The bars, restaurants and apartments that have risen along the Ohio River next to the Cincinnati Reds’ Great American Ball Park were more than a decade in the making and have cost taxpayers here tens of millions of dollars in subsidies and tax abatements.
And the tab is still open.
The time and public treasure invested in the mixed-use development known as The Banks is a cautionary tale for taxpayers in Cobb County, which has signed on to fund about half of the Atlanta Braves’ new $672 million stadium in the Cumberland area.
The Braves say they will privately develop 45 acres around the ballpark into a $400 million mixed-use entertainment district that could include hotel and office space, housing, retail and an amphitheater, in addition to bars and restaurants — a development, they say, that will be a destination and tourist attraction.
The Cincinnati example differs from Cobb in that local governments, not the team, control the land being developed. But from the outset the intention was the same: to have a private company build a year-round attraction.
Yet it still took cash from taxpayers to make that happen — on what is the most attractive and valuable real estate Cincinnati has to offer.
Read more about how lessons learned in Cincinnati may be useful for Cobb County taxpayers in Sunday’s edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution or visit myajc.com. Continue reading/get access here »
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