Catalytic 'Madison Square' gets $200K in TIF funding

At last Wednesday's meeting, Cincinnati City Council unanimously passed an ordinance that could jumpstart development in Madisonville's business district.

The ordinance establishes a new capital improvement program project account with $200,000 in surplus funds from the Madisonville tax increment financing (TIF) district, which will be used for the study and design of Madison Square, a proposed project unveiled last October for the southeast corner of Madison Road and Whetsel Avenue.

Additional funding will be needed for construction, expected to begin in 2013. The project also will include streetscaping along the two blocks extending in each direction from the intersection.

The goal of the new square is to spur interest from private developers. For the past few years, several vacant buildings have been cleared to make way for it.

In an April 13 letter from Madisonville Community Council President Bob Igoe to Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls, he said that the City should continue investing in the neighborhood because the return on the TIF investment is not in doubt.

The Madisonville Community Council is on record as having passed a resolution stating that all TIF funding should be used on projects directly impacting the business district.

"The feeling in the neighborhood is that until and unless the city makes the same commitment here as they have in the surrounding neighborhoods, the community will continue to suffer and taxpayers will continue to leave the community and city," Igoe said. "It's time for the city to go all in with Madisonville. The community is ready."