Mortar is on the move again. The Cincinnati-born accelerator and nonprofit that helps underserved entrepreneurs and small businesses grow will permanently call a new neighborhood home come 2024.
Allen Woods, the organization’s co-founder and CEO, formally announced the group’s plans earlier this month to move into a massive new headquarters space in a historic Walnut Hills building.
The move has been seven years in the making – and it now comes with a targeted completion date amid the anticipated public launch of a capital campaign.
It was 2016 when Mortar – during a news conference conducted by former Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley – first announced its plans for a Walnut Hills HQ. The space, earmarked in the historic Durner Building on Gilbert Avenue, was meant to be split with the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation, Woods said, and city officials hoped the project, and other investments around Peebles Corner, would help save the Walnut Hills Kroger nearby.
The grocery store shuttered in March 2017, and Mortar went silent on its headquarters plans. Talks with Model Group – which is working to redevelop the building, and the former Kroger site in a project known as Paramount Square – renewed in 2022, Woods said.
Construction on Mortar’s new space, still in the Durner Building, located 2453 Gilbert Ave., started in January. The new space is on track for a May 2024 finish.
“There were several times we weren't really sure if it was actually going to happen,” Woods told me. “They (Model Group) were in the planning processes for phase three of Paramount Square and said if we were to be able to combine it in with that construction, it may be doable as one project. It meant we would need to come up with a lot less money.”
Overall, Mortar expects it to be an $8 million project.
Woods said about half of that has already been committed, and the organization is expected to launch a public-facing capital campaign in partnership with Ignite Philanthropy, a Cincinnati-based philanthropic consulting firm, this month. The group needs to raise a remaining $3.8 million, he said.
In addition to the buildout, the funds will give Mortar a jumpstart on hiring. It currently has a staff of 11. The new, larger space will require more hands on deck.
“We want to be able to jump in day one, ready to go, versus slowly rolling it out,” Woods said. “We'll continue to do classes there and offer workshops for entrepreneurs and neighborhood members, but it's not just for Mortar or our alums. It's really opening it up to the entire city, and specifically Walnut Hills.”
Mortar’s HQ to include co-working, event, multimedia space
In total, Woods said the Walnut Hills space will span 15,000 square feet, including the building's basement, which will house a multimedia center for photography, video and podcasts. “A big part of the work we do is storytelling, and we want to make sure we're continuing to equip entrepreneurs with the ability to tell their stories,” he said.
Also planned: a pop-up cafe for Mortar’s food alumni to test out their concepts, before pursuing their own physical location.
“You’ll be able to come in and grab a sandwich or some soup,” Woods said. The pop-up concept will continue with physical retail space, where Mortar will sell products from its graduates.
There will be coworking space with private offices for rent. Event space will be available, too, he said.
The move means Mortar will bid adieu to its current headquarters in Pendleton, located at 340 Reading Road, across from Hard Rock Casino. Mortar moved into the building in 2021, and its lease expires in January.
The Pendleton location is about 3,500 square feet, and Woods said the group has outgrown the space. Plus, Mortar was ultimately unable to purchase the building. It wanted the ability to make and own any future additions or improvements, Woods said.
“It was a good idea, but it’s not our final destination,” he said.
Serendipitously, the organization will mark its 10-year anniversary in May, the same month its slated to move into the new HQ. Woods – along with fellow co-founders, Derrick Braziel and William Thomas II, who have both since departed to pursue other business opportunities – initially wanted to teach entrepreneurship skills to residents of Over-the-Rhine. Mortar’s first nine-week course including teachings on marketing, branding, finance and business development with the goal of breaking the cycle of poverty in the neighborhood.
Yvette Simpson, a former Cincinnati City Council member who, earlier this year, was elected Mortar’s board chair, told the Business Courier that people initially didn’t expect Mortar to go very far.
“The organization is doing well financially. Now it’s about taking us to that next level,” she said.
Since its formation, Mortar has graduated 440 entrepreneurs and businesses in Cincinnati alone, including the likes of Esoteric Brewing, Black Owned and Sweets & Meats BBQ. It has expanded its footprint in 10 other cities.
It also will surpass the $1 million mark in terms of in funds distributed to entrepreneurs in 2024.
“Adding this headquarters is the cherry on top,” Woods said.
