UBS unveils fully renovated Kenwood branch: ‘A flagship office in the Midwest’

All photos by Corrie Schaffeld | Cincinnati Business Courier

UBS has put the finishing touches on the renovation of its office in Sycamore Township, where the international wealth management firm has its second-largest concentration of employees in any single U.S. office, behind New York City.

The office, which UBS calls its Kenwood branch, occupies 46,000 square feet on the first and second floors of 8044, a Class A office building at 8044 Montgomery Road. It is the largest tenant in the building, which is more than 96% occupied.

The branch office is one of the largest in the UBS system and “a flagship office in the Midwest,” Jon Ramey, managing director of UBS’ Ohio, Indiana and Michigan markets, told the Business Courier.

UBS has been a tenant of the building since 1989. In 2019, Ramey and others began planning for the branch’s future – whether at 8044 or elsewhere.

Around the same time, Viking Partners, a Cincinnati-based real estate firm with a sprawling national portfolio, acquired 8044 for $80.6 million. The purchase was a joint venture with a fund managed by DRA Advisors LLC.

By then, thanks to incremental additions, the UBS branch had grown into an inefficient, awkward and highly segmented footprint across 78,000 square feet in the building. “We’d done multiple renovations, but it was time for a full gut,” Ramey said.

The building, meanwhile, had fallen behind on amenity offerings and interior design.

Ramey confirmed UBS looked at other locations in the region but maintained the firm never wanted to leave. At the same time, Viking Partners began building upgrades that effectively sealed the deal – a large fitness center, a new wellness and physical therapy center and a fully renovated lobby.

“Everything we asked them (Viking Partners) to do, they did,” Ramey said. “They made it easy for us to stay.”

UBS began construction on its own upgrades in March 2023. It funded most of the renovation work, though Viking Partners also provided some tenant improvement dollars. UBS declined to disclose the renovation cost.

The 14-month project coincided with UBS' signing of a new 10-year lease at 8044. It saw the branch consolidated to its current footprint and that footprint stripped down to the studs.

The newly renovated, LEED-certified branch office has four kitchens, high-end coffee machines, wellness rooms, felt-padded Zoom rooms, standup desks and team suites with individual private spaces.

New York City-based Verderame Cale designed the space. UBS populated it with a gallery’s worth of art, sourced from the firm’s collection of more than 30,000 contemporary art pieces acquired since the 1960s.

UBS added its own stairwell as part of the renovation, connecting its two floors for the first time. It marked the first time the pre-stressed concrete slab system had been pierced since it was built in 1987. UBS hired Liberty Township-based GEI Engineering to perform the work.

Downtown-based Hunt Builders served as the general contractor.

Ramey said the consolidation of office space had little to do with the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We’re one of the most respected, trusted offices in the entire UBS system,” he said. “We have unbelievable talent. People want to work here. During Covid, we actually had to fight people not to come in. This was never a play to get people to return to the office. We never had a problem with that.”

In fact, the UBS branch has grown since before the pandemic. In 2019, it had around 190 employees, according to Jan Wolter, executive director of the Kenwood branch. It now hosts 232, as well as a rotating batch of 30 interns. Wolter said the branch will welcome two more financial advisers to its current roster of 85 in January amid ever-evolving growth plans. The branch, with its newly streamlined layout, is built to accommodate them.

“Everyone is fighting for talent in our industry,” Ramey said. “You’ve gotta give a great space for people to come to work, where people want to come in and can perform at a high level for their clients. It sounds easier than it is. We think we’ve cracked the code.”

Most of the space vacated by UBS’ consolidation has since been occupied, including a large portion recently leased to JPMorgan Chase for an ongoing expansion.

Around 80% of UBS’ Kenwood branch employees are in the office every day, according to Wolter. “They want to be here, which is absolutely great,” she said.