Awesome news!  This is a major chunk of downtown space that is always overlooked, 50,000 s.f. floor plates and Banks adjacent!  Glad to see it is finally getting some new life!  Another piece in an unprecedented roll for downtown!

 

309 Vine's new look

Business Exclusive: Long-awaited facelift for PNC Tower's annex finally coming to fruition

8:40 AM, May. 27, 2012

Written by Laura Baverman

 

Project website:  http://www.309vine.com/

 

 

DOWNTOWN — The tall and stately PNC Tower, lit up nightly in white, often casts a shadow on its low-profile neighbors.

 

With its classic, colonnade pyramid top, designed by the famed New York architect Cass Gilbert, the massive 31-story tower is more notable than the nondescript eight-story structure beside it on Vine Street.

 

It’s that shorter building to the south, though – the 99-year-old tower’s own annex – that soon will get a $15 million facelift aimed at elevating its status on Cincinnati’s skyline.

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120527/BIZ/305270004/309-Vine-s-new-look?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p

Just realized a had a typo in the thread title, mods can you fix please?

 

This is really good news. (1) It suggests that the Banks/the Riverfront Park matter to Third Street a hell of a lot, especially to lower-to-the-ground or street-level space; (2) it will potentially start to fill up parts of PNC Tower, which if I recall correctly had a TON of office vacancy, which was part of what contributed to downtown's fairly high vacancy rate.

 

Here's a view of what it looks like:

 

This is really good news. (1) It suggests that the Banks/the Riverfront Park matter to Third Street a hell of a lot, especially to lower-to-the-ground or street-level space; (2) it will potentially start to fill up parts of PNC Tower, which if I recall correctly had a TON of office vacancy, which was part of what contributed to downtown's fairly high vacancy rate.

 

It's also good news because the developer is correctly recognizing that the Beaux Arts architectural details of the building are a real selling point and they're putting that front and center when talking about the renovation.  Website's also great.

 

It'll be interesting to see what other Banks-inspired construction/renovations start to happen!

This also shows a firm outside of cincy see's opportunity to invest millions into a building. Good sign for the CBD.

I have a post card with a drawing of the finished annex tower.  My grandmother was a collector of antique post cards and there were quite a number of post cards sold showing proposed Cincinnati projects that were never finished. 

I would've loved to see the never finished tower built upon 309!  The rendering is sick!!

JMeck, please post the picture!!!!!

check out the article on cincinnati.com they have a picture of it.

JMeck, please post the picture!!!!!

 

This is what was on Cincinnati.com

Wonder what it would take to build some kind of tower on top of the base of 309 Vine today?

It's amazing how that unbuilt proposal actually enhances the current tower.  I've always found the current annex to be somewhat lackluster, and I now realize the tower overwhelms it.  Dust off the plans and let the construction begin!

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120527/BIZ/305270004/309-Vine-s-new-look?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p

The work on LeVeque in Columbus has a similar appreciation for the historic nature of the building. This is good news.

Anyone know where the Enquirer got the sketch that seanian513 posted in the #10 reply to this thread? Some archive somewhere?

 

Edit: Never mind... the caption says the Cincinnati Museum Center. Love that they're adding to the annex, but that tower in the sketch would be to die for.

it looks as though they're adding only the first few floors from the sketch shown. Perhaps with the possibility of further future build up. That would be great.

it looks as though they're adding only the first few floors from the sketch shown. Perhaps with the possibility of further future build up. That would be great.

 

They aren't adding any new floors, just updating the building.

it looks as though they're adding only the first few floors from the sketch shown. Perhaps with the possibility of further future build up. That would be great.

 

They aren't adding any new floors, just updating the building.

 

ahh.... i see. I guess a current photo of the building would be nice. I can't picture what it looks like at all.

it looks as though they're adding only the first few floors from the sketch shown. Perhaps with the possibility of further future build up. That would be great.

 

They aren't adding any new floors, just updating the building.

 

ahh.... i see. I guess a current photo of the building would be nice. I can't picture what it looks like at all.

 

Basically what the "new" rendering looks like, but without the lighting effects.

I wish 309 Vine well, it won't be easy landing Tenants though. Lots of downtown buildings have vacancy holes in them. Their marketing plan is good.

 

I wish 309 Vine well, it won't be easy landing Tenants though. Lots of downtown buildings have vacancy holes in them. Their marketing plan is good.

 

There are actually only about four or five office towers with vacancy issues in the CBD, and the overall office occupancy rate is improving now after QCS came online with 800,000+ square feet of new space.

 

Also, I was told by a very reliable source that one of those historic towers with high vacancy will be converted to apartments sometime soon. An announcement has yet to be made, and the source would not identify which building in particular, but it will help the market considerably to get that space off the office market.

