What happens to this building if Kroger buys the company?

 

Kroger already owns part of DunnhumbyUSA, not much would likely change. The Dunnhumby operation would still be run out of the new building. The Kroger HQ building is packed, they've been taking over the remaining floors as leases have expired. Kroger also just acquired another building in Blue Ash for their growing IT & online shopping operation.

Sounds like Kroger needs additional office space...perhaps a new building at Walnut & Central with a signature store on the ground floor?

^If anything, they might expand that building, since the article indicates that Kroger may be pursuing Dunnhumby Ltd, not just Dunnhumby USA.  My guess is that at least some jobs would relocate to Cincinnati from elsewhere if that were to occur.  However, that article read like speculation to me, so how likely this is to happen is anyone's guess.

Sounds like Kroger needs additional office space...perhaps a new building at Walnut & Central with a signature store on the ground floor?

 

I've thought this for a while but Kroger has always been low key. With their stock at an all time high, they likely don't want to change their formula. I thought the Kenwood Collection building would have been an ideal building to consolidate all their Blue Ash operations and have a showcase grocery store below. Their Fresh Fare store once filled the lower space.

 

Kroger just purchased an 80,000 sq ft. building in Blue Ash and will soon use it for their growing digital operation. Here are their current locations:

 

Kroger GO (General Office) in Downtown

Kroger BTC (Blue Ash Technical Center) in Blue Ash

Kroger DCIC (Digital Customer Innovation Center) in Blue Ash

Kroger KPPC (Kroger Produce Procurement Center) in Blue Ash

Kroger KPF (Kroger Personal Finance) in Blue Ash

Kroger KP1 (Kroger Plaza 1) in Blue Ash

Kroger KP2 (Kroger Plaza 2) in Blue Ash

 

 

Target's HQ in Minneapolis is built on top of a really nice, urban Target on Nicollet Mall... I don't expect Kroger to do anything this dramatic, but it's fun to dream!

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@44.97398,-93.274695,3a,89.9y,286.87h,112.31t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sYHjo7nw_75JZqgC7y39jLQ!2e0

With their stock at an all time high, they likely don't want to change their formula.

 

You mean their local formula? Cincinnati, as a grocery market, is just a blip for them. They have urban stores elsewhere. Building a CBD store would hardly be "changing their formula" in any meaningful sense.

With their stock at an all time high, they likely don't want to change their formula.

 

You mean their local formula? Cincinnati, as a grocery market, is just a blip for them. They have urban stores elsewhere. Building a CBD store would hardly be "changing their formula" in any meaningful sense.

 

You missed the point. I was commenting on them consolidating their office space in Blue Ash into a signature building Downtown.

Has anyone taken any updated photos recently?

Have there been any rumblings of tenants for the ground floor? These spaces are really unique to Downtown. Having 20' tall walls of glass opening to the street isn't something you can find anywhere Downtown or in OTR. Seems like a trendy restaurant/bar/lounge/etc. would want to get into one of these spaces.

Have there been any rumblings of tenants for the ground floor? These spaces are really unique to Downtown. Having 20' tall walls of glass opening to the street isn't something you can find anywhere Downtown or in OTR. Seems like a trendy restaurant/bar/lounge/etc. would want to get into one of these spaces.

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/campbellsscoop/2014/10/24/jose-salazar-dunnhumby/17846977/

I definitely missed that. That's great to hear. I really like Salazar and am excited to see what this place becomes.

I completely agree. He could do something really special in there and create another "flagship" Cincinnati dining establishment.

He seems to "get" the space he's using for his restaurant too. I hope that understanding translates well to this space which is about as opposite from his space on Republic as you can get. Salazar has a comforting quality to it that feels intimate and like you are supposed to be there and everyone there is happy to see you.

 

That can be difficult in big, modern spaces. But based on Salazar I feel like there's not much to worry about.

They should get an Apple store in the other space if they really want to jump start the planned Race Street retail corridor.  Then Saks could move to Fourth and Race tower and another residential tower could be built where Saks is with more ground floor retail. 

 

Then fix the Millenium hotel and build something (convention space?/arena if it will fit?) on the lot south of the convention center.   

