Fourth and Vine Tower

Fourth and Vine Tower
Interactive map of the Fourth and Vine Tower area
Former names
  • PNC Bank Tower
  • Central Trust Bank Tower
  • Union Central Life Insurance Company Building
Record height
Tallest in Cincinnati from 1913 to 1930[I]
Preceded byFourth & Walnut Center
Surpassed byCarew Tower
General information
TypeResidential
Architectural styleNeoclassical
Location1 West 4th Street
Cincinnati, Ohio
Coordinates39°05′58″N 84°30′47″W / 39.099556°N 84.512967°W / 39.099556; -84.512967
Construction started1912
Completed1913
Cost$3 million ($97.7 million in 2025)
Height
Roof151 m (495 ft)
Technical details
Floor count31
Lifts/elevators6
Design and construction
ArchitectsCass Gilbert
Garber & Woodward
DeveloperUnion Central Life Insurance Company
EngineerGunvald Aus
Main contractorThompson–Starrett Company
Fourth and Vine Tower
Part ofWest Fourth Street Historic District (ID76001443)
NRHP reference No.07000028
Added to NRHPFebruary 7, 2007
References

The Fourth and Vine Tower is a 31-story, 495-foot (151 m) neoclassical skyscraper in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. The tallest building in Cincinnati from 1913 until the opening of the Carew Tower in 1930, it was also the fifth-tallest building in the world upon its completion.

The site of the tower was previously occupied by the headquarters of Cincinnati's Chamber of Commerce, which was devastated by a fire in January 1911. Later that year, the Chamber accepted an offer by the Union Central Life Insurance Company to construct a new building on the site. Union Central hired New York City-based Cass Gilbert as the project's principal architect, with local firm Garber & Woodward as an associate. The tower shared many contractors with Gilbert's Woolworth Building in New York, including the Thompson–Starrett Company, which became the primary contractor. Construction began in 1912 and concluded the following year at a cost of over $3 million ($97.7 million in 2025). The tower opened as the Union Central Building, with Union Central as its owner and primary occupant.

The Central Trust Company, a banking institution, leased space in the tower in 1918. An annex for the tower opened in 1928 to accommodate Union Central's expanded workforce. The building became the Central Trust Bank Tower after Union Central left in 1964. Central Trust left the tower in 1979, but the building retained its name and signage. The signage was changed to that of Central Trust's parent company, PNC Bank, in 1993, and the building was labeled "PNC Tower" by some in the media. Beginning with Union Central's sale of the building in 1958, the tower changed owners multiple times before it was acquired by Central Trust Tower Associates in 1995, which subsequently renamed the building the Fourth and Vine Tower.

In 2014, the annex was purchased by Village Green, which announced plans to convert it into a mixed-use building with residential apartments, amenities, retail, and office space. Developer City Club Apartments LLC took over the project in 2016, and the converted annex opened as City Club Apartments in 2018. City Club acquired the mostly vacant Fourth and Vine Tower in 2019 and announced that it would also be converted into a mixed-use building, but the project was sold to an entrepreneur in 2024 amidst financial difficulties. The converted tower opened as Sky Central in 2025, and the City Club Apartments building entered foreclosure and was renamed the Parisian on Vine that year.