Friday, October 01, 1999
Riverfront plan applauded, but funding needed
'The Banks' must woo developers
BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Jack Rouse, chairman of Cincinnati Riverfront Advisory Commission, discusses plan.
(Glenn Hartong photo)
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Cincinnati and Hamilton County leaders gave the Cincinnati Riverfront Advisory Commission a standing ovation after hearing the panel's plan for the central riverfront Thursday morning.
But the big question is whether developers will like the $248 million plan enough to invest the money needed to help transform the riverfront from parking lots to the thriving waterfront neighborhood the advisory panel envisions.
Communities across the country are coming up with different combinations of businesses, but almost all are striving to create “new generation” developments that combine housing, shops, restaurants and office space, said Michael Beyard, vice president and senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Land Institute.
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ON THE WEB
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The report is at www.riverfrontplanning.org
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PUBLIC FORUMS
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The Cincinnati Riverfront Advisory Commission will hold public forums next week on its recommendations for the central riverfront:
• Monday 7 p.m. at Raymond Walters College, Flory Center, rooms 13, 15 and 17, 9555 Plainfield Road, Blue Ash.
• Tuesday 5:30 p.m. at Covington City Hall, Council Chambers, 638 Madison Ave., Covington.
• Wednesday 5:30 p.m. at the Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center, room 260, 252 Elm St., downtown.
• Thursday 6 p.m. at the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati, 3458 Reading Road in Avondale.
Executive summaries will be distributed.
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“You're right in the center of what's happening in cities across America,” Mr. Beyard said of this latest waterfront plan. “Every city's doing it differently, but everyone's doing it.”
There are plenty of retail developers out there looking for “new generation” developments to build, Mr. Beyard said. But only a few have a proven track record for developing such urban communities near rivers, and that means communities must be especially careful about picking the right developeror firm to do the work, he said.
The plan unveiled Thursday by the advisory panel recommends building a development called “The Banks” that would create a new waterfront neighborhood with housing, shops and office space.
Arn Bortz, a former Cincinnati mayor and partner at the Mount Adams development firm Towne Properties, called The Banks a “fresh and creative” plan.
But Mr. Bortz said there's still a lot of work to do before developers invest in it.
“It takes the creation of reasonable expectation on the part of developers that they can get return on the risks they will be taking,” Mr. Bortz said. “That area doesn't have a long history of anything, except being a highway trench.”
Buildings atop garages
The waterfront buildings and the 600 to 800 apartments and condos inside them would be constructed atop more than $100 million worth of garages that Hamilton County plans to build to provide parking for the Bengals, Reds, Firstar Center and downtown office workers.
Mr. Bortz said parking is a key to any redevelopment plan that involves housing.
“Parking is almost as important as the housing itself,” he said.
The plan also calls for another 300 to 500 housing units to be built along Third Street. To spur that development, the panel wants to move 1,750 parking spaces (the equivalent of two, above-ground garages) off the riverfront and onto three sites on the north side of Third Street. That move, the panel believes, would also spur new office development and skyscrapers on Third Street.
Drawings of what the riverfront development might look like show buildings with shops and restaurants on the ground floor and office space and housing on the floors above.
The plan also envisions one or two “modestly sized boutique hotels” with anywhere from 200 to 400 rooms total to round out the development. The Banks would be built in phases, with development west of the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge to be completed in 2003 and develop ment east of the bridge finished in 2006.
The city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County already expected to have to pay $196 million to build the garages and development pads and complete roadwork necessary to support such a development. The advisory panel's plan asks the city and county to spend $52 million more to cover over parts of Fort Washington Way, build mini-parks within the housing developments and the infrastructure necessary for a “boardwalk” with shops and entertainment near the river's edge.
The advisory panel argues that investing $248 million for streets, parking, utilities, green spaces and the boardwalk could result in $600 million in private development over the years it takes to complete the project.
The panel estimates The Banks would create 8,036 jobs and 1,746 new residents with all the payroll tax and spending those people would bring with them.
Payment plan proposed
The panel also recommended a way to pay for $98 million of the plan. (That covers $46 million for the roadwork and $52 million for the panel's additions.)
• $6 million from the developer or developers.
• $36 million in tax proceeds from the development, known as tax-increment financing.
• $56 million in bonds issued by the county and paid off with extra proceeds from the half-cent sales tax that voters passed in 1996 to pay for new stadiums for the Bengals and Reds.
The panel knows that the financing plan will be reviewed and might not ultimately be chosen, said Thomas Humes Jr., president of Great Traditions Land & Development Co. and a member of the group.
Hamilton County Commissioner John Dowlin already has questioned where all the county money would come from. Mr. Dowlin noted that when the city invests real estate taxes back into a development project through tax-increment financing, the city also is “giving away” property taxes that would otherwise go to the county.
(The advisory panel's plan does not require the city to invest the portion of property taxes that goes to Cincinnati Public Schools.)
Hamilton County Commission President Tom Neyer Jr. agreed that the financing plan will take a lot of study.
From a developer's point of view, though, the $6 million for the land costs could be reasonable if all the other public improvements are made, said Mr. Neyer, chairman of Al Neyer Inc.
Much work to be done
But before any developers are picked for The Banks, commission Chairman Jack Rouse said, there's a lot of work to be done. He urged the city and county to:
• Develop a request for a proposal to tell developers what kind of development the city and county want;
• Work together to make the former site of Crossett Co. available for parking.
• Discuss ways to maximize tax-increment financing and move parking to Third Street.
• Explore ways to make the county bond issue work.
• Develop a sound financial plan for the riverfront parks, which aren't included in the advisory panel's plans or budget.
• Form a Riverfront Development Commission to oversee the development.
• Have the advisory panel work with Partnership for Cincinnati and Downtown Cincinnati Inc. to build support for the plan locally, nationally and internationally.
• Continue to cooperate to make the plan succeed.
Dan Klepal contributed to this report.
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