In a deal steeped in history, Cincinnati Parks will buy a long-coveted plot of Clifton green space from the owners of a struggling neighborhood grocery store.
The Cincinnati Parks Foundation has a letter of intent to buy 27 acres adjacent to Mount Storm from the Singh family, owners of Clifton Market.
When the deal is complete, Mount Storm will be about a third larger, at 100 acres.
"Conservation is part of our mission," said Jennifer Hafner Spieser, the foundation's president and CEO, "so this was a cool opportunity to work with the Clifton community to make that happen."
Former Cincinnati Parks official Gerald Checco, who is helping raise funds for the land purchase, said the Singh family wanted to sell because they are "experiencing some financial
trouble."
Gurmukh Singh declined to comment about the sale, saying his wife, Genet Singh, handles real estate matters. Genet Singh did not return a call and text from The Enquirer.
Gurmukh Singh said the family would continue to own and run the now-closed Clifton Market, with plans to reopen before Thanksgiving.
Neighbors 'trying to preserve what's good'
The Parks Foundation said the purchase price is confidential until the sale is completed.
But park administrators last week submitted an application for a grant of about $1 million from the Clean Ohio Green Space Conservation Program to complete the deal. The land preservation program, administered by the Ohio Public Works Commission, provides grants for up to 75% of the estimated costs of accepted projects. The grant would go toward the purchase price and restoration work.
In its first-ever land purchase, the foundation has raised about $329,000 for the project with the help of Clifton neighbors, Spieser said. In three months' time, 215 donors contributed, she said.
"We are trying to preserve what's good," said Checco.
The Singhs, operating as Bata Mariam Investments, bought the 27-acre plot from Deaconess Associations in March 2025. The purchase price was not included in Hamilton County auditor documents. The auditor's office puts the current value of the landat just shy of $454,000.
After purchase: removal of invasives, possible trail
Assuming the deal goes forward, park officials, at present, plan to maintain the 27 additional acres as green space.
That will continue to protect Clifton from heat and pollution since the site is covered with trees, which help cool the air and deflect the heat-island effect of Interstate 75 traffic to the north.
It will also protect the site from development, which would have been risky given its steep slope toward the interstate and Mill Creek Valley. The Singhs never made public any plans for the land.
In the short-term, officials will remove invasive plant growth and consider whether to install a 5-foot-wide trail, said spokesperson Rocky Merz.
Advocates hope they'll give a stream and wetlands on the property some attention, too.
Neighbors are ready to help, said Andrew Salzbrun, co-chair of the fundraising effort with Checco. "There's already a group of neighborhood individuals starting to mobilize to get that space back in order," he said. "There are a lot of hidden gems on the property."
Parkgoers looking for more than green space can find that on Mount Storm's current 73 acres, which includes a playground, sledding hill, trails, and original shelterhouse and gazebo. The latter is a popular wedding venue, rentable for $350 for three hours.
Mount Storm started as estate with mansion, 17 greenhouses
While plans for the addition to Mount Storm are currently modest, the park's origins were anything but.
In the mid-1800s, it became the estate of Robert Bonner Bowler, a Rhode Island native who made his fortune in Cincinnati as a dry goods merchant and railroad executive.
Bowler's two-story mansion, one he named Mount Storm in the aftermath of a lightning storm, included multiple rooms, marble floors, wrought-iron and cut-glass fixtures, 17 greenhouses, gardens, orchards, a waterfall and a lake with seven black swans. The gazebo, named Temple of Love, covered a cistern to supply the water features.
The property was notable, too, for launching the U.S. career of landscape designer Adolph Strauch. Bowler invited the Austrian to visit him in Cincinnati. Strauch ended up staying – creating Mount Storm's grounds and gazebo, working on the estates of Bowler's neighbors and several Cincinnati parks, and ultimately designing Spring Grove Cemetery.
As to Bowler's mansion: The city razed it in 1917 after buying the land for Mount Storm Park. The home had become a "trysting place," officials of the day alleged.
Singh 'has intention' to sell the property, park official says
Just blocks away from Mount Storm on Ludlow Avenue, shelves of the Clifton Market are nearly empty, with one employee on duty to admit contractors.
Gurmukh Singh, who bought the former Keller's IGA in 2018, said he is repairing the store's failing refrigeration system and plans to resume operations before the holiday season.
Singh said he does not plan to sell the store, despite continued legal challenges from its banker. In a lawsuit filed last November, WesBanco Bank alleges that the Singhs owe more than $350,000 on four different mortgages, including one related to Clifton Market. Another hearing in the case is set for Oct. 6.
Despite those entanglements, park officials anticipate wrapping up the purchase of the Singhs' 27 acres before the end of the year. "The seller has intention to actually sell the property," Spieser said.
And while some in the neighborhood remain concerned about the fate of Clifton Market, Spieser is happy for the residents who turned their attention to Mount Storm.
"The fact that you had a community come together, raise a lot of the funding to help us meet these goals quickly is pretty incredible," she said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Owners of struggling Clifton Market sell land for city park expansion
