Downtown Hamilton’s landmark Second National Bank at 219 High Street has a new life and a new crowd. After an $8 million overhaul, the historic Art Deco building has reopened as COhatch, a coworking and events hub that mixes private offices, shared workspaces, meeting rooms and a cocktail lounge aimed at pulling both daytime workers and evening visitors back to the city’s core.
Local business coverage reports that COhatch opened its Hamilton campus this week after the restoration. The property is listed at about 37,000 square feet, with roughly one third of the private offices already leased at launch, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier.
Bank history and funding
The four story Art Deco building at 219 High St. first opened as the Second National Bank in 1931, according to digital.cincinnatilibrary.org. State documentation shows the redevelopment pulled in roughly $1.8 million in Ohio historic tax credits to help make the numbers work on the rehab.
COhatch’s own announcement described the property as a 26,000 square foot, three story bank and highlighted a 7,400 square foot Bank Hall event room as part of the project, according to the company announcement. The result is a historic shell with a program that leans heavily into coworking by day and events at night.
What the renovation contains
Architectural project materials show that the renovation keeps the original bank vault and other historic details in place while threading in modern amenities. The project page lists about 41 private offices, roughly 10 meeting rooms, a basement speakeasy and a rooftop patio, according to Foss & Co.
The company says The Bank Hall and the Eyrie Cocktail Lounge are designed to serve both daytime coworking users and evening event guests, putting a flexible workspace and nightlife venue in the middle of downtown.
Preleasing and downtown impact
Leasing picked up early. The Cincinnati Business Courier reported that about one third of the private offices were spoken for at opening, while earlier coverage had estimated preleasing closer to a quarter of the available offices, according to the Journal-News.
City leaders backed the project with tax incentives, including a multi year abatement aimed at keeping jobs and daily foot traffic downtown. COhatch and local operators say the blend of offices, event programming and a cocktail bar is meant to spill customers into nearby restaurants and retailers, not just keep them inside the old bank.
Part of a regional play
The Hamilton outpost is one piece of a broader COhatch strategy that turns historic buildings into mixed use community hubs. The company has opened similar downtown campuses in other Ohio cities, most recently debuting a Powell location earlier this year, according to the City of Powell.
Company materials frame Hamilton as another test of whether coworking stacked with evening events can help fuel a sustained downtown rebound. COhatch is currently accepting founding memberships and taking bookings for The Bank Hall and the Eyrie, with tours and reservations available through the company’s Hamilton location page and the Eyrie site. For freelancers, remote workers and small businesses, the former bank now offers a place to plug in by day and gather by night, a visible bet that Hamilton’s comeback will run through its old vaults.
