News-Releases
CINCINNATI — On Monday, April 8, Terrex Development & Construction and Messer Construction Co. break ground on Uptown Gateway, a $250 million mixed-use development in the Uptown Innovation Corridor. City officials, developers and community leaders are gathering at the southeast corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Reading Road at 10:30 a.m. to celebrate the newest development in Cincinnati’s Innovation District.
“The Uptown Innovation Corridor is the next big thing for Cincinnati’s future economy,” said Mayor John Cranley. “I’m confident that this development, combined with the new interchange and the research power of Uptown’s institutions, will attract other businesses and entrepreneurs to Uptown’s growing innovation ecosystem.”
The first phase of the Uptown Gateway development includes a 360,000-square-foot digital futures office complex across two multi-story buildings, a 1,350-space underground parking garage, and a 158-room Hilton Homewood Suites hotel. The project will be completed in 2021.
The University of Cincinnati signed a long-term lease for an 180,000-square-foot building of office and research space to co-locate interdisciplinary research and innovation focused on addressing industry challenges and opportunities. The second multi-story office and research building will accommodate companies seeking to create dynamic connections between UC’s renowned researchers and highly-skilled students.
“The digital futures building will increase opportunities for students and faculty to collaborate with business partners to develop new research directions and generate knowledge to position us strongly in our transforming digital world,” said Dr. Neville Pinto, President, University of Cincinnati. “Proximity to the UC 1819 Innovation Hub, which houses many of our key external partners, will be an empowering element for change.”
Developments in the Uptown Innovation Corridor are purposefully designed to foster collaboration between tenants and surrounding organizations.
“The Uptown Innovation Corridor, comprising state-of-the-art developments like Uptown Gateway, is the region’s center of innovation and entrepreneurship where leading-edge institutions and companies connect with start-ups and innovators to harness new technologies and ideas,” said Beth Robinson, President and CEO, Uptown Consortium, Inc. (UCI). “This is a huge step towards creating a world-class innovation district in Cincinnati.”
The University of Cincinnati digital futures building is a perfect example of the research, technology and innovation-focused tenants UCI hopes to attract to the Corridor.
“UC is focused on positively impacting education, society and the economy as a Carnegie Research 1 institution,” said Dr. Patrick Limbach, Vice President for Research, University of Cincinnati. “This space will be a destination for the types of collaborations with our outstanding faculty that are required to create solutions to the challenges associated with our increasingly digital-based lives.”
The Uptown Innovation Corridor is a 65-acre innovation and technology mixed-use hub integrated into Cincinnati’s Innovation District—the region’s center for future-facing research and talent. Plans promote connectivity among start-ups, established firms, and anchor institution partners through pedestrian-friendly features, architectural design, tenant mix, and support services. Uptown Gateway will include green space and public art to create a welcoming, collaborative environment and integrate the development into the existing neighborhood.
“We have been working on the Uptown Gateway project for three years and invested millions of dollars because of the tremendous opportunity it presents for the neighborhood, the City and the entire Cincinnati region to attract and retain the best and brightest talent from around the world. Virtually all successful research, innovation and technology districts in the U.S. are anchored by a major college or university,” said Tom Rowe, Principal of Terrex Development & Construction. “It is wonderful to have UC’s commitment and we could not be more excited for our project and for the Uptown Innovation Corridor. UC’s commitment will catalyze not only our project, but the entire Corridor; creating a focal point for innovation in our market. The broader positive impact to our city and to our region cannot be understated.”
As the master planner for the Uptown Innovation Corridor, UCI underwent extensive planning and community engagement initiatives throughout the past few years in partnership with the City of Cincinnati, community stakeholders, and other developers.
“We spent significant time and effort ensuring that the development integrates well into the community—not just the neighborhood as we know it today, but the community we hope to create tomorrow,” said Peter Horton, Principal of Terrex Development & Construction. “Incorporating input from residents and stakeholders is critical to the project’s success, and development plans have truly benefitted from community involvement.”
A preferred developer agreement established by UCI and Terrex sets goals for minority business enterprise (MBE), women business enterprise (WBE) and Uptown resident inclusion from pre-development through construction, tenant selection, staffing and beyond. Terrex works with WEB Ventures, UCI’s economic inclusion consultants, to find and select MBE and WBE contractors and complete community engagement initiatives.
