Share This Article
Article Summary
Valvoline Global Operations is moving its global headquarters from Lexington, Kentucky, to 312 Elm Street in downtown Cincinnati. The company plans to renovate 50,000 square feet for up to 120 employees, with the office expected to open in spring 2027. Lexington will remain a major part of the company as its Americas Hub, supporting more than 400 employees.
Valvoline Global Operations is putting its headquarters in a downtown Cincinnati tower that faced sheriff’s auction two months ago.
Valvoline announced on Aug. 24 that it will renovate 50,000 square feet at 312 Elm St. for 120 employees, with the facility opening in spring 2027.
That makes Cincinnati the new home of the Valvoline global headquarters. More than 400 employees stay in Lexington, Kentucky, as the company’s Americas hub, according to JobsOhio’s announcement. Cincinnati is getting the executive layer of a 160-year-old global brand, not a call center or warehouse.
A Downtown Tower That Was Headed to Auction Two Months Ago
312 Elm St. was The Cincinnati Enquirer’s headquarters from 1992 until its 30-year lease expired in 2022. The newsroom moved to 312 Plum St. in early 2023. Its more recent history is rockier. Lender Wilmington Trust National Association sued the building’s owner, Philadelphia-based Rubenstein Partners, in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court in 2024. The lender sought to recover more than $39.6 million in unpaid mortgage debt. By May 2026, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office had listed 312 Elm and its neighbor, 312 Plum St., for auction. Both went up for sale June 17.
The timing is hard to miss. Greater Cincinnati office vacancy reached a record-high 25.9% in the second quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Vacancy is up 150 basis points year over year. As of April 22, 312 Elm itself was only 41.7% occupied. Colliers’ Paul Plattner filed that figure in receiver reports ahead of the auction. A 50,000-square-foot headquarters commitment carries real weight in a market where landlords have struggled to fill buildings at all. That’s more than the headline job count alone suggests.
Cincinnati Already Makes Valvoline’s Motor Oil
Valvoline Global didn’t pick Cincinnati out of nowhere. JobsOhio’s announcement says the new headquarters puts executive leadership “minutes away from the company’s largest production facility.” That’s a reference to Valvoline Global’s blending and packaging plant at 3901 River Road on Cincinnati’s West Side. The company also operates a distribution facility in West Chester. Cincinnati has been part of Valvoline’s supply chain for years; it just wasn’t where Valvoline’s global headquarters was located.
CEO Jamal Muashsher’s own path to the job runs through the same city. He grew up in Cincinnati and graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in chemical engineering. Muashsher still serves on an advisory board for UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. He and his wife, Cindi, gave $100,000 to the university last year. That gift funded an undergraduate scholarship for first- and second-generation students in the college, per UC’s Day of Giving recap. Muashsher now lives in Union, Kentucky, minutes from both Cincinnati and Lexington.
Aramco Bought Valvoline’s Products Business for $2.65 Billion
The company moving to Cincinnati doesn’t run Valvoline Instant Oil Change centers. JobsOhio’s own release says so directly: Valvoline Global “is independent from Valvoline Inc. (VVV) and Valvoline Instant Oil Change.” That retail company remains headquartered at 100 Valvoline Way in Lexington and isn’t part of this move.
The two split in 2023, when Saudi Arabia’s oil company, Aramco, paid $2.65 billion to acquire Valvoline’s global products business. Aramco’s own announcement confirmed the deal’s completion. That business became Valvoline Global Operations. It now sells through more than 80,000 distribution points in more than 140 countries, according to the company’s own figures. Its employee base has grown nearly 20% over the past three years. It is not, on its own, a Fortune 500 company. But its parent, Aramco, is one of the largest companies on Earth. The products business it bought carries real global reach even without appearing on a US-only Fortune list.
Valvoline Global Headquarters Moves Downtown
The new Valvoline global headquarters joins at least two other headquarters wins for Greater Cincinnati in the past three years. Worldpay reestablished its global headquarters in Symmes Township in 2023, after splitting from Fidelity National Information Services. The move brought more than 500 new jobs. Resilience, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, announced in June it was moving its corporate headquarters from San Diego to Blue Ash. The move adds roughly 200 jobs alongside its existing West Chester operations.
Valvoline Global is going downtown instead, a distinction that matters here. Cincinnati has spent the past several years watching its urban core lose office tenants faster than it gains them. It also makes 312 Elm St. a test case. A single high-profile headquarters commitment might do more for a distressed downtown tower than a decade of smaller leases did.
54 Jobs Bring $10.4 Million in Annual Payroll
The state credits the project with at least 54 high-paying jobs and a $10.4 million payroll, per Gov. DeWine’s office. JobsOhio’s own announcement does not include that figure. Divided out, that works out to roughly $193,000 per committed position, well above a typical Cincinnati salary. That’s consistent with a project built around senior corporate and executive roles rather than volume hiring.
Fifty-four jobs is not, by itself, a transformative number for a metro area of Cincinnati’s size. Kentucky is keeping more than 400 Valvoline Global jobs. Lexington’s new “Americas hub” designation means the region isn’t losing its role in the company’s operations. Cincinnati is winning the flag: the address on the company’s letterhead and the executives who set its global strategy. It’s also the 50,000-square-foot downtown space that goes with it.
JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef framed the move as evidence of something bigger than one company’s real estate decision. “This is what happens when a state builds an ecosystem, not just an incentive package,” Nauseef said.
Whether that holds depends on what happens to the rest of 312 Elm St. The Valvoline global headquarters fills only 50,000 square feet of the 26-story tower. That building entered foreclosure proceedings in 2024 and went up for sheriff’s auction this June. Renovation work should begin within months, with the new headquarters opening in spring 2027.
Related Cincinnati Exchange reporting:
Cincinnati housing market stabilizes as supply struggles meet steady demand
FAQs
When is Valvoline moving to Cincinnati?
The new headquarters is expected to open in spring 2027 after the Elm Street space is renovated.
Where will the headquarters be?
Valvoline Global Operations will occupy approximately 50,000 square feet at 312 Elm Street in downtown Cincinnati.
How many employees will work there?
The Cincinnati headquarters is being designed for up to 120 employees. The company has not specified how many will be new hires or transfers.
Is Valvoline leaving Lexington entirely?
No. Lexington will become Valvoline Global’s Americas Hub, retaining more than 400 employees who support operations in the United States, Canada and Latin America.
Why did the company choose Cincinnati?
Valvoline said Cincinnati offers the space, infrastructure and connectivity needed for growth. The new headquarters will also be minutes from its largest production facility on River Road.
Is this the same company that operates Valvoline Instant Oil Change?
No. Valvoline Global Operations is the Aramco-owned lubricants and automotive products business. It is separate from publicly traded Valvoline Inc., which operates and franchises Valvoline Instant Oil Change locations.
This article was reported, fact-checked, and edited using The Cincinnati Exchange’s proprietary AI article system as part of our editorial process.
