Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, Akron Beacon Journal Buildings Among Historic Projects To Get State Tax Credit

A project that would turn the Akron Beacon Journal Building into more than 100 residential units is one of several historic rehabilitation projects that will receive state tax credits.

The Ohio Development Services Agency awarded more than $35 million in Ohio Preservation Tax Credits, $14 million of which is going towards projects in Cleveland, Akron, Warren and Canton.

Aside from the Beacon Journal Building, residential units are also planned for portions of the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company headquarters. And Canton’s first skyscraper, the Renkert Building, will be renovated into a hotel.

The tax credit is not issued until the projects are completed and meet all program requirements.

Northeast Ohio Recipients include:

• The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company headquarters, built in 1956 on Cleveland's Public Square. The "Illuminating Building" will receive $5 million in tax credits to go towards the more than $59 million renovation project to convert some of the space into residential units.

• The 1373 East Boulevard Apartment Building in Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood. The four-story apartment building will become eight residential units. Vacant since 2016, the apartment building will receive $159,000 in tax credits toward the $1.6 milloion renovation.

• The Agora Complex, consisting of four buildings in Cleveland's Midtown neighborhood and once home to WHK Studio One. It will receive $250,000 in tax credits towards the $1.6 million renovation to become office space.

• The Akron Beacon Journal Building, taking up almost an entire city block at the corner of East Exchange and South Broadway streets in Downtown Akron. It was built in 1930 but has been vacant since 2019, when the paper moved to a smaller building. It will receive $3.1 million in tax credits toward a $31.6 renovation to give it a new life as more than 100 residential units.

• The A. Schrader's Son of Ohio Warehouse, a landmark of Akron's tire industry. Built in the 1920s, the warehouse will be renovated to serve as a self storage facility in a $2.6 million project, receiving $250,000 in tax credits.

• In Warren, the 1898 Packard Apartments will be rehabilitated into 17 new apartments in a nearly $5 million project. The building was previously awarded tax credits, but the work was unable to move forward in time. This round, the building will receive $819,371.

• Canton's first skyscraper, the Renkert Building. At ten stories tall, the building once housed a department store and offices but has been vacant since 2017. It will be rehabilitated into a hotel, with event space, a restaurant, bar and commercial spaces. It will receive $5 million in tax credits toward the $35.5 million renovation.

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