Latest proposal for Tri-County Mall redevelopment: A convention center
Springdale's former Tri-County Mall was once the site of Greater Cincinnati's largest real estate endeavor − a $1.3 billion redevelopment called Artisan Village that would have turned the 64-year-old shopping center into a mixed-use mecca for living, working, and of course, pickleball.
But those plans may be in jeopardy as the project's Texas-based developers, MarketSpace Capital LLC and Park Harbor Capital LLC, further battle in court after defaulting on a loan that would have paid for the purchase of the site and the first phase of redevelopment. Utah-based lender Reef Capital LLC sued to foreclose on the property at 11700 Princeton Pike Rd. in November and is now seeking $37 million to cover interest, costs, fees and expenses.
While hearings are underway in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, the city of Springdale is eyeing other opportunities.
Last month, Industrial Realty Group out of Los Angeles presented a plan to instead re-imagine part of the 73-acre property as a 70,000-square-foot convention center. The vision, filed with the city earlier this month, also includes a 150-unit assisted-living facility on the site and space for retail buildings along Princeton Pike and Kemper Road. Future phases of construction could include 1,200 apartments and 600 townhomes.
Industrial Realty Group, known as IRG, redeveloped the former Ford Motor Co. transmission plant in Batavia, which now serves as a manufacturing facility for Finnish food-packaging company, Huhtamaki. The Tri-County Mall makeover would be the developer's next big vacant-building revamp in Greater Cincinnati.
Creating convention space remains a temporary need in the region as Downtown's Duke Energy Convention Center undergoes an 18-month renovation starting this July. It will close to all convention activities during construction. IRG's new idea comes on the heels of the Sharonville Convention Center's $24 million expansion and the Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati's $1.45 million renovation of its own event spaces.
Sharonville's facility, located just 1.8 miles from the former Tri-County Mall, is significantly smaller than downtown Cincinnati's exhibition space by over 150,000-square feet. But it's expected to take on some of the conventions that were previously scheduled in Cincinnati from mid-2024 through 2025. Across the river in Covington, the Northern Kentucky Convention Center is also being eyed by Kenton County to renovate and possibly expand its 24-year-old building.
It's unclear what will happen next, but the plan to build Artisan Village, approved by Springdale's city council in 2021, stirred a lot of excitement in the surrounding community. The first phase of the project called for four multifamily buildings totaling 500 units, 320,000 square feet of retail and a 125-key hotel.
Andy Kuchta, Springdale's economic development director, said the city will evaluate any future proposals and financing plans to move the redevelopment of the Tri-County Mall forward. In 2022, the city created a tax-increment financing district on the site to aid in the funding of any future plans. A Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area district was also created, allowing people to drink outdoors.
"The city of Springdale continues to support the vision of a vibrant, catalytic mixed-use project on the site containing a mix of residential, retail, dining, entertainment, office, and other complementary uses," he said in a statement.
The city declined to comment on the ongoing litigation involving the developer of Artisan Village. Currently, the lending company, Reef, wants to sell the property for $20 million, but the developers filed a motion to block the sale, according to court documents.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What's next for Springdale's $1 billion Tri-County Mall redevelopment?