 

But I wonder if that end of downtown will face headwinds for being a few blocks away from the streetcar line though.

I am surprised at the lack of work on the interior.  I thought that Dunnbumby  was supposed to move later this spring but it doesn't appear that the office space is being prepared or that any work is going on at the ground

level either.  Wonder of the bankruptcy and purchase by Krogers has delayed plans for the HQ move.

Are you able to see in from somewhere? I thought they were using part of the top level of the garage as construction staging in order to not disturb the street anymore which makes it look like nobody is there from ground level.

I am surprised at the lack of work on the interior.  I thought that Dunnbumby  was supposed to move later this spring but it doesn't appear that the office space is being prepared or that any work is going on at the ground

level either.  Wonder of the bankruptcy and purchase by Krogers has delayed plans for the HQ move.

 

Purchase by Kroger? Unless I missed something Kroger hasn't purchased dunnhumby.

I am surprised at the lack of work on the interior.  I thought that Dunnbumby  was supposed to move later this spring but it doesn't appear that the office space is being prepared or that any work is going on at the ground

level either.  Wonder of the bankruptcy and purchase by Krogers has delayed plans for the HQ move.

 

 

Purchase by Kroger? Unless I missed something Kroger hasn't purchased dunnhumby.

 

Last I checked it was all speculation.  DunnhumbyUSA is a partnership between Kroger and Dunnhumby Ltd.  Dunnhumby Ltd announced that the company is up for sale.  Kroger hasn't made any movement regarding the sale, though many speculate a buy.  At this point however, Kroger is just a partial owner of DunnhumbyUSA.

I am surprised at the lack of work on the interior.  I thought that Dunnbumby  was supposed to move later this spring but it doesn't appear that the office space is being prepared or that any work is going on at the ground

level either.  Wonder of the bankruptcy and purchase by Krogers has delayed plans for the HQ move.

 

I was up in a neighboring building and could look directly into the building's top floors - there is definitely interior work going on.

 

I think Sept has been the planed move in date the whole time

I heard from a friend who works there that they plan to move in in phases starting in late march and ending by mid/late April

I visited the building today. Quite a cool space. The finishes could be better at points, but overall it looks like it'll be a great place to work. The light canyons and the massive party deck are awesome. They've spent a good deal of money engineering and constructing the slabs to be able to handle the canyon continuing on the garage levels. They're serious about future expansion into these floors.

 

I really disliked their security gates though. Massive, intrusive, in your face, and in front of every stair. Ruins the whole, "everyone shares space" "open concept" method of spatial layout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ministry of Love.

Reminds me of a 1950's state university library with a 1970's renovation.  Seriously, those canned overhead lights?  Did they find those in a Northgate Mall time capsule?

 

Here's the circa-1982 art & architecture building at the University of Tennessee...a concrete building with an atrium with canned lights.  Yawn:

Complain all you want, the finished areas were very comfortable spaces and will be great to work in.

 

When dealing with a concrete structure you either have a dropped ceiling or you have lights like that. There really aren't other options.

 

You can boil down basically any structure enough to make relations to past buildings, and that's fine, but it doesn't make them accurate. Beyond having a central open space (that really doesn't function the same as Dunnhumby's) there aren't many if any similarities to the building you posted pictures of.

Absolutely dismal.

It's really not. Even on an overcast, rainy day the daylight made it into basically every single nook and cranny in the building. Even when nowhere near a window you felt a connection to outside. It's a bright space that is comfortable to be in even with its hard materials.

Hahaha. Jmicha, I'm really getting a kick out of your defense of the building. It's playing directly into the Orwellian nature of this place. You've read 1984, right?

It reminds me of a German airport.  That could be good...or bad.

I've read it and there are definitely qualities of this building that fit perfectly. The security gates being the most prominent.

 

"We're super open and love collaboration. Except for all you. You guys can only work on floor 7. Don't even try going down to level 6." It's very fake feeling. The building had problems but the architecture wasn't really one of them. It's a nice building but the interior design screams of a place trying to be cool but still being too scared to actually be truly progressive. It felt like a company that's incredibly controlling but hides it well by making its employees believe they're free.

