The Reakirt Building

Project Narrative

The Reakirt Building is a prominent historic high rise on E. Sixth Street in the heart of Cincinnati’s Central Business District. Designed in the Chicago Commercial Style, the building has a concrete structure allowing for large steel sash windows that provide reaching views of the city.
The project adaptively reuses the 1925 office building by converting the existing office suites into 52 unique apartment units with ample natural light, a ‘Sky Terrace’ resident amenity space, and a ground floor restaurant space. The units range from 320-square-feet to 705-square-feet and include high-end design elements with convenient features, such as in-unit washer/dryers, to meet the downtown market demands.
Prior to completion of the renovations, our firm led the efforts to designate the building as a local landmark and have it listed on the National Register of Historic places. The project also secured State and Federal Historic Tax Credits. The building had several character defining features, some evident from the surface and some buried under years of insensitive renovations. The industrial sized steel sash windows and barrel vault were restored and are now prominent features. With careful planning, we were able to express the concrete structure throughout the common spaces and dwelling units, staying true to the historic design intent of the building.
The renovation was completed during the winter of 2019 and activated one of the last vacant buildings along this block of 6th Street.

                                           

Project Details

Submission Category

Building Architecture- Large Scale (>10,000 sf)

Date of Completion

December, 2019