The Remaking of East Fourth Street
By Lee Chilcote

The ribbons have been cut, and the new lifestyle centers, Legacy Village, Crocker Park and Eton Center, are open for biz. Meanwhile, downtown malls like Tower City have been losing big-name retailers, even as these same stores open outlets in the ‘burbs. City enthusiasts haven’t yet found a chink in the armor of the lifestyle retail trend – despite a steady climb in the number of downtown dwellers (over 8,000 by today’s counts). The proposed Steelyard Commons big box mall will certainly help, though it’s still a few years away. Even if the city’s retail options improve, malls like Legacy Village, with its narrow streets, sidewalks, brick buildings and quaint lamp posts, are pretty good at imitating the urban feel of downtowns. So is this a nail in the coffin of the urban renaissance?

Ari Maron doesn’t think so.

“Our goal is to create environments that are unique to the market,” the developer says. “You only have one House of Blues and Pickwick and Frolic. We don’t have to compete with the lifestyle centers and the malls.”

As a principal of MRN Ltd., a 30-year-old, family owned real estate company and developers of East Fourth, Maron should know. Clearly, the street is in many ways not trying to compete with Legacy Village – it’s an entertainment spot. Yet downtown Cleveland is in competition with Legacy as a destination. So what has East Fourth got that will compete with the Crocker Parks?

Take the street itself. Over the past few years, MRN has rehabbed older buildings and brought in Pickwick and Frolic and the House of Blues. Yet the planners didn’t stop at the curb. They’ve created an urban entertainment experience, starting with the sculpting of public space. This is an example of the uniqueness of East Fourth.

“We knew that in order to create a neighborhood, the street itself would have to be a destination,” says Maron. “Public space is very important.”

Working closely with MRN and other community partners, the city redeveloped the street. The total cost of the project was just over $2 million. This included realigning East Fourth into a curvilinear shape, narrowing it to one lane, repaving it with brick and stone, installing decorative pavers (including the East Fourth Neighborhood logo), and placing heated coils beneath the street and sidewalk. Bright lights strung across the street keep it festive, and artistic light poles line East Fourth, their colors changing periodically. The long-term plan includes outdoor cafes and street festivals. Though the garish Phoenix artwork at East Fourth and Prospect seems a bit much – crafted by San Francisco artist Cork Marcheski, it’ s meant to symbolize the rebirth and renaissance of Cleveland, says Maron – few can argue that overall, the street is well done.

“We did a market analysis and found a niche for entertainment, restaurant and urban retail,” says Maron. “We knew that if you could get a project of scale, a certain amount of gross lease-able area, it would be successful.” MRN is now marketing about 200,000 square feet of commercial space, not including the 55,000 square foot House of Blues and 27,000 square foot Pickwick and Frolic.

“The street was redeveloped following a community-driven process led by the Historic Gateway Neighborhood,” says Tom Starinsky, Project Manager with HGN, a non profit community development organization. “We brought in a consultant that produced a market study; HGN paid for half, and five property owners on the street paid for half. The city rebuilt the sewer underneath the street because they figured, if they were going to tear up the street, they should do it right. They heated the street because it made sense – they didn’t want snowplows tearing it up later on.”

Information obtained from the Department of Public Service of the City of Cleveland reveals that MRN paid $350,000 of the $2 million total cost of redeveloping the street. That cost included $1.3 million for the street itself, about $200,000 for street lighting, fire hydrants and drainage, and almost $500,000 to replace a collapsed sewer. (The city discovered that the sewer had collapsed after they started designing the project.) MRN and the city have an agreement whereby the developer pays the city about $50,000 per year to maintain and operate specialty lighting, a snow melting system and removable bollards.

East Fourth Street is not, of course, without critics. Warehouse District property owners have complained that the city spent too much money on the project. Proponents counter that the majority of venues locating to East Fourth so far are either new to the region (House of Blues) or just plain new (Pickwick and Frolic). They’d argue that East Fourth, rather than stealing a slice of the business, is expanding the size of the pie, and that the public investment is worth it.

The redeveloped East Fourth takes advantage of what urban planners have been touting for years: the natural competitive advantage of cities is due to their density and people-friendly scale. Places like Legacy Village are successful because they imitate cities, creating a density of shops in order to lure consumers. Legacy attempts to re-create, within the private sphere, what is lacking in many suburban communities – interactive public space, and a sense of place.

East Fourth takes this concept and turns it on its head by creating not a lifestyle center, but a full-service, downtown district, a kind of “one-stop-shop” for entertainment. Spend five minutes on the street on Saturday night watching folks pinball between Vivo, Pickwick and the House of Blues, and you get the picture.

