COVINGTON, Ky. – Covington Economic Development Director Tom West was looking for top-caliber talent, someone with the specific skill sets and experience necessary to co-pilot the City’s Economic Development team and help guide its significant projects and programs.
Enter John Sadosky, an economic development professional with a solid foundation in real estate development and real estate finance. Last month, Sadosky joined Covington’s Economic Development team as Assistant Director. West said he brings the right array of critical skills to the table.
“Several years ago, we adopted a policy of underwriting all of the major development deals the City participates in so we can provide our elected officials with the information they need to make decisions. John brings the skills necessary to do that underwriting work,” said West. “Pairing that with his experience in real estate and general economic development tasks makes him a perfect fit for Covington as we continue to put all the pieces together to assure success from the Central Riverfront site to South Covington and all business districts in between.”
Sadosky, who moved to Northern Kentucky after a successful role as economic development manager for the City of LaGrange, Georgia, sees his strong foundation in real estate development through public-private partnerships as important to his new role. His first job in the region was as project manager with REDI Cincinnati, a JobsOhio network partner and champion for economic development throughout the Cincinnati region, including Northern Kentucky. It was “broad, comprehensive economic development work,” and he enjoyed business expansion and site selection projects.
“It was the best introduction I could have had to the region because I traveled all across a 15-county area, meeting business leaders and other local economic developers” said Sadosky. “I fell in love with my new home.”
After his stint at REDI, Sadosky joined the City of Cincinnati as senior development officer and followed that with a role as senior manager for Ernst & Young, LLP, where he executed on site selection projects for large corporate end users, and secured state and federal tax credits and incentives.
Before joining Covington, he was project director for Project Management Consultants, where his accomplishments included managing public finance and incentives efforts for large scale development projects, securing funds for a major office-to-residential conversion in Downtown Cincinnati, and securing a tax credit award for a $500 million-plus master planned mixed-used development in Columbus that consisted of apartment, parking infrastructure, office, retail, and green space.
Sadosky said he’s happy to return to public service.
“That’s where I feel at home, where I feel comfortable and fulfilled,” said Sadosky. “And it’s fun. It’s nice when your main clients are the citizens.”
Sadosky said he loves Covington’s unique culture, historic architecture, and walkability.
“There’s always something to discover, whether you’re walking on the riverfront, the Eastside, Westside, Latonia, Kenton Hills, or anywhere,” said Sadosky. “And the leaders and stakeholders in the city want all neighborhoods to succeed, not just the ones that consistently generate outside interest or investment.”
Having a hand in recreating the neighborhood that was lost to the IRS paper-processing facility for decades – what’s now called the Covington Central Riverfront (CCR) neighborhood – is something Sadosky gets excited about.
“CCR is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. The fact that the City controls this prime riverfront real estate outright is huge. It sits in the center of two thriving business districts, and we have the opportunity to reconnect them by recreating a street grid neighborhood with a real sense of place,” Sadosky said, “It will have a lasting impact on Covington’s riverfront.”
Decades from now, Sadosky said he hopes to look back and see that City officials were good stewards of taxpayer money.
“I hope to see that we leveraged public funds wisely with a plan for a good return that could be reinvested back into our neighborhoods,” said Sadosky.
Outside of work, Sadosky said he has lots of hobbies – music (he plays guitar and dabbles in drums and synthesizers), cycling around Devou Park, and photography.
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