Plans to redevelop Cincinnati’s historic Crosley Building have taken years to gain traction.
Built in 1929, the 330,000-square-foot facility originally housed the manufacturing operations of the Crosley Radio Corp., which mass-produced inexpensive home radio sets and parts. The city condemned the property in 2012 after it fell into disrepair.
A series of redevelopment proposals, including plans for housing and an artists’ enclave, never materialized. The Port acquired the nine-story building in 2024, inheriting one of the region’s most challenging redevelopment projects.
Now, rather than focusing first on the massive factory itself – a costly and complex challenge – the agency is turning its attention to the surrounding blocks in the city’s Camp Washington neighborhood, hoping to build momentum around the site before tackling the building’s long-term future.
“At the end of the day, we know (Crosley) is not what comes first,” said Lindsey Florea, The Port’s senior vice president of real estate development services. “When we first acquired it, that’s what we thought would happen too. … But it makes sense not to start with Crosley, and instead home in on a sense of place, and bring more people to the neighborhood.”
Multiple studies and years of community engagement suggest that Camp Washington is ready for growth and that the best place to start is in this northern pocket near the 97-year-old manufacturing hub. It’s ripe for job creation, housing and new attractions that could draw both locals and visitors to the neighborhood.
Creating an industrial arts district
In collaboration with MSA Design, The Port has identified a series of development opportunities around the Crosley Building between Arington Street and Spring Grove, Monmouth and Colerain avenues. Conceptual renderings for the site show a broader industrial arts district with outdoor seating and lush landscaping.
According to Florea, the idea is to build off of Camp Washington’s manufacturing heritage by making even more room for innovation and creativity.
The empty lot behind the American Sign Museum was determined as one of the first probable sites for redevelopment. Florea said it could become a modern makers’ space for the already-thriving arts community.
To do that, the building could be divided into small spaces of varying square footage, offering flexibility for artists and manufacturers who are at different stages of their businesses. Eventually, they could graduate to larger spaces or into the redeveloped Crosley Building itself, Florea added.
Potential tenants could range from neon and sign fabricators to furniture makers to distilleries, coffee roasters and businesses operating in robotics, film and TV production.
With this proposal now public, The Port is working to build a project phasing schedule to determine what should be prioritized first. MSA Design is also putting together a cost estimate analysis.
But what about the Crosley Building?
The current plan is to stabilize the Crosley Building’s deteriorating roof.
Long-term it could turn into a larger, mixed-use building that anchors the industrial arts district.
“We will keep iterating on Crosley in the background as we figure out the rest, and we will always be thinking about it,” Florea said. “We have an opportunity to secure the shell and make it a focal point of the neighborhood while we seek the funding to redevelop it.”
According to Port spokesperson Yasmin Chilton, The Port’s conceptual plan for the district could go before Cincinnati’s City Council committee in the coming months.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The Port to create industrial arts district around Crosley Building
Reporting by Sydney Franklin, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Sydney Franklin, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
