Cincinnati's Banks Development: Ohio Slated To Approve Big State Loan Monday

COUMBUS (TDB) -- State officials are expected to approve a $5.48 million loan to Hamilton County for a parking, bus and commuter train structure on the Ohio River that will be topped by The Banks. Ohio plans to formally approve a 15-year loan for a portion of the $75.7 million transit center financial package when the state Controlling Board meets on Monday. State records describe the loan as "intended to leverage public transportation improvements to stimulate private investment by providing a podium structure that supports a mixed-use development including residential, office, hotel and retail space in a formerly blighted area."

Of the $75.7 million total for the "podium structure," records show $4 million will come from a private developer. The other $71.7 million is from public funds.

There has to be a "podium" because the site is low-lying real estate in the river's floodplain. And the so-called "blighted area" is about 18 acres on the downtown riverfront. It is the spot where Riverfront Stadium used to stand until it was demolished and replaced by new football and baseball stadiums for the Bengals and Reds. The loan documents are before the Controlling Board, which is scheduled to vote on the deal October 29. Information about The Banks is here.

The Controlling Board agenda is here, and item 26 relates to The Banks. The loan request says:

"The Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) financing assistance represents 7.2 percent of the total investment of $75,771,718 at the project site. Job creation is not a requirement of this program. The project includes the development and the construction of a two-story intermodal transit and parking structure along the river bank in downtown Cincinnati."

And:

"The ODOD will have a shared mortgage position on real estate included in the above project, which will be located in the City of Cincinnati, Hamilton County. This project will facilitate the development of a new community of retail, office and residential units on a former Brownfield site on the Cincinnati, Ohio riverfront. This project will help position the city for new development and revitalization in the downtown area."

Big Surprise In Cincinnati Enquirer's Council Picks: No Nod For Ex-Dem Mayor Qualls

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The newspaper's city council endorsements are out online today, and it is supporting five Democrats, three Republicans and one third-party Charterite. The newspaper said it is not backing former Democratic Mayor Roxanne Qualls, who was appointed to a council seat last month and is running under the Charter label. Qualls is one of the most popular politicians in Cincinnati and is seen as a lock. Her sin in the eyes of the Enquirer's editorial board: She has dared to openly question plans for The Banks. The project is a nearly $1 billion office, shopping and residential development on the Ohio River downtown, and it is being subsidized with city, state and federal funds.

But the Enquirer sniped that Quall's is opposing The Banks plan out of a "bruised ego." That remark is simply an inaccurate -- and mean-spirited -- reflection of her concerns. Qualls has questions rooted in economic, environmental and financial areas.

Qualls was mayor when the project on 18 acres between the football and baseball stadiums was conceived in the mid-1990s. It was supposed to be mixed use, with residential and shopping and dining etc., along with offices to enliven a fading downtown. Now the new plans are heavier on offices and Qualls is wondering if it will cannibalize the existing business district. The difficult real estate market, coupled with the Midwest's lousy economic climate, has made it tough to lease space in the central city where some 2.2 million square feet of office space already sits vacant. Qualls says that the tax-supported public subsidies that go into The Banks will harm investors who put money into downtown and must charge market rates that don't reflect government aid. Qualls isn't on the same page as the Enquirer's favorites, so she was snubbed:

"Smart, capable and experienced, former mayor Qualls knows policy inside-out as she demonstrated political savvy during her years on council. Just appointed to take Tarbell's place (Jim Tarbell, who resigned), she's running on a platform of helping to increase the city's tax base and grow its middle class. But in rejoining council after years away, she may be in a bit of a time warp. We find her recent efforts to undermine The Banks project particularly distressing. Her chief objections seem to be that the plan under consideration now differs from one she helped develop a decade ago. This is the city's most important development project. Opposing it on the the basis of a bruised ego is not acceptable."

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