By Patrick Crowley
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FRANKFORT - Bellevue riverfront development got a boost but a major retail project in Crestview Hills suffered a setback during a meeting Monday of a state government finance panel.

The Kentucky Private Activity Bond Allocation Committee approved a $24 million Industrial Revenue Bond issue for Harbor Greene, a mixed-use residential, retail and office development planned for Bellevue's riverfront.

The bonds will be issued by the city but the developer - Cincinnati-based Ackermann Group - is responsible for paying them off.

The project will be built on the eastern edge of Port Bellevue, a project along Fairfield Avenue. It is roughly double the size that was originally proposed by Ackerman and will include:

• 109 condominiums selling for $350,000 to $1 million.

• 90,000 square feet of office space and 15,000 square feet of retail space.

• A 45,000-square-foot Gold's Gym fitness center.

Work will begin later in the spring, with the first condos opening in about a year, said John R. Wendt, a partner in the development group.

"We're not changing the old-town feel of Bellevue," Wendt said. "We're adding to it."

Meanwhile, the $100 million redevelopment of the nearly vacant Crestview Hills Mall was delayed.

The committee tabled a vote on the mall's bond development financing package after Kenton County Judge-executive Ralph Drees raised concerns.

Drees said he was concerned the Kenton County School District, the Kenton County Library Board and other taxing districts would miss out on as much as $11 million in tax revenue over the 20-year life of the mall's bond issue.

Under the bond issue, the mall's developer - Jeffrey Anderson of Cincinnati - would not pay property taxes to those various taxing entities. But through an accord with Crestview Hills, Anderson has agreed to pay the more than $5.1 million over 20 years.

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E-mail pcrowley@enquirer.com