CLEVELAND — The Euclid Grand is just a few weeks away from being fully completed along a well-traveled stretch of Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland.
The $80 million project has 240 apartments, 20,000 square feet of retail along the Euclid sidewalk and 200 parking spaces below the building, located at 1101 Euclid Ave.
More than a century ago, this stretch was part of Millionaire’s Row. That was before John Hartness Brown imagined a retail hub in that same location, according to ClevelandHistorical.org.
“According to a January 22, 1909 Cleveland Plain Dealer article, it was the start of construction of these buildings in 1901 which sparked the beginning of the Upper Euclid Avenue shopping district--one which for much of the twentieth century stretched from East 9th Street to Playhouse Square, and to which thereafter some of Cleveland’s most glamorous and iconic department stores, including Halle Brothers, Sterling-Lindner-Davis, and even, for a time, Higbee’s, before it relocated to the Terminal Tower complex in 1931."
While other retail locations opened nearby, Brown’s plans were never fully realized.
“While by 1909, Halle Brothers, Sterling-Lindner and even Higbee’s had all successfully relocated to the new shopping district which Brown had envisioned, his own building remained only partially built and had become an eyesore on Euclid Avenue,” according to Cleveland Historical.
The structures were eventually finished by other developers and joined the downtown retail community. As Cleveland’s momentum slowed in the 1970s, the building was eventually used as office space.
By the time Alto Partners bought the building, much of it had been vacant for a decade and needed a big facelift.
“That stretch between East 9th Street and 12th along Euclid has been a challenge for a long time,” said Downtown Cleveland Alliance Executive Vice President Michael Deemer.
“It’s been a roller-coaster ride,” said Alto Partners CEO Michael Sabracos.
In the more than two years that it took the project to be completed, Downtown Cleveland saw many other apartments open up but also saw rioting after George Floyd’s death and weathered the COVID pandemic.
“We came to a screeching halt for a while everywhere,” said Sabracos. “We’re starting to ramp up."
He said residents now are looking for space and technology, because they’re working from home.
Sabracos says Alto Partners spent a considerable amount of money making Euclid Grand a “smart building.”
USB ports are in some outlets, allowing residents to charge their phones with USB cords, keeping outlets clear. An app for residents allows them to control the apartment’s lights, temperature and locks from their phone.
Residents are already moving in while some of the finishing touches are put on some common areas. When it’s all done, there will be a gym with workout equipment and also hydro-massage chairs and a space for outdoor yoga in an interior courtyard. Upper-level common rooms will have a golf simulator, wine storage, wine-tasting, a shuffleboard and art studio. Outdoor rooftop space will have fire pits and grills overlooking Euclid Avenue.
It's come a long way from when the building was abandoned.
“Euclid Avenue from Playhouse Square to Public Square really feels like that complete, historic district Main Street that it has always been and has always meant to be,” said Deemer.
“We lit up this block,” said Sabracos. “The block was dead. Now it links Playhouse Square to the downtown area.”
Next door, the old bank building has plans to become The Centennial with workforce housing and a restaurant and historical showcase in the lobby.
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