
Market Demand for and Impacts of Queensgate Terminals

In 2007, court-ordered lease negotiations ended between the City of Cincinnati and the developer wishing to create a working waterfront known as Queensgate Terminals. City Council later began to look into the feasibility of developing the property into a park or housing. In 2009, Queensgate Terminal wanted to communicate the economic development value of its proposed container port, and hired the Economics Center to analyze the economic impact of such a commercial enterprise on the region.
The report stated that there is a growing demand for the kinds of goods and commodities that are appropriate for container shipping. Large infrastructure investments are currently being made nationally and internationally to accommodate even greater flow of goods in containers. In fact, national transportation policy – seeking to address projections of rail and highway congestion and gridlock within the next 20 years from the increasing shipments of freight – seeks to move more freight to the nation’s river ways.
Cincinnati is uniquely positioned to take advantage of these trends. Its location today makes the port of Cincinnati the fifth largest inland port in the Country. At present, there are no port facilities in Cincinnati along the Ohio River that are equipped to handle containers, which necessarily means that containers moving into and out of the region must be carried via truck and rail. The proposed Queensgate facility would be the first terminal equipped to provide the infrastructure to transport containers through the Greater Cincinnati Region, and beyond.
Designed and developed as a “green” port, the operation could offer additional environmental benefits to the City including:
- a reduction of truck traffic
- easing of vehicle congestion
- a reduction in fuel consumption and emissions
The research indicates there is a large and expanding market for the facility proposed to be built at the Queensgate site. Once built, it will have a positive economic impact on the Greater Cincinnati region – in terms of both dollars and new jobs. Over its first five years of operations, the data projects a direct economic impact of its operations of $48 million. The analysis indicates that the total economic impact, a combination of direct, indirect and induced effects, to the Greater Cincinnati area of the first five years of operation includes:
- the creation of $105 million in total economic activity.
- nearly $25 million in total household earnings
- about a total 140 new jobs
- about a total $7 million in tariff revenues for the City





“The UC case study on the impact of our signs was simple to participate in. The researchers were knowledgeable and easy to work with. Their requests were concise and respectful of our time. They reported findings in a manner that protected the confidentiality of our financial numbers.”-
“The Economics Center has proven to be a great partner and an excellent resource to Cadmus. Their knowledge about the local community and economy—coupled with their analytic capabilities—have been important components of our evaluation and very well received by our client. We look forward to our continued collaboration with the Center.”-
Julie has extensive experience in labor economics, particularly applying statistical methods to decision-making. She is proud to be a part of a professional, creative research team that brings a variety of approaches to addressing the issues of the larger community. -
“We needed to communicate the value of our institution in the local community and the Economics Center’s economic impact analysis helped us accomplish that goal. They were very easy to work with and met our expectations. We will certainly utilize their services for economic analysis in the future and would recommend them to others.”-
“We understand that great economic analyses is valuable only to the extent to which it can be understood and utilized. That is why our approach converges the science of research and the art of storytelling.”-
“We're very pleased with the results of this study. Often times, when people think about arts and culture organizations, they do not take into account the economic benefits that come with the educational and entertainment benefits. That was one of our main goals when commissioning this project."
“The Economics Center brings analytical expertise and valuable insights that helps our clients to develop and, then, communicate key messages. The research team understands we are in a world increasingly dependent on data for decision making. The Center is an important partner in our business and a valuable resource to our community.” -
“As a research-based organization, Cincinnati Works relies heavily on the type of data and analysis the Economic Center provides. Their ability to analyze economic trends and assess the impact they have on job seekers and workforce development is valuable to the work that we do here at Cincinnati Works.”
“The TIF Model is intuitive, easy and flexible for report to the Township Trustees to help them understand the resources that Deerfield Township may have available. The Trustees really appreciate having a tool that can inform planning for the future, beyond the upcoming year.”
“The Center worked to understand our community and our needs. They developed a set of custom economic indicators for Newaygo County, MI. We believe that this information is critical for expressing unique assets of our community and in making important decisions for our economic vitality.” -