Committee advances authorization for $40 million bond, $50 million city loan for convention center hotel financing

The Cincinnati Budget & Finance Committee advanced an ordinance to place before City Council an authorization for up to $40,000,000 in economic development revenue bonds and discussed a related $50,000,000 city loan to support a planned convention center hotel.

The financing request, presented by 3CDC and Portman Holdings at a special committee meeting, would be one element of a larger $536,000,000 estimated hotel budget and a broader public–private capital stack that the presenters said combines state grants, tax credits, bonds, TIF revenues and private equity.

Katie Westbrook, senior staff with 3CDC, said the convention center project “closed on financing in May 2024. The $264,000,000 project is well, well underway. We have about 6 months left to deliver the project, and I'm happy to say that we are on schedule and we are well within our budget.” She and Reid Scott of Portman Holdings described the hotel as a 700-key, full-service property with about 63,000 square feet of meeting space and an 18,000–19,000-square-foot grand ballroom, plus a skybridge connection to the convention center.

Portman’s Reid Scott summarized the development timetable and budget, saying the team is “entering our last phases of design…get into construction documentation,” with an estimated 30–31 month construction schedule and a projected hotel opening in 2028. Scott gave the project budget estimate as about $536,000,000 and said an international full-service brand has been selected but remains under final agreement.

Presenter and Assistant City Manager Billy Weber described the two-part city contribution the committee reviewed: $10,000,000 in cash savings repurposed from convention center funds plus a $40,000,000 planned bond issuance the committee was asked to authorize. Weber said the city loan would be structured at a 3% interest rate, repaid from excess pledged revenues tied to hotel taxes, a property tax TIF and a new community authority assessment. He warned that "in the early years, we are expected that…we will have to utilize some other resources outside of those excess pledge revenues to cover our debt service. And then at the end of 30 years, the balance of that loan is not repaid. The balance will be forgiven." (speaker paraphrase)

Presenters detailed public funding components already committed or expected: approximately $48,000,000 anticipated from the Ohio Strategic Community Investment Fund (interest earnings on allocated funds), a $40,000,000 transformational mixed-use district tax credit from the Ohio Department of Development (estimated to net about $37,000,000 to the project after sale of credits), and public bond issuances by the Port Authority and state backed by the project’s pledged revenues. The team said they still expect to resolve about $20,000,000 of the project budget through cost savings, value engineering, or market improvements.

The presenters highlighted equity and contracting participation targets they expect to carry forward to the hotel: minority business enterprise participation of about 21.5%, women-owned business participation near 12%, and union subcontract participation at about 60%. On projected hotel performance, Portman cited a market-level occupancy around 72–73 percent as a healthy target for feasibility.

Committee members praised the collaborative work among the city, county, Port Authority and 3CDC. Vice Chair Scotty Johnson said he was "excited" and council members commended the minority, women and union participation figures and the financial structuring.

The committee voted to place the bond authorization and related loan request on the full council agenda for consideration this afternoon; presenters said they will return in the fall for additional approvals covering the broader hotel development and final financing details.

If adopted by Council, the city loan portion would include the $10,000,000 of convention center cash savings and a city-backed $40,000,000 bond secured by non-tax city revenues; the presenters described how pledged hotel and TIF revenues would service the primary bonds and contribute to loan repayment in later years.

The committee’s action was procedural (placing ordinances on the council agenda) rather than a final acceptance of the hotel financing package. Presenters and committee members noted remaining steps that include final operator and brand agreements, closing the remaining private financing, and additional Council approvals later in the year.

The Budget & Finance Committee expected to reconvene with full Council later the same day for related agenda items.