The Northern Kentucky Port Authority, along with its developer and construction manager, Corporex, and prime contractor, Hemmer Construction Company, will host the grand opening of the OneNKY Center, at the foot of the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge in Covington today at 10 a.m.
Governor Andy Beshear will join the NKY Port and elected and community leaders for the celebration.
Ground was broken for the OneNKY Center, a 47,000-square-foot Class A office building, on August 30, 2023, with Gov. Beshear, Senator Chris McDaniel, Kenton County Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann, Corporex Founder and Chairman Bill Butler and hundreds of community and business leaders in the region.
On June 26, 2024, the final steel beam was put into place at a Topping Out Ceremony that included McDaniel, former Covington Mayor Joe Meyer, Kenton County Fiscal Court Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann, state Senator Shelley Funke Frommeyer and state Rep. Stephanie Dietz.
The building is 100 percent leased and home to 10 Northern Kentucky growth organizations. The second floor holds the 15,000-square-foot specialized biotech lab and startup incubator run by LifeSciKY that also opens today.
The program begins at 10 a.m., followed by a ribbon cutting, and an open house.
Speakers include:
• Christine Russell, Executive Director, NKY Port Authority
• City of Covington Mayor Ron Washington
• Governor Andy Beshear
• Senator Chris McDaniel
• Kenton County Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann
• Christin Godale, Executive Director, LifeSciKY
• Leon Wyszkowski, President, Analytical Services Division Clinical Research, Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Bill Butler, Chairman, Corporex Companies
OneNKY Center tenants are:
BE NKY Growth Partnership
The Catalytic Fund
EducateNKY
Horizon Community Foundation of Northern Kentucky
LifeSciKY
meetNKY
Northern Kentucky Bar Association
Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce
OneNKY Alliance
Thomas More University Division of External Affairs
The Catalytic Fund, OneNKY Alliance, Kenton County, and LifeSciKY, which received funding from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, were instrumental in securing financing for the OneNKY Center. The $26 million project’s funding derives from various channels, including Kenton County offering credit enhancement for approximately $8.7 million of construction bonds, issued by the Kentucky Association of County Officials (KACo) Finance Corporation. Additional financial contributions were made by LifeSciKY, the Butler Foundation, Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation, Horizon Community Foundation of Northern Kentucky, Drees Foundation and the R.C. Durr Foundation, Inc.
In 2022, BE NKY Growth Partnership, through the Build + Elevate NKY investor campaign, activated the NKY Port, which focuses on identifying, managing, readying, and advocating for sites aimed at surpassing community employment and wage objectives through subsequent private commercial and industrial development and revitalization efforts.