FC Cincinnati: How sites in Newport and Oakley stack up for a new soccer stadium

A strongly worded message from FC Cincinnati late Friday eliminated West End from the running for a planned soccer stadium. That leaves Oakley and Newport.

Team officials say they have 12 days to pick which site they will present to Major League Soccer.

Putting a stadium in West End required a complicated battle with both the school board, anti-gentrification groups inside the neighborhood and in Over-the-Rhine and possibly Cincinnati City Council.

The team didn't pull any punches when it knocked West End off the list. The school board wanted $2 million a year in payments in lieu of taxes. Team leadership said a community benefits agreement would cost another $50 million.

More: FC Cincinnati shuts down West End stadium plans, moving to Oakley or Newport

"As with any business, FC Cincinnati must consider the economics," the statement said. "This was a once in a lifetime development opportunity for a neighborhood that wants and needs new investment."

Not only that, the club says it's up against a deadline.

FC Cincinnati General Manager Jeff Berding said a finalized stadium plan is due March 31. It's a major piece of the puzzle that could earn the team an MLS franchise. That leaves 10 working days for the team's leadership to decide where to build a stadium that is estimated to cost between $200 million and $250 million.

Both Newport and Oakley have their advantages and drawbacks. Here's a look:

Oakley

It's in Cincinnati. Berding, the Lindner family, Mayor John Cranley and several Cincinnati City Council members have suggested a team with Cincinnati in its name should have its home in the city.

But it's not in Cincinnati. Berding has said MLS officials are concerned the Oakley Station site, miles from Downtown, doesn't perfectly fit the league's vision for "urban" stadiums. This preference made West End a desirable site, since Oakley Station feels distinctly suburban.

The city and county are chipping in. Cincinnati offered up a $37 million infrastructure package using money from the sale of the former Blue Ash Airport, tax district funds, money from the city portion of the hotel tax and another $2.5 million in capital funding. Hamilton County agreed to build a 1,000-space parking garage on the site.

More: Traffic study says FC Cincinnati viable for Oakley. So, where does team go now?

There are parking and traffic concerns in the neighborhood. Road widening plans are already in the works. City code specifics a 21,000-seat stadium should have 4,200 parking spaces. When the team plays at Nippert Stadium, fans have access to about 6,200 parking spaces in nine different garages, but on game days there is gridlock. In Oakley, there are about 4,500 parking spaces nearby, but those are owned by businesses and Crossroads church. What do those businesses do on game days?

The proposed site is right off the highway. The former CastFab site sits right next to Interstate 71, something that can't be said for Newport.

Public support is mixed. The reception in Oakley has been tepid. Residents and at least one member of the Oakley Community Council have cited traffic and noise as potential problems. Combine that with Cincinnati's troubled past with stadium deals and major league sports franchises, and folks are not exactly rolling out the red carpet for FC Cincinnati

Cranley promised more jobs in Oakley. In his pitch to fund the roads and other infrastructure for a stadium, the mayor said the fixes also would serve the Oakley Center development. He said he was already in talks with businesses interested in being located next to the stadium. He claimed thousands of new jobs would also be created by helping develop the site with city money.

Newport

It's a 30-minute walk from Fountain Square, a 9-minute Red Bike ride. From the Morelein Lager House, 20 minutes on foot. It's less than a 10-minute walk from Newport on the Levee. The Bailey, made up of FC Cincinnati's most diehard fans, love to make a grand entrance and hike over half a mile to Nippert Stadium on game days.

The river is wider in people's mind that it is on a map. While Newport is far closer to the urban core than Oakley, it's still in another state. Cincinnati has 52 neighborhoods and an east/west divide people struggle to break. Putting the stadium in Kentucky could be a bridge too far for some casual fans.

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Newport is fighting for the stadium. The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and a Newport development non-profit, ReNewport, are releasing videos, planning events and even posting catchy memes on social media in an attempt to woo FC Cincinnati. Search #BuildItHereNKY on Twitter to see the evidence. While Cincinnati's school board was digging it its heels over tax dollars, Newport fans were marching to the proposed site from a local brewery.

City and Campbell County financial support is unclear. A so-called "super TIF" tax district is already in place at the Ovation site. However, it isn't clear how much money that could contribute to the project. Kentucky law also prohibits the use of sales tax money for stadiums; the state doesn't let counties levy an additional percentage atop the state's sales tax, either. No official talks have taken place between the soccer club and Newport officials. Other than the TIF for infrastructure needs, no other incentives from the city, state or county have been made public.

The site has been waiting for development for years. Newport has been looking for a project for the Ovation site for over a decade after the Great Recession mired the original vision. While Newport of the Levee has proven itself stable enough for AMC invest millions in theater improvement, its neighbor to the west has remained vacant. The owner of the site, Corporex, has a memorandum of understanding with the team.

It could be out of Berding's comfort zone. Berding was a born and bred on the north bank of the Ohio River. He grew up in Westwood, graduated from St. Xavier High School and got a degree from Miami University. He was a Cincinnati city councilman. He worked for the Bengals for nearly two decades. He knows Cincinnati and Ohio law. Doing big projects in a different state and haggling with Kentucky politicians will be new territory for him.

The view could be amazing. One of the best things about Cincinnati can't be seen from inside the city. You have to be in Kentucky to appreciate the skyline. The Ovation site in the elbow of the Licking and Ohio Rivers is a prime place to see Cincinnati, even if it isn't in the city. (This is assuming the stadium is built high enough to extend above Newport's flood wall.)