City dangles $20M for Broadway

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County says offer won't affect talks

Wednesday, April 8, 1998

BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati City Council on Tuesday offered $20 million in incentives to persuade Hamilton County and the Cincinnati Reds to build a ballpark on the site known as Broadway Commons.

Mayor Roxanne Qualls is joined, from left, by Commissioner John Dowlin, site advocate Jim Tarbell and Councilman Todd Portune. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

The move is the first specific attempt by the city to insert itself into the negotiations between the county and team and is designed to make council's preferred stadium location more attractive. But Hamilton County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus, who favors a riverfront ballpark, said the city's package will have no effect on negotiations.

"It seems to me they're interested in grabbing headlines more than solving the problem," he said. "The county and team are making very good progress."

The Reds also seemed unimpressed, offering this brief statement: "The Reds and Hamilton County continue to have positive negotiations. We are looking forward to working with the county to bring this issue to a positive conclusion."

City council endorsed Broadway Commons last year but has no direct say in where a new stadium gets built. The city may have the power to scuttle plans to build a ballpark on the riverfront, however.

The county and Reds are working on a deal for a stadium between The Crown coliseum and Cinergy Field. The success of the site, known as Baseball on Main or "The Wedge," depends on getting land freed up by the city's $146.9 million overhaul of Fort Washington Way. The city owns and hopes to control that land, and county leaders have worried that the city would use that as leverage, perhaps to try to get additional county funds for the Fort Washington Way project or other elements of riverfront development.

A similar showdown over city-controlled land threatened to scuttle the Bengals' $400.3 million stadium complex earlier this year.

The council members backing the incentives are: Mayor Roxanne Qualls, Democrats Todd Portune and Tyrone Yates, Charterite Bobbie Sterne and Republican Jeanette Cissell.

The inducements are offered in seven motions:

Abatement of taxes on the site for as many as 30 years. The city already has agreed to 20 years of abatements for any stadium site, but the additional 10 years could save the county a total of $14 million, Mr. Portune said.

The city granted a similar 30-year tax break for the Bengals stadium, but Mr. Portune said the city would not do that for any other baseball stadium site.

Waiver of all city permit fees for construction of a ballpark at Broadway. That's worth $1 million, Mr. Portune said.

Transfer of a small piece of city property on the site for $1.

A $5 million streetscaping and infrastructure improvement plan.

A plan for improved lighting in Over-the-Rhine and the streets that lead to and abut the Broadway Commons site.

A resolution encouraging the Cincinnati Park Board to commission a monument to baseball on the riverfront marking the exact site of Pete Rose's historic 4,192nd hit.

A requirement that the city manager must prepare an updated report on progress toward an Over-the-Rhine master plan.

"We are putting our money where our mouth has been," said Mr. Portune, who assembled the five council votes necessary to offer the incentives.

Standing before a peeling ballpark facade at Broadway and Reading Road, Mr. Portune said he didn't want to talk about the city land, which he calls a "wild card" in the debate.

Rather, he wants to focus on what the city can do to make Broadway a more attractive option.

An enthousiastic Jim Tarbell speaks to the crowd at the Broadway Commons site. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

Ms. Qualls, Hamilton County Commissioner John Dowlin and Broadway booster Jim Tarbell took part in the announcement, saying they hope the inducements will tempt the team and county to Broadway. If the inducements don't work, Mr. Portune said, motions are drafted to withhold transfer of city-controlled land for a Wedge ballpark. He would not say whether he has support from any other council members for those measures, much less whether he has the support of a council majority to withhold the land.

Ms. Qualls said she would vote against transferring the land. Mr. Portune wouldn't comment on how he would vote on such a proposal. "That's an option we need to keep in play," Mr. Portune said of the land.

The city might not have that leverage to use. While the city owns the land that would be freed up by narrowing Fort Washington Way, the state has an easement to use the land for a highway and would have to give permission for the city or county to use the land for another purpose, city officials said.

Infographic Comparing stadium options

Sen. Lou Blessing, R-Colerain Township, said he doesn't think the state would give the city rights to the land under those circumstances. "We would let them use it for stadiums if they want," he said. "We're not going to give somebody another negotiating leverage tool."

Mr. Portune stressed he wants to focus on the "positive" city incentives instead of dwelling on the land issue.

Ms. Qualls said the motions show council has the "wherewithal" to back up its endorsement with action.

But Mrs. Cissell said her support of the motions is an effort to get a more complete airing of the pros and cons of the various options, and she isn't a fan of one site in particular.

Mr. Dowlin, the only county commissioner to endorse Broadway, said he hopes the city inducements will turn the debate around. "All of this should enable us to have this ballpark moved here," he said to a cheering crowd of Broadway backers.

But the county and Reds are negotiating exclusively to reach a deal for a new ballpark on The Wedge, Mr. Bedinghaus said.

Geoff Hobson contributed.

Stadium story list

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