Rhodes Tower, Samsel Supply, Rose among winners
There were 14 Cuyahoga County historic renovation projects that won a total of $16,267,141 in Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits today. Most of those projects would repurpose their 50-plus-year-old buildings for new uses so they can contribute to their communities for at least another 50 years. Some of the buildings are pretty well known.
Perhaps the county’s best known building that won historic tax credits is the Rhodes Tower at Cleveland State University in Downtown Cleveland. It won the max amount — $5 million to support a nearly $92 million effort to renovate the 21-story, 1971-built structure. It is one of the tallest educational institution-owned buildings in the nation and will become student housing while the lower floors will be used as a library and study areas.
Last week, Rhodes Tower, now called University Tower, won a $6 million Ohio Brownfield grant to remediate the building. In that announcement, the total project cost was estimated at a much higher amount — $150 million. The reason for the discrepancy is not known.
Other notable redevelopment projects that won big today included the Rose Building and its adjacent, smaller Sloane Building at East 9th Street and Prospect Avenue downtown. Now called Project Scarlet, the former Medical Mutual of Ohio headquarters will become apartments, hotel, offices and ground-floor retail/restaurants in a $100 million project supported by a $5 million historic tax credit.
The proposed repurposing of the 400,000-square-foot Rose Building, formerly Medical Mutual of Ohio’s headquarters, and the smaller Sloan Building to the left of it got a big boost today with the awarding of a maximum amount of historic tax credits (CBRE).
On Old River Road on the Flats East Bank, the now-closed Samsel Supply buildings were awarded a $2.67 million historic tax credit to help renovate two former warehouses. GBX Group of Cleveland and RHM Real Estate Group of Lyndhurst plan a $37 million redevelopment that includes 113 apartments, parking and supportive amenities. Samsel Supply closed its doors last fall after 66 years.
“By preserving our historic buildings, we’re retaining the unique identity of Ohio’s communities,” said Governor Mike DeWine in a written statement. “Through the tax credit program, we’re ensuring that future generations can experience the character and stories that shaped our state in the spaces where they happened.”
More than $56 million in tax credits were awarded to 37 applicants statewide to support the rehabilitation of historic buildings across the state in this round, called Round 33. The projects are expected to leverage approximately $715 million in private investments.
“Communities thrive where they honor their roots,” said Lydia Mihalik, director of the Ohio Department of Development. “The awards we are making through the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program are helping communities in their efforts to connect their past with opportunities of the future.”
GBX Group of Cleveland and RHM Real Estate Group of Lyndhurst plan to redevelop the five- and three-story Samsel Supply buildings at right for $37 million with apartments, parking and supportive amenities. Samsel Supply closed its doors in October after 66 years (Google).
Here is a complete list of all of today’s Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit award winners in this latest round:
Cedar Branch YMCA — Total project costs: $8,775,000; Total tax credit: $1,700,000; Address: 7515 Cedar Ave., Cleveland. Built in 1941, the Cedar Avenue YMCA played an important role in advancing equity in Clevelandʼs Black community as the only branch that accepted African American members at the time. The site hosted various social and educational activities for the community and civil rights groups like the Future Outlook League and the NAACP.
It will soon be converted into a mixed-used building called African Town Plaza. It will include office space, apartments, an event center, and a commercial kitchen. The rehabilitation will include brick repointing, repairing the historic windows and doors, and updating the machinal and electrical systems.
Cleveland State University – University Tower — Total project costs: $91,573,155; Total tax credit: $5,000,000; Address: 1860 E. 22nd St., Cleveland. Completed in 1971, the Brutalism-style 21-story tower was once the largest academic building in the state and the physical and symbolic center of Cleveland State University’s campus.
Initially used for classrooms and office space, the building is now mostly vacant and in need of new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, and abatement. The preservation of the tower includes rehabilitation into over 500 new student residences and amenity space as well as a new main library and classroom space on lower floors.
A rendering of the former Cedar Branch YMCA following its planned renovation and conversion into the African Town Plaza mixed-use development (Myers).
Columbia Savings and Loan Co. — Total project costs: $1,155,022; Total tax credit: $250,000; Address: 5601 Broadway Ave., Cleveland. Constructed in 1891, this three-story Romanesque Revival building now sits vacant in the heart of Cleveland’s Slavic Village and Broadway Avenue Historic District. The building was home to numerous businesses throughout the years, including a drug store and cleaners.
Rehabilitation efforts will restore the terra cotta and brick façade, as well as the terrazzo floors and marble wainscot interior. Once completed, the project will be transformed into a mixed-use property, including a local coffee shop in the first-floor space and office suites on the second and third floors.
E. F. Hauserman Administration Building — Total project costs: $2,303,000; Total tax credit: $250,000; Address: 5711 Grant Ave., Cuyahoga Heights. The E.F. Hauserman Administration Building was constructed in 1958 and housed the headquarters, offices, research, and engineering for the E.F. Hauserman Company.
