News

Banks Project Meets Major Milestones

Groundbreaking Expected this Spring

Cincinnati, OH and Atlanta, GA (January 22, 2008) –The City of Cincinnati, Hamilton County and Banks development team of Carter and The Dawson Company announced today that several development agreement contingencies have been met and a Spring 2008 groundbreaking is clearly in sight.

"We are moving closer to completing the vision for a developed riverfront, an expanded downtown and a stronger, more vibrant county and region," said Todd Portune, Hamilton County Commission President.

"Building the Banks is a going to be a long process," Mayor Mark Mallory said. "I am pleased with the progress that is being made daily and remain completely committed to ensuring that the final development is something that everyone is excited to visit."

The major milestones met include several contingency items by the City and the County:

• The National Underground Freedom Center's interest in Lot 7 of the Banks. The city, county and the Freedom Center entered into an agreement last Friday in which the Freedom Center released its interest in the land in front of its building.
• Establishment of two Community Entertainment Districts. These districts were established by a resolution of City Council on January 9, 2008. The districts will allow the Banks to attract more places for people to eat, drink and have fun by increasing the number of Banks proprietors that may be able to sell liquor.
• Establishment of Tax Increment Financing. An amendment to the TIF district legislation was passed by Cincinnati City Council on November 1, 2007 that finalizes the provisions the Banks project needs allows much of the projects' collected taxes to be "reinvested" in the project, helping to fund the development.

Additionally, on Thursday, January 24, the City and County will jointly release the first Request for Qualifications under the Banks Agreement. It is for consulting services from firms with specialized qualifications in inclusion outreach in connection with the implementation of the "Joint Policy for Small Business Enterprise, Economic Inclusion and Workforce Development." The City, County and Developer are expected to release the site preparation/demolition bid package in February and are meeting weekly to advance the design and construction schedule for both the public infrastructure and the mixed-use development.

The development team of Carter and The Dawson Company provided the City and County with a status report on the Phase 1A financing, another milestone, which includes:

• Securing preliminary financing commitments from three major local banks helping to meet the development team's goal of utilizing local banks in the construction financing process. The developer also obtained letters of interest from several non-local banks.
• Engaged several equity partners to secure preliminary commitments for additional equity participation in the Banks project in addition to Carter/Dawson's investment.

"We've received the required preliminary financing commitments from local lenders for the construction financing and we've received tremendous response from the equity market, particularly given the time of year," said Trent Germano, vice chairman at Carter. "We do not anticipate any problems securing the remaining preliminary commitments from equity investors. This is a great project and we're getting keen interest, it just takes time for the process to work."

The developer also reported excellent activity and interest in regards to retail and office leasing.

The city and county have granted the development team until February 29, 2008, to secure commitments from lenders and equity investors. The city and county will review the developer's progress report and determine any additional next steps.

"We set aggressive timelines in the agreement, and we're pleased with the progress the development team has made." said Bob Castellini, Banks Working Group chairman.