Village Green to Transform Historic Cincinnati Office Building into M-U Property

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor 

Luxury apartment owner Village Green has acquired the historic office building at 309 Vine St. in Cincinnati, with plans of redeveloping the 300,000-square-foot property into a mixed-use apartment destination.

Located in downtown Cincinnati, the Beaux Arts-style building at 309 Vine St. first opened its doors as an annex to the 31-story PNC Tower in 1927, and the parcel it occupies played a notable role in U.S. history as the home of The Burnet Hotel, which hosted President-elect Abraham Lincoln on his way to the presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C., in 1861. Now, a new story is being written for the property.

Village Green will convert the building to accommodate luxury apartment residences and penthouses, as well as office and retail space. Local renters will likely welcome the addition. The vacancy rate in Cincinnati was an enviable 3.2 percent in the second quarter, according to a report by commercial real estate services firm Colliers International, and not even the rise in single-family housing sales is expected to cause any significant shifts.

“Although this increase in single-family housing will have an impact on the multi-family market, it is of note that the demand for multi-family housing won’t retreat back to pre-recession levels,” per the report. “Millennials and the GEN-Y population who want a live-work-play environment will help keep multi-family occupancy levels elevated, a good sign for the multi-family market.”

Village Green expects to complete the transformation of 309 Vine St. in 2016.