Interesting. So between those two articles and what we already know we're very likely going to have a hotel at Phase 1A, a fully built out phase 2, garage pads ready for phase 3a and possibly 3b, and potentially, finally, an office in 1b. So basically come time for the All Star Game we could be looking at several high-profile construction projects happening whenever the camera shows the stadium. That would be great.

I wouldn't put so much faith in their estimates right now. We'll see.

I'm definitely not going to hold my breath, but it seems like things are at least getting closer to working out. Whether or not they stick to the schedule they just laid out is obviously completely up in the air.

Carter has to build the office and hotel by May 2015 or they lose the development rights to that part of the project. I think they are at the point where they will do whatever it takes to get these two components started by then.

 

As for the garages the county applied to the state for $15 million in funding a few months ago. I don't think that moved forward.

 

While it will look good having all this construction activity for the All-Star Games, it will also be a pain to navigate with streets closed down, parking removed for construction and no streetcar to help ferrying attendees from other downtown garages to the game.

More about the crane that's putting up a crane suppose to be the tallest mobile.

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2014/09/15/tallest-crane-us-goes-cincinnati-riverfront/15678657/

A crane put up the crane that's putting up the crane...

Haha

 

Here's the latest on plans for the Banks hotel

Chris Wetterich  Staff reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier

 

 

A financial plan to finally bring a hotel to the Banks is coming this fall, a key adviser to Hamilton County on the joint city-county riverfront development said Monday.

 

Leaders of the project and Carter and the Dawson Co., the Banks’ master developers, hope that the hotel will be under construction by the middle of 2015, said Tom Gabelman, an attorney who advises Hamilton County commissioners on the project.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/09/15/banks-hotel-financing-plan-coming-this-fall.html

 

Gabelman has made a fortune on the banks. Billings well over 20 Million.

I kinda agree......

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2014/09/16/city-no-subsidy-for-banks-hotel/15722779/

^ Me too. If you can't make that hotel work without subsidy than why are we even bothering to build anything.  *over the top but you get my point

The city has made it no secret that they want a hotel there by a certain date. Devs smelled the impatience and are just fishing for money to see if they get a bite.

And I know nothing has been reported or concrete yet but I'm certain a new Convention Center Hotel/ Major Millennium Renovation is probably going to happen in the near future and will need city funding as well and with Cranley in office we are not getting both.

We have a brand new Renaissance, will soon have a new dual-brand Hilton, new Holiday Inn, and in a few years, a hotel at the Horseshoe Casino. Maybe they are having trouble funding a hotel operator that wants to compete with all of that.

We have a brand new Renaissance, will soon have a new dual-brand Hilton, new Holiday Inn, and in a few years, a hotel at the Horseshoe Casino. Maybe they are having trouble funding a hotel operator that wants to compete with all of that.

 

Right, well you snooze you lose. Maybe none of those hotels wanted to be surrounded by crappy architecture.

Cleveland is currently building or proposing a massive convention Hilton, Drury Plaza, Kimpton, Crowne Plaza, and Le Meridian. An Autograph by Marriott, Aloft, and Westin just opened as well.

 

I am skeptical that all of the Cleveland hotels will ultimately be built (although Hilton, Drury, and Kimpton are underway), it seems that there may be space for more keys in Cincinnati as none of the new hotels are all that large, with exception of Renaissance. Would be interesting to see an actual market study, however.

The Westin Cleveland was a renovation not a new property and the Convention Hilton is under construction and with about 600 rooms I wouldn't call it "massive". Many cities even mid size ones are building thousand room convention hotels so 600 is on the small side, even our lame old Millennium is almost 900 rooms. The rest you named are smaller projects nothing big but nice. If I had to bet I would say The Banks hotel will get done.

Louisville has a ton of hotels planned or currently under construction as well. It seems that there are way more hotels/hotel rooms in Louisville than in Cincy... which makes no sense to me.

It’s somewhat of a brand competition. If one brand is going to build a new hotel in a market, all of the other brands don’t want to be left out. Even if it means in the end they all barely break even, at least the competition doesn’t make tons of profit.

We have a brand new Renaissance, will soon have a new dual-brand Hilton, new Holiday Inn, and in a few years, a hotel at the Horseshoe Casino. Maybe they are having trouble funding a hotel operator that wants to compete with all of that.

 

Competition is always part of the equation, but the other is the building footprint and the Bengals have control of the height of any proposed hotel at that site.

At the Banks site, in order to be profitable, a hotel needs to be tall enough to include enough rooms.

the Bengals have control of the height of any proposed hotel at that site.

At the Banks site, in order to be profitable, a hotel needs to be tall enough to include enough rooms.

