'Paramount' looms large in W. Hills

One of the biggest buildings on Walnut Hills' "Main at Main" may get big upgrades as part of a plan from an influential community development group.

The Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation closed a deal last week to acquire the Paramount Building at 900 E. McMillan St. for $750,000. The group bought the property from the Morris Investment Group with help from the city of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Development Fund, said Thea Munchel, director of development of the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation.

The group is now working with Cincinnati Development Fund and LISC Greater Cincinnati to identify how it can raise money to complete a full building renovation. Munchel said the renovation of the building's office and retail space could cost at least $3 million and federal and state historic preservation tax credits and New Markets Tax Credits are being sought to support the project.

The three-story building has two floors of commercial space and a third-floor space as part of the building's rotunda. The building, which the Wurlitzer family developed and previously owned, has been at the corner of Gilbert Avenue and McMillan Street for more than 80 years. The Paramount theater operated for three decades before it closed in the 1960s and was replaced by a pharmacy that's now CVS.

"It's extremely important that building come back online in a positive way," said Kathryne Gardette, president of the Walnut Hills Area Council. "The community has been working for years to find a way for that building to come online with the previous owner."

The Paramount renovation is part of its larger effort to reboot and redevelop properties along McMillan Street. By year's end, about $10 million of investment into property on McMillan will have been completed, Munchel said. The city has been acquiring property along McMillan in the last couple years to support future development efforts.

Gardette said it's challenging for other projects to move forward if one of "downtown" Walnut Hills' signature buildings is in poor shape. Last year, Keep Cincinnati Beautiful volunteers painted designs on doors and windows in addition to installing plywood barricades to the structure. The renovation would include repairing ceilings, flooring and doing significant upgrades to rooms and fixtures. Several rooms still have wooden sinks in them.

Munchel said the Paramount offers the chance to restore office and retail spaces inside one of the neighborhood's most recognized buildings to serve a new generation of entrepreneurs.

"Historic preservation is one of our values," Munchel said. "It's important to connect progress to the past. It's important to signify this place matters."

The acquisition means businesses CVS, a Jackson Hewitt tax preparer and Twice As Nice is now a tenant of the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation. Munchel said the organization will work to keep the business in their current spaces or find a different places to operate in the area.

The Paramount Building is part of the Peebles Corner Historic District, which has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1985. The district's 80 buildings were largely built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Classical Revival architecture is the predominant architectural style in the district, but it also features buildings with Italianate, Queen Anne and Art Deco designs.

But the historic district's roots are far older than the Paramount Building. The Paramount replaced a grocery store founded by Joseph Peebles more than 50 years earlier and Peebles Corner has been a bustling commerce hub since the 1840s, according to Walnut Hills historians.