Sky Central Apartments Conversion, Cincinnati

Sky Central is the 1913 Union Central tower in downtown Cincinnati, a Cass Gilbert skyscraper that was the fifth tallest building in the world when it opened and is now 281 apartments. Getting there took nearly four years, two owners and at least two published budgets. That makes it a more honest case study in office conversion than most.

The 31-story tower at Fourth and Vine has gone by several names, including Central Trust and PNC Tower. Its pyramid crown shows up in the opening credits of WKRP in Cincinnati. Its small, century-old floors had become a hard sell as offices.

Project Scope

City Club Apartments, a Michigan developer that had already converted the tower’s annex next door into 294 units, launched the project. Trade press reported a June 2022 groundbreaking and a total investment of $90 million, with Fifth Third Bank as lender. A local broadcaster later cited an original estimate of $75 million and $5 million in tax credits.

Cleveland Construction, based in Mentor, Ohio, has run the job as construction manager throughout. Cincinnati’s GBBN is the architect, with Odeh Engineers, Heapy and BKV Group on the design team. Baynum Solutions handled painting and exterior work on the white facades and the pyramid roof.

The program fits 281 apartments into about 380,000 square feet using roughly 150 different floor plans. That’s a sign of how irregular a 1913 floor plate becomes once corridors go in. Amenities are stacked up the building, with a resident club on the 17th floor and a pool deck and sky park on the 19th. Crews restored terrazzo floors and a gilded ceiling in what is now a penthouse. Retail and a fitness club stay open to the street, and the developer pledged 10% of units as affordable.

Ownership changed mid-build. In October 2024 the project passed to Detroit-based investor Stanley Dickson, and it was rebranded from City Club Apartments Union Central to Sky Central. The contractor stayed. Cleveland Construction lists completion in March 2026, after phased occupancy that began well before the last floors were finished.

Why It Matters

Conversions of pre-war towers get sold as easy wins because the floor plates are shallow and the windows open. Sky Central shows the other side. First move-ins slipped from 2023 into 2024 and final completion ran to 2026. The name on the door changed along the way. The building got finished anyway, and the contractor was the constant.

For regional builders, that’s the real takeaway. Cleveland Construction kept a phased historic job moving through a change of owner, and it’s now working with the same investor on a second conversion in Cleveland. Continuity on site turned out to be worth more than the original pro forma.

Project Team & Details