QUEENSGATE, Ohio (WKRC) – The former Queensgate Prison has reopened, but it will no longer house inmates; instead, the building on Linn Street will help small businesses grow.

LINNcinnati opened in May and dozens of entrepreneurs are already renting studios there.

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office’s Queensgate Jail closed in 2008, but the space has since been renovated and converted into individual studios to provide a place for small business owners to work and collaborate with other entrepreneurs.

“It was really nice to have other creative people around,” said Stephanie Beverly, founder of Twelve15 Design StudioO.

Beverly moved her interior design business from Over-the-Rhine to LINNcinnati earlier this year.

“It was a no-brainer to have space for my materials library and for meetings with clients. So I could do that in-house rather than in my previous office,” Beverly said.

A wide variety of people have settled here, from photographers to accountants to former prison officers who now work as professional painters.

“I can tell you that we’re standing where the showers used to be. They ripped out that wall and put in these great windows,” Tony Lipps said.

Lipps worked at the Queensgate Jail in the early 2000s. He now rents a studio at LINNcinnati.

“It was just interesting to find out that they were renovating this building. I had to see what they were doing. I was really impressed,” Lipps said.

Construction agent Alek Lucke works for a real estate and development company based in Milwaukee.

“We have distilleries, breweries and chocolate companies in our buildings in Milwaukee, and the key is that we always work with local partners,” Lucke said.

He said they hope LINNcinnati will grow in that regard as well. There are plans for an event center, not just for tenants but for the community as well.

“If everything goes according to plan, there will also be a roof. A large roof terrace would also be something that would be accessible to the public,” said Lucke.

He said that once all work on the building is completed, it will house 160 small businesses and artists.

“There’s not just a sense of community, but a sense of creative community, so it’s a really cool place to be,” says Myra Wallace-Walker, CEO and founder of Myra Wallace Collection and Valor & Virtue Productions.

There is still plenty of space available. If you are interested in renting a space at LINNcinnati, click here.