January 30, 201312 yr Here it is! http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2011/10/glass-box.jpg JK. I hope it looks better than this though!
January 30, 201312 yr ^ And to think that in the beginning, when it was learned that dunnhumby was expanding to 5th & Race, we were all anticipating something really remarkable for that precious block... (Silly us, huh?) :-(
January 30, 201312 yr 2 stories of retail, 3 stories of parking, 4 stories of office. There will be another 3 stories of parking underground. The office building will have 1400 employees by 2014 if Dunnhumby's bubble doesn't burst
January 30, 201312 yr 2 stories of retail, 3 stories of parking, 4 stories of office. There will be another 3 stories of parking underground. The office building will have 1400 employees by 2014 if Dunnhumby's bubble doesn't burst You always seem to bring up the down fall of Dunnhumby as if you wish it to happen.
January 30, 201312 yr Here it is! http://media.treehugger.com/assets/images/2011/10/glass-box.jpg JK. I hope it looks better than this though! Out of curiosity, is that building in Dublin?
January 30, 201312 yr WCPO is still reporting it will be 15 to 20 stories. http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/money/business_news/new-100m-dunnhumbyusa-headquarters-expected-to-spur-other-downtown-development
January 30, 201312 yr WCPO is still reporting it will be 15 to 20 stories. http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/money/business_news/new-100m-dunnhumbyusa-headquarters-expected-to-spur-other-downtown-development I hope its 15 to 20 stories. Cincinnati needs more height to our skyline
January 30, 201312 yr "Out of curiosity, is that building in Dublin?" I just did a google image search for "ugly suburban glass box" I'm not sure if it's in Dublin. To be optimistic about the new Dunhumby HQ we can all agree that the getting rid of that ugly skywalk and surface lot is a blessing.
January 30, 201312 yr Out of curiosity, is that building in Dublin? You might be thinking of these, Metro Center I 525 Metro Place North, Dublin, OH 43017 There are a bunch of these that were built in the 70's on Metro Place N.
January 30, 201312 yr "Out of curiosity, is that building in Dublin?" I just did a google image search for "ugly suburban glass box" I'm not sure if it's in Dublin. To be optimistic about the new Dunhumby HQ we can all agree that the getting rid of that ugly skywalk and surface lot is a blessing. It wasn't the box itself, it was the lot and "presentation" of the box that looked eerily similar to an office park in Columbus I used to work at. As far as Fifth and Race goes, either the City is preparing a speech to emphasize the importance of any and all development downtown however small, or Channel 9 is reporting this accurately.
January 31, 201312 yr I wonder if the report of 'between 15 and 20 stories tall' literally means its height, using the old standard of 10 feet per floor when speaking of how tall something is. I could see this building, if having generous floor heights and possibly some sort of roof ornamentation, being around 15 stories in height. Meaning 150 feet tall, even if it only has these 9 actual floors. Hopefully renderings are released at the groundbreaking.
January 31, 201312 yr News from a friend- Rendering unlikely to be released tomorrow but there is a small possibility. Interior renderings will be shown. Building still has to go past the Urban Design Review Board. Meeting scheduled for 10AM Friday at City Hall, don't know what room. That meeting is public and most certainly will have some renderings. Interestingly enough, some developers release renderings way before going to UD review board, but Gensler/dunnhumby/3CDC seems to have wanted to wait. Not sure why.
January 31, 201312 yr http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/blog/2013/01/dunnhumbyusa-dubs-new-hq-as-dunnhumby.html?ana=twt Going to be called the dunnhumby Centre. Nine stories tall, according to this.
January 31, 201312 yr These'll be 9 tall stories... so I'm betting it'll have the feel of a taller building... probably in the 12-15 stories?