I dropped in. Be it the handrails, carpet selection, exposed CMU, light fixtures, etc. the "value engineering" is the most striking feature of this building.

 

The building looked better when I had a tour last year - the concrete work is spectacular; aside from that the building is awful.

So I assume that they're covering those cinder block walls with drywall, correct?  I think it would look much better if they had traditional can lights and a drywall ceiling.  Also, I find it interesting that they designed the parking garage to become office space in the future...we certainly already have an idea what that will look like! 

 

Also I don't understand why 50+ years after architects figured out how to make attractive concreted buildings (albeit just a few of them!) huge concrete mistakes keep happening, over and over again.  My issue with concrete is the chalky odor and clammy feel it so often creates...that's not the case in really good concrete buildings like:

I'm not crazy about the natural concrete work (Smitherman's brother???).  It's awfully mottled in places and detracts from the otherwise pleasant, spacious, light-filled interior.  One would think in an application like this it would be made to look better.  The roof deck may provide enough redemption though.  Love it!

I've read it and there are definitely qualities of this building that fit perfectly. The security gates being the most prominent.

 

"We're super open and love collaboration. Except for all you. You guys can only work on floor 7. Don't even try going down to level 6." It's very fake feeling. The building had problems but the architecture wasn't really one of them. It's a nice building but the interior design screams of a place trying to be cool but still being too scared to actually be truly progressive. It felt like a company that's incredibly controlling but hides it well by making its employees believe they're free.

 

The Ministry of Love controls the thoughts of all people by collecting information on them and using it against them to brainwash people into liking stuff they might not otherwise. What does Dunnhummby do again? 

 

The Ministry of Love is known as "the place where there is no darkness." This building was designed around that concept.

 

Even though the actual Ministry was far more fortresses-like with no windows and barbed wire, the erratic black exterior creates a fortress aesthetic in its own way.

 

I can't help but think that Gensler was aware of this as they designed the place.  There are just too many similarities.

I think people need to realize sometimes that even if the people who post here are architects and understand highly the architecture and style of buildings, this probably represents 1% of the general population.  Maybe I am wrong, though.  To me and probably to the common man and woman, it seems a nice, new building that would be exciting to work in.  Also the outside of it looks neat and differentiates between other buildings.  I think the end product when the 4th and Race building and also areas around this will redevelop it will fit in very nicely.

I'm definitely not an architect and don't work at dunnhumby so I'm really more interested in the outside and I love it. So different than anything else and in this case it doesn't seem to be different just because it's different. Seems to me like it's completely different but cool at the same time. Inside looks fine to me, especially the outside decks but again, I don't work there.

I think people need to realize sometimes that even if the people who post here are architects and understand highly the architecture and style of buildings, this probably represents 1% of the general population.  Maybe I am wrong, though.  To me and probably to the common man and woman, it seems a nice, new building that would be exciting to work in.  Also the outside of it looks neat and differentiates between other buildings.  I think the end product when the 4th and Race building and also areas around this will redevelop it will fit in very nicely.

 

As an architect, the fact that architects are never pleased is the worst part of the profession. Nothing ever seems to please us and it gets frustrating when dealing with a real building built with real materials and with real money. We can get theoretical as we want but the realities of this building are that the inside is actually quite comfortable despite its handful of flaws, the concrete work is quite good and pleasing to look at, the prominent light of the space is a huge asset for a building with floor plates of this size, and I can guarantee the employees will enjoy working in this space. It's far from perfect, but it's also not "dismal," it's not an 80s mall, it's not an awful building, etc.

Despite the amount of light coming in, the concrete and the overall color scheme and detailing on the inside makes the building feel cold, harsh, and foreboding.  Aside from a few accents it's all a cold gray.  As someone said before, it feels like the whole thing is the parking garage.  That's fixable though.  Soffits can be built, surfaces can be repainted, light fixtures can be changed, and carpet can be swapped out over time.  That's my personal judgment which some coworkers of mine also agree with.

