As the new year begins to take shape, Corporex, a privately held investment firm located in Covington, focused on investing in real estate, hospitality, sports and fitness, and capital markets, recaps some of the major real estate achievements from 2023. Projects took place across the United States, with a focus in the Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Colorado markets.
Kentucky Updates
Ovation offfice building at 200 West Third opened in August with space available for leasing. (Photo provided)
The Ovation 200 W. 3rd Class A office building located at the Ovation development, a 25-acre, urban mixed-use development at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking Rivers, opened in August of last year. Built on speculation, this 100,000-square-foot building marked the first new construction of a Class A office building in the downtown urban core of the Cincinnati region since 2016. Now 60% leased, MegaCorp Logistics serves as the anchor tenant with two floors and 40,000 square feet. St. Elizabeth Healthcare completed a lease for the entire second floor, 20,000 square feet, and will open in late 2024.
Once complete, the Ovation development will include a hotel, offer luxury residential for-sale and for-rent units, Class-A office spaces, and entertainment and dining spaces. Two of The Boardwalk Residences at Ovation luxury condominium buildings are currently under construction with 80% of these units sold. A third building with additional inventory was released in September, continuing to drive sales.
“The demand in sales and flurry of activity that we’ve seen surrounding The Boardwalk Residences at Ovation showcases how enthusiastic buyers are about the location, the connection to everything the city has to offer, unmatched views of the Cincinnati skyline and so much more,” said Residential Sales Director, Amy Kennedy. “Our buyers are coming from all over – 36% from Kentucky, 36% from Ohio, and 28% are from a combination of California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, and Tennessee, which speaks to the desirability of our offerings in this region.”
In addition to these major sales milestones, Corporex celebrated the completion of the pedestrian bridge over Third Street in Newport, with a ribbon-cutting and time capsule ceremony in May. This event celebrated the connection of the two major sections of the Ovation development.
A view of the Boardwalk (Photo provided)
The Homewood Suites by Hilton Newport Cincinnati at Ovation is also in the final phase of construction. The 133-room hotel is built on top of a 550-space parking platform at Ovation. The hotel is located adjacent to the MegaCorp Pavilion concert venue and sits across from the Class-A office building.
Corporex saw significant activity in Covington in 2023. The organization serves as the development manager of the OneNKY Center, a Class A office building serving the region’s economic growth and professional organizations owned by the NKY Port Authority – including OneNKY Alliance, the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, meetNKY, BE NKY Growth Partnership, The Catalytic Fund of Northern Kentucky, Horizon Community Funds of Northern Kentucky and the Northern Kentucky Bar Association. The official groundbreaking took place in August. This facility has a target completion date of 2025.
Development efforts continue at The Crest on Western. Corporex has invested in pre-development work and secured approvals for 25 for-sale townhomes on the former site of Willies Sports Bar and Café between Crescent Ave. to the east and Western Ave. to the west. The organization is currently seeking partnerships for the additional phases of the project.
Corporex donated the land at 1428 Madison Ave. to the Samaritan Car Care Clinic to continue their mission work out of a central location, with project management and construction expertise from Corporex lent to the project. The facility opened in April 2023.
Office leasing and tenant improvements were a key focus for Corporex within its portfolio in Covington. For example, the company completed a 19,000-square-foot tenant build-out in November 2023 for St. Elizabeth Physicians’ Journey Recovery Center, a specialty practice on the third floor of the Life Learning Center on W. 18th Street in Covington.
At the Towers of RiverCenter, Corporex welcomed Honey Uninhibited in June 2023 as a long-term lease to Carlos Dunlap, former Cincinnati Bengal and NFL football great turned restauranteur. Insurance broker, AssuredPartners, also signed a lease on a 9,800-square-foot space to help aid in the growth of their regional presence.”
The Residence Inn in Newport (Photo provided)
Corporex also helped reimagine CirclePort as a major mixed-use development alongside the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), Boone County, the City of Erlanger, and Duke Energy. Located around Mineola Pike off I-275, CirclePort is a 650-acre development in Boone & Kenton Counties. Corporex sold 8.3 acres of land along Mineola Pike to Arlington Properties, to be developed for a rental apartment project. An additional 2.3 acres was sold to Answers in Genesis surrounding the new building they purchased in 2022 for their new headquarters.
In addition, Corporex focused on renovations and new tenant offerings at CirclePort. Common areas in the Olympic Corporate Center II, a class A office building off Olympic Drive underwent renovations and the interior of Pacific Corporate Center, formerly occupied by Convergys, was converted to a white box condition. DSV Air and Sea, an existing tenant at the Reflections office building in CirclePort, significantly expanded their presence.
“The landscape for office space has changed significantly since the pandemic,” said Brett Lowery, Director of Sales and Leasing for Corporex. “Our commercial tenants need recruitment and retention-friendly environments, including hybrid-friendly workspaces and an amenity-rich setting that’s aesthetically pleasing. We have worked to optimize and customize office spaces to offer things like built-in bars, workout areas, communal gathering spaces for collaboration, standing desks and more.”
Corporex was also awarded the 2023 NAIOP Cincinnati Office Deal of the Year for the sale of the Atlantic Corporate Center, in Erlanger.
Projects in Ohio, Indiana and Colorado
Corporex has other large-scale projects that span across the country.
In the suburbs of Cincinnati, Ohio, construction is nearing completion on The Residence Inn at Kenwood, just across from Kenwood Towne Centre on Kenwood Rd. and is slated to open mid-2024. This new hotel will provide long- and short-term stay offerings to those visiting several nationally recognized hospitals and medical facilities within proximity to the hotel. Commonwealth Hotels will manage this property for Corporex.
In Carmel, Ind., Corporex solidified the sale of the former Five Seasons Family Sports Club facility and the 9.2 acres of land to Conquer Paralysis Now, a rehabilitation and research facility for people with disabilities. The transaction took place in March 2023.
To the west in Aurora, Colo., Corporex is in the final construction stage of a 660-car structure garage in anticipation of future construction of a 226,000-square-foot office building, Fitz 500. Construction on the structure kicked off in January 2023 and will be complete in early 2024 and will open to support the surrounding veteran medical facilities and organizations.
Home at Alpine Mountain Randy. & Club in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. (Photo provided)
“The parking garage marks a major milestone for the Fitz 500 Class A office building, the first newly built Class A office building in Aurora in 20+ years,” said Tom Banta, Chief Real Estate Officer for Corporex. “This new garage and eventually the finished office building offers retail space offerings that will provide those working in the medical village with more options for workspace and food and entertainment offerings.”
Additionally, in Steamboat Springs, Co., Corporex sold four homesites, valued at more than $2M each, at Alpine Mountain Ranch & Club in 2023. Construction is slated to begin in Q1 or is currently underway for six new luxury residences within the development, with completion dates slated for 2024 and 2025.
“As a trusted, award-winning industry leader, we’re proud to celebrate all of this past year’s accomplishments and developed projects that started as visions and have become realities,” said Nick Heekin, Chief Operating Officer of Corporex. “From coast to coast, Corporex applies an intensive hands-on approach to all aspects of developing, designing and constructing projects. But beyond that, we’ve remained dedicated to leveraging the skills of our team members to make a difference in the communities that we serve.”
“With 2023 now in the rearview mirror, our expert team at Corporex is looking to what lies ahead in 2024,” Heekin continued. “The past success within our organization tees us up nicely for future large-scale commercial and residential projects that are on the horizon.”
To learn more about Corporex and the organization’s portfolio of businesses and investments, visit corporex.com.
Corporex Companies
Featured photo provided: Boardwalk residences at Ovation in Newport
