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Building Up: The Banks Project

Cincinnati, OH (January 29, 2009) – Despite recent cold temperatures, construction continues on The Banks with the installation of the project’s first above-ground structures – columns that will support the intermediate garage slab and roadway above. Other progress includes:

Schedule

• Summer Start Date of Private Development
  Construction on the apartment buildings and retail, which will sit atop the public garage, will begin in June 2009. Phase 1A will include a minimum of 300 apartments and 70,000 square feet of retail.
• Approval of Bid Package #5
  Hamilton County Commissioners accepted a $5.7 million bid on the fifth of eight bid packages for Phase 1 work. The bid comes in under the county’s estimate of $8.5 million, in keeping with the four prior bid packages that also came in under estimate. Bid Package 5 includes work on the garage’s concrete structure.
• Advertising of Bid Package # 7
  The County will open bids for the street grid work at 11 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 12. Bid Package 7 will construct two blocks of the Freedom Way concrete structural deck, the electrical duct bank, and the roadway and sidewalk overlay. Bid packages 6 and 8 still remain for Phase 1A.

Inclusion

• Continued High Inclusion Rates
  The Banks Project has committed to obtaining a disadvantaged business enterprise participation of 8 percent for contracts funded by the Federal Highway Administration and The Ohio Department of Transportation. Bid Package 5, which is a partially FHA/ODOT funded contract, is tracking at 10.8 percent, 2.8 percent over target inclusion rate. Small business enterprise participation remains at 34.8 percent, which is 4.8 percent over goal.

Budget

• Budget Finalized
  Budget for the public infrastructure portion of Phase 1 of the project was presented to the Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners and Cincinnati City Council this week. The total cost now stands at $90.8 million. Changes from the conceptual estimates include value recognized from the team’s value analysis efforts. Most increases are a result of increased utility requirements and moving some street grid scope from Phase 2 to Phase 1.

Master Development Plan

• The city manager and county administrator received a resolution calling for a "first-class" 120- to 200-room hotel to replace 60 of the 100 proposed condominium units in the block next to Great American Ball Park. This change is driven by market interest.

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