January 31, 201312 yr Based on the enquirer article it seems like we will get a quirky facade with contextual materials. If executed properly, this could work really well along the lines of the Contemporary Art Center. I like the light well, and am intrigued that future expansion of the offices would be down into the above ground parking. It seems counter intuitive, one would think more office tenants would lead to an increase of parking demand, and removing the above ground parking will only add to that. I wonder if this is a precursor to another garage to be built elsewhere, perhaps at 4th and plum? Maybe it is part of 3CDC's long term strategic plan?
January 31, 201312 yr Centre always reminds me of a suburban strip mall. Union Centre, Kenwood Towne Centre, etc.
January 31, 201312 yr Interesting section they're showing. And the interior lobby view looks quite good. Hopefully the same can be said of the exterior once it's shown. Also, in a totally unscientific manner, I found that the building in that section stands about 150 feet tall when scaled based on sidewalk to sidewalk. That assumes the section is accurately proportioned and not just a diagrammatic section.
January 31, 201312 yr They dropped the residential component because they didn't want to be involved with residential, didn't think the residential tower would be financed, didn't want to compete with the other residential conversions happening downtown, or some similar reason. The "We needed more space" line is pure marketing, trying to put a positive spin on it. And you know this... how? If dunnhumby didn't want to be involved with residential, then why did residential even come up in the first place when the initial discussions about the building came up? It seems to me like the "oh hey we're expanding faster than we thought and actually need to take up the whole site" explanation makes considerably more sense. It just seems fairly obvious that "we need more space" is spin to draw attention away from the fact that they're dropping the residential component. (And it worked, judging from the Business Courier's headline: "DunnhumbyUSA needs more room, residential out at new HQ".) I'm not saying I have any insight into the exact reason why the residential component was dropped, but mostly likely 3CDC was pushing for it hard and Dunnhumby just didn't want any part of it. Do you honestly believe that Dunnhumby just realized how fast they were expanding? I disagree only for the fact that the building size did actually get bigger from the original proposal. Sooo... I stand by my original theory. If they're growing so fast and need so much space, why'd they cut it down to just 4 floors of office space? The "we need more space" argument was nothing but spin to drop the residential component.
January 31, 201312 yr They dropped the residential component because they didn't want to be involved with residential, didn't think the residential tower would be financed, didn't want to compete with the other residential conversions happening downtown, or some similar reason. The "We needed more space" line is pure marketing, trying to put a positive spin on it. And you know this... how? If dunnhumby didn't want to be involved with residential, then why did residential even come up in the first place when the initial discussions about the building came up? It seems to me like the "oh hey we're expanding faster than we thought and actually need to take up the whole site" explanation makes considerably more sense. It just seems fairly obvious that "we need more space" is spin to draw attention away from the fact that they're dropping the residential component. (And it worked, judging from the Business Courier's headline: "DunnhumbyUSA needs more room, residential out at new HQ".) I'm not saying I have any insight into the exact reason why the residential component was dropped, but mostly likely 3CDC was pushing for it hard and Dunnhumby just didn't want any part of it. Do you honestly believe that Dunnhumby just realized how fast they were expanding? I disagree only for the fact that the building size did actually get bigger from the original proposal. Sooo... I stand by my original theory. If they're growing so fast and need so much space, why'd they cut it down to just 4 floors of office space? The "we need more space" argument was nothing but spin to drop the residential component. They made the floor plates bigger....
January 31, 201312 yr A residential tower would have meant at the very least a bank of elevator shafts through the middle of their precious floor plates. But I think the real issue was, aside from complicating the financing, that there are so many other residential projects going on downtown. When the Carew Tower itself, directly across the street, might go residential, there had to have been the concern that the market will be flooded.
January 31, 201312 yr That plus the tower that may be going over Macy's which I think is honestly a better spot for a residential tower anyway. There are plenty of opportunities left for residential construction downtown. Although it would have been nice to see it at this site, it just wasn't meant to be. But it opens up opportunity for new development elsewhere since there is still a demand for that residential. So in the end we'll get multiple sites being redeveloped which I think is the goal overall right now.