“We want to ensure that community stakeholders have a voice in determining the future of their neighborhood,” said Robinson. “It’s important to find ways for existing residents and businesses to benefit from the new developments in Avondale, and Terrex has been dedicated to those efforts from the very beginning.”
Uptown Gateway is one of multiple planned developments in the Corridor at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Reading Road. In addition, MLK Investors I is building a mixed-use development on the northeast quadrant, NIOSH’s consolidated research facility is locating on the northwest quadrant, and Queen City Hills, LLC will develop the southwest for mixed-use.
More than 1.1 million square feet of new space totaling more than $1 billion of investment has been completed or is currently underway in the Corridor. When fully implemented, the Corridor master plan anticipates $2.5 billion of project investment and more than 2.5 million square feet of mixed-use development (research, office, clinical, residential, hotel and retail).
For more information about Uptown Gateway and the Uptown Innovation Corridor, visit www.uptownconsortium.com.
A direct line of access to UC’s talent pool is reason for 3rd location
CINCINNATI (February 26, 2019) – University of Cincinnati welcomes Kingsgate Logistics as the latest corporate partner to locate in its 1819 Innovation Hub in Cincinnati’s growing innovation district.
“We are one of the fastest growing companies at the epicenter of delivery and commerce,” said Kingsgate owning partner Jeff Beckham. “And UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub is focused on growing tech talent at the region’s center of innovation. It aligns perfectly with our mission.”
Kingsgate is a second-generation, family-owned logistics company, founded in 1986. It provides logistics support and transportation freight services for companies throughout North America. Having more than doubled in size over the past three years, Kingsgate has seen the supply chain industry change dramatically over three decades.
“The world is in the midst of a digital revolution,” says UC’s Chief Innovation Officer David J. Adams. “Companies large and small recognize that in today’s rapid pace of change, partnering to access the right talent and resources provides the needed competitive advantage.”
Kingsgate joins Cincinnati Bell, Kroger, Cincinnati Insurance Companies, and CincyTech in the building, all announced within the past 10 months. Employees in Kingsgate’s new satellite location, to be called ‘Intelligence Base,’ will partner with UC to develop customer-facing solutions by using cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine-learning within the realms of data analytics, systems development, and innovative sales applications.
No stranger to the UC community, Kingsgate has supported UC Athletics for years through sponsorship of its men’s basketball and football programs, and has supported FC Cincinnati through the USL team’s tenure at Nippert Stadium. Kingsgate employees have taught classes at the Lindner College of Business Center for Professional Selling, and participated in its Goering Center for Family & Private Business.
Ready to take the next step with UC, Kingsgate’s newest location at 1819 will provide the opportunity for UC students to directly engage with company employees through co-op and internships, classes and programs, and allow the company to access the talent it needs by co-locating less than a mile from campus. The company is also expanding its headquarters in West Chester, and opening a Dayton location at Austin Landing.
“Adding a fast-growing, private business to our list of partners builds on the synergy of place,” said Adams. “Kingsgate is truly a gem in the third-party logistics industry and is looking for the right talent to help lead the charge in advancing technology in the flow of goods across our highways.”
Veteran seed investor and startup builder joins UC’s flagship for emerging ideas, research, technology
CINCINNATI (January 18, 2019)-- CincyTech, a regionally focused startup investor that is among the most active in the Midwest, today announced an agreement with the University of Cincinnati to move into the school’s 1819 Innovation Hub.
“CincyTech invests in innovation at the earliest stage, for the purpose of building world-class technology growth companies right here in southwest Ohio. We seek out the region’s best opportunities, and we are always looking for what’s next,” said Mike Venerable, CEO of
CincyTech. “UC is a world-class research institution where ideas and intellectual property abound. UC’s Innovation Agenda and the 1819 Innovation Hub align perfectly with our mission.”
Since 2007, CincyTech has invested in nearly 80 technology and life science startups in southwest Ohio. These portfolio companies have collectively driven more than $1 billion in economic impact into the region, attracting follow-on venture capital from the nation’s top tier funds and employing more than one thousand people.
The 1819 Innovation Hub is located within the burgeoning Uptown Innovation Corridor and is the region’s newest destination for emerging technology, connecting industry with talent and research.
