The Mickey’s Building on Euclid Avenue in East Cleveland was sold by the Cuyahoga Land Bank to a Boston-based biotech firm that plans to add more than 100 jobs to the site. Still in question is whether a proposed ground-floor café engaged in a legal battle with the land bank will open (RDL). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Boston-based Verdynt Bio buys Mickey’s Building
One week after the Cuyahoga Land Bank completed a $3.5 million renovation of the Mickey’s building, 12550 Euclid Ave., in East Cleveland, it announced the sale of the building to Verdynt Bio, a Boston-based science facility developer with strong ties to Ohio. Verdynt Bio’s operations partner, SKYLIIT Labs, said it plans to invest more than $12 million into the site to create 100 jobs in a state-of-the-art laboratory and office co-working space.
Terms of the deal including the property’s sale price were not publicly disclosed. Land bank officials had hinted for months at the upcoming sale but provided few details until now.
Key to the sale was a renovation of the historic Mickey’s building, and is a big step in the redevelopment of the Circle East District. This neighborhood is just east of University Circle — the hub of Northeast Ohio’s educational, medical and arts scenes. On the residential streets nearby, the land bank is engaged in rebuilding this neighborhood from the sewers up.
This 25,000-square foot commercial space, a former Buick dealership that later became the headquarters of Mickey’s rustproofing, provides an attractive, inviting anchor to the new Circle East District. It also will create more jobs and tax revenue opportunities to help stabilize the city of East Cleveland which saw its population collapse from 37,000 in 1980 to 13,000 today. Half of its citizens live in poverty.
County land bank officials said the sale of the building happening simultaneously with the completion of renovations offers much to celebrate. The addition of more than 100 new jobs means new tax income to catalyze growth, energy and interest in this historically disinvested neighborhood.
Reactivating of the Mickey’s Building, at lower left, is but a part of the vision for the Circle East neighborhood of East Cleveland, just east of Cleveland’s booming University Circle. Dozens of new and renovated homes and apartments are planned (RDL).
“The company’s mission to reinvent standard labs by developing adaptable tenant-focused research spaces in emerging urban markets fits perfectly with our goal of maximizing the building’s close proximity to one of the world’s top hospital systems,” said Gus Frangos, president of the Cuyahoga Land Bank in a written statement.
Verdynt Bio focuses on building science facilities in underserved markets, ensuring that local talent can stay local. Doug Medvetz and Khadijah Hindi, Verdynt Bio principals and Cleveland natives, are returning home to lead the project, transforming the Mickey’s Building into a science innovation hub for future generations.
By investing more than $12 million, SKYLIIT Labs not plans to build out the structure, it will also manage the facility. Land bank officials aid SKYLIIT will pay special attention to amplifying the symbiotic relationship between the project and the people of East Cleveland.
Renovations to the property that were completed a week ago were led by Cleveland-based RDL Architects and Millstone Management Group. Grants came from the city of East Cleveland, JobsOhio, the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, Cuyahoga County and Bank of America.
The project included several examples of innovative re-use of materials. Architect Chris Maurer of redhouse studio architecture created a public art piece for the front of the building called “Flight of the Council of Interplanetary Cooperation,” where the base materials are bio-cycled — recycled and remediated mushrooms called fungal mycelium.
Map of the 33-acre Circle East District in East Cleveland along with the 4.25-acre Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities property at the upper left. The area east of Farmington Road was not included in the district because there are few vacant lots and housing there (KUA).
In the building parking lot, the Land Bank re-used sandstone from an apartment building that had previously been demolished in East Cleveland.
“Through strong partnerships, and the leveraging of creative expertise and resources, we are transforming a vision into reality,” said Dennis Roberts, director of real estate development at the land bank. “The creation of over 100 high-paying jobs by Verdynt Bio is the spark needed to jumpstart investment that will fuel the beginning of the revitalization of this historic city.”
Not everything has proceeded smoothly in repurposing the Mickey’s Building. Loiter Cafe and Marketplace was set to open last month on the building’s first floor. But the land bank sent loiter two notices of default on its lease. Loiter sued.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Cassandra Collier-Williams overrode the eviction notices but said on July 11 the café has 30 days to open, court records show. The café said it can’t open until the land bank provides enough electrical power to the building. The land bank has denied the allegations by café owner Ismail Samad.
Next up in the Circle East District is the construction of a combination of 22 highly energy-efficient, single-family homes and townhouses. Groundbreaking is scheduled to begin in September.
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