CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati City Planning Commission unanimously approved the $332 million FC Cincinnati mixed-use development, planned for the West End neighborhood Friday.
The entertainment district development is planned to include an entertainment venue, a high-rise hotel, restaurant space, apartments, retail and office space and more.
The project will see the resurrection of two 13-story towers, known as Tower One and Tower Two, at the corner of Central Parkway and West Liberty Street, near TQL Stadium.
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Tower One, located closer to Liberty Street, will include five tenant spaces, office space and 167 residential apartments beginning on the fourth floor. The apartment space will come with amenities such as a lounge, swimming pool and a fitness center.
Tower Two, located closer to TQL stadium, will include a 182-room boutique hotel, several for-sale condos and the entertainment venue.
According to a presentation delivered to the city planning commission on Friday, the hotel has an operator, Davidson Hospitality Group, but does not yet have a hotel brand.
The underground entertainment venue will have a capacity of between 1,100 and 1,200.
"It's an entertainment venue that really, this community doesn't have one of that size," Chad Munitz, FC Cincinnati chief revenue officer, said. "We will not operate it. We will partner with a great operator to bring events there."
Munitz said developers anticipate it hosting 200 to 250 events a year, between entertainment events and private events.
"The infrastructure is there, the space is there, and so for this to come back in a robust fashion really does give that punch of support," Galen G. Gordon, West End Community Council president, said. "When you have businesses and you have jobs that create safety, you have the lights on, right? It makes a really big difference for the residents of the West End."
The project is expected to create approximately 2,102 construction jobs and 1,699 permanent jobs at the project site. Gordon said many of those jobs will be offered to West End residents.
"There is a workforce commitment," he said. "So, there's that opportunity for people who live anywhere, certainly for people who live in the West End, to go through these different programs to be able to have (an) opportunity. And, the West End will hire West End people first."
The project has been in planning for years and received a $26 million tax credit from the state of Ohio in February. Developers are eyeing spring of 2026 to begin building.
