Correction:
An earlier version of this story misstated the ownership of the PNC Center. It also misstated Pleasant Valley's ownership of the buildings at 328 S. Main St., 209 S. Main St. and at 137-147 S. Main St.; the company does not own those buildings.
A company controlled by Gino Faciana, the longtime co-CEO of Medina-based Pleasant Valley Corp., will be the new owner of downtown Akron’s PNC Center.
The $2.8 million sale will be “closing imminently,” said Rachel Bridenstine, the president of the Development Finance Authority of Summit County, which holds the master lease for the building. It is owned by the Summit County Land bank.
“I believe it will be advantageous for the downtown community,” Bridenstine said. “They are purchasing the property and we are so, so grateful for that.”
The PNC Center is 45% occupied; Bridenstine said the new owner’s intention will be to increase the occupancy to 100%. She didn’t have specific details about any plans for redevelopment but said Pleasant Valley’s “track record speaks to itself.”
Faciana did not return a phone call seeking comment about his plans for the building. A spokesperson for Pleasant Valley was on vacation Monday, and no one responded to an email sent to the marketing team seeking more details about the purchase.
The building will be owned by PVC Cascade One, LLC, a company registered to Faciana that was formed two weeks ago. It will be managed by NAI Pleasant Valley Property Management.
In a statement announcing the purchase, a spokesperson for the companies said all “are looking forward to working with the City of Akron, Summit County and other community stakeholders in their efforts of continuing the redevelopment of downtown Akron.”
In a statement, Akron Economic Development Director Suzie Graham Moore said she was “thrilled to see private investment and commitment to excellent stewardship” being made by the company and she looks forward to “working together in the collective development of a vibrant downtown.”
PNC Center buyer owns other Akron properties
The PNC Center is one of several Cascade Plaza buildings that are currently prime for redevelopment. In November, Huntington Bank announced it was under contract to sell the two buildings it owns on the plaza; a plan to convert a Cascade Plaza hotel to apartments was revived in the fall.
The concentration of development opportunities “could be really transformational,” said Terry Schwarz, the director of Kent State University’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, late last year. She said so many large buildings changing hands at the same time could create a “virtuous cycle” that allows more good things to happen.
Monday, Schwarz said she didn’t know Pleasant Valley but said developers don’t usually step into a project without doing their due diligence. Even if the plan is simply to fill the building with tenants, Schwarz said, that could be a good thing for the city.
Matthew Rossman, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University, said he wasn’t familiar with Pleasant Valley before the purchase announcement but was struck by the fact that the company seems to be “heavily rooted” in the area.
“I think that’s a good thing for projects like this,” he said, adding that people who are invested in the community are more likely to seek projects that benefit the community rather than simply worrying about returns on their investment.
But he also said most of Pleasant Valley’s experience seems to be with smaller-scale projects. The acquisition of the PNC Center “could be a leap for them,” he said.
“It’s always a learning curve, taking on a project larger than your norm,” he said. “The fact that they’ve gone with someone rooted locally is a positive sign.”
In their press release, the company said it had 45 years of experience in the region and described the building at 1 Cascade Plaza as “one of Akron’s real estate crown jewels.” Bridenstine said the company has been involved in “multiple larger developments in Akron.”
“They have that depth that I believe will be advantageous for the downtown community,” she said.
City Council to vote Monday on lease forgiveness
The Development Finance Authority’s ownership was meant to stabilize the building, Bridenstine said, a point that was underlined Monday afternoon as members of City Council, in committee, discussed whether to move forward a long-delayed proposal that would forgive more than two years’ of money owed on a ground lease held by the city on the building.
A spokesperson for the city, Stephanie Marsh, said in an email she expected the provision to forgive as much as $175,967 on the ground lease would be voted on at Monday’s council meeting. The forgiveness would cover the period from January 2023 until the closing of the building, expected this month.
Council members approved the provision in a 13-0 vote. Before it passed, Council Member Jeff Fusco said he expected the lease to be renegotiated with a new buyer. Fusco did not return a phone call Monday afternoon seeking comment about the proposal.
Graham Moore told council members in committee the DFA had stepped in to prevent the building from falling into receivership and prepare it for sale.
No one from the land bank or the Summit County Executive’s office responded to requests for comment about the sale of the building. Marsh said in an email she had nothing else to add about the buyers.