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Feb 26, 2026 _ news

From Shopping to Socializing: Adaptive Reuse Positions Building for New Life and Tenants

The ribbon was recently cut at the former Saks Fifth Avenue store in downtown Cincinnati, marking a new chapter for this long-standing building in Cincinnati’s quickly developing Convention District. A building that was once designed for a single activity, shopping, has been reimagined to host a vibrant mix of office and restaurant space. New tenants include the dart themed entertainment venue Flight Club, Salazar restaurant, and human capital management company, Paycor, who has established a new headquarters inside the building.

When Saks vacated, incorporating views and natural light became essential to connecting people inside the building with the activity outside. On a relatively small budget and while navigating a tangle of easements—most notably preserving the third floor’s use as a ballroom connected to the hotel next door—the building renovation team preserved the building’s distinctive geometry, leaving its monolithic brick corners intact. Skywalks were removed from the upper floors and a new second floor balcony gives Paycor employees easy access to the outdoors. Uninterrupted brick walls now feature large, recessed windows that open the building to the street. Earthy red terracotta panels frame the new windows, integrating them into the remaining brick façade and shifting the building’s identity from inward-facing retail box to outward-looking urban mixed-use hub.

“We wanted a material that would have a natural dialogue with the original brick façade,” says Adam Fosnaugh, part of the GBBN design team for the project. “With a clay-fired product like brick, the warm, semi-transparent glaze selected for the terracotta panels allows the clay material to show through. Terracotta was also chosen to highlight the geometry of the new openings in a way that acknowledges the original while accentuating the new.”

Critical to the project’s transformation was the assembly of a creative, aligned team; developer, architect, and engineers working in alignment to reimagine what a “left-behind” retail building could become.

“Adaptive reuse at this scale demands more than technical problem solving, explains GBBN’s Chad Burke. “It requires a shared vision and a willingness to challenge inherited constraints. The result is not simply a renovated building, but a future-forward design and an active contributor to the energy, economy, and civic life of the urban core once again.”