The vacant CitiCenter building in Akron’s downtown will be sold to a developer who intends to turn it into more than 100 apartments.
The sale, for $1 million to the local developer Welty, was approved Monday by the Akron City Council in a 12-0 vote.
In advocating the approval of the sale, Vice President and At-Large Council Member Jeff Fusco said officials had been working for “some time” to get the building to a private developer.
“Downtown living is on the rise,” he said. “There’s a desire these days for living in urban centers such as Akron.”
Welty CEO Donzell Taylor told Signal Akron previously that it would cost about $35 million to transform the 1931 building that once housed the Young Women’s Christian Association into 117 apartments. More recently, CitiCenter was the location of the Akron employee credit union and various city offices, including property billing and the fire chief.
“I believe in downtown; I believe this is the direction Akron needs to go,” Taylor said. “If we don’t do something, it’s going to be really bad. It isn’t going to fix itself.”
The 10-story building at 146 S. High St., across East Bowery Street from Akron City Hall, is a tenth of a mile from the 92-unit The Bowery, another project Taylor developed. The CitiCenter project will primarily have one-bedroom apartments that will lease at market rate, between $1,100 and $1,450 a month. Those apartments will be around 600 square feet. It will also have some studios and some two-bedroom apartments.
‘A long time in the making’
In an interview after the vote, Fusco said there was “great demand” from both young professionals and retirees who no longer wanted to mow their lawns or shovel their snow to move into downtown towers. He said, too, that people want to be closer to what’s happening in the city.
“What I believe we’re seeing right now is downtown turning into an urban neighborhood, a neighborhood where people are living,” he said. “We don’t turn off the lights at 8 o’clock.”
Fusco said he was excited about the movement toward more downtown development.
“I think we’re headed in a good direction,” he said.
The CitiCenter project will use $3.1 million in historic preservation tax credits from the state to help offset some of the construction costs. Taylor said he also received about $6 million in federal historic tax credits. He expects to figure out the rest of the financing for the project by the end of the year and to begin work immediately upon doing so.
As part of the historic tax credit approval, Welty has to retain historic decorative plaster ceilings, among other requirements.
Aside from determining what to do with a historic pool in the building — the part of the project that has given him the most “consternation” and which will not be used as a swimming pool, Taylor said — the plans for the project are complete and ready to submit to the city for a building permit.
Sean Vollman, Akron’s deputy director of economic development, said he was “thrilled” by the progress on the CitiCenter project after years of trying to get a deal done.
“I cannot wait,” he said. “I feel like this is one that has been a long time in the making.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include additional comments from Jeff Fusco, vice president and at-large member of Akron City Council. Government Reporter Doug Brown contributed to this story.