Friday, March 03, 2000
Parking garages: Third St. or riverfront?
BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Some of Cincinnati's biggest names in business and development stand to gain if Hamilton County commissioners decide to build new garages along Third Street.
Western-Southern Life Insurance Co. and Carl H. Lindner's Dixie Terminal Corp. and American Financial Group own two prime development spots along Third Street.
Another site is south of the old McAlpin's building being de veloped by Madison Marquette, the firm that brought Tiffany & Co. to town. A fourth is a spot that development powerhouse Duke-Weeks Realty Corp. has been eyeing for a new office tower.
Hamilton County Commissioners Bob Bedinghaus and Tom Neyer Jr. said they support the idea as long as the price is right. They expect the county to request parking proposals from developers this month. That will give them a better idea of how much garages would cost, either on the riverfront or along Third Street. Some of the developers have a better idea of the kind of office tower or retail space they want to build, and others have fuzzier visions.
“Some people got together and basically talked about some dreams. That's where a lot of this stuff came from,” said Myron Hughes, supervising development officer for the city of Cincinnati's Economic Development Department. Without the publicly funded parking, new office towers probably won't be built, said Ken Schuermann, senior vice president of Duke-Weeks Realty Corp. That's because developers can't charge enough rent for office space downtown to cover the costs of buying land, building parking and constructing the tower itself, he said.
The idea for building garages along Third Street came from the Riverfront Advisers Commission, the group appointed last year by the commissioners and Cincinnati City Council to figure out what should be built between the new Bengals stadium and new Reds ballpark.
Hamilton County already has $140 million budgeted for riverfront parking garages. About $17 million of that was to pay for two, above-ground parking garages near the Na
tional Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
Shifting some parking off the riverfront and onto Third Street would help bring new life to downtown's core with new office towers, housing or retail, the riverfront commission argued.
County commissioners must decide in the next six weeks for the commission's waterfront development plan called The Banks to survive, Commission Chairman Jack Rouse has said.
That's because if the parking isn't moved, the above-ground garages on the riverfront eat up too much space, he said.
The problem is that the Bengals, the Reds and Firstar Center all have agreements with the county that guarantee a certain number of parking spaces within a certain distance of the facilities.
All would have to be willing to amend their parking deals so spaces on Third Street would count in that number. None of them has ruled out the possibility, but no deals have been reached.
The Riverfront advisers highlighted specific sites along Third Street because the spots were within walking distance of the stadium and ballpark and because the sites would move the parking closer to downtown's core, said Norm Miller, director of the University of Cincinnati's real estate program and a member of the commission.
The parking could cost a bit more to build, he said, because the garages would have to be strong enough to support a tower on top. But the county also could charge more for the parking because it's closer to downtown, he said.
The commission then considered every spot along Third that was vacant or underused, he said.
Those sites and their owners or developers include:
• The block between Sycamore and Broadway streets. Western-Southern Life Insurance Co. owns most of the block and has had plans for 10 years to build the Queen City Square office complex. The company hopes to work with the city and the county on the project, said Herb Brown, company spokesman.
• The block between Vine and Walnut streets. The block is owned by Lindner-controlled companies Dixie Terminal Corp. and American Financial Group.
Company representatives did not return calls for this story. The advisory commission's plan labels possible development on the site “long term future,” and the area is not specifically recommended as a place for the county to build parking.
It was included in the report because it sits in a high-profile spot across from what will be the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, said Thomas Humes Jr., president of Great Traditions Land & Development Co. and a member of the commission.
• The western half of the block between Race and Vine streets. Developer Madison Marquette bought the old McAlpin's building and plans to develop two floors of shops and office or residential space on the upper levels.
The company is assembling other property on Fourth Street and won't try to assemble property along Third Street for months to come, said Rob Acker, Madison Marquette's development director.
But Madison Marquette told the county the firm would be open to some sort of parking collaboration along Third Street, Mr. Acker said.
• The southeast corner of the block between Elm and Race streets. Duke-Weeks Realty Corp. has for years talked about building an office tower next to the Enquirer Building at 312 Elm St. (The Enquirer is an equity partner in the Enquirer Building with Duke-Weeks.)
Mr. Schuermann said the company continues to consider the site, along with several others, for an office tower downtown.
He would not say whether Duke-Weeks has options to buy the property, which has several different owners.
Mr. Bedinghaus said he supports the idea of encouraging some new office buildings and noted the quality of the developers with sites along Third Street.
But he stressed that the county must first consider what the project will cost taxpayers.
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