Neyer Properties to begin redevelopment of Baldwin Piano site in May

Plans have been in the works since 2014 for renovating the almost 100-year-old Baldwin Piano buildings located at 625 and 655 Eden Park Dr. in Walnut Hills. Neyer Properties purchased them at auction for $17.1 million and has been working with a number of organizations, including the Cincinnati Park Board and neighborhood groups, to determine the buildings’ best reuse.
 
The $100-million project includes the redevelopment of the two buildings — the 180,000-square-foot Grand Baldwin building and the 200,000-square-foot Baldwin 200 office tower — that sit on about five acres, as well as a 1,250-space parking deck. Neyer plans to redevelop the site into 190 loft-style apartments, a hotel, restaurant space and pocket park.
 
Construction is slated to begin in May, with apartments move-in ready by Spring 2017.
 
Dwight Hamilton Baldwin started out as a music teacher, opening a piano store in 1862. He began manufacturing pianos in Walnut Hills in the late 19th Century and built the seven-story Italianate Renaissance building in 1921.
 
The building that is today known as Grand Baldwin served as the company’s headquarters until 1984. Covington-based Corporex Cos. converted the building into Class A office space in 1987 and developed the adjacent 12-story Baldwin 200 building in 1990.