January 31, 201312 yr Sooo... I stand by my original theory. If they're growing so fast and need so much space, why'd they cut it down to just 4 floors of office space? The "we need more space" argument was nothing but spin to drop the residential component. No. DH said all along, 'we want big, open floors.' Then 3CDC and the City came in and tried to shoe-horn a residential tower into the project. That would have required DH to accept multiple, smaller floors, stacked on top of each other. Exactly what they said they didnt want. DH was willing to listen to the City's pitch to include a residential tower, but in the end it would have meant sacrificing their vision for the space. This is DH's building first and foremost. The number 1 priority should be giving them exactly what they want. There are plenty of other sites in the CBD that can be used as a residential tower.
January 31, 201312 yr I fail to see how larger floor plates in any way effect the overall culture of a company. I temped at a Nationwide building in Dublin, OH with larger floor plates than this one and I had zero idea who people on other areas of our floor were or what they were doing. I get that these people are shifting from team to team, but for all their brainpower all they could come up with is "Dunhumby Centre". Wow. As in Wow Potato Chips Wow. Creativity is totally chaotic...sometimes you come up with ideas on a walk, other times on the toilet, other times right when you wake up, other times at a party, other times in a dedicated brainstorming (does anyone still say that?) situation. Seems to me that the whole thing is a way to convince clients that this company delivers a distinctive service because they "do things differently".
January 31, 201312 yr This building, at least from what was released today, seems very Washington D.C. in scale. That's not a bad thing, though I would have preferred more height.
January 31, 201312 yr This building, at least from what was released today, seems very Washington D.C. in scale. That's not a bad thing, though I would have preferred more height. ^^ This. It all seems rather unremarkable. I am excited about the retail though. And it's infinitely better than a parking lot with a sky-walk to nowhere, not that you were saying otherwise.
January 31, 201312 yr I fail to see how larger floor plates in any way effect the overall culture of a company. I temped at a Nationwide building in Dublin, OH with larger floor plates than this one and I had zero idea who people on other areas of our floor were or what they were doing. I get that these people are shifting from team to team, but for all their brainpower all they could come up with is "Dunhumby Centre". Wow. As in Wow Potato Chips Wow. Creativity is totally chaotic...sometimes you come up with ideas on a walk, other times on the toilet, other times right when you wake up, other times at a party, other times in a dedicated brainstorming (does anyone still say that?) situation. Seems to me that the whole thing is a way to convince clients that this company delivers a distinctive service because they "do things differently". You can't be serious. In my experience, the layout of office space makes an enormous difference in how people interact. Its not just the new school companies, like Facebook etc., (where Mark Zuckerberg not only doesnt work in a private office, but also doesn't even have a desk to himself) that subscribe to the philosophy. Sergio Marchionne completely redesigned Chrysler's corporate offices in order to eliminate the hierarchical internal culture of the company with great success. I worked briefly (along time ago) in a big (Fortune 500) company that has traditional, multi-floor, office layout; where the executives were on the top floor, middle management had private offices along the windows of each floor, and everyone else had cubicles in the center, windowless portion of the floors. It is a horrible work environment. It creates an us against them mentality within the company.
January 31, 201312 yr Fun fact. Steve Leeper has a cube, not an office. And someone mentioned that twice I've made a joke/snarky comment about Dunnhumby's massive & quick growth being unsustainable and how that implied I wanted them to fail. I think Dunnhumby is amazing. I think wha they do is great, but anything that grows that fast, and starts salaries around $80k for 27-30 year olds with 5 weeks vacation at start can look too good to be true. Either way, I think they're awesome & I hope they hit their 1100 employee goal even sooner than 2015.
January 31, 201312 yr A residential tower would have meant at the very least a bank of elevator shafts through the middle of their precious floor plates. But I think the real issue was, aside from complicating the financing, that there are so many other residential projects going on downtown. When the Carew Tower itself, directly across the street, might go residential, there had to have been the concern that the market will be flooded. First and foremost this building is for dunhumby so they are going to get the floorplates they want. It isn't hard or expensive to off set another bank of elevators to service residential, but it seems that component was axed early on, as to why not sure. Carew Tower is not going to be converted to Residential. Office leases there run for years, doing a conversion it would take years to get a ROI, and the building is 85% leased. Qualls looks like an idiot for running her mouth.
