For long-planned Cincinnati riverfront marina, a new look and new questions

Boating on the Ohio River may be on a winter pause – but plans for a long-delayed Downtown Cincinnati marina are not.

The project, some 20 years in the making, is moving ahead with new renderings and an in-progress federal review, documents obtained by The Enquirer show.

"We're very excited to see it move forward," said Justin Cooper, president of H. Hafner & Sons, the Newtown landscaping firm tapped two years ago to develop the marina.

The start of construction is not yet known.

Cincinnati Parks must first win a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its marina application. If that comes through, parks officials will resume contract negotiations with Hafner.

The federal agency is soliciting public comment on the application through Dec. 27 to determine the marina's “probable impact … on the public interest.” A public hearing could follow.

Reef at Cincinnati's Landing would seat 200

Cincinnati Parks applied for the Corps of Engineers permit for The Reef at Cincinnati’s Landing last December. Its application proposes locating the marina on the Ohio River – just off the public landing at Broadway Avenue and Mehring Way, between the Heritage Bank Center to the east and Great American Ball Park to the west.

Among the proposed Reef features:

• A restaurant/bar, built in a floating vessel, with a capacity of 200. It would run 120 feet long and 42 feet wide, according to the public notice that Corps of Engineers released Nov. 27.

• A dock for up to 44 watercraft, with two spots reserved for boats that respond to emergencies. It would measure 700 feet long and 12 feet wide, according to the Nov. 27 notice.

• One gangway from the public landing to the restaurant with a second gangway to a rooftop bar, according to the new renderings. The marina would need to establish connections to utilities before determining their lengths.

• Operations 32 weeks a year, with a staff of up to 19, food from an off-site commissary and live music, according to Hafner’s earlier proposals to Cincinnati Parks.

Public input will influence the Corps of Engineers’ next step and ultimate decision.

“Comments are also used to determine the need for a public hearing and to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity,” its public notice reads.

Best location? Safety issues?

Alan Bernstein plans to submit comment. The owner of BB Riverboats, located across the Ohio River in Newport, Kentucky, said he’s “all for the project” but not at the public landing.

He thinks a marina is better suited to the western end of Smale Riverfront Park, suggested more than 20 years ago when Smale plans were coming together. Parks actually won approval for that site in 2015, but it expired in 2020.

“I think the marina is much better suited down where the people are,” Bernstein said.

Putting The Reef at the public landing, he added, would also prevent boating events like Tall Stacks from using that space.

Valerie Newell has other concerns. As a former member of the Cincinnati Parks Foundation Board of Directors, who owns a business in Downtown and a home in Covington, she tracks riverfront park activity closely.

Barge traffic and river debris could put the marina and its customers in danger, she believes. Additionally, a restaurant/bar would take business from The Banks, create noise and put customers who have been drinking back in boats.

“This marina is very expensive for the small community it will benefit,” said Newell, a financial adviser.

She’d rather have Cincinnati Parks’ dollars and staff time devoted to its long list of deferred maintenance projects – including addressing erosion at Smale, restoring International Friendship Park and operating the Carol Ann's Carousel at Smale more regularly.

“Let’s take care of what we have,” she said.

Parks officials should also consult more with residents impacted by its plans, Newell said, suggesting resumption of a river advisory council.

Contract will follow permit approval

Members of the Park Board – the five-member governing body of Cincinnati Parks – have also expressed concerns about the marina project.

That was in 2021, when a three-member city committee recommended Hafner for the project while sharing limited information about its bid and a competing bid.

The board ultimately voted to award a $1.7 million contract to Hafner – after a contentious meeting and a pause of two months – and will stick with that decision.

“When the (Corps of Engineers) permit is received, negotiations on the construction and operation agreement will continue,” Parks spokesman Rocky Merz said.

Queen City Riverboats stands ready to help or step in, owner Brendan Sullivan said. He still believes his firm, the other bidder in 2021, should have been selected for the marina project.

“Working on the water involves a lot of different rules, maritime rules,” Sullivan said. “We’re on the river every day of the year.”

By comparison, Hafner has limited boating involvement, he said. “That experience makes a difference.”

In its original application, Hafner said it has owned a stationary vessel at Manhattan Harbour since 2016, and called Cooper an avid boater.

Latest plan lacks longer dock

The latest version of the marina project could change the financials.

Hafner originally said it would need $2.3 million to build out a marina, with Cincinnati Parks committing $1.7 million. That funding gap will be part of parks officials’ negotiations with Hafner, Merz said.

Hafner’s price tag included a dock of 1,440 feet – twice as long as what is now proposed. It planned to lease 840 feet of that to boaters who want dock space all summer.

Under that model, Hafner projected close to $1.9 million in annual revenue from the marina, with about $148,000 going to Cincinnati Parks each year.

Losing long-term moorage dollars would remove close to $48,000 from its total revenue estimate.

Parks officials, meanwhile, expect a marina on the public landing will not hurt its parking revenue there. Cincinnati Parks collected about $210,000 from the 200 or so spots there in the last year. That could go up, Merz said, "as a result of the new marina and associated amenities."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Where will Cincinnati Parks' downtown marina be?