What's going on at Newport site suggested for FC Cincinnati stadium?

Over the past several months, you might have seen crews doing sewer work on the Newport site proposed for a soccer stadium to host FC Cincinnati.

It's one of the first signs of activity in a long time on the bare patch of land at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking rivers. Speculation on the fate of the site has grown over the 12 years as the land - once slated for the $1 billion Ovation residential and commercial development - has sat vacant.

What we know

The city of Newport in December finished rerouting a storm sewer line on the site so it now follows the roundabouts and new roadway of the extended Ky. 9 past the 13-acre property, Newport City Manager Tom Fromme said.

The city paid for $500,000 for the storm sewer project per the 2006 development agreement with the Corporex, he said.

Earlier in 2017, the developer, Corporex, applied to reroute a sanitary sewer pipe away from the center of the site at an estimated cost of $600,000 paid for by the developer, according to documents obtained by The Enquirer from Sanitation District No. 1.

Documents obtained by The Enquirer from Sanitation District No. 1 show what the developer might be thinking. Corporex submitted the documents in September, 2016 to get preliminary approval on sewer capacity on the property.

The form gives a basic outline of what could be on the Ovation site in five years. The document showed 54 townhomes, 350 condos, 338 apartments and 200 senior housing units in its estimate to SD1 on what could be on the site in five years. It also included 200,000 square feet of retail space and 524 hotel rooms.

But that document predates talk of a soccer stadium, which wasn't announced until May 2017.

What we don't know

It 's not clear why the land's owner, Covington-based Corporex, wanted the sewer work.

And it's still not clear whether a soccer stadium or any development will happen soon on the 13-acre site.

Corporex CEO Tom Banta didn't return a message seeking comment as to why the sewer work was needed. Corporex officials have repeatedly declined to comment over the past decade on if and when something would happen at Ovation.

Banta and Corporex Chairman and Founder Bill Butler have said the Ky. 9 extension, which is expected to be finished by the end of 2018, is crucial to developing the land.

As of Friday, no developer has been publicly announced. If there's one in the works, Newport city officials haven't heard. And FC Cincinnati still hasn't indicated any plans to Newport's city administration.

"I meet with Corporex on an ongoing basis," said Fromme.

But $1 million in private and public investment into storm and sanitary sewers is a good sign.

"We all hope something gets moving," Fromme said. "We all believe strongly it will. It's too good of a site."