CNU Legacy Project recognized, moving forward
The Ohio APA recently recognized a 2024 CNU Legacy Project, and the plan is moving forward on multiple fronts.
The Hub District for the City of Xenia is a great example of how greenways can spur placemaking and walkable, mixed-use development. The Hub District is a key part of Xenia’s new 10-year plan, neXtPlan, which won the 2025 Comprehensive Plan Award from Ohio chapter of the American Planning Association in late September.
Legacy projects are CNU’s on-the-ground planning efforts connected to its annual Congress, aimed at making a difference in the host region, which was Cincinnati last year. A public charrette, led by Opticos Design, leveraged Xenia’s confluence of greenways and trails on former rail lines in a 70-acre district adjacent to downtown.
The Hub District covers a well-defined neighborhood-scale area around Xenia Station, which includes the former hub of rail lines, industrial sites, and housing to serve the rails. The area has a strong architectural character, but it also includes many vacant lots and buildings. The team created a plan to stitch the neighborhood together through streetscape improvements, pedestrian connections, expansion of the existing Xenia Station green space, and missing-middle-scale development around the Hub.
The plan calls for improvements to parks, infrastructure, and the development of new housing and mixed-use areas on multiple public and private parcels, as well as policies to facilitate these initiatives. The changes could be transformative for the city of 25,000 people.
Xenia City Planner Brian Forschner describes the progress that the City is making to implement the plan:
- Hub District floodplain acquisition/Xenia Station expansion. The city has acquired, or is in the process of acquiring, six of 22 total properties needed for the planned expansion of the Xenia Station trail hub park and additional recreational amenities, creating a catalyst for future infill housing redevelopment.
- New business activity. Two Caboose AirBnBs, mentioned in the plan as a coming attraction, are now open for business. A third caboose was recently added to the site for future rehab as an AirBnB, and up to two more are planned. Permits were approved for a Mexican restaurant and an ice cream window across the street from Xenia Station, adjacent to the Caboose AirBnBs, the Ohio-to-Erie Trail, and a recommended redevelopment site. The City is in negotiations to lease its Xenia Station building to a local food/drink service business for a cafe.
- The demolition of a dilapidated industrial building on Hill Street is part of the Hill-Washington redevelopment site in the Hub District.
- Residential zoning update. The City has launched an update of its residential zoning standards to improve provisions for Missing Middle Housing, recommended in Hub District plan and neXtPlan. That would include rezonings of multiple Hub District recommended redevelopment sites to help prep for redevelopment. A public workshop is scheduled for next week, and the process is expected to conclude in the first quarter of 2026. Opticos Design is assisting with the zoning changes.
- New light pole banners with Hub District branding are being designed. They will be placed on District light poles in 2025-26.
- Initial conversations/outreach for public art in the Hub District have begun. A public art committee has been formed to promote this and other public art projects.
- Infill housing project. The City is in negotiations with an interested builder to construct small single-family homes, similar to a cottage court, on 3 acres of City-owned land adjacent to the Hub District and the Ohio-to-Erie Trail. It could serve as a proof of concept for nearby Hub District redevelopment sites.
The award and the progress show significant momentum toward implementing a plan that will have a positive impact on Xenia for decades to come.
