact on how comfortable people feel coming downtown, Taylor said. Soon, the development corporation will release details on which improvements will come first and how much they’ll cost.
How new housing, retail fit into this
Developing new buildings to modernize downtown Mason is a key part of the master plan.
Taylor emphasized the idea of “marrying the things people love about downtown’s character” with anything new.
“We don’t have a blank canvas here,” she said. “We don’t have a lot of opportunities to build up. So for us, this is about asking what kinds of things would be acceptable in the neighborhood moving forward.”
In the plan, several pieces of downtown land were identified as ripe for construction. Privately- and city-owned land from West Main Street to Mason-Montgomery Road, could support housing and mixed-use development, for example.
One project is already underway: In August, Mason City Council voted unanimously to redesign an existing surface parking lot and grassy field behind the Mason Grill into a larger lot that could double as an entertainment venue. Taylor said it will alleviate some of the parking issues on East Main Street, while also serving as a spot for a potential farmer’s market, food trucks, or other community activities.
Downtown Mason’s peripheral streets could also see change.
New zoning was approved on Nov. 10 that will allow for denser housing in the area, and that’s key to attracting younger residents and retirees.
A 2024 market analysis found that within the next five years, downtown Mason could add up to 150 new rental units, priced between $1,300 and $2,500, and 80 for-sale homes, priced between $280,000 and $437,500.
There’s also room for 40,500 square feet of new office space and 212,900 square feet of retail, restaurants, and entertainment space, per the market analysis.
Why has renewal taken so long? ‘A lot of it was political’
Council backs the ideas in the master plan and is now working with the development corporation. But it wasn’t always that way.
“A lot of it was political,” outgoing Vice Mayor Ashley Chance said about why revitalization has taken decades.
Egos and personality clashes on previous councils have led to nasty social media exchanges, infighting and a recall threat. Amidst the chaos, conflicting ideas about how to steer downtown and some council members’ unwillingness to work with the chamber slowed progress.
That boiled over in 2021 to a fight over a 120-unit mixed-use housing project proposed for downtown Mason. Residents led a voter referendum effort that resulted in an appeal of the city’s agreement with the developer before the issue even hit the ballot.
Council doesn’t want that to happen again. So, what’s the new strategy?
“Depoliticize it. Get it out of the hands of elected officials and get people that know what they’re doing,” Chance said.
All seven members voted to give a $3.5 million grant over the next five years to the development corporation, which hires other downtown experts and consultants.
“Council members are not developers,” said outgoing Mayor Diana Nelson. “Neither is the city, per se. It was really important for us to take it out of the hands of politicians and stop killing the momentum.”
This year’s election season wasn’t completely drama-free: A mysterious survey was sent out that dredged up past drama and rumors.
In a Facebook post, Chance said the county’s Republican party should be “ashamed” of itself for spreading “lies to maintain control and power.”
Chance and Mayor Nelson will be replaced in January after this election season. But Chance wasn’t worried about a new council pushing the downtown plan off course.
At this point, being opposed to downtown’s renewal would be a “bad look,” Chance said.
Tony Bradburn, a former longtime city council member who ran again for a council seat this year, is skeptical of the plan but not opposed to it. He envisions some roadblocks to redeveloping the private property along the Mason Mile and questions how much traffic relief this could yield along the corridor.
But more than that, he sees some decision fatigue among Mason residents.
“How much is really going to change from what’s in downtown now?” he said. “The consultants said this is a 10- to 20-year project and I think people today want to see something done now. They wanted it yesterday.”
After years of conversation, some residents also remain cautious.
“I think the biggest thing I have heard is, ‘Here we go again. We’ve heard this before. There’s nothing concrete,'” said outgoing council member Mark Haake. “And this is different ‒ (the plan) is why it’s different.”
Corporate employees, longtime residents or small business owners: Who is downtown for?
Over the last few decades, Mason has invested in what it’s widely known for: a hub for big companies ‒ like Cintas Corp. and Procter & Gamble ‒ and its tourist destinations, with Kings Island, Great Wolf Lodge and the Cincinnati Open a few miles from each other.
“Mason has done such an incredible job on the outskirts of town, on the economic development side, bringing in great companies,” Chance said. “The amenities that we have, the parks that we have. But there’s a lot to be desired in downtown.”
Attracting tourists and the city’s workforce to downtown is on council members’ minds. Chance said Mason lost a large company to Cincinnati that wanted a more vibrant downtown for its workers.
In 2016, General Electric opened offices in downtown Cincinnati over the suburb but has since closed them.
Still, there’s no guarantee that new buildings or businesses will come to downtown Mason immediately thanks to this master plan. But it should help investors understand what Mason residents want, Wildflower owner Hudson explained.
“There are so many developers that know about the city of Mason, and the reason they have not invested in our downtown is because it doesn’t make sense to,” he said. “There are too many hurdles to jump through, and there’s this perception here that Mason doesn’t support small businesses.”
According to the city manager’s office, the city has invested over $10 million in downtown Mason over the past five years on things like maintenance, programming, parking, signs, lighting and infrastructure.
The master plan calls for even more of this, as well as the hyper-specific ideas generated from years of engagement. And while none of this will become a reality a next year, the plan sets the stage for a downtown that attracts everyone.
“Our promise has always been to find a consensus on what’s going to get us a better downtown Mason,” Taylor said.
