NEWPORT, Ky. — Corporex’s Ovation project is well underway. Vice president of construction, Alan Bogart, said they’re working on office and hotel space as part of the 25-acre mixed-use development. 

“We feel the hotel is a great amenity not only for our office tenants, but patrons of the venue, and it will also serve residents across the way in our residential units,” he said.

Ovation is not just office or hotel space. It’s 125,000 square feet of entertainment and retail. It will also have almost a thousand residential units. Bogart said it’s been interesting ensuring everything stays on schedule amid inflation and supply chain shortages.

“It’s been certainly a challenge. We’ve had to think ahead, order ahead, plan as much as we can, and really get creative in selecting materials we can get quickly. Really, it’s all about planning,” he said.

Senior vice president of sales and marketing, Heather Harris, said it’s a dream watching the grow from the ground up. She knows it takes a village.

“It’s amazing! Every day there are changes and progression being made here. We have a lot of people on site making sure it happens,” she said.

She said one of the main ideas with this vision is connecting the community to the river and that’s something Bogart said has been in the works to make the levee wall a part of the project instead of a hazard.

“Where most developments in the area have the levee wall as a barrier, we’ve worked with the corps of engineers to incorporate that. We’ve got direct walkability from our plaza, really starting all the way back at the music venue, through the office and the hotel, across the pedestrian bridge, through this development all the way through the riverfront park,” he said.