CINCINNATI — Major league sports teams typically have a big impact on their communities. And in Southern Ohio, FC Cincinnati has helped a once-blighted West End begin thrive again.

Now, the team is helping fund a $300 million development that they hope will continue to allow the area to grow.

What You Need To Know

  • The first phase of the development will include two 13 story buildings, one housing apartments and the other a hotel and some condos

  • The $300 million project will also include an event space, stores and an outdoor pavilion

  • The hope is to continue to develop the areas south and west of TQL Stadium 

Just north of TQL Stadium in the heart of the West End it’s beginning to take shape into something entirely new.

“Our vision for the West End has predated the stadium," said Jeff Berding, president and CEO of FC Cincinnati. "We always knew when we built TQL Stadium that we wanted to be a catalyst for improving the neighborhood and bring nice things into the neighborhood.”

A rendering of the finished project shows the two 13 story buildings. A new development has started in the West End. (Courtesy of FC Cincinnati)

The first phase of the West End Development will include two 13-story buildings, one with apartments and the other a hotel featuring an event center, stores and a public gathering space. It’s a vision Berding said was created in collaboration with the West End neighborhood.

“We said that people will be able to hold us to our commitments," Berding said. "We did a community benefits agreement. I walked door to door, in the West End neighborhood, talking to the residents to understand, just to listen to their concerns and to what their hopes were for the future of the West End.”

Just down the road from the stadium and the new development, you’ll find Q Kidz Dance Studios, run by Marquicia Jones-Woods, a proud West End resident of nearly 60 years.

Jones-Woods watches on as her students perform at her dance studio in the West End. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

For Jones-Woods, she’s worked alongside Berding to help find the best solution for the community.

“With FC in our community, it’s like family," Jones-Woods said.

Jones-Woods says she is fearful of new development because of the unknown but is hopeful for the future. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

And while she acknowledges not all of her neighbors are for the new development, she is pro-change in hopes it will give the girls she teaches a brighter future in the neighborhood she grew up in.

“Yeah, I’m a little fearful," she said. "You’re always fearful because you never know what the change may bring. Will this change uproot me, will this change have me living in another place? So you do have your fears because it’s the fear of the unknown. But I’ve got to have those fears so I can see what might be.”

For Berding, his goal has always been to bring people together, not to force anyone out.

TQL Stadium will soon be surrounded by new developments. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

“I'm a proud Cincinnatian," Berding said. "And when you have an opportunity to do great things in, in your hometown, there's always a sense of pride in accomplishment. I'm very driven, for the future. And so while I'm excited for phase one, I'm very determined to get moving on some of these other, parts of our vision.”

While this is just the first phase of redeveloping the area around TQL Stadium, the hope is to continue with more phases both south and west of the stadium. Phase 1 is expected to open in the summer of 2027.

Correction: This story previously misspelled TQL Stadium. This has been corrected. (March 10, 2025)