Case Study
Linden Pointe on the Lateral

Linden Pointe on the Lateral represents the vision and committed public-private partnership needed to revitalize a long-vacant brownfield site into a center of new-economy commerce, with a total of 600,000 square feet of Class A office space, retail space and two free-standing restaurants in a park-like setting, located at Montgomery Road and the Norwood Lateral. General Motors Corp., a major Norwood employer, used much of the site as a parking lot for its local auto assembly plant until 1987, when it closed. Prior to that, it was the site of the massive Globe-Wernicke furniture manufacturing operation. Al. Neyer bought the land, obtained a Covenant Not to Sue from the Ohio EPA and worked with Norwood and the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority to win a $750,000 state grant to remediate contaminated portions of the site. Al. Neyer also helped the City secure grant money to fund roadway improvements.

Al. Neyer began construction on the first phase in July 2006 – 100,000 square feet of office and 30,000 square feet of retail space and pads for two restaurants. Best green practices during construction at the site included recycling asphalt as well as concrete infrastructure left from past structures, and the creation of green landscaping islands. The creation of pedestrian pathways from Linden Pointe into surrounding neighborhoods puts a focus on the people using the space and living in the area – encouraging a healthy relationship to the project and the retailers locating there. A centerpiece of the park’s first phase is a Norwood historic building we saved and rebuilt -- a 1,600-square-foot reclaimed historic flatiron building, suitable for a small deli or coffee shop.

The office building’s first tenant is SHP Leading Design, an architecture firm, which leased 22,000 square feet, the entire top floor. The firm hired Al. Neyer to build out its space according to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Commercial Interiors certification. LEED for Commercial Interiors is the green benchmark for the tenant improvement market. Green features include:

• occupancy sensors and window blind systems that adjust based on available daylight
• use of materials meeting air quality requirements
• recycling of construction materials
• furniture made of recycled materials, including PaperStone brand
• use of renewable materials such as cork flooring
• use of products with pre- and post-consumer recycled content use throughout the office

More than half of Steed Hammond Paul’s staff is LEED accredited.