By Gregory Korte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A proposed $12 million parking garage at Vine Street and Central Parkway will do more than keep the Kroger Co. downtown, City Manager Valerie Lemmie said Wednesday.

Aside from the 850-space garage that will serve Kroger's headquarters - and its 1,200 downtown workers - Lemmie touted the development potential the project will bring. Lemmie is proposing 20 to 50 units of condominiums on the Vine Street side of the parking deck.

"With housing, it's development. With park-ing, it's just a structure," she said. "This is a very critical corner. We could do a signature project here at the gateway of downtown and Over-the-Rhine."

Lemmie sent her report on the development - along with three ordinances for approval - to City Council Wednesday. City Council is scheduled to vote Sept. 10.

In addition to satisfying the daytime parking needs of Kroger, the parking deck would also serve adjacent destinations like the planned new Art Academy of Cincinnati, and the newly redeveloped housing along Central Parkway: the Hale-Justus Building, the Emery Building and the soon-to-be-completed American Building, supporters say.

And the addition of condominium units - not rentals, in keeping with the city's emphasis on home ownership - gives urban planners a "mixed-use" component to crow about.

"There's no question we've got to do this. It's an opportunity not just to solidify Kroger's presence downtown, but to bring some additional development to a corner where it's sorely needed," said Councilman James R. Tarbell.

Councilman Pat DeWine remained skeptical. "We are building a parking garage and spending $5 million or so extra to allow housing to be built on top of it - when we already have 800 vacant buildings in Over-the-Rhine."

Tarbell, who has been the city's biggest champion of redeveloping those vacant buildings, said DeWine misses the point.

"Whenever you add new product in the middle of an antique community, everything improves. Just look at the West End," he said.

The city has already narrowed the list of potential housing developers at the site to six. The parking agreement with Kroger allows the city to purchase about a third of the 1.5-acre site for housing for about $1 million.

The rest of the financial provisions are:

• Kroger would lease the site - which it bought this year for $3 million - to the city for $1 a year for 30 years. The construction will be completed by March 2005.

• The company would pay $510,000 a year toward the operating costs of the garage, in exchange for 850 spaces. If the city builds more than 900 spaces, Kroger will have the option to rent them at the market rate.

• If Kroger leaves town - or if its downtown employment falls below 850 for any reason - Kroger would pay off the remaining bonds and own the garage. At the end of 30 years, Kroger would own the garage outright.

City sketches released Wednesday show only a broad concept for the site - nine levels of parking facing Central Parkway, flanked by four levels of townhouse-style condos facing Vine Street. If City Council approves the deal, more specific renderings won't be available until design work is completed in October.

Senior managers at Kroger could not be reached for comment. Chairman Joseph A. Pichler said last week that he's prepared to move the headquarters out of Cincinnati if City Council reneges on a June agreement to build the garage.

Wednesday, no more than three sure "yes" votes could be counted on City Council, and Vice Mayor Alicia Reece said she would announce a competing plan for Kroger parking today.

E-mail gkorte@enquirer.com

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