County commission vote on Banks, Bengals deal expected this afternoon

Chris Wetterich Staff reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier

 

 

Hamilton County commissioners could vote on a deal today that would pave the way for construction of the next phase of the Banks and deal with the Cincinnati Bengals’ requests for contractually required repairs and upgrades to Paul Brown Stadium.

 

Commissioners will meet at 3:30 p.m. and are expected to go into executive session with a vote to follow.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/04/17/county-commission-vote-on-banks-bengals-deal.html

I think this is a good sign for GE at the Banks, it seems way more than coincidence that this deal came together so quickly a day before site selection bids are due.  The County/City seemed to be taking a slow track on the 8' height issue of the apartments until now.

 

Bengals, county agreement could pave way for GE

 

Cont

 

 

This was the most surprising thing to me in that article:

 

"An expanded weight room, which would move into space set aside should a professional soccer team ever come to Cincinnati. The Bengals would pay for the expansion, but they need county permission to make the changes."

 

That's the first I've heard about there being any consideration of MLS at Paul Brown Stadium. 

Oakley putting best foot forward to land GE

Tom Demeropolis Reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier

 

 

When General Electric Co. announced it will bring 1,400 new jobs to Greater Cincinnati last week, three locations emerged as likely contenders: the Banks, Oakley and Mason.

 

The obvious site in Oakley is Oakley Station, a 74-acre mixed-use development along the Interstate 71 corridor.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/04/17/oakley-putting-best-foot-forward-to-land-ge.html

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2014/04/17/bengals-county-reach-major-deal-banks/7833975/

 

I wonder how many stories this is. If anything we have a new high rise coming.

People don't understand how brilliant Mike Brown is.  He put that stuff in the lease back in 1996 and now 18 years later it became the precise bargaining chip he knew it could be. 

 

I have to admit it's pretty exciting to imagine that this time next year we could see two big new buildings rising on The Banks.

 

Not only did the Bengals convince the county to pay for a bunch of stuff, but they got the Bengals' Executive Vice President named to The Banks steering committee. So they will continue to have a say on all future development at The Banks.

So one article says it's Oakley. The other has it at The Banks. It will be interesting to see how this plays out - the city wins either way, but it would be advantageous to have them in a centralized location at The Banks.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2014/04/17/bengals-county-reach-major-deal-banks/7833975/

 

I wonder how many stories this is. If anything we have a new high rise coming.

 

12-14 stories according to the article

^^^ I am cautiously optimistic GE will go to the Banks now that this deal is done.  It is not often 1,400 to 2,000 jobs new to a region come along so this would be huge and continue the momentum in our downtown.  Regardless of where they will go this is still good news for all of Cincinnati, and the fact the GE guided the state here is positive news and should send a nice message to other prospective employers.

People don't understand how brilliant Mike Brown is.  He put that stuff in the lease back in 1996 and now 18 years later it became the precise bargaining chip he knew it could be. 

 

I have to admit it's pretty exciting to imagine that this time next year we could see two big new buildings rising on The Banks.

 

Not only did the Bengals convince the county to pay for a bunch of stuff, but they got the Bengals' Executive Vice President named to The Banks steering committee. So they will continue to have a say on all future development at The Banks.

 

Interesting.  "The Banks" as we know it didn't organize until 1998 or 1999, so several years after the Bengals signed their lease with the county. 

 

I think this is a reference to Katie Blackburn, who was added with negotiations finalized today.  It was nice of Castelini to pull in a Bengals contact.

So one article says it's Oakley. The other has it at The Banks. It will be interesting to see how this plays out - the city wins either way, but it would be advantageous to have them in a centralized location at The Banks.

 

Even people who live in oakley should be pulling for GE to land at The banks location.  Oakley will be just fine without GE.  Our region wins if it's at The Banks.

I'm not worried at all about the hotel, the market will dictate when it is built.  In the meantime, I am more than happy to see older buildings downtown turned into hotels and would much rather see the former Terrace Plaza re-opened before a hotel at The Banks.

 

Obstacles cleared for apartments, GE at the Banks ... But where’s the hotel?

Chris Wetterich Staff reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier

 

 

Now that Hamilton County and the Bengals have struck a deal to allow construction of nearly 300 apartments and a potential development of a General Electric office tower, attention is turning back to a missing piece of the development – a hotel.