 

Did the Bengals waive the height restriction for all of The Banks or just the GE building? That was never made clear to me. I'm not sure there is still a height restriction on the hotel.

Louisville has a ton of hotels planned or currently under construction as well. It seems that there are way more hotels/hotel rooms in Louisville than in Cincy... which makes no sense to me.

 

I don't have a website to verify but I doubt that. Looking at hotels.com and downtown areas Cincy looks to have a few more than downtown Ville.

# of hotel rooms per a downtown does anyone have a website for that?

the Bengals have control of the height of any proposed hotel at that site.

At the Banks site, in order to be profitable, a hotel needs to be tall enough to include enough rooms.

 

Did the Bengals waive the height restriction for all of The Banks or just the GE building? That was never made clear to me. I'm not sure there is still a height restriction on the hotel.

 

I don't recall reading anything about the GE Building, but related to height restrictions this has been an issue with getting a hotel deal finalized.

If the Bengals did waive anything I am not sure.

Louisville has something like 5 new hotels either coming online, under construction, or planned (going through approvals) right now. That's where my perception is coming from. THese are all within the Downtown area and area just east of downtown (NULU).

New 21c Hotel (ranked one of best new hotels in the world), New Renaissance Hotel, New Dual Brand Hotel under construction, New Marriott Residence Inn hotel (ranked one of the best in the company), Hyatt Regency full renovation. Then we have The Banks Hotel, I was told by a buddy thats a manager that a Westin Renovation is in planning, Garfield Suites was recently purchased and will be renovated into a doubletree and we have the Red Cross sycamore hotel project. Then to finish The Cincinnatian is for sale and I'm sure will be renovated into a luxury brand everyone will know and one way or the other Cincinnati will address its Convention Center Hotel.So I think Cincinnati is far from lagging behind any city on the hotel front in terms of activity.

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure Bengals height restrictions does not effect the hotel project now in focus. The Bengals lease only covers the west side of development not the east side by GABP. If you recall they didn't need the bengals if GE wanted the office lot on the east side but rejected it because the floor plates would have had to be smaller with less space to work with but would have been a taller building.

The Bengals waived height restrictions at The Banks in April. In exchange, the county and the Bengals negotiated six Paul Brown Stadium upgrades, some of which the Bengals themselves will pay for despite their lease requiring taxpayers to foot the bill.

 

 

The agreement includes:

 

    A new scoreboard: It's expected to cost $10 million, of which the Bengals will pay $2.5 million. If the price jumps to $12 million, the team will pay 25 percent of the additional $2 million. But the deal caps any spending at $12 million. If it's any more than that, the deal is nixed.

   

    A new locker room: The county is allowing the team to expand its locker room into a space that had been set aside in case a professional soccer team came to Cincinnati. If soccer should come, the team will give up space elsewhere comparable to the expansion. The Bengals will pay for the expansion.

 

    Wi-Fi: The stadium will be outfitted with Wi-Fi, as required by the NFL. Taxpayers will pay $3 million of the $3.5 million project, although the Bengals are paying the entire cost up front and then will be reimbursed by the county over five years.

 

    Permission to play international games: The county is allowing the team to play two international games as the "home" team. The lease calls for the county to profit from tickets and parking during all home games, which won't be possible if the Bengals play outside the county. The team can play those games during any five consecutive one-year periods.

 

    Parking: The Bengals will get back more than 100 spots the team lost when Cincinnati Parks began using the area as they built the new riverfront park. The land will eventually be a park, but for the 2014 season some of it will revert back to high-priced spots for tailgating.

 

    A Club Lounge refurbish: The club lounges, which can be rented for events and have riverfront views, are getting $1 million in new furniture, which the Bengals will buy. The current furniture is original to the stadium, which opened in 2000.

I was wondering when they say New Scoreboard will that mean both or really just one?

What I don't understand is this:

 

"Permission to play international games: The county is allowing the team to play two international games as the "home" team. The lease calls for the county to profit from tickets and parking during all home games, which won't be possible if the Bengals play outside the county. The team can play those games during any five consecutive one-year periods."

 

 

So can they play two international games a year?? 

 

The lease is really a bad deal for taxpayers.  And they can't even sell out the stadium even with a great team!!

What I don't understand is this:

 

"Permission to play international games: The county is allowing the team to play two international games as the "home" team. The lease calls for the county to profit from tickets and parking during all home games, which won't be possible if the Bengals play outside the county. The team can play those games during any five consecutive one-year periods."

 

 

So can they play two international games a year?? 

 

The lease is really a bad deal for taxpayers.  And they can't even sell out the stadium even with a great team!!

