CINCINNATI (October 11, 2017) – Leaders from the City of Cincinnati, Empower, and Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. (3CDC) gathered this morning to celebrate just outside the doors of Empower’s brand new, 64,000-square-foot commercial office building at 15. E 14th Street. The media agency has been located in Mt. Adams for the previous 13 years on St. Gregory Street.

Empower, one of the largest independent media agencies in the United States and MediaPost’s 2016 Agency of the Year, owns the building and will occupy its first three floors with 150 employees. The 13,000-plus square-foot fourth floor is available for lease.

Named The Marketer, the building represents Cincinnati’s unique heritage as a consumer marketing capital. The building is located just north of the headquarters of three Fortune 500 companies (Kroger, Federated and P&G) known for their consumer marketing prowess.

“We’ve engineered a future-focused office-space that is surrounded by urban core energy and the entrepreneurial spirit of the startup community,” said Jim Price, CEO of Empower. “This atmosphere will influence the way our employees work and tackle client challenges and our people will undoubtedly contribute to the vibrancy the OTR community continues to build,” said Price.

The four-story building is the fourth (and final) phase of 3CDC’s 17.5 million Mercer Commons project. The site comprises the remaining portion of the Mercer Commons properties, and includes several previously vacant parcels and the historic Hukon building, which was integrated into the new construction.

In addition to debuting a new logo, brand colors and collateral, Empower partnered with local vendors and companies for unique installations and offerings in its new space, including a custom coffee blend from local roaster Coffee Emporium, installations from We Have Become Vikings, Frame Shop, Grainwell, Crux RoadBoardz, The Brush Factory, Such and Such, Harlan Graphics and local photographer Teri Campbell.

“We designed the building to reflect Empower’s core values and a people-first mentality,” said Jeff Warman, Chief Creative Officer at Empower. “We’re proud of the fact that these local partnerships stemmed from relationships our own people had to create an environment that truly embodies the characteristics that make OTR so special and reminds employees what we’re all about,” said Warman.

3CDC served as the developer on the project, which broke ground in July of 2016. Oswald Construction Co. was the general contractor, with exterior design by Architecture 359 Inc. and interior design by MSA Architects. The project received funding in the form of both state and federal New Markets Tax Credits, as well as financing from U.S. Bank, Fifth Third Bank and CEFII.

About 3CDC

3CDC is a private, non-profit, real estate development and finance organization focused on revitalizing Cincinnati’s urban core in partnership with the City of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati corporate community. 3CDC’s work is specifically focused on the Central Business District and in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. 3CDC also manages The Cincinnati Equity Fund (CEF) and the Cincinnati New Markets Fund (CNMF). These investment funds play an important role by providing needed financial capital to 3CDC’s development projects. For more information, visit www.3cdc.org.