Gwynne Building
About this property
Gwynne Building is a registered historic building in Cincinnati, Ohio, listed in the National Register on August 3, 1979. The almost 125,000-square-foot thirteen-story Gwynne Building was completed in 1913. The building was designed by Ernest Flagg, who also designed the Singer Building in New York and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The structure was commissioned by Flagg's cousin, Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt, who was the wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt II. Alice and Ernest were first cousins as Alice's mother, Rachel Moore Flagg, was the sister of Flagg's father, Jared Bradley Flagg. Alice named the Gwynne Building in honor of her father, Abraham Evan Gwynne, a prominent Cincinnati lawyer and Judge. Her paternal grandfather, Major David Gwynne, was a real estate broker in Cincinnati, whose family was among the early settlers of Cincinnati, and Alice was said to be a distant relative of the Longworth family. She inherited the property at 6th and Main St. and her brother took the corner of 4th and Main St. The tallest section, the tower, is 14 stories. The Beaux-Arts style building is made of steel and concrete the exterior is rendered in Indiana limestone, brick and granite. Originally the building was considered fireproof as there was "no wood of any description being used," and the floors were finished in polished concrete with the hall floors containing mosaics. The corners of the building are adorned with ox heads. In addition to the 1913 building, the east building was built in 1916, and the north building was built in 1939. From 1935 until 1956, the office building housed the headquarters of Procter & Gamble (P&G). The P&G World Headquarters are now located in twin towers a few blocks to the east. In 1992, the building was purchased by a group of tenants and investors from EQ Office, which was owned by Chicago billionaire real estate investor Sam Zell, founder and chairman of Equity International. The purchase was followed by an about $1,000,000 in renovations. In July 2014, the building, which was then 88% occupied, was offered for sale. The tenants included Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, Sound Images (later renamed Gwynne Sound), the Charles H. Dater Foundation and the Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Film Commission. It was purchased by an investment group led by Patrick Gates. In 2024, HGC Construction launched a complete conversion of the historic property into a luxury Pendry Hotel brand; though those plans are no longer on the table, the transformation into a luxury hotel property continued throughout 2025. Franklin, Sydney. "Plans inch forward to convert long-vacant Downtown office buildings to hotels". Cincinnati Enquirer [date=August 9, 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Gwynne Building listed on the National Register?
Gwynne Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 2, 1979.
What type of historic resource is Gwynne Building?
Gwynne Building is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Gwynne Building?
The period of significance for Gwynne Building is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Gwynne Building?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Gwynne Building will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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