January 31, 201312 yr Carew Tower is not going to be converted to Residential. Office leases there run for years, doing a conversion it would take years to get a ROI, and the building is 85% leased. Qualls looks like an idiot for running her mouth. I have a friend that leases space in Carew. He said that he tried to renew his lease and was told that they werent renewing leases.
January 31, 201312 yr Carew Tower is not going to be converted to Residential. Office leases there run for years, doing a conversion it would take years to get a ROI, and the building is 85% leased. Qualls looks like an idiot for running her mouth. I have a friend that leases space in Carew. He said that he tried to renew his lease and was told that they werent renewing leases. Plus after a certain point they may be able to buy out leases. ...so what does Qualls look like again?
January 31, 201312 yr Hopefully the Carew thing is a prelude to the office tower at the Banks and another new tower or two. Makes sense to retrofit old office space into residential while making new space that is more appealing. You a) make new residential space, b) fill vacant lots, c) add more attractive office space, and d) avoid having vacancies created by bringing new office space online.
January 31, 201312 yr The owners of the Carew Tower denied this about two weeks ago...... http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2013/01/18/carew-tower-owner-denies-report-of.html
January 31, 201312 yr Carew Tower is not going to be converted to Residential. Office leases there run for years, doing a conversion it would take years to get a ROI, and the building is 85% leased. Qualls looks like an idiot for running her mouth. I have a friend that leases space in Carew. He said that he tried to renew his lease and was told that they werent renewing leases. Plus after a certain point they may be able to buy out leases. ...so what does Qualls look like again? She looks stupid Carew Tower is not going to be converted to Residential. Office leases there run for years, doing a conversion it would take years to get a ROI, and the building is 85% leased. Qualls looks like an idiot for running her mouth. I have a friend that leases space in Carew. He said that he tried to renew his lease and was told that they werent renewing leases. sent you a PM
January 31, 201312 yr Large floor plates in and of themselves don't lead to a creative environment; just ask anybody who has worked in the Sears Tower or the old World Trade Center, where the floor plates were nearly the size of city blocks. But things like high ceilings and ample natural light make for a much better work environment compared to the typical cubicle farm with 10-foot ceilings, and the designers are obviously incorporating such things into this project. On the subject of future expansion, this article states that Dunnhumby will have the option to expand downward, and convert the four above-ground parking floors into office floors if needed in the future. While I would've also liked to have seen a high-rise residential tower incorporated into the project, such a tower would've meant not only additional elevator shafts penetrating the Dunnhumby space, but additional structural components, additional stairwells, and additional mechanical shafts. It likely would've doubled the amount of non-usuable square footage per floor, and greatly hindered the ability to bring natural light into the offices as shown in the section above. There are creative ways to mitigate such concerns, but they all cost money and it sounds like Dunnhumby is dead-set on what they want. I'm more worried about the exterior of the building, and the quote from the same article raised a red flag for me: For instance, dunnhumby is still working with New York-based Gensler Architects to decide the exterior of the building, although Palm said they are looking at neutral colors that will complement neighboring architecture. “We’re not building a pink flamingo downtown,” he said. “We want it to fit into the city.” I'll reserve judgement until the renderings are released, but I hope this doesn't mean they're going for a bland vanilla-box exterior. Blending in with the surrounding context is fine in theory, but if most of the surrounding context is beige schlock like the Macy's building and the Renaissance Hotel, all you get is a downtown full of more beige schlock. If there's anything downtown Cincinnati needs, it's a few more pink flamingoes (figuratively speaking) and a few less anonymous big boxes. Gensler is well-regarded as a powerhouse for corporate interiors, but they tend to be fairly conservative when it comes to exteriors. Let's hope this project is an exception to the rule.
