List of tallest buildings in Cincinnati

Aerial view of downtown Cincinnati (2010)

This is a list of tallest buildings in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.

Tallest buildings

This list ranks Cincinnati skyscrapers and high-rises that stand at least 200 feet (61 m) tall, based on standard height measurement. This includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts. The "Year" column indicates the year in which a building was completed.

  Tallest building in Cincinnati upon completion

Rank	Name	Image	Height ft (m)	Floors	Year	Address	Notes
1	Great American Tower at Queen City Square		665 (203)	41	2011	301 East 4th Street	The 3rd-tallest building in Ohio and the tallest building in Cincinnati. Tallest building constructed in Cincinnati in the 2010s.
2	Carew Tower		574 (175)	49	1931	35 West 5th Street	The 6th-tallest building in Ohio and the tallest building constructed in Cincinnati in the 1930s. [1]
3	Fourth and Vine Tower		495 (151)	31	1913	1 West 4th Street	The 12th-tallest building in Ohio and the tallest building constructed in Cincinnati in the 1910s. [2] When completed was the fifth-tallest building in the world, and the tallest building in the world outside of New York City and Philadelphia.
4	Scripps Center		468 (143)	36	1990	312 Walnut Street	The 14th-tallest building in Ohio and the tallest building built in Cincinnati in the 1990s.
5	Fifth Third Center		423 (129)	32	1969	511 Walnut Street	The 21st-tallest building in Ohio and the tallest building built in Cincinnati in the 1960s. Headquarters of Fifth Third Bank.
6	Center at 600 Vine		418 (127)	30	1984	600 Vine Street	The 24th-tallest building in Ohio and the tallest building built in Cincinnati in the 1980s.
7	First Financial Center		410 (125)	32	1992	255 East 5th Street	The 26th-tallest building in Ohio. Headquarters of First Financial Bank, Roto-Rooter, and Chemed.
8	Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza		372 (113)	31	1931	35 West 5th Street	The 35th-tallest building in Ohio.
9	Columbia Plaza		368 (112)	29	1984	250 East 5th Street	The 36th-tallest building in Ohio. Former headquarters of Chiquita.
10	PNC Center		354 (108)	27	1979	201 East 5th Street	Tallest building built in Cincinnati in the 1970s.
11	Atrium Two		351 (107)	28	1984	221 East 4th Street
	US Bank Tower (Cincinnati)		351 (107)	26	1981	425 Walnut Street
13	36 East Seventh		322 (99)	26	1989	36 East 7th Street	Discrepancies exist about the building's height. An Emporis estimate [3] lists the height as 349.86 feet, while another source [4] suggests that the building is 322 feet tall, and LiDAR measurements [5] indicate 323 feet.
	Edgecliff Point		322 (99)	24	1990	1201 Edgecliff Point	In East Walnut Hills. Not to be confused with The Edgecliff, a 231-foot structure residing nearby.
15	Kroger Building		320 (98)	25	1954	1014 Vine Street	Headquarters of The Kroger Company.
16	Macy's Building		317 (97)	21	1978	7 7th Street	Apartment building, former Macy's, Inc. headquarters.
17	Enquirer Building		312 (95)	25	1992	312 Elm Street
18	525 Vine Center		309 (95)	23	1985	525 Vine Street
19	Terrace Plaza Hotel		272 (83)	19	1949	15 West 6th Street
20	Duke Energy Building		269 (82)	18	1929	139 East 4th Street	Designed by Cincinnati architectural firm Garber & Woodward and John Russell Pope.
21	National City Tower (Cincinnati)		263 (80)	20	1968	1 East 4th Street
22	Hyatt Regency Cincinnati		260 (79)	23	1984	151 West 5th Street
23	Fourth & Walnut Center		255 (78)	19	1904	105 East 4th Street	Tallest building built in Cincinnati in the 1900s.
	The American Building		255 (78)	18	1928	30 East Central Parkway
25	Bartlett Building		252 (77)	19	1901	36 East 4th Street
	Atrium One		252 (77)	20	1981	221 East 4th Street
27	Encore (Cincinnati)		238 (73)	17	2017	716 Sycamore Street	Previously known as 8th & Sycamore. [6]
28	The Edgecliff		231 (70)	26	1960	2200 Victory Parkway

Tallest under construction

Name	Image	Height ft (m)	Floors	Year (est.)	Status	Notes
Convention Hotel		264	23	2028	Approved

Tallest approved or proposed

These buildings have either been approved, awaiting construction, or proposed to rise at least 200 feet (61 m) tall.

Name	Image	Height ft (m)	Floors	Year (est.)	Status	Notes
FC Cincinnati Site Hotel		175+	14	2026	Proposed
FC Cincinnati Site Apartments		190+	14	2026	Proposed

Timeline of tallest buildings

The Carew Tower stood as the tallest building in Cincinnati for 79 years, from 1931 until 2010.

This lists buildings that once held the title of tallest building in Cincinnati.

