In 2018, the City of Covington, Kentucky sought out a team to guide a strategic planning process for the creation of a Master Plan as part of an economic development initiative for a 23-acre Internal Revenue Services (IRS) processing site downtown. Adjacent to the Ohio River with views of Cincinnati, the site offered a once-in-a-century opportunity for Covington to create a new mixed-use development along its riverfront.

As part of a multi-disciplinary team led by Cooper Carry, DaVinci Development helped to create a vision to entice developers and companies to consider Covington as their new home. Serving as the economic development strategy and public engagement consultant, DaVinci Development provided a national, objective developer’s perspective to apply market-based reality checks that included financial and market benchmarking. In addition, DaVinci Development created a robust strategy to help Covington explore temporary uses to activate the site before and during construction. In March 2020, the Covington Board of Commissioners authorized the City to borrow necessary funds to purchase the former IRS parcel, demolish the existing buildings, and prepare the site for private development.