January 31, 201312 yr Great that a world headquarters is expanding in downtown Cincy, but a real downer on the height of the building.
January 31, 201312 yr Dunnhumby employees brainstormed and voted on the name Dunnhumby Centre. really? please tell that's all marketing.
February 1, 201312 yr Carew Tower is not going to be converted to Residential. Office leases there run for years, doing a conversion it would take years to get a ROI, and the building is 85% leased. Qualls looks like an idiot for running her mouth. I have a friend that leases space in Carew. He said that he tried to renew his lease and was told that they werent renewing leases. Plus after a certain point they may be able to buy out leases. ...so what does Qualls look like again? She looks stupid Video: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/politics/2013/01/21/video-qualls-on-carew-tower/ Dunnhumby employees brainstormed and voted on the name Dunnhumby Centre. really? please tell that's all marketing. Maybe they went with "Centre" because of dunnhumby's UK roots... still odd IMO
February 1, 201312 yr It took them this long to design 4 floors that have no walls and they still don't have designs to show of the building? Did they not actually have somebody working on this, or was the firm that was working on this really good at a con scheme? Oh look at the emperors new clothes. Essentially 4 floors of a warehouse design, how can you get any easier than that? Wait a second, they do have skylights, that should've added about another year in design. Then the article states that they want the color of the outside of the building to blend in with the surrounding buildings. Yes, that's creative thinking "Let's blend in" Now regarding the reason for cancelling the residential is just silly. They needed more space? Did they go from 3 floors to 4 floors, oh my hold me back. They didn't need to own the residential, some other entity/investor could've owned that portion so that's a non-issue. The amount of elevators added would've been inconsequential. Now if they were worried about the light coming in at the top, they could've put the residential underneath them and kept the top portion of the building for themselves like they did. So instead of them occupying floors 6,7,8 & 9, put 15 to 20 stories of residential between them and the garage, they now would occupy floors 21,22,23 & 24 or 26,27,28 & 29. Now if they would've added the residential underneath them, it could've been added in a very creative way and the entire building could've really stood out downtown. Am I glad this piece of land will no longer be a parking lot, yes I am. Am I glad that downtown gets another corporate headquarters with more jobs, yes I am. I'm just disappointed that with such a prime piece of real estate downtown that this was the best that could've come about.
February 1, 201312 yr Let's not get carried away. DT's most visible missing tooth is getting capped with a corporate HQ that will bring tons of weekday foot traffic - at least - and added retail. Sure it will add nothing to the skyline but will certainly improve the feel in this nook of the city. There was a day when the 5th and Race Tower was what we had here. What now? A signature tower? No. An improvement over what has been there since ca. 1971? Unquestionably. Someone mentioned earlier that having no rez here just means it will be developed elsewhere. I think that's a good outcome. In hindsight, if DH needed large floor plates, why was the huge lot on Plum b/t 4th and 5th never in the discussion? Come to think of it, that behemoth of a void is never discussed as far as I can recall for...uh, anything.
February 1, 201312 yr The level of butthurt is pretty astounding here. Folks, I can assure you that dunnhumby did not, in fact, run over your dog or cat.
February 1, 201312 yr ^thank you. Also, the lot at 4th & plum is owned by a Canadian company and is not for Sale.
February 1, 201312 yr Would imagine the City pushed the 5th & Race site over the Plum st lot. The City owns the 5th & Race Site? correct?
February 1, 201312 yr I don't think it has to do with the city pushing it over the other... No one has even said that the plum st location was for sale.... You can only buy something that is for sale.
February 1, 201312 yr http://static2.fjcdn.com/comments/MFW+people+are+butt-hurt+because+bastian+made+his+own+channel+_de1a8ea305cc935d33f8aa5c94a3f718.jpg[/img]
February 1, 201312 yr I don't think it has to do with the city pushing it over the other... No one has even said that the plum st location was for sale.... You can only buy something that is for sale. For the right amount the owners of the plum st site would be happy to sell.
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