troeros

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/education/2018/03/15/fc-cincinnati-there-any-glimmer-hope-stadium-west-end/428513002/ Looks like it may not be dead, yet. I still believe yesterday was a full fledged bluff.

Could be FCC bluffing to create a false sense of urgency to speed up the process. I really don't know. I know FCC has a march deadline, and I am guessing today's efforts was to speed up this said deadline. I know that the West End was FCC primary stadium site, and they have put alot of effort into acquiring this site. I don't necessarily think today's events is the end of the west end saga, but again we'll see.

So, this might change tomorrow...With that said, there has been no official press release by FCC saying that the, "West End site is Dead". Currently, this is the only publicized statement. Obviously, said property can be extended in regards to time. CPS response: Again, nothing 100% indicative that West End is dead. We shall see tomorrow morning though. I imagine FCC will release an official press release stating they have moved on from the West End, and are now refocusing there efforts towards Oakley/Newport.

Mike Moroski of the CPS Board just confirmed it has to be a simple majority vote. So 4-3. The yes/no are indicative of there current stance, on the basis if FCC increases there tax pledge. To what amount is unknown. The 2 no votes, want the full 2 million of tax income. No room for negation. Not sure what the, "magic number" for CPS is, with those who are willing to negotiate a dollar amount..

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/education/2018/03/13/fc-cincinnati-what-take-get-yes-school-board-mls-stadium/420904002/ Melanie Bates - Yes Eve Bolton - Yes Ericka Copeland-Dansby - ??? Did not respond Carolyn Jones - Yes Ryan Messer - Yes Mike Moroski - No Lannis Timmons - No Does anyone if this is a majority 4-3 vote, or if it has to be a 7-0 unanimous vote?

FCC have put a lot of effort towards west end these past few months. I would argue that if they cared so much about getting the best deal then they would have picked Newport/Oakley months ago. I can understand cps point though. FCC will be spending over 400 million dollars with this project. Why can’t they pay there fair share of taxes, especially since the taxes are the very thing that fund the cps schools.

More Details on Proposed West End Site: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/03/12/berding-fc-cincinnati-pick-stadium-site-march-31/417145002/

So I heard a rumor about the shell on liberty st. I was told that udf was looking to buy that shell and redevelop the property. I’m guessing this is partially fueled by the potential of fcc moving to the west end, and linders involvement.

I believe that the fcc fan Survey indicated that a massive amount of the season ticket holders lived outside of the city of Cincinnati and a huge amount lived in warren county. If I recall it was like 60-70% of the Holders. So I imagine a large majority of those fans coming to the games would have probably spent there money at the Apple bees/tgi Friday at the liberty township mall.

This kind of a dirty projection. FCC in the MLS will have 17 Home Games, 1 Friendly, and 3 potential Home Playoff Games (and potentially 1 all star home hosting possibility) FCC says they want the stadium have a capacity of 28K. Lets assume 10% of those fans, only 2,800 fans goes to dinner/drinks before + after the game, and spend roughly on average 10$ per person. If we host 18 Home Games that equates to roughly an additional 1 Million dollars being spent in OTR. If we host 21 Home Games that equates to 1.1 Million Dollars being spent in OTR. I imagine the total will be more than 10%. I imagine that it will be close to 30% of fans hanging out in OTR before/after during home games. 30% = 8,400 Fans, = Min 10$ per/fan = 84K per/game, 18 Home Games = 1.5 Million $, 21 Home Games = 1.7 Million ..... Again, dirty numbers, but at bare minimum I believe that OTR will see an influx of 1.5 - 2 Million Dollars being spent in the bars/restaurants/cafes, etc. If we can retain say, 50% of the fans after the game to hang out in OTR, that's about 2.5 Million Dollars for the entire season.

