A downtown office tower at 312 Elm St. is facing foreclosure as the building’s lender seeks to recoup more than $39 million in unpaid mortgage debt, Hamilton County court records show.
Lender Wilmington Trust National Association filed a foreclosure lawsuit June 7 in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court against the owners of the 26-story, high-rise office building at 312 Elm St.
The owners were listed as 312 Elm Street Owner, LLC and unknown owners in the foreclosure filing.
The building is included in Philadelphia-based Rubenstein Partners‘ portfolio of properties. Notable tenants include Castellini Co., MetLife, MassMutal Ascend and Worldwide Express, according to the building directory.
For three decades, the building was the headquarters of The Enquirer, which moved to 312 Plum St. in February 2023.
The lawsuit alleges that as of June 1, the building’s owners were delinquent on mortgage principal and interest payments and other charges totaling $39.6 million. The lawsuit also accuses the owners of being delinquent in paying vendors providing services for the building.
The lawsuit asks that a receiver be appointed to take possession of the building and manage and maintain it until the lawsuit is resolved.
An attorney representing the owners declined to comment because the litigation is pending.
Rising vacancy rates in Downtown office buildings tied to the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a wave of office building foreclosures across the country.
Total U.S. commercial foreclosures have risen more than 340% from 141 in May 2020 − two months after the pandemic was declared − to 625 foreclosures in March 2024, according to real estate data tracker, Attom.
Attom did not have foreclosure figures for the Cincinnati metro area.
The downtown Cincinnati office vacancy rate was 23.5% in in the first quarter of 2024 − just under the historic high of 25.7% set in the second quarter of 2023, according to figures published by Cushman & Wakefield.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Downtown office building facing foreclosure
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