Development at The Banks is a step closer to restarting. Cincinnati's Planning Commission signed off on an urban design plan update Friday morning.
The last thing built there was a bar and grill Filson’s, in 2022. Before that it was the Brady Music Center, which opened in 2021.
The Banks Urban Design Plan calls for more retail, residential and office space in towers, generally west of Vine Street. Consultants say they foresee enough residential units to house 3,000 people.
Design consultant Mark Kubaczyk with HR&A says there's also plans for another hotel. He says the existing AC Hotel is "overperforming."
“Tampa Bay, D.C., Atlanta — all of these have different stadium sports anchors. They introduce a hotel in Phase One. Usually Phase Two or Three, there’s another,” he says. “I think that there’s good national precedent for it in addition to the local analytics.”
The updated plan calls for the hotel to be built on Lot 13, just north of Paycor Stadium.
Kubaczyk wouldn't name companies but says they have talked with potential developers coming on board.
“We’ve had conversations, we’ve tested the idea. There’s a lot that they like. They have questions. They have concerns,” he says. “There is a marketing component to this; we want to make sure that both the plan, and any documents, and even any public messaging communicates the market opportunity that exists here.”
Kubaczyk says he expects to see one master developer working with partner companies to fill in the remaining five lots.
Kubaczyk says there have been discussions with developers, but nothing has been put up for bids yet.
One of the first Banks stakeholders says he’s concerned about who could be the new neighbors.
Woodrow Keown Jr. is the president and COO of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and says the museum has seen a lot come and go since 2004.
“We support the direction outlined in the current proposals,” Keown says. “We await to see further development of the canopy and landscaping that would cover Freedom Way and the lot in front of the Freedom Center, in hopes that those plans continue to respect the cultural heritage and intent of our space.”
The updated plan projects building a plaza in front of the Freedom Center. That would close Freedom Way between Vine and Walnut. But the plan calls for the section that is closed now, between Walnut and Main, to be reopened. That block, and other sections of Freedom Way, could be closed for special events, like Reds and Bengals home games.
Keown says one principle is “paramount.” He says an unobstructed view of the Ohio River is “essential.” He says the river once marked the line between enslavement and freedom.
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