Downtown Cincinnati's old Chong Building to undergo $28 million hotel conversion

Downtown's Chong building will be a 109-room hotel by mid-2027.

One of Downtown's most ornate structures will soon become an extended-stay hotel with 2,000 square-feet of street-level commercial space.

On Wednesday, Cincinnati City Council approved a development agreement with Keystone Hotel Group to redevelop the 19th-century Chong Building, two buildings with one facade spanning 614-616 Race St., into a Home2 Suites by Hilton. The Cincinnati Center City Development Corp., also known as 3CDC, currently owns the property and will sell it to Keystone for $3.25 million.

Council also voted to approve a 25-year project-based tax-increment financing exemption in which the hotel developer will pay money to Cincinnati Public Schools and the Cincinnati Connector streetcar in lieu of property taxes.

For three decades, The Chong Inc. sold urban clothing, knickknacks and old electronics out of the property before closing in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.

Well before that, the building lived a rich history: It once housed a furrier, a furniture company and a five and dime store until 1951 when Butler Brother's department store moved in and conducted a major interior remodel and covered the original exterior with a Terrace Plaza Hotel-inspired wall of red brick. A few short years later, Kroger on Race at Shillito Place opened there.

By summer 2027, it will be a 109-room hotel.

Keystone plans to add four stories to 614 Race St. and two stories to 616 Race St., bringing the total size of the Chong building to over 84,000 square feet. (The hotel group also owns TownePlace Suites by Marriott on W. Seventh Street that's located one block north, a project that also included an overbuild.)

Building the Home2 Suites is expected to cost $28 million.

Artist's diagram of the redeveloped Chong building with a multi-story overbuild in downtown Cincinnati

A boon for Downtown's hospitality scene and the convention center district

The Moxy Cincinnati Downtown on Main Street is under construction on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, in Downtown Cincinnati.

The new Home2 Suites will add 109 hotel rooms to Downtown's 3,487 rooms, according to real estate data and analytics group CoStar. There are currently 15 hotels in downtown Cincinnati and 291 rooms are expected to come online in the next few years.

It's also a boon for this block of Race Street, which doesn't house many businesses − only The Kinley Cincinnati Downtown, a boutique hotel from Marriott, and a Dollar General. Across the street are The Lofts at Shillito Place. The Home2 Suites will also help bolster Downtown's convention center district, which the city and 3CDC are heavily focused on as the Duke Energy Convention Center begins an 18-month renovation this July.

Crews removed some of the brick exterior of the building at 616 Race Street exposing the Victorian era storefront on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in Cincinnati. The Chong Inc., which was the most recent tenant, closed last March due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

3CDC bought the Chong building in June 2020 and began removing the 1950s brick veneer that hid the original Victorian-era storefront. The non profit development group once considered turning the property into apartments.

3CDC took a similar approach to the renovation of 312 Main St., which Rolling Hills Hospitality is now turning into the Moxy Downton Cincinnati and Observerie Rooftop, a Marriott brand.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Chong Building in Cincinnati to become Home2 Suites by Hilton