Now, the city has approved the purchase of the approximately 84,000-square-foot building and 13,000-square-foot parcel of land at 1 N. Main St. for $325,000.
“The revitalization of our urban core is a project city staff has taken full ownership of,” said City Manager Ashley Combs. “By acquiring the former Cincinnati State building at 1 N. Main St., we as a city can champion the change Middletown wants to see.”
The city previously owned the building in 2011, when it was purchased from the estate of Perry Thatcher, a local businessman and Middletown City Council member.
In April 2012, the city sold the building to Higher Education Partners, who inked a deal with Cincinnati State as a tenant.
It was then sold to Store Master Funding out of Arizona in April 2014 for $5.8 million, according to the Butler County Auditor’s site. This was the last transfer of building ownership on the auditor’s site.
Cincinnati State remained in the building until mid 2023, when classes moved to Miami University Regionals campus in Middletown.
In August 2023, a for sale sign went up in the window of the building.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
It was determined the purchase now would be in best interest of city to “maximize future development of downtown,” according to the staff report.
Middletown has worked with the Butler County Finance Authority for months in the “strategic reactivation” of the Cincinnati State building to “increase employment and overall foot traffic” within downtown Middletown, the report said.
“As the building is the most renovated office tower within our urban core, strategic site control was found to be necessary for us to continue to leverage investments within our downtown and find productive end users for the building,” the staff report read. “The property has been vacant now for over a year ... The building will be repositioned for new commercial uses.”
Specifics on the commercial uses were not identified by city staff.
The payment of $325,000 will be allocated to the acquisition of property account from an unappropriated general fund balance. There will be a six-week due diligence period following the finalization of the purchase agreement.
The purchase agreement was passed 5-0 by council as an emergency resolution due to interest in closing March 24.
The downtown area has been a focus for Middletown in the past year, with a mixed-use development proposed for the site of the former Manchester Inn and Sonshine building.
The proposal from CMC Properties out of Blue Ash details apartments and a 10,000-15,000-square-foot street-level commercial space — dubbed “The Manchester.”
The city is still in talks with CMC Properties on the project, and a development agreement has not been finalized, according to Assistant Director of Community and Economic Development Jacob Schulte.
If approved, the plan would require demolition of the two historic buildings.
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