City must rethink oversized role of 3CDC | Opinion

The proposed sale of the former Saks Fifth Avenue building downtown to the Center City Development Corp., or 3CDC, is a radical deviation from established city policy relating to disposal of publicly owned property. That is the first of many reasons to deny this half-baked proposal from the private developer.

According to Marc Von Allmen, a city development official, the city of Cincinnati's default method of disposing of public property is via request for proposal also known as an RFP. During an Aug. 9 community engagement session, Allmen explained the reason for deviating from this good government policy in 3CDC's case is because 3CDC's proposal for the site is "exceptional in a tough market." This justification is simply without merit and should be reason for summary denial of the proposal on the stated basis alone that 3CDC has no proposed user for a single square foot of this space, and the city is, therefore, proposing an inappropriate and highly speculative use of this specifically designed retail building into an awkward use as an office space, in an admittedly "tough market."

Now let’s examine the absolute lack of economic merits that the 3CDC proposal imposes upon our immediate neighborhood, the city, Hamilton County and even the state of Ohio via their request of a $2 million JobsOhio grant.

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First, let’s not forget that the city just spent $3 million of our neighborhood’s TIF (Tax Increment Finance) fund to regain control of the improvements of the Saks Fifth Avenue site (the city already owned the underlying land), and it’s honestly inexcusable that the original deal to land Saks in our Central Business District didn’t involve a "claw-back" feature in the event that they ceased operations, but that’s a story for another day. The city will not only have squandered this $3 million investment but will also lose title and control of the underlying land, just as they inexplicably were conned into doing a few years ago at the Macy’s site, directly across the street.

Next comes the damage to the county, as this initial proposal incorporates a 15-year tax abatement, as all 3CDC projects seem to attain (if not more). Being a keen observer of 3CDC projects over the past several years, the cynic in me imagines that this deal, like every recent 3CDC Central Business District project will employ The Port Authority as a "strawman" owner, that will forever remove this project from the county real estate tax roll (see The Whex garage and adjoining surface lot, for example of this harmful tactic).

Next let’s exam the completely inappropriate proposed use of this speculative office project that, at best, will just play musical chairs with an existing CBD tenant, likely a well-known law firm. 3CDC’s attempt to awkwardly force an office tenant into a 40,000-square-foot floorplate with limited glass and natural light is certainly not the highest and best use of this important corner, a mere block from the epicenter of our region, Fountain Square. Furthermore, given 3CDC’s recent designation as the "Convention Center District" czar, within which the subject property is prominently located, this proposed conversion to office space is an extraordinarily inappropriate use that will do absolutely nothing to provide energy, utility and function as the literal gateway to their newly coined "Convention Center District."

I have contemplated numerous potential programming applications for this site that will not only add utility to downtown residents but also conventioneers, hotel guests and casual visitors to our city and the prospect of a low-density office application and another 40,000-square-feet of street level restaurants and taverns is a non-starter. One only needs to look at the glut of vacant, street-level retail space on Race and 4th streets (mostly 3CDC-owned properties) and it becomes apparent to even a novice that this continuing over-saturation of this use is inappropriate and will not only remain vacant for ages but will also undermine existing businesses in the neighborhood that have been struggling for a very long time, mostly as a direct result of ill-advise, taxpayer-funded economic development initiatives.

And finally, 3CDC has a very poor record of physical building design and execution in this neighborhood that will continue with the proposed "vertical-sticks on a pair of stringers" design proposal. It’s a cheap, uninspired version of the renowned artist, Jullian Stanczak-designed façade of the 5th/3rd garage, titled "Additional" on East 6th Street, across from the Contemporary Arts Center. This design and likely poor execution relates to nothing in the immediate neighborhood and will further diminish this neighborhood's historically significant architectural integrity, just as their uber-cheap, bait-and-switched design of their long-delayed 4th and Race garage (Dryvit, residential tile-clad columns and steel-cabled parking retention systems in place of the promised glass façade shown in every single rendering and design review board presentation).

Just as I argued a few months ago with the ill-advise employment of our TIF for the 3CDC /Port Authority purchase of the Whex Garage, it is high time to pump the brakes on the colossal transfer of publicly owned real estate and treasury, and this can be the first step in the curtailment of this harmful experiment, that has resulted in the transfer of over $1 billion to private developer, 3CDC et al. I propose that the city not pursue this ill-advised project and instead open the opportunity to an open-market RFP that will certainly yield not only a higher use but also not further erode our county’s tax base nor diminish our city’s real estate holdings.

I personally have several concepts in mind that would be an appropriate repurposing of this building that would provide a much-needed amenity to our CBD, the neighboring hotels and the Convention Center itself. But if City Council approves this proposal by 3CDC, we will once again realize an unfortunate under-employment of a significant thread within the fabric of our beloved city.

Jeffrey J. McClorey is a longtime downtown businessman who owns Bromwell's and the Harth Room and Lounge.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: City must rethink oversized role of 3CDC | Opinion