Illustration by Yukai Du
While the COVID pandemic drove up remote work and office vacancy rates in downtowns nationwide, many employers have since called workers back to the office—including Fifth Third Bank, Cincinnati Financial, Great American Insurance, and Divisions Maintenance Group. As recently as January, Kroger instituted a five-day-a-week return-to-office (RTO) policy, correlating physical presence to productivity, collaboration, and mentorship.
With offices filling up again, real estate developers are seeing increased demand. Take 3CDC. Christy Samad, its executive VP of civic & commercial space activation, recently noted the nonprofit real estate corporation’s interest in attracting tenants specifically with an in-office atmosphere. “3CDC’s core mission is to create vibrant neighborhoods,” she says. “What’s going to fuel that? People coming into offices five days a week who support businesses downtown and who stay to enjoy arts and entertainment. We’re seeing more residents downtown as well.”
Those relationships aren’t lost on Model Group, which has undertaken multiple office-to-residential conversions. “We have a significant number of people who work at law firms and banks and Fortune 500 companies who go to the office downtown,” says CEO Bobby Maly. “Would they live here if their corporate headquarters were not here? Absolutely not. That has a direct, consequential impact on the success of real estate, which has an effect on the success of the neighborhood, which has an effect on how it feels when you live and work downtown.”
While many enjoy remote work’s freedom (and savings on child care and parking), others find home too distracting. But most agree that commuting sucks. A 2023 Redfin survey found that one in 10 home sellers were relocating due to RTO. While moving isn’t an option for everyone, “it’s one of many considerations shaping where people choose to live or locate their businesses,” says Anthony Cadle, economic development division manager for the city of Cincinnati, who also points out in-office employment’s positive impact on the city’s tax base.
Cincinnati “is seeing sustained interest in urban neighborhoods,” he says. “That trend existed before the pandemic and has persisted through it.” This interest tracks with 3CDC’s own parking garage data. In 2022, its transient and monthly parking increased by 41 percent over the previous year, when RTO picked up. Since 2019, central business district parking has increased 63 percent.
Samad partly attributes downtown’s growth “to this city being incredibly collaborative partner-forward,” she says. With more than 200 urban commercial real estate spaces, 3CDC isn’t out to micromanage anyone’s business, she adds. It just needs to know businesses will be open in districts that it will then devote resources to marketing and activating. “Activations” include events and amenities that draw people out. Programs, music, and dog parks are designed to entice people to go out after work “so they can stumble upon activity that drives vibrancy.”
On a frigid Monday, I dipped into Kroger headquarters to see what its RTO policy looked like in practice. Groups of young people congregated en masse for lunch. Despite subzero temperatures, Court Street Plaza, on which 3CDC spent $5.5 million in 2021, was hopping. No man (or business) is an island, not even Onolicious Hawaii, which is where I sat down to eat. The dining room was packed.
Manager Sean Satogata says the return of workers to Kroger HQ has definitely helped business. 3CDC was integral in the Hawaiian-style barbeque restaurant’s move downtown, says owner Vincente Benedett, both in its financial support but also “because of the many amazing restaurants down here that are 3CDC tenants.” Visitors are drawn to the overall food scene, he says, and to 3CDC’s activations. On warmer days, Satogata says there’s frequently something happening in the bright, vibrant alley adjacent to Onolicious’s Hawaiian-themed patio. “I think we’ve built a nice little community.”
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