Cincinnati wins national award for riverfront planning

CINCINNATI - Cincinnati received national recognition for its riverfront development.

The American Planning Association recently gave the city the National Planning Excellence Award for Implementation for its Cincinnati Riverfront Plan.

“The Cincinnati Riverfront Plan converted 195 acres of a vast wasteland, between the Ohio River and Cincinnati's Central Business District, into an economically successful and vital, mixed-use development,” wrote the APA in its announcement of the award.

The association recognized the long-term planning that allowed the execution of reconstructing Fort Washington Way, building Great American Ball Park and Paul Brown Stadium, attracting the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and creating the mixed-use Banks project.

The first phase of The Banks is projected to return more than $276 million in annual economic impact once completed.

Currently The Banks is at 100 percent occupancy for apartments and over 80 percent leased for entertainment venues with the recent announcement of Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches and Jefferson Social coming to the riverfront soon.

The American Planning Association is an independent, not-for-profit educational organization that focuses on community development created in 1978.