Name	Street address	Years as tallest	Height ft (m)	Floors	Reference
Bartlett Building	36 East 4th Street	1901-1904	252 (77)	19
Fourth & Walnut Center	105 East 4th Street	1904-1913	255 (78)	19
Fourth and Vine Tower	1 West 4th Street	1913-1931	495 (151)	31	[7]
Carew Tower	35 West 5th Street	1931-2010	574 (175)	49	[8]
Great American Tower at Queen City Square	301 East 4th Street	2010-present	665 (203)	41

Past proposals

Name	Image	Location	Project years	Floors	Height ft (m)	Status	Notes
Fountain Square West		Downtown, 505 Vine St	1985-86	63	862 (262)	Canceled	$257 million dollar skyscraper was proposed by Galbreath Co. in 1985 and was a final contender for bidding in the Fountain Square West bid. Was cancelled in May 1986 due to not being picked by final committee after a controversial RFP process. Would have been the Second Tallest Building in Ohio if built. 800,000 sq ft of office space, four floors of retail, 750 space underground parking garage, 250 room hotel.
Fountain Place		Downtown, 505 Vine St	1985-1988	50	725 (220)	Canceled	Federated/Emery were chosen to develop Fountain Square West, naming the development Fountain Place, by the City of Cincinnati in May 1986. Project was estimated at $200 million dollars in cost. Project was cancelled due to the developer defaulting on the development agreement with the City of Cincinnati in September 1988 after 2 years of false starts and tensions between the City of Cincinnati and the group. At 725 ft. it would have been the tallest building in Cincinnati. 705,000 sq ft of office space, 400 room hotel, 1,000 space underground parking garage, 233,000 sq ft of retail.
Fountain Square South		Downtown, 21 E Fifth St	1972-1974	50	660 (201)	Canceled	Tower was proposed in January 1972 by Unit One Co for the SE Corner of Fifth and Vine Streets in Downtown Cincinnati. Project was cancelled in 1974 due to immense pushback by community over destruction of Albee Theater and the height throwing a shadow over Fountain Square. The Westin was later built in the corner this tower would have been built. Albee Theater would be torn down anyways in 1977 despite protest. 50 stories in height, 400 space underground parking garage.
Fountain Square West		Downtown, 505 Vine St.	1989-1991	48	648 (197)	Canceled	Galbreath Co., having been the back up developer if Federated/Emery would drop out was selected again to develop Fountain Square West in late 1989. The $275 million dollar Helmut Jahn designed proposal was unveiled in June 1990. Approved in July 1990. Galbreath was the second developer to default on its development agreement for the long-winding Fountain Square West project, defaulting in February 1991 due to financing difficulties and financial issues with the developer. At 648 ft it would have been the tallest building in Cincinnati. 1.7 million sq ft of office, hotel, retail and parking. 750 space underground garage. City erected a surface parking lot after this proposal fell through in the center of Downtown Cincinnati from 1992-1996.
Pluss Holdings Entertainment Center and Office Tower		Downtown, 650 Walnut St	1988-1990	46	550+ (167+)	Canceled	Proposal was accepted by committee in September 1988. Design was fully unveiled in January 1990. $200 million-dollar mixed use project would have had a 5-story entertainment center with a 41-story office tower on top. Pluss Holdings defaulted on its development agreement in June 1990 after being unable to secure financing. Block instead became the Aronoff Center.
Temple Tower		Downtown, 142 E Fourth St	1929-1930	40	470 (143)	Canceled	First Presbyterian Church proposed this 470 ft skyscraper in August 1929. $3 million dollar project would have included 32 stories of offices, 8 stories of tower, and a 4-story church at the base. Project was cancelled due to financial difficulties stemming from the Great Depression.
1 East Fourth St		Downtown, 1 East Fourth St	1964-1965	35	456 (139)	Downsized	Project was proposed in September 1964. The $18 million-dollar Provident Tower would have been 35 stories and 456 ft tall. 860,162 sq ft total floor area. By late 1965 the project was significantly downsized, with the finished building in 1968 having a markedly different design and height, reaching only 262 ft.
311 Race St. (312 Elm Phase II)		Downtown, 311 Race St	1990-1993, 1998.	30	400+ (121+)	Cancelled	Duke and Associates proposed this project as a second phase and taller twin tower to 312 Elm. Project would have been 30 stories and around 400 ft in height. Project was stalled by early 1993 due to economic factors in Downtown Cincinnati and fully cancelled by the late 1990s.
Fourth and Race Apartment Tower		Downtown, 407 Race St.	2013-2014	30	300+ (91+)	Cancelled	This $82 million-dollar 300-unit residential tower with a grocery store was proposed in 2013 by Flaherty and Collins. Council approved the project and subsidy in late 2013. Due to opposition by Mayor Cranley over amount of subsidy, project was scrapped in 2014 with a smaller 4th and Race tower eventually being developed by 3CDC and Flaherty and Collins.
Union Central Annex Tower		Downtown, 309 Vine St	1925-27	24	300-350 (91-106)	Downsized/Cancelled	Annex Tower of the Union Central Tower was approved in January 1926. 24 story office tower would have provided additional space for the Union Central Insurance Co. The 8-story base for the tower was completed in 1927(Now City Club Apartments CBD) but the tower plan was quietly scrapped by the company around the time the base was completed, despite the base being designed for a tower on top.

See also

• List of tallest buildings in Ohio

References

• Tallest skyscrapers in Cincinnati, Ohio-Emporis.com ^{[ usurped ]}

1. "Carew Tower". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
2. "PNC Tower". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
3. "36 East Seventh, Cincinnati | 122064 | EMPORIS". Emporis . Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
4. "36 East Seventh Street - The Skyscraper Center". www.skyscrapercenter.com. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
5. "NGA 133 US Cities" . Retrieved October 14, 2021.
6. "Eighth and Sycamore". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
7. "PNC Tower". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
8. "Carew Tower". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2013.