Runway-side dining and drinking should return to Cincinnati’s Lunken Airport by the end of next year.
A long-delayed $20.8 million renovation of the terminal at the city-owned airport began in mid-January and, under a new contract, should be completed by Dec. 31, 2027.
When unveiled, the yet-to-be-named hotel/restaurant project in the city’s East End neighborhood will reflect the heyday of the aviation age, said developer Guy van Rooyen.
“We expect this to be a very high-end facility with the luxury finishes to match that,” he said.
FAA response prompts revisions
In operation since 1938, the terminal closed to prepare for a renovation in 2022, two years after its popular Sky Galley restaurant shuttered.
Van Rooyen, the CEO of Covington-based Salyers Group/VR Group, submitted his initial hotel/restaurant plan to the city in 2021, aiming for a 2022 opening.
The project stalled because the Federal Aviation Administration rejected the first design as too tall.
Given that, and the increased cost of financing since then, van Rooyen reduced the height and, with it, the number of hotel rooms.
Plans now call for:
Construction has gone smoothly since its Jan. 12 start, van Rooyen said. “So far, we’ve had no surprises.”
Space will reflect Lunken history
When Lunken Airport was dedicated in 1930, it drew a crowd of 25,000. Eight years later, the opening of the Art Deco-styled terminal attracted 75,000.
Early on, Lunken was the nation’s largest municipal airport. It launched American Airlines’ forerunner, the Embry-Riddle Flying School, and welcomed famed aviators Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. Over the decades, most every U.S. president flew through Lunken, along with the Beatles, sports teams, corporate executives and individual pleasure flyers.
“This airfield was a huge gathering spot,” van Rooyen said, walking through the space with Cincinnati City Manager Sheryl Long.
In renovating the building, van Rooyen, working through Lunken Development LLC, wants to recapture Lunken’s earlier energy and aesthetic.
He’ll retain, but relocate, the two 16-foot painted murals adhered to lobby walls since 1937 and add other pieces to what will be a “walking museum” in public spaces. “There’s just a huge amount of history we want to reflect,” he said.
‘Most challenging project’ for van Rooyen
Van Rooyen thinks an upscale hotel/restaurant will win fans from Columbia Tusculum, Indian Hill, Mariemont, Anderson Township and other parts of town.
Long believes it will help revitalize Lunken’s neighborhood and complement an airport growth plan that includes a permanent customs facility and new corporate users.
“This is going to be a crown jewel for the East End,” she said.
Van Rooyen is accustomed to complex projects. In 2016, he turned a long-closed department store building into the high-end Hotel Covington, with multiple restaurants and bars.
The Lunken project has been more complicated.
“I would say this is the most challenging project I’ve ever worked on, just given the complexities of (working with) multiple government agencies,” he said.
Long, likewise, said her office was challenged to bring together a mix of city staff to complete an updated deal with van Rooyen in December. “Once we got the right people around the table, we were able to … get things moving,” she said.
City to cover $2M of $20.8M in costs
The city of Cincinnati will contribute $2 million, earmarked for construction, to the project.
In its contract with the city, Lunken Development lists its largest anticipated expenses as:
The contract also calls for the project to create 52 full-time-equivalent jobs with an annual payroll of about $1.9 million.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: ‘High-end’ hotel, restaurant coming to former Lunken terminal
Reporting by Patricia Gallagher Newberry, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
