ONE RIVER PLAZA
DOWNTOWN: Buoyed up by its success with the conversion of the Polk Building into 114 condos in downtown Cincinnati, Miller-Valentine Group has announced ambitious plans to build
150 more units on a three-acre tract immediately west of the Purple People pedestrian bridge that links Cincinnati and Newport.
The $100 million project, slated for completion in 2008, will stack the condominium units in
two towers - one nine stories tall and the other 12 stories - to provide the only Cincinnati view of the river that isn't blemished by a roadway, according to Doug Hine, president of Miller-Valentine Group.
Hine said the right-on-the-river view as well as the site's direct links to the park system that runs along the Ohio distinguish the site from other projects in the region. There's also an urban feel to the site with links to downtown, two restaurants that will be built at the site as well as the bridge to Newport.
"These are the things that make this project different," Hine said.
Prices will range from about $400,000 to $2.5 million, a spokeswoman for the company said.
Miller-Valentine plans to demolish the Montgomery Inn Banquet Center on Pete Rose Way to free the entire site for the project, which will be called One River Plaza.
The property is now controlled by the Gregory family, heirs of the late Ted Gregory, whose food and promotional savvy turned the Montgomery Inn and its barbecue sauce into one of Cincinnati's signature brands.
Miller-Valentine and the Gregory family will be partners in the venture.
A new development on the site was first discussed in October of 2003, when Evan Andrews, son-in-law of Gregory, announced plans for a splashy development on the site.
But a project that was compared to Newport on the Levee entertainment/retail complex at the south end of the bridge never materialized, clearing the way for a project that will be primarily residential with two restaurants on the site.
Hine said the strong market for condominiums in Park Place at Lytle, what had been the Polk Building, convinced that the company that there's still a strong demand for downtown condos despite evidence that the once-booming housing market is beginning to cool off.
"We're just completing construction this month and we have six left," said Hine, whose company created 114 units in the building at 400 Pike St. Prices in the Polk Building started at about $200,000 and topped out at about $1.6 million.
Hine said the company will be working with a list that has about 200 names of people who said they would be interested in new condo units but weren't interested in a building that was being converted for residential use.
http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs..../BIZ/608220344
OVATION
It's called "Ovation", but I call it "Cheese Graters". None the less, this is a huge project and of course development spurs development. We are creating a city on our riverfront and I am glad for people to finally take advantage of our "shoreline". People are naturally drawn to the water, and fortunately in this case our downtown in built on it!
The once dreary northwest corner of Newport would become the glitziest stretch of riverfront real estate in Greater Cincinnati if a developer can deliver on its vision.
[B]A riverfront amphitheater, a 3,000-seat Las Vegas-style showroom, high-rise office towers - one 25 stories tall - two hotels, a variety of retailers and more than 1,000 condominiums and townhouses are all part of the vision in a project estimated to cost at least
$600 million.
Covington-based Corporex, whose developments have already changed the Northern Kentucky riverfront over the last 20 years, was selected by the city of Newport Thursday to transform a
13.9-acre tract that had been devoted to subsidized housing for about 50 years.
One of the most striking features of the project, which Corporex calls
"Ovation," is a public amphitheater and park that would project out into the river.
The "community amphitheater" would include a "Sydney-type stage," said Debra A. Vicchiarelli, senior vice president of Corporex. She referred to the Sydney Opera House that seems to float on the harbor in Sydney, Australia.
The plan also calls for building a pedestrian bridge that would span the Licking River and link Corporex's "Ovation" with Riverside Drive in Covington's most exclusive neighborhood.
A groundbreaking could be held as early as next year if the city and Corporex can reach agreement quickly on a master developer agreement, a spokesman for the city said.
The site, at the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, provides a view of the rivers and virtually every significant building in downtown Cincinnati between the Taylor-Southgate and Suspension bridges.
Corporex CEO Bill Butler said the entire site, located behind an earthen floodwall, would be raised to take advantage of the view.
Newport announced its preliminary agreement about nine months after Corporex stunned the City of Cincinnati by withdrawing as the primary developer of The Banks, the long-delayed riverfront development project expected to have a final price tag of $600 million to $800 million.
Besides the 14-acre site that is controlled by Newport, the Corporex proposal would encompass another seven acres and require the acquisition of the TraveLodge motel at the foot of the Taylor-Southgate Bridge and the Riverchase Apartments on Riverboat Row.
An artist's rendering of the project shows that it would extend to Fifth Street, eliminating the island between Fourth and Fifth streets that is now occupied by Kentucky Motors.
There were no answers Thursday about how much public money will be budgeted for the project.
The federal government already has contributed $28.6 million in the form of a Hope VI grant that cleared the way for the city to relocate public housing tenants elsewhere in the city and then prepare the site for new development.
Corporex said five office buildings it plans to construct have the potential of attracting 5,000 new jobs to a city that has a population of about 17,000.
Newport officials declined to say which of the five firms that had submitted proposals for the site wound up as the second best choice.
No construction timetable was available Thursday. Both Corporex and the city said that the first task is to reach a master agreement on how the property will be used.
Butler, whose company created the bronze skyline in Covington with its RiverCenter office towers and hotels, said it usually takes at least six months to hammer out all of the details in a master agreement. But he said he thinks the process can be completed in four to six weeks.
Newport City Manager Tom Fromme said he believes the deal can be finalized by Oct. 1.
The Corporex/Butler reputation for getting things done might have been a deciding factor in Newport's decision.
"There were a number of good proposals, but we feel that Corporex has the ability to move forward quickly," Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli said.
Pressed for some kind of cost estimate for the project, Guidugli said the baseline figure is
"$600 million or more and it will grow."
Fromme said Corporex has a reputation for moving swiftly and that the company had solid ideas about "integrating the project into the city. Right now the city has no focal point."
Corporex has a commercial real estate portfolio of about 400 buildings, most of which are devoted to office, manufacturing and warehouse uses.
When asked if his company had tackled other projects that include retail uses, Butler's answer was characteristically succinct: "No. That's why we got one of the best companies in the country to work with us."
Corporex has partnered with Boorn Partners, which is headed by President John Boorn, the former CEO of Madison Marquette, a company that has developed high-end shopping complexes all over the country.
Current plans call for 114,000 square feet of small retail shops as well as another 88,000 square feet of space that could be used by anchor retailers in what is being called "Jubilee Circle."
One part of the Corporex proposal focuses on entertainment and lodging and would include the
3,000-seat showroom, a 476-room full-service hotel and a 168-room hotel that would have fewer amenities.
Privately held Corporex spun off its hotel division about two years ago to create Eagle Hospitality Properties, which now owns a dozen upscale hotels in Greater Cincinnati and elsewhere in the country. Butler is the board chairman of Eagle and one of the company's primary shareholders. Eagle would have the opportunity to build the upscale hotel in Ovation, Butler said.
Residential plans call for 60 single-family town homes that would follow the line of the floodwall as well as 48 town homes that would be built in four-story structures. The biggest residential element will be six buildings that will hold 726 condominium units.
Another 12-story building would include 192 units for senior citizens.
Condos and Townhouses under construction on the Riverfront:
TWAINES POINT
CAPTAINS WATCH
RIVERPOINTE
FOSTERS POINT