Historic Fed apartments open downtown in 2012

A renovation that started in January of this year will be completed next August and open up 88 historic apartments in downtown Cincinnati.

Ashley Commercial Group, of Edgewood, Ky and Arcadia Communities, a Louisville, Ky based company, teamed up to come across the Ohio River and turn the old Federal Reserve Bank on Fourth and Race into 15 stories of one bedroom, two bedroom and loft style apartments ranging from 700 to 1500 square feet. Overall, 190,000 square feet of new apartments will soon be available.

The building, which will be called The Reserve, has been primarily been used as office space in recent years, but has slowly lost tenants to buildings like the Great American Tower. Seeing the opportunity to turn another building into unique housing, ACG, the company behind the St. Anthony Lofts in Bellevue, set out to renovate the building and teamed up with a company they had worked on residential projects with before, AC.

“We’re excited to work on a project like this in Cincinnati,” says Brian Durban, president of Arcadia Communities. “We are working really hard to keep the historical aspects of the building intact.”

Some of those defining characteristics of the buildings are terrazzo floors, marble door openings and Art Deco elevators. Arcadia is installing granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances to give the apartments a modern flare. With over 20 different floor plans, a fitness room, and a pet-friendly community, The Reserve has already received deposits on apartments that won’t be completed until next June, at the earliest.

Durban says that only some apartments will begin to open up in June of 2012, and plans on having all 88 units ready for occupancy on August 1, 2012. ACG and AC have worked with businesses that are currently housed in the building to relocate them to the first couple floors of the building while the apartments will span up the fifteenth floor.

“Everything has gone smoothly so far,” Durban says.

By Evan Wallis