Kentucky Post
17 June 2005
By Bob Driehaus, Post staff reporter
With the clock ticking on one last effort to sell Covington Landing without an auction, Covington has agreed to allow anyone who buys the floating restaurant and entertainment complex to move it off the riverfront and out of the city.
Julie Boudousquie, a broker with FORSITE Commercial Real Estate Group of Cincinnati and Burlington, was given a three-month contract to sell the complex by July 31.
Heavy rains caused the complex to list noticeably this week, and water was pumped from the base Thursday.
An additional headache for the city has been a fluctuating river level, which has piled up debris between the Landing's barges and the bank.
The city brought in a crane in April to remove a huge mound of debris.
The U.S. Corps of Engineers requires the city to haul the debris away rather than pushing it back into the river.
If a buyer doesn't surface by that time, the Covington City Commission has indicated it wants to auction the landing.
Mayor Butch Callery said Thursday that the location at the foot of Madison Avenue is prime real estate and a developer has introduced a plan to the city that could work well on the site without the Landing. Callery said it's too early to name the developer.
Covington Landing is attached to the successful BB Riverboats docks, which are home to Belle of Cincinnati, the River Raft water taxis that carry fans to and from Reds and Bengals, and several other tour boats.
Alan Bernstein, BB Riverboats co-owner, said all of his business' utility lines run through Covington Landing, so he hopes the city can find a way to keep the complex there.
"We obviously would want the Landing to stay, and I will work very hard to keep it," Bernstein said. "I'm willing to spend the time and the money to develop a plan to allow the facility to either be improved to a point where it's viable or we have to bring something else in."
The city has owned the floating complex since Covington Landing Limited Partnership went bankrupt in 1997.
City leaders have made several attempts to fill vacant spaces in the complex and to spruce it up, to little avail. Applebee's restaurant left last year and Yucatan Liquor Stand left in May, leaving only T.G.I. Friday's.
Friday's lease is up this summer, and it may not stay.
Boudousquie said Thursday that several prospective buyers have been in contact with her. She said the lack of businesses at the Landing could be a positive, because a new owner could reinvent the complex.
The asking price is about $2 million, she said. A thorough analysis of the barges and rental space indicate repairs are needed costing $1 million to $2 million.
Publication date: 06-17-2005