I wish 309 Vine well, it won't be easy landing Tenants though. Lots of downtown buildings have vacancy holes in them. Their marketing plan is good.

 

There are actually only about four or five office towers with vacancy issues in the CBD, and the overall office occupancy rate is improving now after QCS came online with 800,000+ square feet of new space.

 

Also, I was told by a very reliable source that one of those historic towers with high vacancy will be converted to apartments sometime soon. An announcement has yet to be made, and the source would not identify which building in particular, but it will help the market considerably to get that space off the office market.

 

309 Vine has about 300,000 available sq. ft.

Chiquita/Formerly Center has 107,000 available sq. ft.

Atrium One has 245,000 available sq. ft.

Atrium Two has 190,000 available sq. ft.

580 Walnut has 352,000 available sq. ft.

URS Tower has 57,000 available sq. ft. out of 193,000 total.

525 Vine has 193,000 available sq. ft.

312 Elm has 52,000 available, not too bad.

655 Plum, the former Delta call center, is still empty 68,000 sq. ft.

 

River Center and Madison place in Covington has a ton of vacant space.

 

Good time to be a Tenant and to negotiate office leases in Downtown.

Has the Delta call center ever had anything other than Delta in it?  I remember that being one of the long line of downtown controversies in the late 90s.  They had been in Atrium I for 15+ years, then played the old Kentucky vs. Ohio game, getting huge tax incentives to stay in Ohio.  Then, the internet was invented in the middle of the whole conversation and made call centers obsolete right when the place opened in 1999 or 2000. 

Is there still 245,000 feet in Atrium One even after Omnicare moved in?

Is there still 245,000 feet in Atrium One even after Omnicare moved in?

 

From the listing broker,

 

566,609 Total SF

376,051 SF Available

244,569 SF Maximum Contiguous

5,000 SF Minimum Contiguous

 

I was wondering what was going on with this project.  I hope the new owners have a lot of cash, vision, and wherewithal to make something happen quickly!

 

Downtown Cincinnati office building sold for $6M

Tom Demeropolis Reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier

 

 

Downtown Cincinnati’s historic 309 Vine Street, a 325,000-square-foot office building located at West Third and Vine streets in the heart of the city, was sold to a local group of investors for more than $6 million.

 

3rd & Vine Partners LLC, managed by Patrick Gates of Matrix Holdings Inc., bought the building from Central Trust Tower Associates. The deal closed at the end of December.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/01/02/downtown-cincinnati-office-building.html

This part in the article had me curious:

 

“We realize the potential 309 Vine holds, it’s a golden opportunity among the Cincinnati skyline,” Gates, managing partner, said in a news release. “We are excited to deliver a product that’s not currently in the market at competitive rates.”

 

The part where it is an opportunity among the skyline has me curious.  Right now it doesn't have any impact, so does that mean they plan on building something else there?  The phrase where it is said they are excited to deliver a product that's not currently on the market also has me very curious.  I guess it will be a wait and see.  I'm sure we will be seeing something in the news down the road. 

Yeah the wording was odd. But I'm just going to chalk it up to being PR speak and just trying to hype up the development. And if it actually does turn out to be more then I'll be pleasantly surprised.

I feel like I remember reading it was built to add height if needed. While it could be done and I'd love to see it, it would be insanely expense to do.

The building's website mentions "skyline", but I don't think that means they're planning to build higher. From: http://www.309vine.com/309-vine-renovations.cfm

 

RENOVATIONS

 

Estimated $15 million interior and exterior renovation.

Enhancement of impressive decorative façade to maximize its presence in the center of Cincinnati’s skyline.

Replacement of all glazing and HVAC systems to maximize energy savings and efficiency.

Pursuit of LEED certification.

Preparation of tenant space to first generation condition with 12’-17’ ceilings for the creation of traditional office or loft creative space to provide an engaging, efficient and productive environment for employees.

Enhancement of variable depth window wall to expose interior of floor to sunlight.

Opportunities for personalization of individual floors to integrate and reinforce corporate branding and identity.

Thoughtfully designed by BHDP to meet the demands of the 21st century workplace while maintaining the impressive detail and historic charm found only in the Queen City’s coveted 20th century architecture.

309vine.com was the website for the previous owner.

Hell Yeah!

 

EXCLUSIVE: Huge downtown Cincinnati office building to become mixed-use development

Oct 31, 2014, 2:24pm EDT

Tom Demeropolis Reporter- Cincinnati Business Courier

 

 

One of the largest office buildings in downtown Cincinnati is about to get new life as a mixed-use development.

