Akron hopes to see 160-room downtown hotel, through deal with Amerimar Realty, local investors

The project would include an independent hotel, a fitness center and an indoor swimming pool -- in a new building linked to the historic Greystone Hall by a glass atrium.

View full sizeA rendering shows the entrance to a proposed hotel at Mill and High streets in downtown Akron. A local investor group called Greystone Partners LLC and Amerimar Realty Co., a real estate developer, plan to acquire the 1.2-acre site and tackle a project that includes new construction and historic preservation.Braun & Steidl Architects

AKRON, Ohio -- Chasing its longtime dream of a new downtown hotel, the city of Akron has lined up a developer and investors for a 160-room project that will incorporate the historic Greystone Hall at Mill and High streets.

Mayor Don Plusquellic announced Tuesday that the city has signed a memorandum of understanding with Greystone Partners LLC, a local investor group that plans to buy Greystone Hall. The investors have a separate deal to buy the High Street Christian Church, a vacant neighboring building that they plan to demolish to make room for new construction.

Greystone is working with Amerimar Realty Co., a real estate developer based in Philadelphia, to sketch out plans and pull together financing for the project. During a telephone interview Tuesday, Amerimar Chairman David Marshall said the investors hope to start construction within eight months. The hotel might open in 2015.

"Let's hope it's really real, because we've spent a lot of time, effort and money on this," Marshall said, in response to a question about the project's viability. "Nothing is done until it's done, quite honestly, but we've met with all the right people."

An investment of more than $40 million, the project would include an independent hotel, a fitness center and an indoor swimming pool -- all in a new building on the church site.

A glass atrium would link the hotel tower and Greystone Hall, which would house a restaurant and spaces for meetings and events. Built in 1917 as a Masonic hall, the historic building already features ballrooms and meeting rooms operated by the John S. Knight Center, the city's convention center.

Amerimar and Greystone are talking to the city, Summit County and the local port authority, called the Development Finance Authority of Summit County, about the financial side of the deal. Possible funding sources include federal and state tax credits and tax-increment financing, which allocates future growth in property-tax revenues from a project to paying off development-related debt.

"Getting the right developer to come in and create the kind of quality hotel that downtown Akron deserves has been a daunting task," Plusquellic said in a news release. "But I truly think that we found the right people."

Akron's only downtown hotel is the Akron City Center Hotel, a former Radisson and onetime Ramada property on Mill Street, less than half a mile away.

Separately, Amerimar has a deal with the city to buy and redevelop the former Firestone offices and tire plant. Marshall said the company is in "serious negotiations" with tenants that are interested in two of the buildings. Amerimar also owns the Huntington Bank Plaza office building and a parking deck in Canton.