A parking garage in downtown Cincinnati is coming down.
3CDC's Joe Rudemiller says the site at 6th and Elm, near the convention center, is part of a bigger plan.
“While there is the reimagined convention center, and the new hotel, and the garage, there’s a lot of opportunities for additional mixed-use developments in this area,” he says. “We think that this is a site that is prime to have a mixed-use development go on it once this garage comes down.”
The garage, and another at 6th and Plum, were purchased by The Port in 2019.
Rudemiller says the garage was old and not really needed. He says the 680 parking spaces in the garage won't be missed.
“It was losing its function. With the parking that we’ve added over the last few years we feel like there is plenty of parking available in the area,” he says. “So, while we’ll lose the spaces here, we think it’s going to be additive by adding another mixed-use development to just create that whole idea of a district and giving people other things to do while they’re at the convention center.”
Rudemiller says other nearby parking garages include those at 84.51° and the Whex garage, on 4th. That 780-space will be renovated as part of the convention center-headquarters hotel construction.
He says a mixed-use development will allow for bars and restaurants close to the convention center. Rudemiller says it's easy to get to Fountain Square, The Banks and Over-the-Rhine from there.
“I think the proximity to all those great amenities is something that’s really attracted the meeting planners. What we were missing was the modernized convention center, which is the critical piece. We have everything else surrounding it already lined up. And so upgrading this and adding that new hotel is going to be a true game changer.”
The renovated convention center opened last week. Site preparation work for the convention center headquarters hotel, a Marriott, has started. That hotel should be open by Summer 2028.
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