CINCINNATI — As Cincinnati’s most famous office building inches closer to a foreclosure sale, Carew Tower’s most loyal tenant is bidding a fond farewell.
“We’ve gone through a lot with this building,” said Clem Luken, a senior partner in the Wood, Herron & Evans law firm, a Carew Tower tenant since 1930. “We’re moving on in part because there just isn’t a place here for us to stay.”
A New York-based real estate investor – which already owns the former Macy’s department store headquarters building downtown - has a contract to purchase the office and retail portions of Carew Tower, according to Hamilton County records.
“The entire (office) building, the last I’ve heard, will be converted over to apartments,” Luken said. “It’s a beautiful place when it’s up and doing what it’s supposed to do. So, I’m hopeful that the new management … will come in and have a similar view.”
The Carew Tower sale has been in the works since last November, when New York -based Veles Partners LLC sued to foreclose on a $9.7 million loan to Carew Realty Inc. That 2019 loan was issued by First Financial Bank, which sold the mortgage to Veles in October of last year.
Records show Veles is a corporate affiliate of Victrix Investments LLC. In January, it received a tax abatement worth $10.8 million to convert the former Macy’s building to apartments at 7 West Seventh Street.
“We’re in a new era of work from home,” Victrix CEO Anoop Dave’ told Cincinnati City Council before it awarded tax breaks. “I’m a believer that Cincinnati is going to be a winner (in that new era). If we create good space for people to work from home, you’re going to get an influx of folks.”
Neither Dave’ nor Carew Tower’s current owner, Carew Realty CEO Greg Power, could be reached for comment.
But last week, the two men filed records with the Hamilton County Recorder’s office that signal a Carew Tower sale could be close. The documents say Victrix will acquire the office and retail components of Carew Tower, while Power will continue to control Cincinnati Netherland Hotel LLC. The hotel company has agreed to cover 70% of the $1.4 million owed for “water and sewer liens and assessments” by all three segments of the property. Hamilton County and the city of Cincinnati’s Water Works utility both signed off on that arrangement.
“I really am hopeful because I think a building like this is a true jewel downtown,” said Luken, whose 27th floor office has views of the Kroger building and Fountain Square. “It’s a viable structure that contains a lot of Cincinnati history in it. It’s a great example of the art deco time-scale architecture and when it’s up and running, like with the arcade for example, there just aren’t many structures around that are this cool.”
It would be difficult to overstate the importance of Carew Tower on Cincinnati’s civic image. Constructed over 13 months at the start of the Great Depression, the building rises 570 feet above sea level and was Cincinnati’s tallest building until Great American Tower bested it by 91 feet in 2011. It was placed on the National Register for Historic Places in 1982, and is known for its art deco design elements, custom-made Rookwood tile in its first-floor arcade and a rooftop observation deck that offered unmatched views for decades.
“We have three partners whose fathers worked here at this firm,” said Dwight Poffenberger, who joined Wood, Herron & Evans in 1995. “All three of us have known this office space and this building since we were 3-4 years old. So, to change is quite a dramatic change for all of us.”
Luken said the law firm moved into Carew Tower on November 28, 1930. If it wasn't the first office tenant, he believes it was among the first because its records show it moved into the building four days before Emery Industries.
"The building was built by the Emery family," Luken said. "One would assume that Emery Industries were among the first people in."
Luken has a multi-layered connection to the building, having worked for Emery Industries early in his career before leaving the oleochemical company to join Wood Herron, which counted Emery as a client.
“And I live in Mariemont, which Mary Emery created as a national exemplar of planned housing in the country,” he said.
Both Luken and Poffenberger are fascinated by the building’s history, as they reminisced while sitting in a 26th floor conference room once occupied by Major League Baseball Commissioner A.B. “Happy” Chandler and former National League President Warren Giles.
Legend has it the conference room had a ceiling painted to resemble a baseball in the recessed cove lighting décor that remains in the building today.
The law firm occupied six floors in Carew Tower at the peak of its tenancy. It will vacate five floors at the end of this month, when it moves about 60 jobs to a 24,000-square-foot space in the Center at 600 Vine.
“We’ve fought many legal fights. We have prosecuted hundreds, thousands of patent applications, trademark applications – all in this space,” said Luken, who expects the final hours at Carew Tower to tug at some heart strings.
“If it’s not a tear, it’ll be maybe a little red eye,” he said. “We’ll pop a few bottles (of champagne) and wish it well and off we go.”
