Cincinnati City Council moved toward approval of a developer for a new concert venue at riverfront development The Banks yesterday — sort of.
After Hamilton County Commissioners voted to recommend a bid by MEMI, a subsidiary of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, to construct a $19 million, 4,000-seat venue there, Council’s Budget and Finance Committee, which includes all members of the city’s governing body, followed suit. MEMI was originally competing with Columbus-based PromoWest Productions and Los Angeles entertainment giant Live Nation, though Live Nation dropped out last month.
The hope is that the venue, which would host a number of local, regional and national acts on both indoor and outdoor stages, will pump a little more energy into The Banks, which has at times struggled to retain bar and restaurant tenants.
Both MEMI and PromoWest gave presentations before council committee yesterday. PromoWest’s featured a flashy, Rock-oriented video highlighting the company’s history developing music venues in Columbus and beyond. Its soundtrack, mostly music by Jack White, also contained something of a shot at the Joint Banks Steering Committee, which last month voted to recommend MEMI’s venue proposal.
PromoWest President and CEO Scott Stienecker said the group staffed by local government and business leaders asked “what a Jack White was” during a meeting around the project.
Despite Stienecker’s pitch, council opted for MEMI. The city and the county both like that MEMI’s proposal will take up the least amount of land, and that the group was the only local bidder. MEMI manages Riverbend Music Center, the PNC Pavilion and the Taft Theatre, as well as another venue in Huber Heights. Local labor politics may have also played into the selection. PromoWest generally doesn’t work with the local stage workers’ union, though Stienecker said the company would be willing to sit down and negotiate with them moving forward.
But MEMI’s nonprofit status means it will likely not pay property taxes on The Banks site — something that could cost taxpayers more than $2 million over the years. MEMI would also not be on the hook for the city’s admission tax, though it has indicated it will pay the roughly $300,000 a year the venue would generate via that tax.
Developer choice aside, there are some complications ahead. The council’s committee vote came despite the fact Mayor John Cranley did not refer the item to the committee, a procedural wrinkle that may mean the committee will need to vote on the project again.
It’s also a bit unclear where exactly the venue will be. The Cincinnati Bengals object to the originally proposed location — so-called lots 23 and 27 — in part because fans sometimes tailgate before games there. The team instead would like the venue to occupy nearby lot 24, which is currently set aside for residential development.
Last week, Councilman David Mann said the team, citing its convoluted contract with the city and county around its stadium, believes it has veto power over developments next to the facility. But Hamilton County Commission President Todd Portune says that’s not true.
The Bengals’ objections to the project site have raised ire.
“One option that we would have is to stop selectively enforcing the law where we arrest people in Bond Hill or Avondale with an open container and turn a blind eye to the thousands of people who do that around the Bengals stadium,” Councilman Chris Seelbach said in the committee meeting, suggesting the city fight fire with fire if the Bengals try to block the development.
But others expressed optimism that a deal could be reached. Tom Gabelman, the attorney representing Hamilton County on The Banks development, pointed out that the team didn’t stand in the way of an office building that GE built at The Banks. That building was taller than structures around the stadium are contractually allowed to be — one of the same issues facing the proposed music venue.
Portune, too, says that he’s not worried about the team.
“I feel pretty good about where we are with the Bengals on this,” he said.
Cincinnati City Council could potentially vote on final approval for MEMI’s bid as soon as this Wednesday — though the previously mentioned procedural snag could delay that by a week.
This article appears in Jun 6-13, 2018.