Historic Crosley Building Could Get New Life as Apartments

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

Throughout its long history, the Crosley Building in Cincinnati’s Camp Washington neighborhood, has witnessed the rise and fall of major American companies and has itself experienced that cycle. But its story is not yet over. Indianapolis-based Core Redevelopment plans to bring new life to the ten-story, light industrial facility and turn it into apartments.

Upon its completion in 1928, the Crosley Building was a state-of-the-art facility. It was also the headquarters of the Crosley Corp. once nation’s largest manufacturer of table-top radios. The renowned Samuel Hannaford and Sons architectural firm created the building’s Art Deco-flavored design.

Over the years, the Crosley Building served as a manufacturing and production facility, where Crosley built cars, radios, refrigerators and many other products. It also served as home to WLW, as well as other broadcasting stations. However, when the Crosley Corp. started its decline, the 290,000-square-foot facility was sold to AVCO Electronics, along with other company assets. AVCO held on to it until the late 1970s, when the Crosley Building was sold to a succession of owners. For the past 20 years, the Crosley Building has been sitting vacant, turning into an eyesore.

But the property’s luck might finally be turning. According to FOX19, Core Redevelopment plans to turn the Crosley Building into 238 market rate apartments. The company will invest between $25 million and $35 million in the project. The project’s backers say that it has the potential to boost the local economy, help revitalize the neighborhood, lower crime rates and increase property values.

At the moment, the project is in its early stages and no construction start date has been announced. Core Redevelopment hopes to receive some help from the city of Cincinnati and the state of Ohio in the form of tax incentives.

Photo credits: Google Maps.