The Banks’ development team is rolling out a new website, logo and marketing materials to improve the mixed-use destination’s image among Cincinnatians and visitors.
The new website launched Friday, but the new designs made a public debut Tuesday.
The unveiling is happening as officials from the city of Cincinnati, Hamilton County and development team plan to host a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday afternoon to mark the completion of Radius, a nearly 300-unit apartment community with street-level retail space.
Figuring out how to brand the riverfront site has been one of the hardest challenges since project construction started.
Atlanta-based real estate developers team Carter & Associates and the Dawson Co. were named the site’s master developer in late 2007. Since that time, apartments, a museum, a park, and an eclectic mix of restaurants and bars have been sandwiched between two pro sports stadiums.
Dan McCarthy, the Cincinnati-based project executive for Carter USA, said the site deserves a unique brand because it caters to a variety of uses and has a prime location as the gateway to Southern Ohio. It took about a year for Carter and Nicol, owner and investor in projects at The Banks, to work with Atlanta-based Resource Branding & Design to choose a new logo and colors to be used throughout the site.
McCarthy said the Joint Banks Steering Committee, an independent panel that oversees site development, signed off the plans as well. Officials declined comment on how much it cost to develop the new marketing material. At the end of the day, McCarthy said the goal is to drive site visits.
“We have a lot of different people and stakeholders to satisfy,” said McCarthy, who has been in his role about a year. “We wanted a sophisticated look with a slightly nautical look to play on the river location.”
The Banks is now seeing construction on a variety of fronts – the $90 million General Electric Co.’s U.S. Global Operations Center, $35 million AC Hotel development, $29.3 million public project underway on Race Street and space build outs for new restaurant and entertainment tenants.
Public and private parties have spent nearly $2 billion along 195 acres of Cincinnati’s riverfront in the last two decades.
Jon Reischel, spokesman for The Banks’ development team, said the new logo speaks to the site’s development momentum. By year’s end, the site could double its residential population, feature hundreds of GE workers during the daytime and have a tenant that serves breakfast – Taste of Belgium.