Construction now underway on SparkHaus, a one-stop shop for entreprenuers, in Covington

Kenton County, the Northern Kentucky Port Authority, Blue North, and community members celebrated the start of construction on SparkHaus Monday.

SparkHaus will serve as a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs, bringing together three pillars of a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem – founders, funders and support organizations.

This will allow entrepreneurs to utilize an office environment where their physical space needs can flexibly be met and a network of fellow founders and venture capitalists whose experiential and financial resources can provide fuel to ignite growth.

Once complete, it’s anticipated between 200 and 300 people will use the space daily.

“Today is another example of the power of collaboration,” Kenton County Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann. “We know entrepreneurs in our region need more support to grow and, because of the partners we have, including our General Assembly and the business leaders who helped support SparkHaus financially, we’re creating a space where our next community-changing company can be created.”

“We are thrilled to announce that construction is starting on SparkHaus and the momentum for innovation and entrepreneurship in Covington continues to build,” said Christine Russell, executive director of the NKY Port and vice president of strategy for BE NKY Growth Partnership. “We’re grateful to the General Assembly and Gov. Beshear for the funding in the most recent session that was critical to kicking off construction.”

Blue North, Northern Kentucky’s innovation hub, will hold the master lease for SparkHaus, which will span three floors and include 31 dedicated office spaces for teams of two to 12, more than 170 individual desks and multiple shared meeting spaces.

SparkHaus is being built by Urban Sites, with CityStudios Architecture serving as the architect/designer.

“As the entrepreneurial community of our region continues to grow, SparkHaus will be a vital tool to unlock this next stage,” Blue North Executive Director Dave Knox said. “In less than a year, we’ll have a truly unique space to bring together entrepreneurs, investors, and the community, sparking connections and collaboration.”

In addition to Blue North, another key tenant of the space will be eGateway Capital, the Covington-based private capital firm that has raised $120 million since 2021 and invested more than $60 million across 12 companies.

“More capital will bring more jobs – that’s been our vision,” Chad Summe, managing partner of eGateway Capital, said. “Sparkhaus will be a great place to attract and cultivate capital along with new emerging managers in our region. We also believe it will provide our technology companies with a great place to scale their business, making it easy to hire their first job in the region.”

In total, SparkHaus is anticipated to cost $16.4 million.

The General Assembly committed $6 million to the project in its most recent budget and, in 2023, the NKY Port deployed $3 million from Kenton County’s state-backed site development fund.

“We want to give our residents the tools they need to forge Northern Kentucky’s next success story,” added Sen. Chris McDaniel (R-Ryland Heights), who led the effort to fund SparkHaus.  “By investing in this initiative, and providing access to an incredible mix of support services, resources, and facilities, I know the talents of our people will produce good outcomes for our region.”

Local nonprofits, including the Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile Jr. Foundation and Drees Homes Foundation, have provided financial support to the project. Other donors include: Ried Schott, Corporex Cos., the St. Elizabeth Foundation, the Milburn Family Foundation, the Duke Energy Urban Revitalization Initiative, Fischer Homes and John Cain.

And, in late-June, the Kentucky Heritage Council approved up to $2.04 million in Kentucky Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits for the conversion of the space, previously the historic Montgomery Ward department store in downtown Covington.

Separately, the Catalytic Fund will finance an additional $2.5 million for the project’s construction.

SparkHaus, alongside Covington Life Science Partners’ new life sciences lab within the OneNKY Center, will help cement Covington’s emergence as a major innovation district within Greater Cincinnati and the Commonwealth of Kentucky, according to Knockelmann.

Kenton County Fiscal Court

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