“For the last decade, CincyTech has helped to build a density of impactful, next generation, technology and life science companies that are helping to transform the regional economy and culture. CincyTech has been an anchor in the development of southwest Ohio’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. They will be an ideal partner in the 1819 Innovation Hub as we continue expansion of the innovation ecosystem,” said David J. Adams, University of Cincinnati’s chief innovation Officer.
“Bringing CincyTech to our 1819 hub is such an exciting step in creating a place where innovative and creative ideas will thrive. Our longtime partnership is destined to take on new dimensions as we collaborate around our shared goal of fostering and amplifying growth
in the region. CincyTech is great fit with the all-star list of partners who have already committed to 1819,” said University of Cincinnati President Neville G. Pinto.
Venerable says CincyTech expects to move in early 2019, relocating from Union Hall in the city’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. “Progress in our startup community is evident by it’s expanding geography and footprint. We started downtown, moved to Union Hall - the City Hall of Startup Cincy as OTR grew. Our Union Hall space will be filled with new entrepreneurial energy as we move to what I expect to be the next high-growth node for innovation in the region.”
Cincinnati, December 3, 2018 – Cincinnati Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: CINF) today announced that its lead property casualty subsidiary, The Cincinnati Insurance Company, signed an agreement to locate an innovation center within the University of Cincinnati’s 1819 Innovation Hub.
UC is one of 115 institutions that are classified as “R1: Doctoral Universities – Highest research activity” in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. With UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub serving as the new “front door” to talent, research, and resources, Cincinnati Insurance sees an opportunity to complement its headquarters Innovation Hub.
“Our vision is to be the best insurance company serving independent agents,” said Teresa Cracas, senior vice president and chief risk officer for Cincinnati Insurance. “The innovation hub is a way to test ideas that help us achieve this vision and to bring the best ideas to life in our business. UC provides thought-leadership in the innovation space and connects us to talent that will be helpful to us on our innovation journey.”
Cincinnati Insurance plans to house a testing facility within this new space. It will also serve as the center for all recruiting and engagement activity at UC and it will be used for offsite ideation meetings for associates and agents. The company envisions three to five innovation projects taking place within the space at any given time, serving as a conduit for student and faculty engagement.
John Kellington, Cincinnati Insurance senior vice president and chief information officer, summarized the company’s objectives for its new partnership with UC: “Gaining access to talent, accelerating the time from ideation to commercialization, developing a platform for innovation that can be leveraged by the entire enterprise, and generating excitement among our associates and agency population around a culture of innovation are the keys to success for us.”
The 1819 Innovation Hub boasts a venture lab for startups, multi-purpose rooms, state-of-the-art classrooms, a maker space and creative collision spaces. Construction on Cincinnati Insurance’s innovation lab is underway, and the company’s space is expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2019. It will join Kroger, Cincinnati Bell, Procter & Gamble, and CincyTech in its commitment to UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub.
“UC has been at the forefront of innovation for 200 years,” said UC Chief Innovation Officer David J. Adams. “We now have a place where companies large and small can connect with talent, influence knowledge creation and conversion, and merge with innovation and employment potential.”
Added Adams, “Earlier this year, UC announced an agreement to become the anchor tenant in the next phase of the innovation district’s development just across the street from 1819. This new “digital futures” development will be complete in 2021 with planned work and living spaces. It will serve to further attract companies from the region and around the globe.”
New collaboration fuels Restock Kroger
CINCINNATI (August 28, 2018) – The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) today announced it has signed an agreement with the University of Cincinnati (UC) to operate an innovation lab within the school’s 1819 Innovation Hub.
“Kroger’s new partnership with the University of Cincinnati is one more way we are investing to create the now and future of retail,” said Chris Hjelm, Kroger’s executive vice president and chief information officer. “This innovative collaboration is driven by Restock Kroger and provides the Kroger Technology team another creative space to partner and develop solutions to redefine the grocery customer experience.”
The 1819 Innovation Hub is located within the Uptown Innovation Corridor and serves as a beacon of community innovation and impact in partnership with higher education. The recently-opened state-of-the-art space is the region’s newest destination for thinking, making, doing, discovery and delivery.
Kroger will staff the 1819 Innovation Hub with resources, including R&D engineers and software developers, alongside UC faculty. The partnership will also feature a dynamic student co-op and internship program.
“The 1819 Innovation Hub is a coworking community where we will build and discover the next generation of technology and talent,” continued Mr. Hjelm. “Our vision is to create a talent pipeline that supports our business and positions the region as a place for digital and technology students and professionals.”
