WASHINGTON: The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority is close to buying a 54-acre site in Amberley Village, which would the first in the agency’s plan to redevelop 500 acres of underutilized real estate for new manufacturing jobs by 2022.
The quasi-public agency’s board voted Wednesday to set aside $8.5 million to buy land at 2100 Section Road. The site, which features an industrial building that’s now home to bath products distributor Saturday Knight Ltd., had operated as a manufacturing facility for Gibson Greetings from 1956 to 2006.
Saturday Knight will soon move to Cincinnati’s Spring Grove Village neighborhood, leaving the 50-year-old industrial building vacant. That presented an opportunity for the Port Authority to obtain the property. The port expects to close on the purchase in June. Laura Brunner, the port’s president and CEO, said her team had been working since October on the acquisition. She said the site could be marketed for new development in about a year.
“We feel fortunate to find a site with so many desirable things,” Brunner said. It will cost about $4 million for demolition and site remediation, and Brunner said the port will apply for grants to help complete that work.
Once the port owns the facility, officials said it will be redeveloped and placed among the largest “shovel-ready” sites that can be marketed to companies and site-selection consultants. The port estimates the site could house a 660,000-square-foot manufacturing building featuring businesses that could employ up to 990 people. Once the redevelopment is complete, the port would plan to sell the property.