Love it or hate it, it’s hard not to be impressed by the House of Blues itself. It’s situated inside of a former Woolworth’s Store – the speckled concrete lobby floor and columns are some of the few original items left. When you walk in the door, you are immediately struck by the Southern folk art, and the creative, hand-painted walls. The Cambridge Room, a lounge area with late-night shows and a full-service bar, is beside the restaurant. This cross between a funky downtown club and cabaret-style theater has curtains over a moveable stage, a kind of throwback to the bygone era of old downtown movie theaters. The main stage, which accommodates 1,200, has custom-built, hand-painted doors that frame its entranceway. A “Wall of Fame” in the lobby features Robert Johnson and other blues and rock and roll legends; there’s also a tribute to Alan Freed, the Cleveland DJ that coined the term “rock and roll” in the ‘50s. Inside, 140 theater-style seats perch over a new stage whose hardwood floors gleam under bright theater lights.

Folk art is one of the most distinctive aspects of the venue. “Folk art has been called the visual blues,” says Brian Lowe, Marketing Manager for HOB Cleveland. “In the Mississippi Delta, people express themselves through music – that’s where the blues came from. Folk art is another piece of that self-expression. People have created artwork out of anything they could get their hands on.”

The House of Blues, though part of a national chain, does not have the anonymous, you-could-be-anywhere feel of an Applebee’s or Cheesecake Factory. It’s made an effort to adapt and cater to local history and culture – from the Alan Freed tribute in the lobby, to the main stage balcony railings crafted from steel that are intended to reflect the region’s history of steel making.

“We’re expanding where the support is, and Cleveland has always been a music city,” Lowe says of the company’s decision to move here. “The redevelopment of East Fourth is getting Clevelanders to come back downtown.”

One criticism of East Fourth Street has focused on the House of Blues competing with local venues. A few proprietors have complained that the House of Blues will steal their business. Proponents would argue that the venue is unique to the market and will draw an audience that is completely different than that of the Grog Shop or Beachland Ballroom.

“The opening of House of Blues hasn’t really impacted us yet,” says Kathy Simkoff, owner of the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights. “Their capacity is so much larger; they have 1,200 seats and we have 400. It’s a different market, but it may be affecting the Odeon or the Agora. More venues means more choices, but it also means that your audience is stretched a bit thinner, so we’ll see.”

MRN is also a housing developer. There are four buildings on East Fourth Street, the Windsor, the Commercial, the Buckeye and Frederick at Fourth. Each one has been rehabbed to blend elements of an older, historic style with newer, contemporary amenities. In the Frederick at Fourth, for instance, units feature new wood floors over concrete, and the hallway areas contain original wood molding. Many apartments are two levels, with spiral staircases. Huge windows offer a view of the street. Some units have skylights; others have exposed beams over two-story living rooms.

“There is nothing cookie-cutter about any of our apartments,” says Christie Harst, Marketing Director for MRN.

Getting to this point, however, was a trick. In the mid-90s, there were three hundred property owners on East Fourth. As Maron explains, a century ago, the street was lined with Brooklyn-style brownstones, and Euclid Avenue was considered Millionaires Row. East Fourth property owners, recognizing that the city was growing, saw that the highest and best value was to put larger buildings on Fourth, but they didn’t have the resources to do so themselves, so many of these owners leased the land to developers. A century later, this created a boatload of headaches. After the original owner passed away, they’d leave it to their kids or in trust, etc. Eventually, some parcels on East Fourth had 30-35 different interests staking a claim. Any new developer of that property had to negotiate with or buy out those interests.

In the mid 90s, MRN came to the city after twenty years of development in eastern suburbs. Believing that the Gateway District was a good investment, the Marons bought the Buckeye Building at Fourth and Prospect, and put the Irish pub Flannery’s on the first floor and 36 apartments above. After buying a couple of more buildings and rehabbing them, the developers approached Mike White about using the city’s eminent domain powers to obtain the rest of the street. White, a veteran dealmaker, extracted a commitment in return.

“The only way he would help us was if we agreed to develop everything from the May Company to the Colonial Arcade, from Euclid to Prospect,” says Maron. “So we said ‘OK’ and then went about gaining site control of that area.”

The redevelopment required a complex public-private partnership. Cleveland paid for the redevelopment of the street itself, while MRN chipped in for the sidewalks (typically the owners’ responsibility). Historic Tax Credits from the state and federal government helped to fund the restoration of the buildings. Tax Increment Financing or a ‘TIF’ provided additional funds. (In short, when using a TIF the city floats bonds to provide cash up front to the developer; in return, the city is paid back by rising tax revenues as the property realizes its investment. Along the way, money is diverted to schools, so that they’re still receiving taxes.) MRN also used low-interest loans from the city and Greater Cleveland Partnership.

