The city of Cincinnati has offered $7.5 million to buy WCPO-TV Channel 9's downtown property and move the television station to another site within the city.

        The city wants the lot at Fifth Street and Central Avenue to push ahead with a $200 million expansion of the Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center.

        WCPO-TV general manager Bill Fee said he has “a lot of questions” that likely won't be answered before the city's deadline of Aug. 9.

        Channel 9 plans to request a meeting with key city officials to hash out details, such as the financing and timing, Mr. Fee said.

        “One of the things we have to do is look at similar acquisitions that have taken place in the city,” Mr. Fee said.

        The city offered $5.5 million to buy the 1.8-acre site., The Hamilton County Auditor's Office has assessed the property at $7.9 million.

        The offer includes another $2 million to offset Channel 9's relocation costs. But the money will be available only if the news station finds another site within city limits and relocates within 18 months after the signing of a purchase contract.

        The offer also includes several contingencies, including:

        Completion of a financing package for the convention center expansion from a countywide hotel tax increase, $16 million from area corporations and an undetermined sum from Delta Air Lines for naming rights.

        An agreement between the city and Hamilton County on the scope of the project and agreement on how to operate the city-owned center.

        Removal or proper handling of an underground fuel storage tank on the site.

        The city doesn't intend to seize the property through eminent domain and will withdraw the offer if negotiations are unsuccessful, Deputy City Manager Timothy Riordan said.

        Channel 9 seeks a new station that is twice as large as its 35,000-square-foot facility. It also wants a site at or near downtown with easy access to interstates for its news trucks.

        In addition to the WCPO site, the city must acquire a sliver of land along Interstate 75 that is controlled by the Ohio Department of Transportation.

        Planning for the long-anticipated expansion picked up steam after the General Assembly passed a bill that would allow Hamilton County and Cincinnati to increase hotel taxes to pay for expansion of the convention center.

        A task force of business leaders and tourism officials appointed by Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken rejected earlier plans to build the convention center over Interstate 75 or expand east past the Millennium Hotel.

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