History of Vora Technology Park
Vora Technology Park (VTP) is one of the most recognized facilities in the Butler County, Ohio area. Located just north of Cincinnati and built on a 55-acre campus next to the historic Great Miami River in Hamilton, Ohio, the 366,000 square foot building is known for its beautiful white marble and granite façade. A frequently asked question from visitors is, "What the history behind this building?"
In 1961, the original T-shaped facility on Knightsbridge Drive was built by Champion Paper, then one of the largest companies in Hamilton, Ohio. It served as the corporate headquarters for a company that originated in Hamilton in 1893.
With a booming paper industry, Champion expanded the building by constructing a South East wing in 1979. Continual market growth of the paper industry resulted in a $56-million renovation in 1991 with the addition of a South West wing which included an additional 100,000 sqft of office space, a 4-story atrium with skylights, conference center and a dining hall that could seat 650 people. Moreover, Champion contributed to the community by developing a natural habitat on 6 acres of prairie land that is nestled between them and the Hamilton Campus of Miami University. Wildflower seeds from Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan were specially gathered to seed the plot of land. A 2-mile jogging/walking trail was completed that winds through and around the grounds. With the blue pearl granite, Italian white Cherokee marble, and cherry paneling; against the backdrop of a 2.2-acre pond with illuminated fountains and award-winning landscaping, the building became a local landmark.
International Paper acquired Champion Paper in 2000, with plans to phase out the operations at the Knightsbridge Drive site. The doors of Champion International Paper closed in 2003.
In June of 2004, the building was purchased by a local real-estate speculator. The facility sat empty and dark. Once bustling hallways now were quiet with only shadows of a once mighty paper empire.
However, as embers glowing under cooled coals, Mahendra Vora, a well-known local entrepreneur and Timothy Matthews, a highly respected attorney in Greater Cincinnati, reignited the flame of revitalization for the campus. Vora and Matthews recognized the potential of the impressive facility and purchased the building in January of 2005. The campus already possessed a state-of-the-art data center, a high tech fiber optic network, and access to broadband communications providers - the perfect venue for a technology park. The shared insight and desire of Vora and Matthews to create new jobs for the area opened the opportunity for the City of Hamilton to be perfectly balanced for economic infrastructure with industry and technology supporting each other.
The campus was named Vora Technology Park to honor Mahendra Vora's father who had been deceased in 1988. The official ribbon-cutting ceremony was March 24, 2005 with the presiding Ohio Governor Robert Taft taking part in the ceremony.
With technology companies beginning to occupy the technology incubator wing, companies began to occupy other floors. Amstan Logistics and Cincinnati Bell moved into the facility in the spring of 2006, followed by Butler Tech OnLine.
Since the campus sits over the Great Miami River Buried Valley Aquifer that stretches to Toledo, it was recognized as a perfect location for a world class data center. In February of 2007, Cincinnati Bell Technology Solutions leased the southeast wing to house a Tier III/IV data center. With today's technology needs for secure data center operations and disaster data recovery, plans were made to expand the data center operations to 70,000 square feet by renovation and construction of an addition in 2008.
2010 will bring new and exciting chapters to the success and chronicles of Vora Technology Park!