 

Tom Gabelman, a Frost Brown Todd attorney who has worked on the Banks project from its inception, said Thursday he believes there could be two hotels at the project – one in the vacant pad across from Great American Ballpark and another on the western second phase near Paul Brown Stadium.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/04/17/obstacles-cleared-for-apartments-ge-at-the-banks.html

A hotel would be nice (along with GE) to ensure more people are there on nights and weekends.  GE would ensure people are there during the weekday, so it'd be a nice mix where people would be constantly at The Banks.  The apartments help with this as well.

I definitely agree with that assessment. I'd rather see existing underutilized buildings taken care of and occupied before building new buildings for the same function. I just wish the pad where the hotel would go in Phase I wasn't so ugly.

 

Does anyone know what the goal is for the townhomes along the event lawn? The condo market appears to be doing pretty well right now in Downtown and it would seem like it would be a good time to build those.

I'm not worried at all about the hotel, the market will dictate when it is built.  In the meantime, I am more than happy to see older buildings downtown turned into hotels and would much rather see the former Terrace Plaza re-opened before a hotel at The Banks.

 

 

I completely agree.  I am curious about the townhomes along the Schmidlapp Event Lawn though.  I would really love to see those filled in with unique designs for each townhome.  I know that's highly unlikely, but if the big-money buyers are out there...they might be wooed by a little freedom in their design.

Does anyone know what the goal is for the townhomes along the event lawn? The condo market appears to be doing pretty well right now in Downtown and it would seem like it would be a good time to build those.

 

Hah!  Great minds think alike.  PS - Welcome to the neighborhood.

It appears they do haha.

 

But you're right, it would be nice if these townhomes weren't generic but rather architecturally significant. It's such a prominent location and the owners will obviously have money so might as well make them unique.

I'm not worried at all about the hotel, the market will dictate when it is built.  In the meantime, I am more than happy to see older buildings downtown turned into hotels and would much rather see the former Terrace Plaza re-opened before a hotel at The Banks.

 

 

I completely agree.  I am curious about the townhomes along the Schmidlapp Event Lawn though.  I would really love to see those filled in with unique designs for each townhome.  I know that's highly unlikely, but if the big-money buyers are out there...they might be wooed by a little freedom in their design.

 

I agree completely.  Would be nice to see custom homes in various styles, especially something with some energy and some color.  I don't know who decided that The Banks should look like a docker's pants rack. 

 

People seem to be terrified of color here which is a shame because it can really liven up an area when it is filled with a variety of colors. In an ideal world these plots for the townhomes would be sold to buyers who could select their own architects who would follow a loose guideline of massing but allow for any style to exist within that space. If they end up just looking like a shorter version of the Phase I buildings that'll be a huge disappointment.

It seems like there'd be very little privacy at the townhouses fronting the event lawn.  Who would want to live at ground level in that type of environment?

I'm not worried at all about the hotel, the market will dictate when it is built.  In the meantime, I am more than happy to see older buildings downtown turned into hotels and would much rather see the former Terrace Plaza re-opened before a hotel at The Banks.

 

I completely agree.  I am curious about the townhomes along the Schmidlapp Event Lawn though.  I would really love to see those filled in with unique designs for each townhome.  I know that's highly unlikely, but if the big-money buyers are out there...they might be wooed by a little freedom in their design.

 

I agree completely.  Would be nice to see custom homes in various styles, especially something with some energy and some color.  I don't know who decided that The Banks should look like a docker's pants rack.

 

I find it helpful to view all this new construction as transitional.  This is how the re-population of certain urban areas gets started.  Soon (I hope) these developments will become so typical that developers will eventually have to start distinguishing themselves on design.  This kind of happened in some of the 3CDC developments, which oftentimes had very bland, cookie-cutter interiors, but which the Mottonai developers really did a good job of distinguishing their building.

To me that seems like such an odd spot for town homes and I have no clue (I'm also not an architect) on how you fit them architecturally into the existing area. I just think that they will look odd in that area no matter how they are designed.

For the townhomes, I think you just raise the main living spaces off ground level, like this:

 

As for the office tower, I think someone asked; this is what 400,000 sf looks like on a (probably) similar floor plate:

Wow.  Can we just steal that design for the tower?  Cincy needs a glass slipper.

My issue with the town homes, if I were a buyer, isn't that the lots face a busy public space, but rather that the back courtyards of the homes, if there are any, will be in a very ugly space with those cheap apartments overlooking them.  There won't be any big trees providing cover for 40 years.  I think the whole reason why you go for a walk-up home rather than living in a condo hi-rise is that you value having your own basement space for hobbies and a back yard of some sort.  Even if it's very small, like only 10 feet back from the rear of the building, a small outdoor area that is utilitarian and decorative is a big deal. 

