Bowdeya Tweh

btweh@enquirer.com

LAS VEGAS - It has been a year since Newport on the Levee officials announced the possibility of adding a large observation wheel to attract tourists to the riverfront site.

That project is still in the works, according to general manager Harold Dull. But there's also an opportunity to add other elements to the 15-year-old destination to help ensure it remains competitive with other regional entertainment attractions.

Last year, the Levee's owner, Price Group, based outside San Diego, had a letter of intent with St. Louis-based Koch Development to build a 180-foot-high SkyWheel.

Dull said the development team has had to wait for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to approve the plan.

"They’ve been given construction plans and we're waiting for an OK," Dull said. "We really don’t know when we’ll see that approval. We’re very hopeful. We think it would be another great regional attraction."

The Levee made the switch to Jones Lang LaSalle last year to help recruit retail tenants. Brokers from that firm are representing the destination at the International Council of Shopping Centers' RECon conference in Las Vegas to help recruit businesses to Newport.

"There's a lot of good things happening," said Tim Murray, a vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle's Midwest retail division. "There's some announcements that could be made soon."

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The Levee features office tenants, retailers and more than a dozen restaurants and bars and entertainment attractions such as the Newport Aquarium. Dull said the destination has to add more dining and entertainment options to remain relevant.

Although the aquarium opened in May 1999, the site's grand opening was October 2001. The site, developed by Columbus-based Steiner & Associates, was envisioned to attract between five and six million visitors a year. Now, Dull said the Levee's attractions get about 3.5 million visitors a year.

The Levee has had several bittersweet developments in the last few years. It has had exits of retailers and entertainment venues. The annual Newport Jazz, Arts & Wine Festival was scrapped this year after a four-year run. The Funny Bone, one of the original Levee tenants, closed down for renovations earlier this month, but it's not immediately clear if and when the venue will reopen.

"Certainly there’s been a lot of change in the competitive environment," Dull said. "The Banks has been successful. We're glad for their success. We look at it complementary not competition. Then you have the success of Newport Pavilion, Oakley Station, there’s been a lot of change.

“Entertainment and dining, that’s what our strength is,” he added. “That’s where we’ll continue to see evolution. Additional attractions and new-to-marketplace restaurants, that will hopefully keep us vibrant and top of mind for customers.”

The Levee is waiting an adjacent $80 million project to wrap up, which is adding 239 upscale apartments, a 144-room Aloft hotel, an 800-space parking garage and 8,200 square feet of retail space in Newport. Louisville-based Musselman Hotels is developing the Starwood lifestyle brand Aloft and Downtown Cincinnati-based Capital Investment Group is developing the apartments.

Apartments units are being pre-leased now and the first residents are expected to move into the building in late June. Dull said the hotel is expected to be open by year's end. The hotel helps fulfill a vision established for the site nearly a decade ago. A Hilton Garden Inn was planned to open the site in 2003, but it never started construction.

Longer-range goals for the Levee include repurposing the vacant Imax theater and analyzing the potential of infill and further waterfront development.