The building also served as a showcase for company products, including movable interior walls for offices, factories, schools and hospitals. The rehabilitation project will restore the building to continue to be used as an office space, with much of the work focused on fixing windows and replacing mechanical systems.
The historic three-story brick building to the left of the planned, five-story white building is the Columbia Savings and Loan Co. that is due to be renovated thanks to today’s historic tax credit awards (HDG).
Kerns Hall — Total project costs: $20,684,475; Total tax credit: $596,903; Address: 2604 Garden Ave., Cleveland. Constructed in 1890, Kerns Hall is a three-story mixed-use building in Clevelands historic Brooklyn Centre. Kerns Hall primarily served to host “secret society” meetings and socials, including the National Protective Legion, a fraternal order of Masons, with more than 4,000 members.
The rehabilitation of Kerns Hall is part of a larger Flats On Pearl development sought by Kostas Almiroudis. It will allow room for local retail and restaurant space, as well as a community space on the upper floors. In addition, a vacant lot to the north of the hall will be utilized for the ground-up construction of 39 apartment units.
Project Scarlet (Rose/Sloan Buildings) — Total project costs: $100,150,000; Total tax credit: $5,000,000; Address: 2060 E. 9th St., 819-823 Prospect Ave. E., Cleveland. The Rose and Sloan buildings, in Cleveland’s Lower Prospect-Huron Historic District, play a significant role in the cities commercial industry. They were constructed and completed in 1900 and 1916 respectively. Spark GHC and Cleveland Construction will lead the redevelopment team.
Early tenants of the buildings included Lerder Furniture, Cleveland Gas & Electric Fixtures, the Cleveland Athletic Club, Superior Photo Plays and restaurant, Hector Boiardi’s. The two buildings are attached by interconnected stairwells and elevators. The project aims to convert the 378,000 square feet of the two vacant buildings into mixed-use, including 154 residential units, a hotel, retail, restaurant, and office space, while maintaining historic integrity of the buildings.
The Flats On Pearl involves both new construction and historic renovation. The new construction is the larger, five-story building at right. To be renovated is the three-story Kerns Building, also called Kerns Hall, with the bay windows seen at left at Pearl Road and Garden Avenue (Brandt).
Samsel Building — Total project costs: $37,952,071; Total tax credit: $2,667,238; Address: 1235-1285 Old River Rd., Cleveland. Samsel building is located on the east bank of the Flats in downtown Cleveland. The area was known for warehouse and marine-focused retail, a small portion of which exists in the building today.
The project will transform a five-story building and a three-story building into mixed-use space, housing 113 apartment units, a common area, amenity space, a rooftop pool, and 114 parking spaces for residents.
South Brooklyn Savings Loan & Co. — Total project costs: $1,368,938; Total tax credit: $180,000; Address: 4209 Pearl Rd., Cleveland. The South Brooklyn Savings and Loan Company building was constructed in 1930 with a dual storefront to provide space for the South Brooklyn Savings and Loan Company and a dry goods company. The development is across the street from another major project — the Memphis & Pearl development.
In 1963, the Broadview Savings and Loan Co. acquired the building for additional space and connected it with a basement tunnel to its main building to the south at 4221 Pearl Rd. (see next project award). The rehabilitation will convert the space into eight residential units while maintaining the historic classic pilasters and the façade window openings.
Across Pearl Road from St. Luke Church, the centerpiece of the planned Memphis & Pearl development and the to-be-demolished Greenline Building at far-left, are two buildings slated for revival. One is the South Brooklyn Savings Loan & Co., the single-story building with its windows temporarily boarded up. To the right of it is the colonial revival-styled Broadview Savings & Loan Co. The two buildings, both to repurposed with apartments, are connected by a tunnel below a driveway (Google).
Broadview Savings & Loan Co. — Total project costs: $5,022,764; Total tax credit: $373,000; Address: 4221 Pearl Rd., Cleveland. Next door to the above project in the South Brooklyn Historic District in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood of Cleveland is the Broadview Savings & Loan Co. It began operations in 1919 in this colonial revival style building, designed by Cleveland architects Dalton – Dalton Associates.
The bank quickly became one of the countryʼs top 100 savings and loan banks, and a second floor was added in 1955 to accommodate growth. The bank was acquired in the 1990s and renovated, removing much of the historic fabric of the building. However, the two bank vaults remain. The renovation plans include the conversion of the building into 22 studios and one- and two-bedroom residential units.
Vitrolite Building — Total project costs: $2,993,636; Total tax credit: $250,000; Address: 2915 Detroit Ave., Cleveland. The 1926 Italian Renaissance Palazzo style building, served as a primary showroom, design facility, distribution, manufacturing and installation source for “Vitrolite,” an opaque, pigmented structural glass.
The Cleveland company, Vitrolite, originally produced and used the glass for a wide range of commercial advertising signs. A rehabilitation led by Anne Hartnett includes basement and second-floor improvements along with window and façade repair. Once completed, the Ohio City building will maintain its historic use as commercial space.
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