 

they can play 2 international games over the term of the contract that the NFL has. The NFL has to choose the teams and the Bengals are eligible to be chosen to play overseas. This is not 2 games a year or a guarantee of two games but only makes them eligible to be chosen up to 2 times to be the home team in the international game.

There's an ongoing effort to create a London team.

There's an ongoing effort to create a London team.

 

I know why the NFL wants to expand to London, but Toronto makes so much more sense (sorry Bills fans)

Do the Bills have a following in Canada?

Do the Bills have a following in Canada?

 

Yeah a fair following. I believe the Bills play two games in Toronto every year.

Surviving at The Banks: What it takes

Bowdeya Tweh, [email protected]

 

Game days and big events are boom times for drink sales and activity at The Banks’ bars and restaurants.

 

The Cincinnati Reds played their final game of the season Sunday at Great American Ball Park, though. Six home games remain on the Cincinnati Bengals’ schedule, unless the team makes the playoffs. Concert season also is slowing down, despite scheduled performances by Pearl Jam, Bastille and Cher next month at U.S. Bank Arena.

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2014/09/28/banks-restaurant-tenants/16410175/

Phase three: #WestChester@::~theBanks~

 

Just learned that there's a development in Portland called INDIGO @ twelve | west (with that exact capitalization and punctuation).

P&G is spinning off Duracell batteries

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2014/10/24/pg-reports-results/17822103/

 

At first I got really excited thinking a new Duracell HQ would be a great candidate for the remaining office pad at the Banks. Then they updated this story with info that Duracell is actually HQ'ed in Bethel, Connecticut near NYC and they have few employees here. 

 

Still... CT is expensive... from Google earth it looks like they are in a standard suburban office park... we could probably offer some tax breaks...and Cincy would be closer to the US factories listed in the article. 

Cranley: No city subsidy for Banks hotel

 

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley has said it before and now he has put it in writing: The city will not subsidize a hotel at The Banks.

 

Taxpayers simply can't afford it, he said.

 

In an email to county officials earlier this week, the mayor reiterated the city's position after learning The Banks' developers expected $12 to $16 million in taxpayer money to secure an "extremely nice high-end" hotel at the site.

 

"I'm not wedded to the idea that there must be a hotel," Cranley told the Enquirer. "If the market said it doesn't work because there are so many other hotels, then OK. I think it can and will be a hotel without a city subsidy."

 

Cont

Interesting tidbit I wasn't aware of: Dayton, OH City Manager Tim Riordan, who announced his retirement last week, is a member of the Joint Banks Steering Committee. 

 

 

 

If, OTOH, someone wants to put a hotel at the Incline District they will get some handsome incentives. ;)

 

I think this is smart...there should be a hotel at the Banks, but it should be able to do fine without city money.

On a different note, I saw job postings for a new restaurant going in where Johnny Rockets was at the Banks. Any insight into what's filling that space?

On a different note, I saw job postings for a new restaurant going in where Johnny Rockets was at the Banks. Any insight into what's filling that space?

 

Do you mean Mahogony's? Or is Johnny Rockets leaving as well?

Hm. I've never seen more than 6 people in that Johnny Rockets, so I wouldn't be surprised if they ducked out.

 

Their revolving sign has been gone for a couple weeks now... but they remain open for business.

Hm. I've never seen more than 6 people in that Johnny Rockets, so I wouldn't be surprised if they ducked out.

Their website shows only 3 stores in Ohio. None in Cincinnati.

Here is the post on Craigslist: https://cincinnati.craigslist.org/fbh/4738872289.html

 

"New resturant located at the Banks is looking for Part-time Servers, and full time experience Grill Cooks (must be able to cook on flat top grill). Please apply in person at 191 E Freedom Way Cincinnati 45202."

 

191 E Freedom Way is the address of Johnny Rockets.

 

It would be odd if Johnny Rockets is referring to themselves as "new" at this point.

 

EDIT: Also listed as closed on Yelp. I lol'd at their misspelling Cincinnati in the URL - http://www.yelp.com/biz/johnny-rockets-cincinatti

Weird... there were people in their last night around 6PM. Yelpers have reported the location as closed:

 

http://www.yelp.com/biz/johnny-rockets-cincinatti

It looks like it just became un-franchised. All Johnny Rocket logos and signage must be removed when that happens - note the lack of menus on the exterior window and signage. It's most likely operating now as an independent restaurant with the same suppliers.

Johnny Rockets is nasty and I'm surprised they're still in business.  Probably the worst servers and burgers anywhere.

I was looking through projects happening in New York City and came across quite a few that would be improved upon if they looked like The Banks, and that's saying something.

 

Just think everyone, it could always be worse. We could be getting this.

 

^ thats not funny, it could happen here