Banks’ building height deal about preserving river view

Bowdeya Tweh 12:17 a.m. EDT April 19, 2014

 

 

The way Cincinnati looks to the nation could change now that height limits have been lifted at The Banks for a proposed General Electric office building.

 

Height limits have been in effect at the riverfront development since 1998 as a way to preserve the city’s skyline and protect views of Downtown from Paul Brown Stadium.

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/04/19/banks-building-height-deal-preserving-river-view/7900553/

Bengals to GE: Be our neighbor at The Banks

Sharon Coolidge, [email protected] 2:17 p.m. EDT April 18, 2014

 

 

Bengals president Mike Brown has a message for General Electric's CEO: Please come to The Banks.

 

In a letter obtained by the Enquirer, Brown touts the riverfront development as the best location for GE's new office, which could employ up to 2,000.

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/04/18/bengals-ge-neighbor-banks/7872387/

Even if GE doesn't come to the Banks, the prospect seems to have kicked Mike Brown in the pants to let Phase 2 happen. Though he's surely getting something out of this that perhaps he didn't have before. Maybe it's the spot on the steering committee, though it hardly seems like he's needed that to throw his weight around. I wonder what's in it for him if GE chooses the Banks.

Even if GE doesn't come to the Banks, the prospect seems to have kicked Mike Brown in the pants to let Phase 2 happen. Though he's surely getting something out of this that perhaps he didn't have before. Maybe it's the spot on the steering committee, though it hardly seems like he's needed that to throw his weight around. I wonder what's in it for him if GE chooses the Banks.

 

At the very least, a couple of thousand new people moving to the Tri-state means more potential ticket buyers.

I think it's ridiculous that people would complain about preserving the skyline.  Last time I checked, The Banks is part of downtown and not a separate entity.  They treat it as if downtown is babysitting a child.  Skylines change.  Deal with it.

^ It's not really about "preserving the skyline" it's about neighboring tenants and building owners not wanting their view of the river obstructed.  I believe that's a big reason nothing's happened in the empty lots near the Purple People Bridge.  Neighbors complain, they swamp zoning hearings, they say "we were here first so we're more important" etc. to try to maintain the status quo.

Even if GE doesn't come to the Banks, the prospect seems to have kicked Mike Brown in the pants to let Phase 2 happen. Though he's surely getting something out of this that perhaps he didn't have before. Maybe it's the spot on the steering committee, though it hardly seems like he's needed that to throw his weight around. I wonder what's in it for him if GE chooses the Banks.

 

At the very least, a couple of thousand new people moving to the Tri-state means more potential ticket buyers.

 

If that's the reason, then fans did a really good job by breaking the long sell-out streak. I always figured that happened because fans simply were fed up w/ Brown. (Failure to win play-offs had something to do with it too (and isn't totally unrelated), but there was clear improvement with the team's performance while ticket sales dropped.)

 

Never seemed like MB cared too much about ticket sales or team performance, though.

Townhomes Removed from Development Plan for The Banks

By Randy A. Simes ― April 23, 2014

 

 

Hamilton County leaders announced last Thursday that they had struck a deal with the Cincinnati Bengals regarding a number of issues pertaining to the county’s stadium contract with the team.

 

The biggest component of that new agreement is that the Bengals will waive their veto right over the heights of buildings at The Banks. This clause in the stadium deal, signed in 1997, delayed the start of construction of Phase IIA work at The Banks by more than a year, and posed a significant risk to the City of Cincinnati in its efforts to lure General Electric and its new Global Operations Center to the central riverfront.

 

http://www.urbancincy.com/2014/04/townhomes-at-the-banks-have-been-removed-from-development-plans/

Townhomes Removed from Development Plan for The Banks

By Randy A. Simes ― April 23, 2014

 

 

Hamilton County leaders announced last Thursday that they had struck a deal with the Cincinnati Bengals regarding a number of issues pertaining to the county’s stadium contract with the team.

 

The biggest component of that new agreement is that the Bengals will waive their veto right over the heights of buildings at The Banks. This clause in the stadium deal, signed in 1997, delayed the start of construction of Phase IIA work at The Banks by more than a year, and posed a significant risk to the City of Cincinnati in its efforts to lure General Electric and its new Global Operations Center to the central riverfront.

