Thrusday, January 14, 1999
New partner adds clout for Levee developer
BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — Newport on the Levee, the entertainment/retail complex being developed next to the flood wall on Third Street, is moving to the fast track with a new development partner joining the mix.
Steiner + Associates of Columbus, Ohio, which began Newport on the Levee with the Oceanic Adventures Newport Aquarium and the 3-D IMAX theater, announced Wednesday a joint venture partnership with Excel Legacy Corp. of San Diego.
Excel Legacy, a developer and real estate management company, is a spinoff of Excel Realty Trust Inc. Excel Legacy has current projects totaling more than $1.5 billion involving retail, entertainment, office/industrial and hotels.
Steiner also announced Wednesday that American Multi-Cinema, Inc., will build the 21-screen megaplex theater that has been planned for Newport on the Levee for several months.
Barry Rosenberg, vice president of Steiner + Associates, said Wednesday that the partnership with Excel Legacy gives Steiner “the ability to move forward on the entire project.”
“Excel provides additional financing, but even more, it gives the project credibility in the marketplace,” Mr. Rosenberg said.
“Excel has a strong line of credit, and that tells prospective tenants of Newport on the Levee that we are serious about this project and can make things happen. This is an important move for us.”
Newport City Manager Phil Ciafardini said the city was pleased with the way the partnership and the entire project has come together.
“We went out on the limb financially to bring the aquarium to Newport, assuming it would be an economic generator,” he said. “It has been that and more. The city has also been fortunate in being able to work with first-class developers, and we are very impressed with Excel.”
The 21-screen AMC theater, an anchor of Newport on the Levee and the 10-acre, 400,000-square-foot Third Street entertainment district project, will offer customers the latest in movie viewing technology, according to Rick King, senior vice president for AMC's East Division.
The complex, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2000, will feature wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling screens with stadium seating featuring AMC's LoveSeats with retractable armrests and patented cup holders, and full digital sound systems.
This will be the largest first-run movie complex in Northern Kentucky, with 4,400 seats inside 85,000 square feet.
A 20-screen multiplex theater is planned by Regal Cinema for the sports/entertainment complex in Wilder at Ky. 9 and I-275, but Mr. Rosenberg said he did not anticipate any problems for the Newport cinemas.
“We will be a little over 6 miles away,” he said. “We'll probably go head-to-head with the Wilder cinema, showing most of the same films. But we will be the only place in this market to offer garage parking, an aquarium, and a open area where people can stroll and visit various shops and restaurants. This product will be very powerful.”
Mr. Rosenberg said the developer expects to begin construction on the rest of the Newport on the Levee project by March or April, with completion in late 2000.
The aquarium will open in May, and the 3-D IMAX theater will open in the fall of 1999.
“We also are working with Cameron Mitchell, a very successful restaurant owner in Columbus, to bring two restaurants to Newport on the Levee,” he said. “We do not have contracts yet, but we have a letter of commitment.”
Mr. Rosenberg said one of the restaurants would resemble Mr. Mitchell's Columbus Fish Market, a well-known Columbus seafood restaurant, and the other would be a diner-style business.
He also said Steiner has been working with several local and national retailers about opening some large and some small shops in the Levee project. Other restaurants are also in the planning stages but could not be identified.
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