BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati officials are working with a downtown business group on a strategy to bring a 14-screen movie theater to Fourth Street.
Under the preliminary plan, the movie theater would sit on Fourth between Race and Vine streets in the former McAlpin's location the city had been saving for a Nordstrom store, said Cincinnati Economic Development Director Andi Udris.
"There seems to be some growing support for that concept at that location," he said.
A large, first-run theater could draw as many as 1.5 million visitors a year, which could give downtown shops and restaurants quite a boost, Mr. Udris said.
"That's just what the doctor ordered," he said. "This is a way to fix Fourth Street."
Mr. Udris previously had proposed locating such a theater on the riverfront, making it an anchor of a family entertainment district between the Bengals' new stadium and the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge.
But Cincinnati City Council killed that plan in April, in part because council members and others worried such a district would draw business away from downtown's core instead of helping it. Mr. Udris said Boston-based General Cinema Theatres, which wanted to build on the riverfront, has expressed interest in the Fourth and Race site, too. The block where McAlpin's sat until it closed in 1996 could be a good fit for the movies, he said.
The site would provide good access, good visibility and plenty of parking if county officials build the riverfront garages they're contemplating, said David Ginsburg, senior vice president of Downtown Cincinnati Inc. (DCI), the downtown marketing group that's working with the city on the strategy.
"With the parking as proposed, it's perfect," Mr. Ginsburg said. "I have developers that come to town from time to time, and they look at this, and their mouths water."
Parking is by no means a given, however. Hamilton County officials have eight parking options they're studying, which cost from $75 million to $125 million.
City and county officials think the parking is essential, not only for sports facilities and other riverfront venues, but also for downtown office workers who have for years depended on riverfront spots.
A Fourth Street movie theater, properly developed, also could provide downtown with a much-needed gathering spot, said Stan Eichelbaum, president of Marketing Developments Inc., a Cincinnati retail, research and development consulting firm.
"It could become a very prominent part of the overall development plan," said Mr. Eichelbaum, a member of the DCI retail committee that's been studying the idea. "It could be a very strong hub for the city, and a bright, creative developer could do some very interesting things with the block."
The city hasn't given up on Nordstrom, but officials are now talking to the Seattle-based retailer about locating at Fifth and Race streets instead, Mr. Udris said.
"That's still really speculative," Mr. Udris cautioned, in part because the city still doesn't know whether Dillard's Inc. wants to put a store at Fifth and Race.
The city had a deal with Mercantile Stores Co. to put a Maison Blanche department store at Fifth and Race. That deal collapsed earlier this year when Dillard's bought Mercantile.
If Dillard's decides to take the Fifth and Race spot, the city probably would leave the Fourth Street spot open for Nordstrom, Mr. Udris said.
But a Nordstrom at Fifth and Race combined with Tiffany & Co. and Brooks Brothers the next block over could create an upscale shopping district to replace the one that Fourth Street once represented, Mr. Eichelbaum said.
Mr. Ginsburg said DCI's retail committee, which he staffs, already has signed off on a strategy to put the theaters at Fourth and Race streets.
Now, DCI and the city's economic development department are waiting to see what kind of planning strategy city council will adopt for the riverfront and downtown.
"I'm hoping that whatever it is, we get on with this," Mr. Ginsburg said. "The quicker we get onto a good planning process, the better."
