The Banks Steering Committee unanimously approved on Thursday the construction of a $29.3 million public parking garage as part of the mixed-use development project’s third phase.
The structure will contain 690 parking spaces and be located on the lot directly south of General Electric’s U.S. Global Operations Center and a new apartment complex currently under construction.
Tax increment finance bonds from phases I and II of development will cover $22 million of the cost. The remaining $7 million comes from the state of Ohio.
When the parking infrastructure is complete, there will be room for 320,000 to 400,000 square feet of private development above the garage.
“The stakeholders come first,” said Phil Beck, project executive of the Banks who leads the public part of the development for the city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. “As project planners, we’re not going to just bull through this thing.”
Katie Blackburn, executive vice president of the Bengals, said she worried about fans having a place to tailgate before home games now that the lot will be developed.
“It’s tough on our fans,” she said. “We continue to look for opportunities so that we’re not displacing our tailgaters.”