Why would a stadium being present cause those things to happen? I just believe your going to see an influx of renewed interest of millienials to further want to live downtown. FCC has a powerful draw. I know many of my fellow friends who are in supporter groups, who have stated they will move from there current homes in Oakley/pleasant ridge, if fcc builds a West End Stadium. The fan support and loyalty to fcc is very powerful. On top of that, there was survey done that showed that a large percentage of fcc season ticket holders live in the suburbs. I don’t expect there parents to suddenly leave there mortgaged home and 2 car garage, but I do see this as a powerful opportunity for there children to be exposed to the urban core and have a desire to perhaps live in otr/Pendleton/mt Auburn/old west end when they grow older. It will have a chain effect imo.

I was skeptical of this team from Day 1 because of who owned it and who they made the face of the operation. I'm old enough to remember the 1996 stadium tax controversy whereas the bulk of FC's fan base is not. It's literally all of the same figures -- the same blue blood machine. That stadium ordeal is what changed this town from having a lot of pride to being one that is mad at any and all proposals. If these people who claim to love the West End so dearly actually understood how cities work they would oppose the soccer stadium and the relocated HS stadium in favor of high-density construction w/affordable housing in place of Stargel and the Citirama site. The West End currently has a half-dozen major holes in its urban fabric and these are two of the most egregious violators. The grade school along Court St. is a terrible waste of space, as are the 8-9 baseball fields that get absolutely zero use. City West did little for the area because it replaced dense public housing with low-density autocentric development. The town homes have no back yards because they are consumed by garages and parking pads. Their home depot front doors rarely open or close since there is nothing to walk to. The city needs to wake up and rezone Stargel and Citirama for high density w/affordable housing and minimal parking requirements and tell FC to look elsewhere for a stadium site. That may true. That said, a west end site could be a huge savior for North of Liberty, Mohawk, Old West End, perhaps Mt. Auburn. I can see true, "gentrification" occur, and see an influx of new infill developments. I can also see a large amount of historic old west end stock be rehabbed, rather than be left to rot, and emergency demo'd. I can garauntee you that a FCC Stadium presence in the west end, will push redevelopment in those areas. I can also garauntee you that you will attract even more families who live in west chester who are scared of, "Downtown/OTR" and will become accustomed to urban life, and may even grow to appreciate OTR/Downtown. A west end site can have MASSIVE implications for OTR/North of Liberty/Mohawk/Old West End. Interest in rehabs/infill development will accelerate x10 fold. You will see new businesses, especially more sports related bars, and just more businesses in general will rush to plant there flag down in OTR. We also may be able to attract the young kids/teens who are currently living in the suburbs, to learn about OTR/Urban Life style as they go to these games, and really fall in love with the area (like many of us have) and once they grow old enough, may decide to live downtown becauses of there exposure to OTR/pre-game/post game festivities with fellow fans/family. I just believe that if FCC lands in the West End, this can radically change the surrounding area, at a very intense rate of time.

So question.... Berding has gone on record saying multiple times that mixed retail would be included with the west end site. He wants to bring in a grocery store, laundromat, pharmacy, along with bars and restaurants. Essentially a small little wrigglyville that would be adjacent to the stadium. With that said, where would this be situated? Is there any available land by central park way, or in proximity to the stadium where a large mixed use project can occur?

I think todays Oakley Community Council meeting proved that FCC doesn't want Oakley/not first priority. Every presented today was lackluster, and lacked actual info. The only interesting tidbit was that an extension of edwards rd will not be needed to make oakley stadium work. No other hard numbers were presented. Oakley was picked at the end of november. FCC had almost 4 months to do a traffic study, and all the other related studies..and so far all we have is that one tidbit of info. I feel that it's safe to say West End is FCC priority. If somehow falls through, I'm guessing Newport will be immediate backup choice. I think FO have realized that Oakley just sucks as a location, and that's why they are taking time with fleshing out the oakley details.

Maybe just me but I feel like main st in otr has a different vibe, especially with the movement of the homeless shelter that used to be there. Definitely feels a little less rough and gritty.

I don’t know if this is the right place to talk about this... But what will it take for Cincinnati to become more diverse? I feel when I’m in the cbd on a week day, it’s probably 3/4th African American. I’ve been in a lot of cities like Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, etc. bigger cities I guess. In cincy I feel like it’s rare for any diversity and if there is diversity it’s mainly restricted to a small section of otr nowadays. Gay, black, white, Asian, Latino, etc. would just love to see more color in the city.

