Great American Tower open for business
Frost Brown Todd to occupy four floors
Cincinnati's tallest building, the 665-foot Great American Tower at Queen City Square was officially opened shortly after 1:11 p.m. Tuesday, an event developers and the city hope will help spur an economic renaissance downtown.
Underscoring that theme, John Barrett, chairman and CEO of Western & Southern Financial Group which teamed with American Financial Group to develop the structure, announced the building's newest tenant would be Lafayette Life Insurance Co. - the Western & Southern unit in Lafayette, Ind., which it announced earlier in the day would be consolidated here, bringing about 150 jobs.
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It will join Great American Insurance Group, the building's main tenant, and the law firm of Frost Brown Todd which will occupy four floors.
Speakers at the ribbon-cutting, said the more than $320 million structure -
more than five years in the planning and nearly three years in construction -
was a testament to the city's spirit and sense of community.
"This is a
huge deal for Cincinnati," said Mayor Mark Mallory who noted it is the largest
office tower set to open this year in the United States and was completed in the
midst of the worst recession in a generation.
"It's not often you open
the tallest building in your community," Todd Portune, Hamilton County
commissioner, told the overflow crowd gathered in the buildings lobby at Fourth
and Sycamore streets.
Mallory said it the building reflected the city's
sense of family.
"We're fortunate to have families like the Barrett
family and the Lindner family making this type of investment in our city," he
said.
Carl H. Lindner III, co-president and co-CEO of American Financial,
said his company and employees were looking forward to occupying the
tower.
"My dad has devoted his life to making Cincinnati a better place
to work and live in. This building is a milestone in that endeavor," he
said.
His father, Carl H. Lindner, didn't speak at the event but was
giving a extended standing ovation before the red-ribbon was cut.
