Cincinnati, August 17, 2025
News Summary
CIG Communities secured a $56.4 million construction loan to convert a 27-story former office tower at 36 E. Seventh St. into Avant, a 162-unit apartment community. Construction is already underway on the landmark downtown site as part of a regional push to repurpose idle office stock and address housing shortages. The project joins several other major adaptive-reuse efforts in Cincinnati that combine private loans and public incentives to bridge retrofit costs. Developers expect units to hit the market next year, with conversions helping to reactivate downtown cores while navigating structural, zoning and mechanical challenges.
CIG Secures $56.4M Construction Loan to Convert Downtown Office Tower into 162 Apartments
A local developer has closed a $56.4 million construction loan to convert a 27‑story downtown office building at 36 E. Seventh St. into a new residential community called Avant. The project will turn the former corporate office tower into 162 apartments, and construction is already underway. The developer expects the first residential units to reach the market next year.
Why this matters now
The loan and the start of work at 36 E. Seventh St. come amid a wave of conversions nationwide as cities grapple with high downtown office vacancies at the same time they face persistent housing shortages. Converting vacant or underused office buildings into apartments is emerging as a practical, if complex, approach to add housing supply and reuse existing urban infrastructure.
Project basics and local impact
The Avant conversion will repurpose the former corporate offices into a mixed apartment community spanning 27 stories. The developer purchased the office portion of the building in 2024 and described the site as a landmark development expected to contribute to the ongoing revitalization of the downtown core. Work crews have been mobilized and interior construction is in progress. The units are slated to be marketed starting next year.
How this fits into a broader wave of adaptive reuse
Across major U.S. cities, similar projects are underway or being planned. These initiatives vary in scale, financing approaches, design strategies and the local policy environment. Developers are using a mix of construction loans, unitranche loans, historic tax credits, tax increment finance abatements, long‑term property tax exemptions and bond issuances to make conversions feasible.
Notable conversion examples
Several conversion projects underscore the range of outcomes and tools being used:
- LaSalle Residences (Chicago): A historic office building is being repurposed to add 226 apartments across several upper floors, including a mix of studios, one‑bedrooms and two‑bedrooms. About one‑third of the new units are set aside as affordable housing under a downtown reinvention initiative. The work includes new resident amenities and is expected to complete in 2026.
- 7 West 7th (Cincinnati): A former department store headquarters reopened recently as a 341‑unit luxury apartment tower after a near‑decade redevelopment. The project used a mix of incentives and financing tools and adds fitness, rooftop lounges and coworking suites to downtown housing options.
- Altitude on Main (Richmond, Va.): A 1960s office tower is being converted into a 302‑unit luxury building with ground‑floor retail, a rooftop deck and recreational amenities. The project is using federal and state historic tax credits and a $68 million unitranche loan, with an expected opening in the second half of 2026.
- SoMA (25 Water St., New York): One of the largest conversions in recent U.S. history transformed a 1960s office tower into a luxury complex with over 1,300 units. That project combined a massive renovation, an overbuild to add floors, amenity‑heavy programming and special tax exemptions designed to support conversions at scale.
Local pipeline and policy tools
In the immediate region, multiple projects are advancing: the adaptive reuse of a once‑vacant aging office building at 141 W. Fourth St., planned work on a historic downtown tower to add hundreds of apartments, and proposals to convert abandoned industrial sites into large apartment complexes. Local incentives cited in these efforts include long‑term tax exemptions, tax increment finance abatements and municipal bond support. These policy tools are being used to close financing gaps that often arise when retrofitting older structures with modern mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.
Common challenges
Developers face technical and regulatory hurdles: fitting modern HVAC, electrical and plumbing into older shells, preserving landmark exteriors while adding natural light, meeting accessibility and fire‑safety codes, and securing incentives or zoning changes. The success of conversion projects often depends on building footprint and depth, floor plate layouts, window size, ceiling heights and the availability of financial tools such as historic tax credits or tax exemptions.
What to watch next
Monitor leasing and market reception for newly converted buildings, final permitting and construction milestones for major downtown towers, and city policy moves that could expand or limit conversion feasibility. The pipeline of planned and in‑progress conversions could add thousands of apartments locally if financing and regulatory conditions remain favorable.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is being built at 36 E. Seventh St.?
The site is being converted from a 27‑story office tower into a 162‑unit apartment community called Avant. Construction has begun and units are expected to be marketed next year.
How much is the construction loan?
The project secured a construction loan of approximately $56.4 million to finance the conversion work.
Why are office‑to‑residential conversions happening now?
Many downtowns have higher office vacancy rates while housing shortages persist. Conversions offer a way to reuse existing buildings to add housing relatively quickly, often aided by tax credits, loans and local incentives.
What financing and incentives are commonly used?
Developers use construction loans, unitranche loans, historic tax credits, tax increment financing abatements, municipal bond issuances and long‑term property tax exemptions to make conversions financially viable.
How long do these conversions take?
Timelines vary widely by size and complexity. Smaller conversions may finish in a year or two, while large projects with overbuilds and major facade work can take several years to complete.
Key Project Features at a Glance
| Feature | 36 E. Seventh St. (Avant) | Other Notable Conversions |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | CIG Communities | Various regional and national developers |
| Project type | Office‑to‑residential conversion | Office‑to‑residential, historic reuse, overbuilds |
| Stories / size | 27 stories | Ranges from mid‑rise to over 30 stories |
| Units | 162 apartments | From dozens to 1,320 units |
| Estimated cost / financing | $56.4M construction loan | Mix of loans, tax credits, TIFs, bond issuances |
| Timeline | Construction underway; units marketed next year | Completion windows vary; many 1–4 years |
| Amenities / goals | Urban housing to support downtown revitalization | Fitness, rooftop decks, coworking, retail, community spaces |
Deeper Dive: News & Info About This Topic
Additional Resources
- Multihousing News: Beyond 9 to 5 — How office conversions are reviving downtowns
- Wikipedia: Adaptive reuse
- Local12: Hooper Building conversion underway
- Google Search: Hooper Building Cincinnati conversion
- The Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati’s old offices, warehouses converting to apartments
- Google Scholar: office to residential conversions Cincinnati
- WCPO: $162M Carew Tower conversion moves forward
- Encyclopedia Britannica: adaptive reuse
- Multihousing News: Where are office-to-resi conversions growing most — and why?
- Google News: office to apartment conversions Cincinnati
Author: Construction TX News
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