Hmmmmmm.... https://amp.cincinnati.com/amp/345401002?__twitter_impression=true Sounds like FCC is in bed with many of the CPS school board members, and art pulling purse strings and political favors along the way.

Saw on twitter that FCC stadium on former Stargell Site will still be called Stargell Stadium. New replacement CPS stadium, will also remain to be named Stargell Stadium. I'm guessing similar to Yankee vs New Yankee stadium.

Yeah, because stadiums have such a great track record of spurring other development. How many studies need to be prepared that show that stadiums do little to actually spur development for you to believe it? Look at the hotbed of activity around Paul Brown Stadium! Such a thriving part of the city, huh? LOL! Yeah, FC is choosing to put their stadium in the West End to better the community. That's totally it. You and I both know the reason they're looking at a West End stadium is because MLS told them they want stadiums in urban areas, and there's some vacant land in the WE that's proximate to OTR. If it were at all feasible, I'm sure Lindner and Berding would love to demo a couple blocks in OTR and put the stadium there. This has nothing at all to do with investing in the West End, and everything to do with putting a stadium in a core location to satisfy MLS, and in a neighborhood that doesn't have much power to fight it. And you know it. Columbus built the arena district from scratch. There was no existing community to be had. 3CDC has developed housing and retail and office space in OTR, not a frickin stadium. How are these situations comparable at all? If Lindner and co want to invest in the West End to bring housing and mixed use development, have at it! They could have done so long before FCC was even dreamed up, but of course they did not. This isn't an altruistic move for them. I was like the only person on this board who was defending the Cityrama proposal, because it would bring 50 new market rate, single family homes to the West End. It does need to 'gentrify' a bit, and there does need to be more economic diversity in the neighborhood for it to improve. Now we can debate whether that proposal was the highest and best use for that site, and we did on here. But don't confuse me with an anti-development, anti-gentrification activist. Funny how seemingly everyone was against that proposal, but is seemingly fine with a stadium and associated parking facilities that will get used a handful of times a year taking up a large amount of space in the West End. Regarding your first point this is not a hope to spur development. Jeff Berding has gone on record saying they are NOT building just a stadium. They will be building mixed use development around the stadium as well. The same plan is set for Oakley as well. It will not simply be a stadium and parking garage constructed but many amenities as well. This is very much a new requirement from the mls.

I still believe that the good that fcc will bring for cps will far outweigh the bad. Especially if Linder can offer sponsorships and scholarship programs and internship partnerships...also add a New Stargell stadium that’s state of the art. It will be hard for cps to say no. Let’s not forget that fcc wants a stadium and mixed use development, maybe they can spur some neighborhood essentials as part of the project to sweeten the deal.

OTR Adopt is trying to save the building. Email of owner: [email protected] Please send a polite email explaining why they should allow otr adopt to save this historic gem.

Many believe that FCC always wanted the West End first and foremost for obvious reasons; It's in the urban core, and is perfect for pre/post game events/fan activities due to the amount of bars/restaurants in OTR. FCC needed Oakley to submit the MLS Bid. Jeff Berding is saying that they are waiting for a traffic study, and community engagement with Oakley community council. That said, I'm sure the traffic study will not be pleasant/cheap findings, and they will use that as a opportunity to pivot fully towards the West End.

Don’t forget. It won’t just be a stadium. There will also be mixed use development as well in the form of restaurants/bars/apartments etc.

FC Cincinnati gets option to buy West End land – for housing, not a stadium https://amp.cincinnati.com/amp/1078396001?__twitter_impression=true

Amanda Seitz Amanda Seitz @AmandaSeitz1 Option agreement for FC Cincinnati to have an option agreement on CMHA land passes unanimously. Only one of six CMHA board members asked a question. WCPO[/member] Amanda Seitz Amanda Seitz @AmandaSeitz1 Anne Sesler, representing FC Cincinnati, says “FC Cincinnati’s interest in these parcels is for residential development... FC Cincinnati has no interest in building a stadium on these parcels.” WCPO[/member] #MLS2CINCY