If These Walls Could Talk: Creating Places that Build Companies
Tri-State Wholesale Building Supplies, a family-owned and operated company serving the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana region for nearly 50 years, acquired property for its planned new, 98,800 SF, headquarters on Evans Street south of West Eighth. The new facility includes window manufacturing, insulated glass manufacturing, a distribution center for building supplies, shipping and receiving docks, corporate office and showroom areas.
This facility serves as the new headquarters for Tri-State Wholesale Building Supplies, which relocated from their former facility located at 1550 Central Avenue in the West End. The company agreed to sell their current location to make way for construction surrounding the new FC Cincinnati soccer stadium.
“This move is bitter sweet for us. The West End has been a great home to our business since the mid 1980’s, and we have been watching the areas surrounding the West End develop into wonderful urban space. The new stadium will be the catalyst to the same type of revitalization in the West End.,” says Jason Welch, General Manager of Tri-State Wholesale.
The site on Evans Street was a brownfield, formerly owned by The Port (Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority) for the purposes of economic redevelopment in the neighborhood.
“We are thrilled about our move to Lower Price Hill. It is one of the oldest communities in Cincinnati and has a rich history in manufacturing. There has been a stirring movement to revitalize Lower Price Hill from the residents, the Lower Price Hill Community Council, the Department of Community and Economic Development, and local businesses. All of us at Tristate Wholesale are excited to be a part of what’s happening in Lower Price Hill,” adds Mr. Welch.
Tri-State Wholesale Building Supplies viewed the need to move as an opportunity to increase operational efficiency in a new, modern facility built around their unique needs as manufacturer and wholesaler. Tri-State Wholesale worked with downtown A/E firm KZF Design in a master planning process. KZF spearheaded a programming process, helping Tri-State Wholesale determine their needs and how to adapt their needs to the new site. The facility was designed to be more operationally and energy efficient, be conducive to worker safety and health, and to provide improved customer service experience in the new, modern product showroom.
“A big part what KZF tried to help TriState Wholesale with was better organization and efficiency. Our architects and engineers examined their existing facility and collected information on their inventory. Most importantly, we listened to their needs and learned about their process. This collaborative effort helped KZF craft a design solution which sets Tristate up for future success. The new facility was initially planned to be well over 100,000 SF. Through this process we were able to design a smaller building that still met all their needs. It is a testament to the way we organized the building and maximized efficiencies, and to the relationship between Tristate and the KZF design team,” said project architect, Artie Spaw.
KZF provided architecture and site/civil design services and structural, mechanical/electrical/plumbing and fire protection performance narratives to develop a set of documents to use in bidding the project to teams of design-builders.
To see more commercial/industrial projects, visit our portfolio.