 

Village Green Cos. purchased 309 Vine from 3rd & Vine Partners LLC. The company is one of the largest developers, owners and managers of luxury apartment communities in the nation. Village Green will redevelop the 300,000-square-foot, 1920s era, "Beaux Arts" building, with a planned opening in 2016. Plans for the building include luxury apartments, penthouses, a market, restaurant, offices and a new name for the building.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/10/31/exclusive-huge-downtown-cincinnati-office-building.html

Sounds like a pretty massive project. A lot of life into an area that could really use it. I can't wait to see what the finalized plans are for this building.

I wonder how many units this would include. I didn't see anything indicating the unit count. But 300,000 SF is huge. It all depends on the average unit size and how much would be devoted to commercial or office space.

What is also encouraging is that the article did not mention the need to wait around for tax credits to proceed. The developer seems to know what they are doing and came make a property work without handouts.

 

Another great part of this is that it takes some large vacant office space off the market.

Yeah, 300,000 square feet (well, whatever portion of that is not office space when everything is finished) off the market. We're continuously getting closer to needing new office construction. I love these outdated office conversions since they're a win-win. New mixed-use development and reduction in vacant office space.

 

Unrelated, but I went to their site for the Soo Line project mentioned in the article. They refer to the bathrooms as "sexy bath"....I don't know how to feel about that. But the renderings of that project look fantastic so if it's anything like that they can call the bathrooms whatever they want.

The rooftops of the building will make for very nice outdoor amenities for residents or a bar/restaurant.

 

What is also encouraging is that the article did not mention the need to wait around for tax credits to proceed. The developer seems to know what they are doing and came make a property work without handouts.

 

Another great part of this is that it takes some large vacant office space off the market.

 

 

Does anyone know off the top of their head (because I am too lazy to look up), what the office vacancy rates are for downtown Cincinnati, by Class A, B, C?

 

It would be interesting to have a tally and see it whittle down as these new projects come on line!

Sure would be nice if they were to decide they want more space and completed the building as originally planned. :)

What is also encouraging is that the article did not mention the need to wait around for tax credits to proceed. The developer seems to know what they are doing and came make a property work without handouts.

 

Another great part of this is that it takes some large vacant office space off the market.

 

 

Does anyone know off the top of their head (because I am too lazy to look up), what the office vacancy rates are for downtown Cincinnati, by Class A, B, C?

 

It would be interesting to have a tally and see it whittle down as these new projects come on line!

 

http://www.cassidyturley.com/DesktopModules/CassidyTurley/Download/Download.ashx?contentId=3786&fileName=CN+OFF+Q3+14-1.pdf

 

The Cassidy Turley quarterly reports have a lot of good info in them.

 

Very cool.

 

Ok so what I got was, Downtown there is inventory of 12.94 million Square Feet with a Vacancy of 2.5 million, or a rate of 19.6% vacancy rate.

 

I wonder what usually is the tipping point for new construction?  I wonder if there is any study out there for this?

 

If the 309 gets built and say they take up 250,000 sq. ft. for uses other than office, that represents 10% of the total vacant space.  Seems like it would need to get down quite a bit before new construction, no?

Seems like it would need to get down quite a bit before new construction, no?

 

Depends. I mean we just got a new tallest tower, and I don't think the rates were much lower then than now.

Cranley to reveal plans for PNC Tower annex

 

A makeover of luxurious proportions is in the works for one of Downtown's historic buildings.

 

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley will announce plans Friday to redevelop the PNC Tower annex building in Downtown for mixed-use purposes. The announcement will be made at a 3 p.m. media event at 309 Vine St.

 

Cont

So what isn't Cranley involved in?  Did he actually found Tesla Motors?  Google?  His brilliance knows no bounds. 

Will they announce a new to market concept chain pizza store like last time?

I am hoping for a Sonics, and Cranley can pull up in a convertible and order the first meal served there;  A double cheeseburger, sonic fries and a strawberry milkshake.

So what info came out of the Cranley-led press conference?  I never saw any follow up on it.  The Business Courier reported the story on 10/31...

I never saw any articles detailing what was announced. I just saw a couple tweets from reporters that the press conference was happening, but nothing reporting what was said.

Buyer reveals plan for 309 Vine, appetite for more Cincinnati projects

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2014/11/26/buyer-reveals-plan-for-309-vine-appetite-for-more.html?page=all

 

This project is really massive. 300,000 square feet full of various uses, in conjunction with Phase II of The Banks is going to make some noticeable differences down there.

 

If they're looking for more projects to do in Cincy I know of a road with lots of parking lots lining it that could use some new skyscrapers (3rd).