More than two years ago, Downtown Cincinnati Inc. developed a series of goals to improve office occupancy rates, spur housing development and attract unique shops.

        Now, the downtown advocacy group has released a report indicating that it largely met those goals, but it concedes that the city needs more than a $1.2 billion riverfront investment to make it a vibrant, all-hours city that attracts workers, tourists and locals.

        According to DCI:

        • It set out in 1998 to reduce vacant downtown office space by 300,000 square feet and trim the vacancy rate of 9.4 percent. So far, vacant space has declined 376,000 square feet, and the vacancy rate has dropped below 6.5 percent. Yet lease rates haven't increased enough to justify building another office tower.

        • Downtown retail vacancy rates plummeted from 16 percent in 1998 to less than 5.7 percent. That's ahead of the group's goal, yet some of the city's best and most unique retailers, such as Batsakes Hat Shop, have struggled to stay open under the city's policies. And it took a generous package of city incentives to persuade Nordstrom to occupy a vacant space at Fifth and Race streets.

        • The group helped small property owners convert older buildings into residential units, and it's meeting a goal to help increase the number of apartments and condos downtown by 50 percent.

        An average of 96 units were added in the last three years, compared with 50 new units each year from 1992 to 1997. Yet Cincinnati is just beginning to hook on to a national trend of people returning downtown to live, while cities such as Indianapolis and Denver are adding residential units at a much faster rate.

        DCI plans to show its progress report as soon as this week to Cincinnati City Council, which passed an ordinance creating a special assessment district of downtown property owners to help fund DCI. The special district expires in 2001.

        “When I got involved in this job six years ago, it was like selling a distressed project,” said David Ginsburg, a DCI staffer who helps recruit retail and office development. “Now we're marketing downtown from a very different vantage point.”

        It helps that Hamilton County and Cincinnati helped fund a $1.2 billion riverfront that will include Paul Brown Stadium, the Great American Ball Park, Fort Washington Way and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Spanning the two sports stadiums is to be development of shops, restaurants and condos known as The Banks.

        Other developments that will tap public funding sources include the Nordstrom store and a proposed $335 million expansion of the Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center.

        “This isn't an old, worn-out downtown that people experienced in the 1980s,” said Rick Greiwe, president and chief executive office of DCI. “It's a new downtown transforming the region.”

        But it's also changing at a slow pace with a political battle at every turn, according to downtown business leaders.

        “Every project becomes a guerrilla war,” said Arn Bortz, the city's former mayor and now a partner of Towne Properties.

        Mr. Bortz advocates creating a downtown plan to help guide development and fend off future political battles. The city's planning staff has requested money for the 2001 budget to create a master plan for downtown and citywide, but there's no guarantee that money will be approved.

        “We must set higher standards for ourselves, or we risk becoming a third-rate city,” Mr. Bortz said.

        That's because other areas are taking advantage of national trends that are spurring downtown revivals from Charlotte, N.C., to San Diego and dozens of cities in between.

        “Places that are going to succeed or fail are supporting the creation of interesting places to be,” said Gregg Logan, managing director of Robert Charles Lesser & Co., a residential consulting firm in Atlanta. “It doesn't have a lot to do with whether they are building a stadium. People want to walk to restaurants, walk to parks or get on public transit.”

        Three factors are driving downtown revivals, Mr. Logan said:

        • Aging baby boomers who no longer have children living at home are seeking smaller residences like apartments and condominiums that are closer to arts and cultural attractions.

        • Younger people who work for dot-coms or other high-tech companies are choosing downtown apartments over the suburbs. These companies often cluster along a certain area, like Cincinnati's Main Street, to support one another and share ideas.

        • Governments are shaping public policy that recognizes the importance of developing downtown through subsidies and scrutinizing highway extensions that favor suburban development.

        Included in DCI's goals were efforts to tell people about how downtown Cincinnati is changing. For instance, the group sought to inform people of different ways to get to downtown, such as public transit.

        But the survey also showed that people still think it's a hassle to get to and park in downtown. In fact, fewer people now think there are enough parking spaces downtown than in 1998.

        “We have to do a better job of letting people know there are more spaces,” Mr. Greiwe said.

A billion later, Downtown still isn't healthy
Downtown Cincinnati Inc. cites progress