Cincinnati

Located in the heart of Cincinnati’s Central Business District, Queen City Square is the city’s premier business center, its newest and most prominent downtown development. It was constructed by Eagle Realty Group, a member of Western & Southern Financial Group, and now its owners have hired Cassidy Turley to find tenants for the remaining space in the $400 million complex.

UGN Inc., a manufacturer and supplier of auto parts, has announced last week its plans to build a $50 million facility in Monroe, Ohio. Ground breaking is scheduled to start next month, depending on the final approval of state and local incentives.

OCTAL, a world leader in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin and integrated PET sheet manufacturing, is expanding its operations with the opening of its first plant in North America. The Muscat, Oman-based company has recently signed a lease for 130,720 square feet of space in the Greater Cincinnati area.

URS Capital Partners, a real estate investment company based in Huntington, New York, has completed the sale of two multifamily properties in the Cincinnati area, at the end of January. The two properties are the Westshore Apartments, in Covington, and the Incline Apartments in Cincinnati’s Incline District.

Another high-rise building in Cincinnati’s CBD is on the market. Last week, I wrote about the Garfield Tower, an apartment building listed for sale by CBRE. Now, Procter & Gamble is selling its office property at 299 E. Sixth Street.

A Cincinnati apartment tower located in the heart of the city’s Central Business District is now for sale. CBRE has listed the property but did not disclose a sale price.

The city of Middletown, in Butler County, will be home to one of the most efficient natural gas-fired power plants in the United States. St. Augustine, Fla.-based NTE Energy announced last week its plans to develop, own and operate the power plant, which is expected to provide numerous benefits to the city, county and state economies. The massive project represents an investment of over $500 million.

Duke Energy, the largest electric power holding company in the United States, has recently awarded a $400,000 grant to the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority, to help redevelop the Bond Hill, Roselawn and Queensgate areas. The money will be used to create development-ready sites that will ultimately bring new investment from industrial and logistics companies, as well as new life to the Cincinnati neighborhoods.

2013 has been an excellent year for the Cincinnati industrial market. As companies snatched up more and more space, rents increased and vacancies dropped, reaching pre-recession levels.

Cincinnati Beer Week is less than a month away. It’s scheduled to start on February 6 but real beer fans will be able to get into the spirit of the event even sooner. On January 27, a public meeting will be held at The Brew House to discuss the city of Cincinnati’s application for a grant from the Brownfield Fund for the Brewery X Redevelopment Project. The project’s goal is to turn a dilapidated historic building close to downtown Cincinnati, into a brewery with a tap room and an outdoor beer garden. The application is available for review at the Walnut Hills Branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.