![]() Things between the city and Mouron have remained on friendly terms. One of those is that it's a real economic hardship because the building can't be reused. "We truly don't feel that it meets the requirements. "Our recommendation was no," Segedy said. 18 considered and denied the request to demolish the building. He needs that permission because the city has designated the building as a historic landmark, which makes it eligible for certain tax credits but also limits what can be done with the structure.Īkron planning and urban development director Jason Segedy said the city's Urban Design and Historic Preservation Commission on Oct. But he felt it was his best option when he went to the city seeking permission to tear the building down. He's a proponent of preservation, and he said some of his company's best developments have involved preserving historic buildings. Michael Mouron said that wasn't his first choice. He planned to tear it down and use the site as parking for his own project, The Standard, a 200-plus unit apartment building that was formerly student housing, known as 22 Exchange. Left with few options, Mouron said he was approached by his son, Christopher Mouron, who offered to buy the building. "The developer and the city are going to have to make those decisions," Kutuchief said. Knight Foundation Akron program director Kyle Kutuchief said the foundation isn't in the business of buying real estate and doesn't have a mechanism to fund developments directly. He also asked the Knight Foundation to consider buying the building, thinking it might be a good fit, given that the Knight family once owned the Beacon Journal and made a good part of its fortune there. "I received a very short letter from the mayor saying they decided they were going in a different direction. "I very much wish it was on the table, but no, there's been no outreach from the city on that," Mouron said. Mouron also had hoped that the city would move the Akron Police Department into the building, but he said he has not made progress on that front, either. You've got too much space that is too far away from an exterior wall," Mouron said.īuilding codes don't even allow the construction of interior apartments with no windows - not that such units would likely be attractive to renters to begin with, he said. "The building is far too deep to do effective residential. Mouron briefly considered converting the building to apartments, but said he quickly realized that would not work because of the way the purpose-built structure was designed, with thick floors and a deep interior. On top of that, the market for office properties in Akron and other cities has remained soft as many workers who once drove to downtown offices continue to work from home. I think part of it was the problems downtown - the riots," he said. "We had a beautiful design for that, but we couldn't entice them to move downtown. Efforts to entice the potential tenant back failed the tenant said recent protests downtown over the June police killing of Jayland Walker played a role in the decision, Mouron said. Mouron said that prospective tenant - reportedly FedEx Custom Critical, though he declined to name it - balked at the move during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he had identified a large company that was looking to move to downtown Akron when he bought the building. Mouron originally hoped to move an office tenant into the building. "The Akron Beacon Journal (building) has just proven impossible for us to redevelop," said Mouron, founder of Capstone Development in Birmingham, Alabama, who bought the building in 2020 for $1.2 million. If he's not successful, and no tenant or other profitable use for the building is found, he'll return to the city seeking permission to demolish it, Mouron said. The former Akron Beacon Journal building, a landmark structure in downtown Akron as well as a site important to the city's history, might be getting its last chance to survive.Īfter being rebuffed by the city when he asked for permission to tear down the building last month, owner Michael Mouron said he has agreed to make a last-ditch, 90-day effort to sell the building.
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