FC Cincinnati finally has what it needs to begin construction on its $332 million TQL Stadium-adjacent entertainment district.
The Ohio Department of Development awarded the Major League Soccer team $26 million in tax credits from the agency’s Transformational Mixed-Use Development Program, a pool of credits given to large-scale projects that could be considered catalytic for development in the communities around them.
In this latest round, the state gave out $100 million in credits to projects representing $2 billion in development across Ohio. FC Cincinnati received the second-largest amount from the state, just behind the $33 million commitment to the $574 million Capitol Square Renaissance project in downtown Columbus.
“We are thrilled to have our TMUD application approved,” FC Cincinnati president and co-CEO Jeff Berding said in a statement. “The tax credits provided by this exceptional program are critical to moving forward with our mixed-use district project adjacent to TQL Stadium in the West End; one of the most unique and complicated projects in Cincinnati over the last 10+ years that will help revitalize this historic area and catalyze continued investment in our city. We are so excited for the people of the West End who, after decades of disinvestment, can see this state grant as an affirmation and belief in their future.”
FC Cincinnati’s Chad Munitz told The Enquirer in November that without the tax credit, the development team would’ve had to “come back to the drawing board in terms of talking to our community partners and the government on how to solve this.”
With this state funding now in hand, Munitz said the project will likely begin construction this summer with an estimated completion date of summer 2027. Approvals for the final design plan will have to go through Cincinnati’s planning commission first sometime this spring.
What’s going up on the 8.5-acre site?
The full 8.5-acre site will be split into multiple phases of development over the coming years. By mid-2027, there will be two 13-story mixed-use towers containing apartments and a hotel built out on the eastern half of the site. A public plaza will connect Central Parkway and the West End with TQL Stadium and serve as a place for fan gatherings.
FC Cincinnati will move its offices into the north tower, which will house 167 residential units and feature a below-ground parking garage. The south tower with the hotel will also have commercial space for a restaurant, coffee shop and retail, as well as a subterranean black-box entertainment venue seating between 1,200 and 1,300 people.
This phase of construction also includes renovations to TQL Stadium.
According to the team’s tax credit application, the project is expected to create 2,102 construction jobs and 1,699 permanent jobs on the site.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.cincinnati.com ’
