A stalled plan to turn Akron’s former City Centre Hotel on Cascade Plaza into apartments has been revived.
The one-time Holiday Inn and Radisson Inn at 20 W.Mill St. could be turned into 137 apartments, some affordable and some market-rate, according to Testa Cos. President Joel Testa.
He said he expects to build 71 two- and three-bedroom apartments that are affordable for residents who make 60% or less of the Akron area’s median income — $57,480 for a family of four. That’s in addition to 60 market-rate one- and two-bedroom apartments and six luxury penthouses.
The affordable units will rent for between $900 and $1,250 a month, he said, while the market-rate apartments will cost between $1,400 and $1,900 monthly. The penthouse units are expected to cost $2,700 a month.
All apartments will come with under-building parking; Testa said he is in the process of negotiating to return some of the structure’s more than 400 spaces to the city for other buildings to use.
Reasons for delay
Testa said much of the plan for the project, called Residences at Ascend, is the same as when it was first introduced in early 2017.
The development was delayed for several reasons, including the 2018 death of Testa’s partner on the project, David Brennan, followed by the 2023 death of Brennan’s widow, Ann, who had become a part-owner of the old hotel upon her husband’s death.
Those deaths, coupled with market changes at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the failure to receive a senior tax credit Testa applied for to help cover development costs, were among the causes of the slowdown.
Testa considered auctioning off the building but decided against it.
When he was again able to move forward, Testa said, he wanted to ensure that the market for downtown living in Akron wasn’t saturated, especially as people had less of a reason to go into an office tower. He found that potential downtown residents had been “undeterred.”
“We don’t have urban living because it’s a necessity,” said Testa, who said people are instead living downtown by choice. “In Akron, you can be anywhere in 10 minutes. People want an urban lifestyle because it’s safe and clean and affordable.”
Interest in downtown Akron
Downtown occupancy is between 88% and 90%, said Kimberly Beckett, the president of the Downtown Akron Partnership. She said there are now about 2,800 downtown residents, with more expected as apartments and condominiums continue to become available in the city.
“The demand is there,” she said. “We definitely have a need for more affordable options downtown.”
The Cascade Plaza area is “prime for development,” she said. The city is targeting 5,000 downtown residents, something Beckett said she expects to hit by 2029 or 2030 and a number she called a “tipping point” for more downtown amenities such as a grocery store to move in.
The PNC Center at Cascade Plaza is also a likely candidate for redevelopment, with the Development Finance Authority of Summit County planning to sell it to a developer for $2.8 million. It’s not clear if that building will also be converted to residential.
“Cascade Plaza’s a nice location,” Beckett said, calling it a focus area for the Downtown Akron Partnership, which programs events there.
The cost of converting to apartments
A spokesperson for the city, Alexis King, said in an email that she was aware that Testa planned to apply for low-income housing tax credits to fund the development. She said the city continues “to see residential demand in downtown” for projects like Testa’s and the recently announced CitiCenter project that will turn a building that once housed the Young Women’s Christian Association into 117 apartments. She declined to comment further on the planned Ascend development.
Although converting a hotel to residences is both easier and less expensive than converting an office building, Testa said he is still looking for ways to subsidize the conversion project. He has applied for tax credits that would help offset some costs for the $22 million development. Ryan Landi, the company’s vice president of development, said he would learn if Testa Cos. had been approved in December.
Converting the hotel into apartments will happen “one way or another,” Testa said.
In addition to building out the apartments, Testa said the project will have a restaurant and a rooftop bar. Commercial space on the plaza level might include a duckpin bowling and pinball machine concept like Pins Mechanical Co. or a scaled-down Punch Bowl Social, both of which can be found in Cleveland. He also intends to use the pool and reopen a long-closed sundeck.
The hotel, which was built in 1971, closed in the winter of 2016-2017, the Akron Beacon Journal reported. Testa said after funding is secured, he expects the first residents will be able to move in a year later. With 15 floors of apartments, residents will be able to move in to some floors before others are finished.
Amenities will include a bike room, a refrigerated package room and a gym, as well as a social gathering room and a business lounge. Testa also said he may add a game room, theater or community dining room, depending on what businesses move into the building.
“We’re excited about it,” he said.