The Stanley Block is one of the oldest buildings in the center city. Now it is being threatened with demolition by parking lot owner Lou Frangos, whose companies have been buying up properties across from the site of a planned $350 million casino project at Tower City.
View full sizeThe Stanley Block, one of the oldest buildings in downtown Cleveland, is being nominated as a city landmark -- even as part of the ownership pushes for demolition. The building sits diagonally across Ontario Street from the Higbee building, where Rock Ohio Caesars plans to open a first phase casino next year.CLEVELAND -- A battle over historic preservation is brewing in downtown Cleveland, putting a little-noticed, stone-faced building in the spotlight.
Built in the 1870s, the Stanley Block on Ontario Street is one of the oldest buildings in the center city.
Now it is being threatened with demolition by parking lot owner Lou Frangos, whose companies have been buying up properties across from the site of a planned $350 million casino project at Tower City.
The tug-of-war over the Stanley Block -- between one group of owners that hopes to preserve it and another that wants it razed -- comes as real estate speculators and developers are betting on big-budget projects downtown. One of those projects is the casino, a joint venture of Rock Gaming and Caesars Entertainment Corp.
Rock Ohio Caesars plans to open the first phase of a casino in the Higbee Building, at Ontario Street and Public Square, next year. And the gambling venture has purchased 16 acres behind Tower City Center, the proposed site of a larger, $600 million gambling complex.
Fate of downtown block uncertain
Companies tied to parking-lot magnate Lou Frangos own most of a block across from the first phase of a planned $350 million casino project. Now a Frangos company has acquired an interest in the owner of the Stanley Block, one of downtown's oldest buildings, and is pushing for demolition. The blue blocks on the map show the properties on the block; click on each for details. The red dot locates the site of the proposed phase one casino.
View Cleveland downtown block's fate uncertain in a larger map
Since November, companies tied to Frangos have paid $9 million for buildings and parking lots bounded by Prospect Avenue and High, Ontario and East Second streets. He recently acquired a stake in a family corporation that owns the Stanley Block -- the only building in that quadrant of downtown that Frangos does not own outright.
Members of the Maloof family, which has owned the building for decades, are exploring ways to preserve the dilapidated four-story structure. They have asked the Cleveland Landmarks Commission to designate the building as a landmark -- a move that would make it harder to demolish.
The commission plans to hold a public hearing about the building at 1 p.m. Thursday at Cleveland City Hall.
Frangos declined to comment for this story. But in a letter last month to the Landmarks Commission, he maintained that the Stanley Block should be knocked down.
"We think the building should be demolished immediately," Frangos wrote. "The building is very old, dilapidated, obsolete and presents no historical, architectural or other significance to the city of Cleveland. The building should be razed and the property made safe and secure."
Neglected and vacant for years, the Stanley Block was condemned by the city last spring, before Frangos got involved. The ownership corporation, Macron Investment Co., has been cited for building code violations including damaged electrical systems, missing doors and locks, holes in the floors and a damaged roof.
Since May, members of the Maloof family have been talking to the Historic Gateway Neighborhood Corp., which focuses on development in the area, about whether -- and how -- the building can be renovated. They have secured a permit from the city of Cleveland to repair some of the violations.
The neighborhood group's master plan calls for reusing the Stanley Block and nearby buildings for housing, hotels, retail or offices.
"There's obviously going to be a lot of construction or changes abrew for the lower Gateway area in the next few years with the casino," said Jennifer Coleman, chairwoman of the Landmarks Commission. "So it's going to be a time when the status of the buildings, whether it's on Ontario or Prospect, is really going to have to be looked at."
Rock Ohio Caesars has not explained where its estimated 5 million annual visitors and 1,600 employees will park when the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland opens in the Higbee Building next year.
Based on Rock's expectations for its second phase -- about 5,000 parking spaces to serve 8 million anticipated visitors -- the early version of Cleveland's casino might require more than 3,000 spaces. In other cities, casinos feature nearby or connected garages and valet service, and parking frequently is free.
