State Tax Credits Jump Start Centennial Project

The Centennial Building Project

Thanks to a $40 million tax credit from the State of Ohio, the Millennia Companies plan to rehabilitate the Centennial Building. The work will create 500-600 jobs for union construction workers.

A long-awaited project in downtown Cleveland will begin soon thanks to a major tax credit award from the State of Ohio, creating more work for area union trades.

On March 2, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority and the Ohio Department of Development awarded the Millennia Companies a $40 million Transformational Mixed-Use Development (TMUD) tax credit award for the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of The Centennial.

Located at 925 Euclid Ave., the building was formerly known as the Huntington Building and has been mostly vacant for over a decade.

As of early March, Millennia has secured more than $476 million in private, federal, state and local financing commitments, according to a prepared statement. This has allowed the company to embark on a project, “to re-imagine a building that was once one of Cleveland’s iconic buildings that contained the world’s largest bank hall.”

Affiliated members of the Cleveland Building Trades will rehabilitate and reinvigorate the approximately 1.4 million-square-foot structure, converting the space into a mix of uses including workforce housing apartments, retail and office space, a boutique hotel, a museum and a high-end restaurant.

Dave Wondolowski, Executive Secretary of the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council, said early estimates point to this project creating between 500 to 600 construction jobs.

At this stage, the exact project timeline is unknown, but Wondolowski knows the developer is eager to begin work.

He called the tax credit award game changing.

“This will predominantly be workforce housing, so it is a game changer for downtown,” Wondolowski said. “Affordable housing options are not plentiful in the heart of the city, so this will really give more people an opportunity to live and work downtown.”

The former Union Trust Building, now called The Centennial, was built in 1924. The Chicago-based architecture firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst & White designed the building in the neoclassical style.

“Everyone who walks into The Centennial agrees that it is breathtaking, and this piece of Cleveland history has been inaccessible for too long,” said Frank T. Sinito, Millennia Chief Executive Officer in a prepared statement. “We look forward to when the public can enjoy the beauty and grandeur of these incredible historic spaces, which include a barrel-vaulted main lobby with murals by the American artist Jules Guérin and towering, fluted Corinthian columns.”

Sinito added that a restaurant called The Century Club will be located in the bank halls. It will be akin to the Marble Room Steaks and Raw Bar, another high-end Cleveland restaurant located in a converted, historic bank.

Also slated for space in the building is the Cleveland Exposition, which will feature exhibits curated by the Western Reserve Historical Society that celebrate the rich history and prominence of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.

Working in a historic building such as The Centennial can often be more challenging than a new build.

“There can be no question that surprise issues will arise on a project like this because of the age of the structure,” Wondolowski said. “We have the highly trained and most experienced workforce to deal with those situations.”