COVINGTON, Ky. — If you drive down Fourth Street in Covington, you’ll likely notice a big, vacant lot surrounded by fencing where the former IRS building once stood.
Tom West, the city’s economic development director, preferred to call it a 'blank canvas.'
"I kind of get cold chills. When I first came to Covington, the IRS was the largest employer. People were dependent on those jobs. The city was dependent on the payroll tax," he said. "I’ve seen the evolution over the years. To know, even during the pandemic, we replaced all the jobs we lost when the IRS closed the center — to see a blank canvas, it’s kind of a dream come true."
A newly released video taken from the vantage point of a "fly-through" showed what could be coming to the 23-acre site. West didn’t call the project a development. Instead, he looked at the land as Covington’s next neighborhood.
"We need to make sure that we maintain our authenticity, and that we don’t lose that in order to become the next … everywhere," West said.
The master plan included a 670-car parking garage, 200,000 square feet of new office space, 177 new hotel rooms, nearly 90,000 square feet of retail space, 348 residential units and green space.
West said the area will be subdivided to allow for smaller developers to stake a claim.
"January we’ll focus on subdividing, or creating the subdivision plan," he said. "We talk about multiple developers, creating smaller size lots, parcels that are reflective of downtown and the village. If we’re going to weave this into the fabric of the city, we have to use the same size thread."
The project will reconnect the city’s street grid. West said each block might look a little different, due to having multiple developers.
"Maybe we’re nuts for trying to do it this way, but we think Covington deserves this kind of approach," he said.
The vacant land sits adjacent to the Northern Kentucky Convention Center. The master plan called for a 110,000-square-foot convention center expansion. West said that could be a benefit for the region.
"For the convention center to not only expand, but to reimagine the space they have, they have been tossing around some ideas that will bring that center into the 21st century,” he said.
While some are excited, others question if affordable housing will be included in the project.
"Is there a housing need? No. If anything, affordable housing is what’s needed. That is what none of this is," Charlotte Rayne said during a 2019 interview.
West said construction on the parking garage, and the horizontal infrastructure could begin as soon as next Fall. Vertical construction would begin around 18 months after the initial construction begins.
"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Covington," said West. "I really hope we do this right, and 100 years from now we’ve done it so right that people look at this and say, 'What an amazing historic district.'"
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