By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
Kenton County Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann provided some details on the progress of the new county administration building at a recent meeting of the Covington Rotary Club.
The Bavarian Brewing Company building alongside a rendering of the proposed Kenton County Administration Building to be built on the site (provided images). Click to enlarge.
Knochelmann began by explaining why the County elected to move from its current location at 303 Court Street and how it came to choose the Bavarian Brewery structure as its new home.
About two-and-a-half years ago, county officials began examining what it would take to renovate the existing building.
“The cost was about $22 million to get us to the point where we could use that building and know that we are set for the long haul,” Knochelmann said. “The problem is we are barely using half of the building.”
The building may seem like a valuable piece of real estate, but in reality it is a quarter-block parcel without onsite parking.
Offices currently housed in the building include the County Clerk, the County Attorney, the Commonwealth Attorney, the PVA, the County Treasurer and Administrative Offices.
Upon completion of renovations, a decision would have to be made on whether to compete with the private sector and lease out the unused space in competition with the private sector, or possibly attempt to partner with other entities that may not want to locate there.
Kenton County Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann with a rendering of the interior of the new County Administration Building. Knochelmann provided an update on the project to members of the Covington Rotary Club (photos by Mark Hansel).
“So this was not a long-term solution for county government,” Knochelmann said. “It didn’t make sense to stay there, it didn’t make sense to put a bunch of money in the old building, and thirdly, we had to ask what we were going to do with the old structure if we didn’t leave it.”
The County began exploring other sites, but wanted to remain in Covington.
“We feel strongly that the city core is very critical to county success,” Knochelmann said. “We looked at about four or five locations north of 12th Street.”
County officials then began to consider the Bavarian site. The building had ample space to develop for offices and parking, with easy access to the interstate.
The Bavarian Brewing Company operated at the site from the 1870s until the 1960s. The building remained primarily vacant until Ken Lewis bought the property in 1996 and opened Brew Works. Millions of dollars was invested in the property, which was later sold and became the popular Jillian’s nightclub.
Jillian’s closed in 2006 and the property, which is located just off of Interstate 75 at the entrance to the city’s Twelfth Street corridor, was sold to Columbia Sussex in 2008, but has remained largely vacant.
Knochelmann reached out to the Yung family, which owns Columbia Sussex, to discuss the County’s interest.
I had a meeting with Mr. (Bill) Yung. He had about $5.5 million into the building, plus whatever he was paying in taxes while it was sitting vacant,” Knochelmann said. “The only thing we cannot do as a government, is we can’t pay more than the appraised value.”
The appraisal came in at $4.5 million, which became the agreed upon purchase price. It included the Zimmer Hardware parcel and other lots extending to Main Street. The County closed on the sale in the summer of 2016 and began the RFP process.
A rendering of the mixed-use project envisioned for 303 Court Street alongside a photo of the Kenton County Building that now occupies the site. Click to enlarge.
The county recently closed on an agreement for a team led by the Turner Construction Company to complete the project and renovate 303 Court Street. Other partners include Brandstetter Carroll Inc., SFA Architects Inc., THP Limited Inc., Al Neyer and Urban Sites.
“The teams came together and presented to us over the months, what (else) was going to be in the building,” Knochelmann said. “The County Attorney has a child support office that is presently in the Gateway Center in Covington…which will be coming in to the building. We also did talk to PDS which is based in Fort Mitchell on Royal Drive.”
The County reached an agreement for PDS to come into the Administration Building and it will acquire the building in Fort Mitchell, with the goal of selling it to a private developer to get it back on the tax rolls.
“We’ll essentially have all of County Government under one roof,” Knochelmann said. “We are even working with the Circuit Clerk to try to give them a home in the same building, so residents wouldn’t have to go to multiple buildings.”
The old tower from the Bavarian Building will remain, but three other buildings at the site will be razed. Knochelmann said the structure appears to be very large, but those three buildings, are long, narrow and not suited for redevelopment. There are also some structural issues associated with them.
“The Bavarian Brewery itself is a concrete-floor building, it’s very solid and there is very little challenge with it except for the roof, so we are going to keep that,” Knochelmann said. “A new rectangular, five-story building will be built next to it, just to the north and there will be a connector that bridges it.”
The facility is still in the design stage and there will be modifications along the way, but the basic framework has been determined. An employee entrance from the Main Street side will provide access to the bridges that connect floors two through four. The fifth floor will not be combined.
“The first floor will include the Sheriff’s office and the Clerk’s Office, which will be located in the Bavarian tower section.” Knochelmann said. “The second floor will include Emergency Management services, possibly the Circuit Clerk’s office and the top three floors will be dedicated to PDS. The countywide planning and permitting staff will be in the older space in the old tower.”
A rendering of the interior connector at the new Kenton County Administration Building.
The County Administration will be housed in the five stories of the new structure. The Fiscal Court Meeting room will be a shared public space on the side of the building that faces the interstate. It will also be utilized by PDS, and the public as needed.
Most of the front of the new building will be brick and stone, but some metal panels will be used on the east side of the building, which will not be easily visible, as a cost-saving measure.
The back of Bavarian Tower will include some public art, of which the County will fund a portion. The Bavarian logo will be cleaned up and maintained to preserve another piece of the building’s history.
Knochelmann said the building’s prominent location near the interstate, on an entryway into Northern Kentucky, makes it even more important for it to be renovated.
“The Bavarian Building is a Covington building – it’s now a Kenton County-owned building, but I think everybody in Northern Kentucky kind of feels like it’s part of us,” Knochelmann said. “It’s time to make it brightened up again and I think there’s an interest in the community. I think everybody is going to be stunned once it’s finished, and we deserve that.”
The area under the interstate will be cleaned up and lighted. It will include vegetation, security cameras, panic boxes and employee parking, but will not be blocked from public access. The space in front, extending to Pike Street will be available for resident parking.
“The story is, we have a plan in place. We’ve looked at the financial model of staying there and we looked at the financial model of a maximum contract,” Knochelmann said. “It’s now a $26.9 million guaranteed maximum price with Turner, so they have to live within that budget.”
DEmolition is expected to begin in the next few weeks and the County expects to begin moving its administration offices in January, 2019.
When the County offices are moved out, 303 Court Street will transfer over to Neyer, which will begin a renovation project expected to take about 18 months, to convert to market-rate apartments. Additional floors may be added to provide parking at the site.
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com
