3CDC is focused on supporting small businesses and creating more street-level activity by adding more office space to the urban core. The foot traffic generated by having more employees in Downtown Cincinnati results in safer streets, increased vibrancy, and additional support for locally-owned businesses. Offices can increase density by adding many more people on a per-square-foot basis than residential projects can yield. Similar to mixed-use residential projects, the office users view street-level restaurants and retailers as an amenity, and serve as a built-in customer base for these small businesses. 3CDC recently completed construction on one of its most high-profile mixed-use office projects to date—Paycor Headquarters.

HIGHLIGHTED PROJECT:

Paycor Headquarters

Located in the heart of downtown Cincinnati, the Paycor Headquarters project involved the conversion of the former Saks Fifth Avenue department store located at 101 W 5th Street into a mixed-use building with office, restaurant and retail space. An important development effort, it serves as a seamless connection between Fountain Square and the Convention District.

The reactivated Paycor Headquarters building – which sat vacant for several years following Saks’ departure in 2022 – features a more open concept with a glass façade, allowing for a great deal of natural light in the building, a new roof, and upgraded interior building systems including mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection. The streetscape also underwent significant improvements including sidewalk enhancement and expansion on Fifth Street including development of outdoor dining space, and fresh landscaping. The skywalk over Race Street was also demolished during the project. The completed 80,000-square-foot (SF) property is home to Paycor, a Paychex Company, Headquarters occupying the nearly 40,000-SF second-floor office space, along with a mix of restaurant, retail, and office space on the first floor.

The development plan for this project was the result of significant predevelopment work to strategize around the building’s several physical challenges including the Hyatt Regency’s ballroom location on the roof, the Hyatt Regency loading dock in the basement, and a boxy floorplate that is not suited to residential conversion and limits natural light.

Construction began in April 2024 and was completed in December 2025.