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BELOW IS THE COMPLETE NEWS RELEASE OF AUGUST 15, 2008:
The City of Blue Ash and Miller Valentine Group have announced the termination of their agreement to redevelop a section of the City’s downtown area. This action was taken in response to the general economic climate and the rising costs of construction for the public garage and other public facilities which would have exceeded the City’s budget ability at this time. The first step in the redevelopment process was to analyze the financial feasibility of the proposed project. The financial feasibility and other due diligence were important milestones requiring evaluation and approval in order for the project to proceed. Since this milestone was not achieved, the City and Miller Valentine will not move forward with the project. “The fundamental concepts of the project would certainly improve our downtown,” said Blue Ash Mayor Jack Buckman. “However, the rapidly rising costs of construction associated with the public garage, road, and other public improvements were just too much for our City at a time when tax revenues into the City have slowed.” “While we look forward to redeveloping downtown, we have to be good stewards of public funds”. The City of Blue Ash remains committed to redeveloping downtown and will continue to explore options. Blue Ash is focusing its efforts on improving downtown and making the area more walkable. Termination of this agreement and City Council’s action to repeal the preferred developer agreement ordinance voids the referendum issue. Had the numbers worked, the City would have looked forward to continuing through the process and the eventual decision by the residents. A recent survey of Blue Ash residents ranked the downtown area as a high priority for Blue Ash. The City will continue to seek new ideas to improve downtown, benefiting residents and businesses alike, but at the same time are economically feasible. “We believe that this type of development is right for Blue Ash, and is needed to keep its downtown vital,” said Miller-Valentine President of Urban Lifestyles Doug Hine. “While we are disappointed that this project is unable to move forward at this time, we look forward to working on other Blue Ash projects in the future.” This change in downtown redevelopment will not affect other projects in Blue Ash, such as the Airport Park, improvements at the Blue Ash Recreation Center and construction of a new club house at Blue Ash Golf Course.
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