By Andy Furman
NKYTribune staff writer
The one thing the Northern Kentucky Port Authority doesn’t operate is a port facility.
Those were the words of Christine Russell to the Covington Rotary Club. Russell is executive director of the NKY Port Authority and VP of Strategy at BE NKY Growth Partnership.
And there’s a logical reason The Port does not operate – a port. There are private operators with a long history of providing those services in the Cincinnati region.
“We’re here,” she told the Northern Kentucky Tribune, “To answer, ‘What can The Port do to support Northern Kentucky?’”
The Northern Kentucky Port Authority was jointly formed as an economic development organization by Boone, Campbell, and Kenton counties in 1968.
“The structure,” Russell continued, “is a governmental entity. And we’re here to fill gaps.”
Want some proof? How about some of their recent on-going projects:
The OneNKY Center, located at the foot of the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, will be the home of many Northern Kentucky growth organizations. In August 2023, the NKY Port held a groundbreaking to kick off construction on the building – which is scheduled to open next month.
“It’s an iconic building on the waterfront,” Russell said, “and really important for our region. It will be the home of NKY’s Growth organizations.”
Ten tenants will call OneNKY Center home – including a Life Science Lab managed by LifeSciKy on the second floor. The first floor features meetNKY, conference rooms and a welcoming lobby. The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce is on the third floor as well the Northern Kentucky Bar Association and Thomas More University’s Division of External Affairs. BE NKY, The Catalytic Fund, Horizon Community Foundation, OneNKY Alliance and EducateNKY are on the fourth floor.
“All tenants,” she added, “are non-profits.”
SparkHaus at 727-732 Madison Avenue, a redevelopment of an historic building into an entrepreneurial hub for Northern Kentucky.
“The site is the home of the former Montgomery Ward department store in Covington,” said Russel. “Then it became Sims Furniture.”
Construction for SparkHaus began in October 2024, and the Grand Opening is planned for next month, for a total cost of $16M.
“It will be,” said Russell, “the home of entrepreneurship in Northern Kentucky and will be operated by Blue North, the innovation connector in the region.”
In May 2023, with funding from the Kenton County site development fund, the NKY Port purchased the former Sims Furniture building in Covington for redevelopment into Northern Kentucky’s entrepreneurial hub. In April 2024, SparkHaus received an additional $6M in state funding through Kentucky House Bill 1 to support the project’s build out. Individual investors, private foundations and a construction loan from The Catalytic Fund have also provided funding for the building’s transformation which kicked-off on September 16, 2024.
The NKY Port, according to Russell, is working with Kenton County to deploy $2M of site readiness funding for storm sewer infrastructure at the former site of the Drawbridge Inn.
Commonwealth Center for Biomedical Excellence, “a once in-a-generation deal,” said Russell. “The location will be in Covington, with a delivery date of October, 2028, at a cost of $125M.”
The site has yet to be selected, she said – but it will be in Covington. It will house the Northern Kentucky University Salmon P. Chase College of Law and the University of Kentucky College of Medicine’s Northern Kentucky campus.
In March 2024, Sen. Chris McDaniel (R-Ryland Heights) helped secure $125M in state funding for the center. Kenton County and other partners are working with the universities to identify the location – speculation focuses on a site on the Covington Central Riverfront (CCR) development, 23 acres on Fourth Street which formerly housed the IRS building.
“The NKY Port Authority is not here to compete with the private sector,” says Russell, “We’re here to help them move forward.”
And what a push they have given Northern Kentucky.