Gwynne Building is a registered historic building in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, listed in the National Register on August 3, 1979.

History

The almost 125,000-square-foot thirteen-

story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Narrative, an account of imaginary or real people and events ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting ** News story, an event or topic reported by a news orga ...

Gwynne Building was completed in 1913. The building was designed by

Ernest Flagg Ernest Flagg (February 6, 1857 – April 10, 1947) was an American architect in the Beaux-Arts style. He was also an advocate for urban reform and architecture's social responsibility. Early life and education Flagg was born in Brooklyn, New ...

, who also designed the

Singer Building The Singer Building (also known as the Singer Tower) was an office building and early skyscraper at the northwestern corner of Liberty Street and Broadway in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City. Serving as the headqua ...

in New York and the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. The structure was commissioned by Flagg's cousin, Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt, who was the wife of

Cornelius Vanderbilt II Cornelius "Corneil" Vanderbilt II (November 27, 1843 – September 12, 1899) was an American socialite and a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family. Noted forebears He was the favorite grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbil ...

. Alice and Ernest were first cousins as Alice's mother, Rachel Moore Flagg, was the sister of Flagg's father,

Jared Bradley Flagg Jared Bradley Flagg (June 16, 1820 – September 25, 1899) was an American painter. Early life Flagg was born on June 16, 1820, in New Haven, Connecticut. He was a son of Martha (née Whiting) Flagg (1792–1875) and Henry Collins Flagg, the o ...

. Alice named the Gwynne Building in honor of her father, Abraham Evan Gwynne, a prominent Cincinnati lawyer and Judge. Her paternal grandfather, Major David Gwynne, was a real estate broker in Cincinnati, whose family was among the early settlers of Cincinnati, and Alice was said to be a distant relative of the

Longworth family The Longworth family is most closely associated with Cincinnati, Ohio, and was one of Cincinnati's better-known families during the 19th and 20th centuries. The founder of the Ohio family, Nicholas Longworth (16 January 1783 - 10 February 1863), ...

. She inherited the property at 6th and Main St. and her brother took the corner of 4th and Main St. The tallest section, the tower, is 14 stories. The Beaux-Arts style building is made of steel and concrete the exterior is rendered in Indiana limestone, brick and granite. Originally the building was considered fireproof as there was "no wood of any description being used," and the floors were finished in polished concrete with the hall floors containing

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

s. The corners of the building are adorned with ox heads. In addition to the 1913 building, the east building was built in 1916, and the north building was built in 1939.

Tenants

From 1935 until 1956, the office building housed the headquarters of

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...

(P&G). The P&G World Headquarters are now located in twin towers a few blocks to the east. In 1992, the building was purchased by a group of tenants and investors from

EQ Office EQ Office is a real estate investment company that owns 80 office properties comprising 40 million square feet. The company is owned by and funds managed by The Blackstone Group. The company was formerly known as Equity Office. History The compa ...

, which was owned by Chicago billionaire real estate investor

Sam Zell Samuel Zell (born Shmuel Zielonka; September 28, 1941 – May 18, 2023) was an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist primarily engaged in real estate investment. Companies founded by or controlled by Zell include Equity Residential ...

, founder and chairman of

Equity International Equity International is a private equity firm founded by Sam Zell to invest in real estate in markets outside of the United States. Since its founding in 1999, it has invested in 28 companies. Investments In 2002, Equity International invested $3 ...

. The purchase was followed by an about $1,000,000 in renovations. In July 2014, the building, which was then 88% occupied, was offered for sale. The tenants included

Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) is the public transport agency serving Cincinnati and its Ohio suburbs. SORTA operates Metro fixed-route buses, bus rapid transit, microtransit, and paratransit services. SORTA's headquarters ...

, Sound Images (later renamed Gwynne Sound), the Charles H. Dater Foundation and the Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Film Commission. It was purchased by an investment group led by Patrick Gates.

References

External links

Gwynne Building
documentation from the

University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) is an arts and architecture college of the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was initially established as the School of Applied Art in 1926. Hi ...

. {{National Register of Historic Places Beaux-Arts architecture in Ohio Office buildings completed in 1913 National Register of Historic Places in Cincinnati Office buildings in Cincinnati 1913 establishments in Ohio