By Ken Alltucker
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A development group seeking to promote safety and new housing, shops and transportation near the University of Cincinnati on Tuesday announced the hiring of a Bush administration official as its top executive.

Tony Brown will start March 1 as president and chief executive of the newly formed Uptown Consortium - a private, nonprofit group created by the five largest employers in the University district. The employers are the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, The Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati and TriHealth Inc.

Uptown Consortium's members have committed $1 million to study and create housing, retail, transportation and safety plans for the neighborhoods surrounding the university. The group hired New York consultant John Alschuler and his firm, Hamilton, Rabinovitz and Alschuler, to do the study.

Brown, who holds a master's degree from Xavier University, said he's "honored and excited to return to Cincinnati and work on neighborhood development."

Brown now serves as director of the U.S. Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. Through that position, he's managed $2.6 billion in cash and New Market Tax Credits awarded to banks, companies and other investors that build projects in distressed communities.

Many local firms are seeking to tap the tax credit program, which gives investors a 39 percent tax credit for investing in distressed communities. Last year, the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. arranged grant tax credit applications for $90 million in projects in Cincinnati's core. Brown's agency will evaluate those applications through a competitive bid process and announce recipients in April.

E-mail kalltucker@enquirer.com