Bowdeya Tweh

btweh@enquirer.com

The $22 million redevelopment of the former Woodward High School in Cincinnati's Pendleton neighborhood is nearly complete and in a few weeks, the building will house its first full-time residents.

The conversion of the school into 142 apartments at Alumni Lofts will mark the end of the first project Indianapolis-based Core Redevelopment has completed in the city.

Residents are expected to move into the building at 1310 Sycamore St. on Sept. 1, said Erin Wieland, a leasing consultant with Core Redevelopment. As of Thursday, 110 of the building's 142 units had been rented, Wieland said. Among the property's biggest draws: the unique features offered in a 108-year-old former school building and its location near Downtown and Over-the-Rhine, she said.

"We like to find the historic buildings," Wieland said. "People are struck by just how unique it is. When you walk in the front doors, the first thing you see is the stained glass (mural)."

Before visitors hit the stained glass mural, they'll likely see the state historic markers posted outside the building. William and Abigail Cutter Woodward founded the high school, which opened in 1831. The school was initially established as the Woodward Free Grammar School. The existing building at the site opened in 1908. In the mid-1970s, the building became home to the School for Creative and Performing Arts, which moved August 2010 to its current location at 108 W. Central Parkway in Over-the-Rhine.

All units are expected to be completed for tenants by mid-October, Wieland said. Studios are priced between $769 and $1,069 a month and offer between 534 square feet and 774 square feet of space. One-bedroom units are priced between $829 and $1,899 a month and offer between 593 square feet and 1,534 square feet of space. Two-bedroom units are priced between $1,509 and $2,309 a month and offer between 1,258 square feet and 2,109 square feet of space.

Each apartment unit has a small sign on its door describing its previous use, regardless of whether it was the boys' or girls' gymnasium, library or bathroom. Twelve Rookwood Pottery fountains are located throughout the building, many of which were donated as gifts from previous graduating classes. The building will also feature a rooftop terrace and first-floor fitness center; each unit has a washer and dryer inside it.

The greenspace behind the school is an active construction site as part of the $32.5 million remake of nearby Ziegler Park. Cincinnati Center City Development Corp., or 3CDC, is working to install a 400-space underground parking garage and the greenspace will sit on top of it.

One big project that won't be completed by the fall is the remodel of the former school's auditorium. The company has yet to decide on how it could repurpose the space.

Core Redevelopment bought the building more than three years ago for $1.3 million after Cincinnati Public Schools auctioned off the building in a sale of its surplus real estate. The project was almost derailed by another developer's plan to remodel the building to serve as a boutique hotel.

The company is also planning major redevelopments of the former Windsor School in Walnut Hills and the Crosley Building in Camp Washington.