Here at the Ameritrust Complex off of East 9th and Euclid, renovation work is underway on a $250-million project.
Geis Companies workers weld beams, pour concrete, and clean the face of the historically significant Ameritrust Tower, designed by famed architect Marcel Breuer.
Geis bought the tower from the county last winter, along with the Cleveland Trust Rotunda and two other properties that make up the complex. The tower will become a high-end hotel, while a new county headquarters will open at East 9th and Prospect next summer.
And Heinen’s will open a 32,000 sq.ft. two-story grocery store in the Rotunda.
“You’ve really have the dynamics to create an exciting residential and commercial district, right at the heart of 9th and Euclid,” says Joe Marinucci is President of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance.
He says in addition to the 700 county employees coming to the heart of downtown Cleveland, there will be an influx of tourists and visitors.
"If you look across street from the Rotunda Building, there’s a new Kimpton Hotel. In addition there will be about 55 Hyatt apartments associated with that project," says Marinucci. "Catty corner across the street on the north side of Euclid, there is a Le Meridien Hotel which is going into five vacant storefront buildings between the Statler and the 925 Euclid Building.
"So in many ways, this is really going to become the hospitality nexus of downtown.”
Marinucci adds another developer is trying to work out financing for a mixed-use project where the Cleveland Athletic Club now sits. The hope is that these developments will fill in the economic gaps in this hardscrabble patch of the Euclid Corridor.