CINCINNATI — The towering former Queensgate Correctional Facility was built to house more than 800 inmates. In its next chapter, it will be able to house more than 100 small businesses.
"We're looking for this to be economical, affordable space for artists and entrepreneurs," said Andrew Bandy of Arrand Real Estate, which is helping convert the space into more than 120 blank spaces available for all sorts of creative businesses.
Right now, Bandy and his business partner Thomas Gold are focused on building out three of the building's floors. The spaces will be between about 300 and 800 square feet, leasing for about $1 per square foot monthly.
They purchased the building in November 2022 and estimate the project will cost about $5 million once it is complete.
"For our model to work, we have to do everything economically," said Gold. "Which means it is a slower, more careful process."
The pair has a history of success with that model in Milwaukee. Hide House Creative and Lincoln Warehouse are old industrial buildings re-purposed as artist and creative lofts.
"We have at the moment three microbreweries. We have a distiller. We have a gluten-free baker. We have a guy who runs a rage room," Gold said. "We have chocolatiers, cheerleading studios and it's a great ecology."
The process to turn inmate bunks and communal bathrooms into clean, functional, adaptable spaces has taken time. And there are still projects to finish before tenants are allowed to move in sometime in late fall.
One room on the building's first floor holds piles of jail toilets removed during renovations.
Each floor will have new restrooms. Each leased space will have new lighting features, new centrally-controlled HVAC, and added insulation to limit noise.
"The bones of this place are just great," Gold said. "It's built like solid as a rock."
Some original building features will stay — including an old elevator lift engine on the fourth floor and exposed brick walls throughout.
New east-facing windows are being installed to take advantage of the light, and an incredible view.
"Where are you going to find a building like this with that kind of a view?" Gold said. "We understand that the basic asset that we have is light."
The only wall that won't have windows is the north-facing wall, which Gold said will ultimately feature a major exterior mural. The building can be seen from I-75 and parts of downtown.
Later phases will include renovation of the lower floors, old office spaces, and the old jail's intake and visitation areas. Right now, booths with telephones and glass dividers still exist. A lawyer's long left-behind business card sat on a counter. On the lowest level, the former intake area remains almost untouched. The badge painted on the wall between holding cells features former sheriff Simon Leis's name.
The county closed the jail in 2008 amid budget cuts. The Maslow's Army organization used the second floor as a day shelter for those experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic winter.
Gold and Bandy said it was the first building they looked at when scouting locations to expand into Cincinnati. They kept coming back to not only the building's potential, but the opportunity in the surrounding area.
"I think that Queensgate has the reputation that it has and maybe it takes an out of town to not maybe understand the history and maybe look beyond it," Gold said. "We think Queensgate is a great place and great opportunity to turn it and this into something terrific."
Anyone with interest in leasing space can email TheLinnCinnati@arrandre.com or call 513-937-5466.
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