Representatives of Rock Gaming and Caesars Entertainment would not answer questions about their specific parking plans and whether they are talking to Frangos.
"With the large influx of visitors we anticipate coming to downtown, parking will be key to the success of the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland," Nate Forbes, a principal with the casino group, said in an e-mailed statement Friday. "Naturally, we are in discussions with a number of parking operators who control locations in close proximity to the casino."
The recent acquisitions by Frangos' companies are prompting speculation from neighboring property owners and businesses that he plans to build a parking garage to capture some of the casino traffic.
Since November, entities linked to Frangos have purchased the Columbia Building, a Cleveland landmark and the former home of Myers University at 112 Prospect Ave.; a former bookstore building at Ontario and Prospect; and two parking lots owned by members of the Maloof family.
It seems apparent that Frangos will build a multilevel parking garage on the site, said Matt Howells, who owns the historic Park Building nearby and who has toured the Stanley Block building and believes it can be rehabilitated. "It all adds up, when you look at the best return for that area."
Many of Frangos' downtown Cleveland properties are parking lots, garages or little-used buildings. Cuyahoga County records show that his companies owe more than $450,000 in delinquent property taxes. He has demolished other downtown structures, including a former Peterson Nut building on Carnegie Avenue and a building at 1212 Sumner Ave., and replaced them with parking.
Cleveland's zoning regulations limit property owners' ability to expand parking lots or knock down buildings for new surface parking downtown. But boards including the Cleveland City Planning Commission and Landmarks Commission can make exceptions, allowing for temporary lots or approving new parking lots to serve developments.
On Feb. 2, George and Nora Maloof sued one of Frangos' companies, alleging that USA Parking Systems knowingly paid far less than market value when it purchased the couple's parking lot for $1.5 million, while paying $5.8 million for a building at Ontario and Prospect. USA Parking got a deal, the lawsuit alleges, by exploiting the Maloofs' "confidential relationship" with Samir Haikal, a son-in-law who ran the family's parking lots. USA Parking is disputing the couple's claims.
Haikal, who sold Frangos a small parking lot on High Street and a stake in the ownership of the Stanley Block, said in an interview that he is not involved with USA Parking and does not know what Frangos hopes to do with the properties.
"He said parking," Haikal said. "He said that's his plan. At least, that's what I was led to believe."
The ownership structure of the Stanley Block is private, and none of the parties involved was willing to divulge details. In his letter to the Landmarks Commission, Frangos said that one of his many corporations, 2115-2121 Ontario Building LLC, owns 50 percent of the voting shares in Macron Investment Co. and is unwilling to support efforts to designate the Stanley Block as a landmark.
In an interview, Gene Kratus, a Maloof son-in-law, said, "Let me just say that the Frangos group is not in control. They do not have a majority interest."
Though distressed, the Stanley Block still has many of its original features, such as decorative tin and cast-iron columns, and includes a ballroom once used for union meetings and social events.
"We've certainly worked on buildings that were in much worse condition than this and successfully rehabilitated them," said Peter Ketter, a preservation specialist with Sandvick Architects who is working with the Maloofs and the Historic Gateway Neighborhood.
State and federal preservation offices consider the building to be historic, but records show that George Maloof once declined the chance to have it listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
If family members have the building listed now, it would be eligible for federal tax credits and other assistance to cut the cost of historic preservation. Historic status offers no protection, but making the building a local landmark would add layers of scrutiny before the building could be changed or razed.
Coleman said the Landmarks Commission occasionally has nominated buildings as landmarks in spite of objections from owners.
Cleveland officials did not directly answer questions about the future of the Stanley Block and that section of downtown. In an e-mailed statement, Chris Warren, chief of regional development, said Mayor Frank Jackson is "committed to working with developers" to strengthen downtown.
"The working relationship the city has with the community includes working through various issues, including parking," the statement said.