By Sue Kiesewetter
Enquirer contributor

FAIRFIELD - City officials eager to see a transformed, revitalized Forest Fair Mall have approved a tax break and other help for the development group, Cincinnati Mills.

Fairfield City Council approved Monday night creation of a tax increment-financing district that includes the entire mall area in the cities of Fairfield and Forest Park. Under the agreement, the Arlington, Va.-based Mills Corp. will get a 30-year, 100 percent property tax abatement.

"Cincinnati Mills is by far the best hope the Forest Fair Mall has in making it go,'' said Councilman Mark Scharringhausen.

Since its 1989 opening, the 1.8-million-square-foot mall that straddles the Hamilton-Butler county line has had financial difficulties and struggled to keep space leased.

Between $80 million and $90 million will be spent improving the mall by the time renovations are finished, said Dennis Connolly, vice president and senior development director for Cincinnati Mills.

The TIF agreement allows taxes normally paid on the property to be put in a special fund to pay for improvements. That fund will be used to pay off about $18 million of bonds that will be issued by the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority to pay for improvements.

Those improvements include the parking lot and road circling the mall.

Plans call for upgrades to lighting in parking areas and the garage; security system, including cameras in key parking areas; and flood control retention basins, Connolly said.

The agreement has the approval of the cities of Forest Park and Cincinnati; as well as the Fairfield, Winton Woods and Northwest Local boards of education and Hamilton County commissioners.

Once the mall reopens shoppers will find a center court made to feel like a Main Street with themed wings taking on the feel of "neighborhoods," each with its own retail or entertainment offerings.