In a recent Crain’s Cleveland Business article, several business owners in the Warehouse District criticized the Marons, saying that the city was paying too much attention to East Fourth while letting other retail areas, specifically the Warehouse District, languish. At a time of budget crisis, when many infrastructure projects cry out for attention, it seems like a hefty sum. Were the heated coils under the street or the fancy brick pavers really necessary?

“The public investment was concurrent with the private investment,” says Tom Yablonsky, Executive Director of the Historic Gateway Neighborhood. “This grew out of a larger master plan for Lower Euclid and East Fourth Street. Eventually, East Fourth will be an anchor within a larger, urban entertainment district.”

At least one business owner on East Fourth Street couldn’t be happier with the street’s makeover.

“The day that the street re-opened, it was like people were discovering us for the first time,” says Nick Kostis, owner of Pickwick and Frolic and Hilarities Fourth Street Theater. “For the most part, the Cleveland market has proved utterly resilient and strong. But you have to understand, we were only open about six months before the plan for the street came along. It took eleven months to complete, and during that time, it was mud from Euclid to Prospect!”

Nick Kostis is no stranger to downtown development, having been one of the first pioneers to invest in the Warehouse District in 1985. When RTA bought the building that Hilarities was in, Kostis was forced to look for a new home. After a few twists and turns, he landed on East Fourth, what he calls “the most charming street in Cleveland.” Following a renovation of the Kresge building that had him “literally sleeping there, working twenty-four-seven just to keep water out of the building,” Kostis spent about $4 million. (He received subsidy from Historic Tax Credits, and a small amount from the city’s Storefront Renovation Program.) This amount was much more than anticipated, but his investors stuck with him.

“I’ve always loved the compactness and intimacy of East Fourth, it’s a real Cleveland street,” he says. Kostis is originally from Brooklyn, and he fell in love with the street in part because it reminds him of the streets he grew up on.

Whether or not you think the redevelopment of East Fourth Street was worth it, it’s undeniable that the Marons have a passion for downtown development.

“This is part of a national trend toward people re-engaging with center cities and urban areas,” says Maron, himself a downtown resident. “This is the last street in Cleveland that has all of the turn-of-the-century, Chicago style architecture still remaining. There’s an eclectic mix, from the 1860s all the way up to the 1950s, with the Woolworth building. It has a very human scale, so people feel really comfortable walking here. East Fourth is also synergistic – it’s close to Gateway, Tower City, the Warehouse District, the lakefront, Playhouse Square … you’re a 5 minute walk to everything. You can’t get that in the suburbs.”

East Fourth has become a connector linking different parts of downtown. Until the Marons tackled the street, there was no easy or appealing way to get from Gateway to the Warehouse District. And though lower Euclid Avenue is still a couple of years away from the sparkle of East Fourth (something the Euclid Corridor plan aims to change), the side street offers a key interchange.

“We worked with RTA to create a ‘main street’ concept, and we’re excited about this,” says Maron of the Euclid Corridor. “If you look at great main streets, they have a number of things in common. When they work well, they act very similar to good malls – if you’re shopping on one side of the mall, you can easily see the other side, and easily get there. Main streets need to have view corridors, the crosswalks need to be in the right place, and there needs to be street parking.”

As for upcoming plans for East Fourth Street, Maron remains tight-lipped. MRN is working on getting more tenants, and they’ve hired Terramark Partners, based in Atlanta, to handle their leasing. The recent announcement that the lauded Lola, a Tremont bistro, will move to East Fourth and open ‘Lolita’ in its current spot is another sign of promise.

As for whether or not downtown can compete with Legacy Village, perhaps what’s most interesting about East Fourth Street is not how it differs from the lifestyle centers and the malls, but rather, how it borrows from their retail strategies. If Legacy Village is a kind of ‘downtown’ for the east side ‘burbs, perhaps East Fourth can be seen as a kind of ‘legacy village’ for downtown – the difference being, of course, that it’s a real village with a real legacy.

“Stay tuned,” is Maron’s cryptic response. He smiles and stands up, impatient to be off to his next meeting. “East Fourth Street will become a destination.”

From Cool Cleveland contributor Lee Chilcote leechilcote@yahoo.com

Images by Thomas Mulready

Comments? Send them to: Letters@CoolCleveland.com

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