The Cleveland City Planning Commission voted unanimously Friday to approve the demolitions and the conceptual plans for a new, eight-story building.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Two downtown Cleveland buildings, including the longtime home of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, will be demolished to make way for a 509-bed student housing project now that a pair of city boards have signed off.
The Cleveland City Planning Commission voted unanimously Friday to approve the demolitions and the conceptual plans for a new, eight-story building at the southwest corner of East 18th Street and Euclid Avenue. The decision followed a 6-to-3 vote on Thursday by a city design review committee that evaluates downtown projects. Both public bodies expect to evaluate final designs in mid-January.
With the approvals in hand, Clayco Realty Group aims to start construction in early April on the private student-housing complex. The building, stretching between Euclid and Prospect avenues, will include 217 apartments, a fitness center, a student café and a parking garage with a rooftop swimming pool.
To gain a roughly $50 million investment by an out-of-state developer, Cleveland will give up a pair of notable buildings -- a decision that pained some members of both city boards.
Noted American architect Edward Durell Stone designed the former Jewish Federation headquarters, which the organization occupied from the mid-1960s to 2010. The neighboring Rogers Building, also known as the PlayhouseSquare Building, was built in the 1920s and contributes to a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. But neither building is protected as a city landmark.
"It's an important symbol to the community," Jack Bialosky, Sr., an architect who sits on the design review committee, said of the federation building. "But it was not an important enough symbol for those people to whom it was a symbol to stay in it or find a way for it to be reused,"
The Jewish Federation made the controversial decision in 2008 to leave downtown for new offices in Beachwood. For the past several years, the nonprofit quietly explored public uses for the Euclid Avenue buildings.
But plans for an international welcome center or a school never panned out. Real estate brokers say potential office users balked at the cost of renovating the buildings and the challenges of working with tight floors and outdated mechanical systems.
"I personally took a developer through the property to discover that 23 units of residential could be accomplished in the present property as it exists, at such a high cost that it wouldn't pencil," said Tom Einhouse from PlayhouseSquare Real Estate Services.
Members of both city boards pointed out that the federation building isn't necessarily the best work from Stone, who designed Radio City Music Hall, the Kennedy Center and other high-profile structures. On Friday, Kathleen Crowther from the Cleveland Restoration Society argued that the building was nonetheless worth saving as the architect's only work in Cleveland. He also designed the Pepper Pike building that houses the Lillian and Betty Ratner School.
"When we have landmarks, we should integrate them into new buildings that we construct in our city," Crowther said. "We would appreciate in the future, at least, that there's more consideration when landmarks are up for demolition, whether they're designated or not. ... These are assets in our community that we should not throw away lightly."
Planning Commission members agreed and acknowledged the loss. But they still decided in favor of the student housing, which will satisfy demand generated by enrollment growth and redevelopment at Cleveland State University. The project is not affiliated with Cleveland State and could house students from other schools.
Rob Lochner, a vice president of development at Clayco, said the Chicago-based company expects to spend four to six weeks clearing asbestos out of the buildings before demolition. He didn't have a specific demolition schedule, but the company hopes to clear the site before April. Both the existing buildings will be documented and photographed to high-level historic standards.
In response to concerns from the design review committee, the developer is still playing with the building's architecture and layout. This week's, Clayco shifted the fitness center and other non-residential uses to the building's first floor, along Euclid Avenue, to liven up the street. But the plans still don't include any public, ground-floor retail.
"Our belief is that retail needs to happen in a more organic fashion," Lochner told the design review committee. "Retail, in my experience, traditionally follows the rooftops. And I don't want to force it. ... We don't think it makes the right economic sense."