UC’s Innovation Agenda, as part of President Neville G. Pinto’s new strategic direction, recognizes that people have choices when they decide to locate, and that proximity to other like-minded individuals is often critical to the decision-making process. By providing a place where innovative people and companies can thrive together in today’s rapid pace of change, Cincinnati becomes one of those cities chosen for location.
“As the anchor tenant of our burgeoning innovation district, UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub is a microcosm of the bigger picture,” said David J. Adams, University of Cincinnati’s chief innovation officer. “Companies are choosing to co-locate here with us for proximity and access to the talent that a major research university provides. As the district comes to life with residential and retail options, the mix of students, faculty, industry and community that you see in our knowledge action center today will spill out into the surrounding neighborhood, making innovation a visual place in Cincinnati.”
Pinto adds, “Working with a hometown company and one of the world’s largest retailers gives our university an opportunity to make an impact not only locally but also globally. This is the kind of partnership that allows our students and faculty to work on real-world challenges in a cross-disciplinary way, while offering our corporate partners added value with access to talent, expertise, research, creativity, and specialized equipment and technology.”
The 1819 Innovation Hub boasts a 12,000-square-feet makerspace and micro-factory, and state-of-the art classrooms and multi-purpose rooms. The space officially opened earlier this week for the fall semester. Kroger’s 2,500-square-feet innovation lab will be located on the third floor of the four-story building. Construction is underway, and the company’s space is expected to be complete in October.
Kroger Technology is a proud partner with the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber's "Cincy is IT" initiative to attract top tech talent to the region. The company also supports Cincinnati-based Cintrifuse – a public-private partnership established to drive the next phase of growth for the Midwest region through innovation enabled and delivered by startups – including sponsoring an executive-in-residence.
Earlier this summer, Kroger announced its digital headquarters in downtown Cincinnati with plans to increase its current digital team of 500 associates to 1,000 by 2020.
Last June, Kroger Technology was named one of the best places to work in IT by Computerworld. To learn more about Kroger Technology culture, careers and internships, visit kroger.com/livekt/.
At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are dedicated to our Purpose: to Feed the Human Spirit™. We are nearly half a million associates who serve over nine million customers daily through a seamless digital shopping experience and 2,800 retail food stores under a variety of banner names, serving America through food inspiration and uplift, and creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.
Signs lease on 180,000 SF building to house ‘digital future” of tech innovation
CINCINNATI (August 22, 2018) – The University of Cincinnati has signed a letter of intent to lease a 180,000 square-foot, new-construction building within Cincinnati’s Innovation Corridor.
This multi-year commitment will anchor the development of a major mixed-use project by the joint team of Terrex Development & Construction, and Messer Construction Company. The development sits on approximately 5.8 acres located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Martin Luther King Drive and Reading Road.
A decade in the making, the Innovation Corridor is the result of a strategic partnership between Uptown institutions, the City of Cincinnati, OKI, ODOT, and the surrounding neighborhoods, all with the same vision of creating an innovation community. With millions invested in the new I-71/MLK interchange, the strategic assembly of over 100 parcels of land, and the renovation of an historic building into the anchor tenant of the District – UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub – the vision is now becoming reality.
This southeast quadrant of the Innovation Corridor, adjacent to UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub, will be developed into a mixed-use environment for innovation, education, and technological advancement. The entire project consists of a hotel with potential residential component, two parking garages and three office buildings.
UC has signed a letter of intent to lease the first of these office buildings, which will allow UC faculty and students to work with industry to address opportunities and challenges in a digital future. UC’s new space will amplify and accelerate the vision set forth in its strategic direction, Next Lives Here, by focusing and connecting our research strengths.
“This new space will be interdisciplinary in form and forward-leaning in function,” says UC President Neville G. Pinto. “It will empower diverse teams of thinkers and doers to push the boundaries of what’s possible – to bend the future in Cincinnati’s direction.”
In the months ahead, UC’s academic leadership will determine the specific programs and projects that will inhabit the digital futures building. Provost Kristi Nelson insists that “listening to the broader community and aligning their needs to our strategic priorities of inclusion, innovation and impact will be critical in the planning process.”
