Cincinnati Ohio Economic Development

First Financial moves downtown

By Alexander Coolidge • acoolidge@enquirer.com • December 15, 2009

First Financial Bancorp announced Tuesday it will move its corporate headquarters to Atrium One on Fourth Street in downtown Cincinnati starting in January.

The Norwood-based bank holding company, which has doubled in size during 2009, said it signed a two-year lease on 45,500 square feet of space on the 19th and 20th floors of Atrium One. About 75 executives and support staff will move downtown in January, but the official change of address for the headquarters will occur when corporate documents are filed by March.

Chief executive Claude Davis said First Financial’s rapid growth - from the takeover of two failed banks, Peoples Community Bank and Irwin Financial Corp. in Columbus, Ind. - forced his bank to look for more space.

“We’ve had many exciting announcements this year - ones that have moved us farther along on our strategic path and helped us secure our future and the continued growth of our company,” he said in a statement.

Davis said the new downtown offices are “transitional” and that his bank will be considering other locations in the next two years as it determines its long-term needs. He noted First Financial’s Cincinnati market team will stay at the Smith Road site in Norwood.

After Peoples Community Bank failed in July and Irwin Financial failed in September, First Financial’s total assets nearly doubled to $7.3 billion and its deposits more than doubled to $5.8 billion. The bank’s branches also grew from 82 branches in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana to 118 in those states and Michigan. In addition, it acquired 10 branches in several Western states that it said it will close within a year.

After closing five branches since the Peoples Community Bank takeover, First Financial has 48 branches in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

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