Newport Pavilion News

The commercialization of Newport continues:

FRANKFORT -- A state panel on Monday approved $92 million in industrial revenue bonds for developing an office and retail project in Newport.

Developer Bear Creek Capital plans to use the bonds authorized by the Kentucky Private Activity Bond Allocation Committee to construct Newport Pavilion, an office and retail development planned for the Cote Brilliante neighborhood.

Why the taxpayer should pay for this sort of thing is beyond me. Let the developers use their own money - or round up investors.

The city of Newport will issue the bonds. An agreement Bear Creek has with the city calls for the developer to pay the city $383,594 annually in lieu of taxes for 25 years.

That method of financing proved controversial in a Kenton County retail project earlier this year when Kenton County Judge-Executive Ralph Drees opposed it.

Cincinnati developer Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate wanted the bonds for redeveloping the Crestview Hills Mall project, but Drees said no. He argued that the location of the mall, just off Interstate 275, made it attractive enough that Anderson could easily obtain private financing for it. Anderson ultimately went that route, securing a $50 million loan, and the project is now moving forward.

The development has the support of Pendery and Brandt:

On the Cote Brilliante project, Campbell County Judge-Executive Steve Pendery and Newport School Superintendent Michael Brandt offered their support for Newport Pavilion.

But don't make your shopping plans yet. The imminent domain question is still pending.

Several residents whose houses the city wanted for the project went to court to block it. When Campbell Circuit Court ruled in the city's favor, the homeowners appealed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, where a decision is pending.

I still think the city's going to lose this fight - and should. You can't use imminent domain purely for the purpose of economic development. That was never the laws intention.