Patrick Limbach, UC’s Vice President for Research, believes that, “as the only Carnegie-classified R1 research university in the region, UC is home to the world-class faculty who will leverage this space and location for ground-breaking discoveries and knowledge creation.”
UC’s Chief Innovation Officer David J. Adams asserts this new space will enhance the impact of the 1819 Innovation Hub. “Our sharpened focus on connecting industry with talent and research will strengthen our impact on economic growth and innovation,” says Adams. “This investment provides a unique opportunity to mobilize innovators who share a passion but currently not a place. Imagine the power of co-locating interdisciplinary teams in one home with a shared vision to catapult our collective reach into a future already defined by technology. We’ll enable creative collisions between firms, academic researchers, students and related enterprises in close proximity to one another.”
Jill Meyer, President and CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, would welcome a major focus on technology. “The number one opportunity for business growth in our region is building and recruiting more tech talent – not just talent to work at tech companies, but the tech talent that is powering virtually every business today,” says Meyer.
The innovative partners of the Uptown Consortium, led by the anchor institutions of Uptown, have long envisioned a purpose-built place to attract talent from around the world, retain talent, and develop new opportunities for business and employment growth; a place where people come together across disciplines to collaborate, create, and commercialize ideas over an array of advanced industries, connecting intellectual capital with a thriving business community. The digital futures building will kick-start the next phase of development within the vision.
Another new tenant in UC’s effort to create super-collisions at 1819 Innovation Hub
CINCINNATI (March 15, 2018) – The University of Cincinnati has a new front door to the region’s business community, and Cincinnati Bell is making a grand entrance. University President Neville Pinto and Cincinnati Bell CEO Leigh Fox recently signed a 10-year partnership agreement that includes a corporate innovation center within UC’s new 1819 Innovation Hub, and a direct link between UC students and Cincinnati Bell’s technical talent.
The partnership is among the first wins for the university’s new Office of Innovation and UC’s “Next Lives Here” strategic direction.
Fox also sees it as a big win: “This partnership will help Cincinnati Bell build, test, and deliver products to the market more quickly, give students access to Cincinnati Bell’s technical talent, and bring additional value to their university education,” he said.
The relationship between academic research institutions and private industry has evolved significantly over time and is even more critical today with the rapid pace of change and the challenges with funding research in today’s economic climate. Universities bring valuable resources to the table: talent, research, and access to physical assets such as specialized equipment and technology.
At the same time, large corporations bring real-world problems that need innovative solutions and an opportunity for students and faculty to take a multi-disciplinary approach to solving them. This, in turn, creates a better-prepared pool of talent and source of employment for industry.
Cincinnati Bell’s corporate innovation center within the 1819 Innovation Hub will allow Cincinnati Bell employees to collaborate with UC students and faculty, resulting in innovative applications and products that leverage Cincinnati Bell’s deep fiber network and expertise in the region.
With more than $800 million invested in its local fiber network — which delivers high-speed internet service to consumers and businesses across the region — Cincinnati Bell is increasing its focus on developing new products to help customers maximize their connections.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for Cincinnati Bell to engage with the University of Cincinnati, which is doing cutting-edge research and producing a pipeline of students who are developing in-demand engineering, marketing, and design skills,” added Fox.
It’s exactly the kind of momentum the university envisions in its Next Lives Here strategic direction, recognizing a need to reimagine the university’s approach to industry relations. Rather than the standard “we produce graduates, you hire them” approach, UC’s innovation agenda will help the university both address the talent shortage and become more responsive to companies’ needs.
“The speed at which people’s ideas are translated into products and processes that are useful to society is more and more accelerated,” Pinto said. “Industry is trying to adapt to the new pace of change and universities have the ability to help. We need to partner around this common interest.”
As the new “front door” to UC’s innovation enterprise, the Office of Innovation, led by Chief Innovation Officer David J. Adams, offers a one-stop shop for industry to access the university’s extensive resources, including faculty expertise. The 1819 Innovation Hub serves as a physical manifestation of its collaborative approach to real-world, multi-disciplinary problem-solving.
The 1819 Innovation Hub is a $38-million-dollar renovation of the former Sears Roebuck & Co. Department Store on Reading Road in Avondale. The art-deco structure, originally built in 1929, is less than a mile from the main campus. The renovation of the 133,000-square-foot, four-story building will be complete in summer 2018, ready for students returning in the fall. Cincinnati Bell will take occupancy in April.