The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Broadway Building plan approved
Lorain Port Authority OKs legal paperwork
The potential redevelopment of the Broadway Building has taken a step forward.
On Dec. 18, the Lorain Port Authority held a special meeting to approve the legal paperwork needed to take control of the Broadway Building, 301 Broadway.
The Port board approved an agreement for owner Spitzer Great Lakes Ltd. Co. to donate the building for the Port to lease it to Ariel on Broadway LLC.
That is a development company of Ariel Ventures LLC, founded by Cleveland businesswoman Radhika Reddy.
The Port board special meeting lasted about 10 minutes. The mood was serious, but hopeful.
“I just thank the board,” said Port Executive Director Tom Brown. “I’m completely excited about this project.
“I think we’ve got a great group. I think there’s a great
vision. I think there’s going to be great opportunity. I look forward to them reaching out to the community for opportunity space and making this the best project. It’s going to be huge for this city and the Broadway corridor.”
Port board Chairman Brad Mullins and board members thanked the staff, along with Port board member Connie Carr and Port attorney Michael Brosky, who
reviewed the legal language.
The board members also thanked Spitzer Great Lakes, an affiliate company of Lorain County auto dealer and businessman Alan Spitzer.
“It’s nice to see Spitzer step up to this, too,” said Port board member Jeff Zellers.
“That should be said, absolutely,” Brown said. For them to make this donation makes this deal possible.”
In the lease, Ariel on Broadway has seven months to begin its work. If the company does not complete the deal, the building will revert back to control of Spitzer Great Lakes Ltd.
Reddy did not attend the morning meeting Dec. 18.
Brown said he hoped to save her a trip because she did not need to be present for the Port board action.
He added he is confident in the ability of Reddy’s
company to complete the project.
Ariel Ventures LLC was formed in 2001 to provide finance, tax, information technology and business advisory services, according to its website.
The company emphasizes real estate and economic development projects that include public-private partnerships, tax credits and other incentives.
Ariel Ventures also has redeveloped three historic buildings in northeast Ohio.
Reddy is co-host of the Ohio Asian American Economic Summit.
Earlier this month, the Port staff and board heard from Reddy and colleague Annette Stevenson.
If all goes well, Reddy estimated renovations inside the building would be at least $7 million, including $1 million invested from her own company and $4 million financed.
The building could be renovated, with the top floor becoming a 250-seat event center. A new elevator would take guests to a new patio on the roof.
The second and third floors would remain as 54 hotel rooms. The building would have two kitchen spaces and commercial space on the first floor, Brown has said.
This month, Reddy and Stevenson described the need for action by the end of 2017 before Congress and the president approve tax reforms that could spell the end for historic tax credits, a method of financing the renovation of old buildings.
They were seeking Ariel Ventures LLC to own or control the building by the end of the year so the company could continue the project under the old rules, Stevenson said in the previous meeting.