 

Personally I don't care for the exterior either.  The massing is fine, but the surface treatment with the randomly jostled windows is just so "trendy" that I can't help but view it as a bit of a farce.  If it wasn't Darth Vader charcoal gray I wouldn't mind it as much.  That just makes the exterior as looming and overbearing as the inside, and for no particular reason (the windows will still pop just as much at night if the rest of the building was lighter).  If they really wanted to make a statement with it they'd make it multicolored, which I suppose is still possible down the road.  To the layperson though, I would confidently say that most would look at the building and say "it's ugly" or greet it at best with a heartfelt "meh."

Some of those photos give me flashbacks of ten years working in the Ren Cen in the mid-90's. Was John Portman consulted on this? It's like his millennial disciples came into the fold here.  I don't hate it, but it's not my favorite new building downtown either. Missed opportunity? I think only time will tell. I'm not compelled to denigrate it out of the gate.

Maybe the average person thinks "meh" and "ugly".  I don't know for sure.  I don't think I have an eye that is any more than average for details.  If I had to chose one building in Cincinnati that I thought was ugly, I would chose One Lytle.  It is a concrete block, ugly, and out isolated by itself.  No offense to anyone who lives there or who has or thinks differently, but I would say a vast majority of average people would feel that way about it.

 

I have walked past DH Centre a few times with other people and we all thought, "now that looks pretty cool..."

The fact that the base is so transparent and open also makes the street level feel really welcoming to the street. I'm actually quite excited about the businesses that end up going into those spaces.

I'm not impressed.

Looks like they put down carpet in a parking garage.  I thought they were planning on expanding the office space into the parking garage, but it appears that they're set up to add more levels of parking by simply removing the carpet.  Very flexible use of space. 

As a layperson who has a pretty good interest in design and architecture, I like the exterior of the building a lot. By no means do I want every building to look like it, but I think it's pretty good.

 

The interior leaves some to be desired, but I don't really care because I'm not working there. Overall I'm really happy with the building.

Brutalism done... somewhat better. I like it, but I've always been a fan of harsh angles, concrete and Soviet-era architecture.

The exterior material looks like the inside hinge of a Trapper Keeper -- you know that thing you could run a pen over and make that funny vibrating noise. 

Interior design is similar to the old 9 West Show HQ Madisonville, that 5/3rd bought around 1998-99.

Brutalism done... somewhat better.

 

Brutalism seems to generally be an abomination on the exterior, but I've been surprised by the quality of some interior spaces I've come across.  Zimmer Auditorium at UC for instance is nasty on the outside, and even the auditorium itself is pretty blah, but the hallways and lobby with their patterned brickwork and terrazzo floors, wall sconces, and changes in height and overlooks, not to mention warm color palette, make for some pretty comfortable and pleasant spaces. 

 

Because of the concrete thickness and various design and detailing parameters, these buildings tend to get some fairly intimate spaces like window nooks or cozy corners with lower ceilings, as well as things like planters and integrated railings and benches.  This tends to extend to later waffle slab buildings from the 1980s as well, in part I think because you need pretty massive interior walls to hold up that concrete structure overhead.  Those walls have to be brick or more concrete, but in an interior application, so you (hopefully) get more approachable materials and finishes, plus some other fun nooks and crannies.  Since brutalism itself is specifically about "raw concrete" the architects were looking for every possible way to make it do different things and experiment, it wasn't just an afterthought or "only" for the structure and nothing else.   

 

There also seemed to be more attention to details on the inside that are lacking these days.  That doesn't mean they weren't simple and streamlined, but I think much more care was given to material choices, finishes, and color.  It also seems that the 60s and 70s were defined by more warm-colored metals, so your concrete brutalist building was filled with brass, bronze, and anodized aluminum, all of which tend to patina in much the same way that concrete gets more tan as it ages.  Yes these buildings deserve much of the hate the get for their exterior appearance, but at the same time they can be surprisingly inviting on the inside.  Dunnhumby is "just a concrete building" by comparison.

It kind of reminds me of a jail corridor on the inside with the metal railings... its better than what was there, though.

IMO a bonus is it makes the Walgreen's apartment building look better - by distracting from it!  When the site was a surface lot, the apartments were overexposed.  I think Dunnhumby is a great addition to the CBD.  It's starting to look downtown around there.