 

http://www.urbancincy.com/2014/04/townhomes-at-the-banks-have-been-removed-from-development-plans/

 

Good.  I never understood this component.

Supposedly the smaller lot size available for the hotel was something that was holding a hotel chain from committing at the site... if this is made available to a hotel developer and they can add some square footage/ more rooms then they can meet their profitability expectations.

 

Filling that really awkward concrete pad right outside GABP will be great when it happens.  As of now it creates a very unwelcoming feeling.

 

 

This is good news. I think the hotel will make much better use for that space than trying to squeeze in a few townhouses. The hotel could use that space for a ballroom, restaurant, gym... and hopefully the roof could provide some nice outdoor space for a pool and patio. That'll make the hotel much better for events/conferences/weddings.

 

The apartments currently have a pool/patio that is just 1 floor above ground. I hope that doesn't mean that the hotel won't be allowed to build anything taller than 1 level in that space? 

Does anybody know when they will start construction on phase 2.  I heard this Monday

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/04/25/phase-2-of-the-banks-ready-for-construction.html

 

It's Monday. 

Seems like the height restrictions really were holding things up, and the GE site competition forced a resolution. Wonder how long we'd be waiting for construction to start without GE.

Construction activity resumes at The Banks

Construction work begins on the next phase of The Banks riverfront development and officials are planning to host a groundbreaking ceremony next week.

 

Construction on the next phase of development projects at The Banks started Monday and city and county officials are planning to host a groundbreaking ceremony next week.

 

Despite the wet weather, crews started below street-level work to prepare for above-ground construction, said Libby Korosec, a spokesman for The Banks' development team. This week, site activity is expected to include mobilizing work crews, installing fences and conducting select demolition. A joint venture of two Atlanta-based companies Carter and the Dawson Co. serves at The Banks' master developer.

 

Activity is being done as part of what developers are calling "Phase IIA" on the block bounded by Rosa Parks to Race Street and between Freedom Way and Second Street. The project calls for building a nine-story building featuring 291, one- and two-bedroom apartments with about 20,000 square feet of lower level retail space.

 

Cont

Did anybody go  to the groundbreaking today. Any pics

 

Mayor: Banks phase 2a groundbreaking proves ‘Cincinnati is on the rise’

Chris Wetterich Staff reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier

 

 

The state of the Banks 10 years ago, when it was an empty dustbin on the riverfront, was foremost on the mind of elected officials and those in the private sector as they celebrated the groundbreaking on the second phase of the riverfront project.

 

“It was a living symbol of how we couldn’t get things done,” said Cincinnati Reds CEO Bob Castellini, who leads the Banks Working Group, which paved the way for the project to go forward by striking a deal between Cincinnati and Hamilton County to resolve their differences.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/05/06/banks-phase-2a-groundbreaking-proves-cincinnati-is.html

 

Does anybody know if the parking deck at 435 Pete Rose Way could support additional construction on top of the deck? It seems ideal for office uses: a large footprint, excellent riverfront views, and high visibility from the highway. And it happens to sit on top of a parking deck that is empty most days, except during special events. A few floors of office would make the structure look much more "complete" aesthetically, and it would bring some nice foot traffic to that area, which is pretty quiet outside of game days.  The structure is owned by Hamilton County and was built in 2000. I tried to find articles from back when it was first constructed to see if the County had the foresight to think about future expansion... but I couldn't find any thing. I wish the term "The Banks" included the whole area along the riverfront between the I-75 and I-471 bridges. There's so much potential for more activity (office, residential, retail, entertainment) along the riverfront.

No I don't believe that it was built with any provision for a tower.  Also One Lytle Place is right next door but it always feels dead due to its design.  The condo towers that were planned for the Montgomery Inn Banquet Center property in the late 2000s would have done much to liven up the area. 

Also One Lytle Place is right next door but it always feels dead due to its design.

 

It does amaze me that with 231 apartments in Lytle and an arena next door, a divey bar can't even make it at the foot of that parking garage.

When you're in New York spend some time around the high-rise public housing blocks in Harlem and elsewhere.  It's often amazingly dead after about 9pm, despite 50,000 people living within a half-mile radius.   

That parking lot definitely doesn't sit empty.  There are quite a few monthly parkers in it.  That area is just so segregated from the rest of the banks and downtown because of the highway.  It doesn't feel connected at all.

Looks like we might see the crane going up this weekend. They were assembling the mobile crane today and several pieces of the tower crane arrived this afternoon.

Tower crane is going up this morning. Too foggy to be able to photograph.