The Macy's Building is a skyscraper in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Ohio. Located in the city's

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

, the 21-floor building stands 96.7 meters (317 feet) tall. The

postmodern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...

high-rise was designed by Ed Haladay of

RTKL Associates RTKL was a global architecture, planning and design firm. The firm was founded in 1946 by Archibald C. Rogers and Francis T. Taliaferro in Rogers’ grandmother’s basement in Annapolis and grew to be one of the largest architectural firms in t ...

and built from 1978 to 1980. Originally named the Federated Building, it was the headquarters of Federated Department Stores (later known as

Macy's, Inc. Macy's, Inc. (previously Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American holding company of department stores. Upon its establishment in 1929, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, File ...

), a title which it would share with

Macy's Herald Square Macy's Herald Square (originally named the R. H. Macy and Company Store) is a department store building on West 34th Street (Manhattan), 34th Street at Herald Square in New York City, New York (state), New York, United States. It was designed b ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

from 1994 until 2020. After Macy's closed their Cincinnati headquarters in 2020, the building underwent residential conversion, reopening as 7 West 7th Apartments in 2025.

Design and construction

The Macy's Building is located at the intersection of 7th Street and

Vine Street Vine Street is a street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, that runs north–south between Franklin Avenue, Los Angeles, and Melrose Avenue. The intersection of Hollywood and Vine being symbolic of Hollywood itself. The intersection has be ...

within

downtown Cincinnati Downtown Cincinnati is one of the 52 List of Cincinnati neighborhoods, neighborhoods of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the central business district of the city, as well as the economic and symbiotic center of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. Original ...

. It was built from 1978 to 1980 using the design-build method, with construction occurring alongside the structure's design stage. The building was designed by Ed Haladay, who worked for the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

branch of architectural firm

. Its

design was influenced by the Citicorp Center in

. The tower features a white metal exterior with a chamfered roof. It contains 21 floors and stands 96.7 meters (317 feet) tall, with a floor area of about 364,400 square feet. The building was constructed directly above a seven-story parking garage.

Corporate use

The skyscraper was originally known as the Federated Building, as it was built to house the corporate offices of Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores. Federated rebranded as

after acquiring department store chain

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

. Alongside

in New York City, the building was the co-headquarters of Macy's from 1994 until 2020. Beginning with

Terry Lundgren Terrence James Lundgren (born March 23, 1952) is an American business executive who retired on January 31, 2018, as executive chairman of Macy's, Inc. the parent company of fashion retailers Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and Bluemercury. He had served ...

's promotion to CEO in 2003, Macy's top leadership was primarily based in New York. In February 2020, Macy's announced that it would close its Cincinnati offices as a cost-cutting measure, leaving the New York location as the company's sole corporate headquarters. Most of the approximately 500 employees were relocated to Springdale. Cincinnati Mayor

John Cranley John Joseph Cranley (born February 28, 1974) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 69th Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio from 2013 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a member of the Cincinnati City Council and a partner ...

referred to the closure as "disappointing", but stated that "functionally, Macy's stopped using Cincinnati as their headquarters ten years ago". Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman estimated that the closure would deprive the city of $500,000 in

payroll tax Payroll taxes are taxes imposed on employers or employees. They are usually calculated as a percentage of the salaries that employers pay their employees. By law, some payroll taxes are the responsibility of the employee and others fall on the ...

revenue per year. The company's signage was removed from the building in September 2021, which

WLWT WLWT (channel 5) is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on Young Street, and its transmitter is located on Chickasaw Street, both in th ...

referred to as "a noticeable change to the Cincinnati skyline".

Residential conversion

In October 2021, New York developer Victrix LLC submitted a plan to convert the tower into a residential building with 338 units and a 394-space parking garage. Victrix requested

tax increment financing Tax increment financing (TIF) is a public financing method that is used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure, and other community-improvement projects in many countries, including the United States. The original intent of a TIF program i ...

for the project, which was estimated to cost $73 million. In January 2022, Victrix agreed to a yearly contribution of $124,510 to the

Cincinnati streetcar The Connector is a streetcar system in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The system opened to passengers on September 9, 2016. The streetcar operates on a loop from The Banks, Great American Ball Park, Paycor Stadium, and Smale Riverfront Pa ...

and $272,921 to

Cincinnati Public Schools Cincinnati Public Schools (often abbreviated CPS) is the U.S. state of Ohio's second - largest public school district, by enrollment, after Columbus City Schools. Cincinnati Public Schools is the largest Ohio school district rated as 'effectiv ...

for 30 years in exchange for a 30-year tax abatement from the city government. The tax exemption was unanimously approved by the

Cincinnati City Council The Cincinnati City Council is the lawmaking body of Cincinnati, Ohio. The nine-member city council is elected at-large in a single election in which each voter chooses nine candidates from the field. The nine top vote-getters win seats on the co ...

. The city estimated that the residents of the converted building would generate up to $1 million in income tax. The building had been valued at $22 million in 2020, but Victrix purchased it for $10 million in March 2022. The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority approved $60 million in bonds for the project in September 2023. The building reopened as 7 West 7th Apartments on April 16, 2025. The redesigned structure features 341 apartment units with an outdoor terrace, a gym, and a lounge where the executive offices had previously been located. At the building's

ribbon-cutting ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

, Mayor

Aftab Pureval Aftab Karma Singh Pureval (born September 9, 1982) is an American attorney and politician serving as the 70th List of mayors of Cincinnati, mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, since January 4, 2022. On January 14, 2021, he declared his candidacy for the 2 ...

stated that it was "the largest housing project in the city", which was "all part of our strategy to go from downtown being almost exclusively a commerce center to a real neighborhood".

References

External links

7 West 7th Apartments official website
{{MacysInc Apartment buildings in Cincinnati Macy's, Inc. Postmodern architecture in Ohio RTKL Associates buildings Skyscraper office buildings in Cincinnati

Design and construction

Corporate use

Residential conversion

See also

References

External links